Blacked out space (1050 x 550 cm) with mini dv projection (30"loop; 430 cm wide). This is symmetrically framed by a pair of aqua-resin, gouache and brass sculptures – resembling lightning bolts (positioned at 260 cm from the screen), which cast their shadow on the projection, and illuminated with narrow beams of light. A script sits on a shelf outside the entrance. The British Constructivist’s role is written by Tirdad Zolghadr, after an account of a meeting between Evans and artist Gillian Wise. Will Bradley scripted The Nihilist and in collaboration with the artist produced a production treatment for The Freedom of Negative Expression a plot-by-plot breakdown for the pilot of a TV series – with the tagline Betrayal is a Fine Art.

A young man holds a conversation on the telephone and roams his spacious appartment restlessly. He switches the lights on and off, smokes imported cigarettes, sips red wine and skips the expensive stylus of a record player over a Wagner LP. Fragments of the exchange are heard.

“I agree with Borges that mirrors and copulation are obscene, because they increase the numbers of men…[VO: Philip, a well-heeled nihilist in his early thirties] The mirror’s illusion of depth is of no use to us because it is already filled with an image of the world.”

“I always say I believe in transparency, not reflection. Reflection is random, it mirrors whatever’s happening in the room. [VO: Gillian, a former member of the British constructivists, known for her uncompromising views on the misuse of the arts to consolidate the status quo.] And yet it is a double fraud in that it simultaneously suggests the illusion of depth. Of course the art world is particularly interesting for minorities and all the other downtrodden – since it offers all the possibilities of menial jobs within its very core.”

[VO: Together they are creating The Freedom of Negative Expression. The productive potentials of negativity and political paranoia are at stake.]

“We must realise: The Freedom of Negative Expression is an image of both the constant unwinnable struggle against the unfolding of future events; and of the false consciousness of our own time.”

Review:
'Art and Class: The Arnolfini Pictures Privilige', Laura Allsop, The Guardian, 20th May 2009

Exhibitions:
Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie, Gasworks, London, 2006
Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie, Platform Garanti, Istanbul, 2007
Left Pop, Moscow Biennial, Moscow, 2007
Destroy Athens, Athens Biennale, Athens, 2007
Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, 2007
Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie, Arnolfini, Bristol, 2009
The Malady of Writing, Museu d’Art, Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona, 2009
Bent Aura, Outpost, Norwich, 2007, (solo)
The Freedom of Negative Expression, Chapter, Cardiff, 2007 (solo)
The Cell That Doesn’t Believe In The Mind That It’s Part Of, Marres, Centre for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht, 2010 (solo).