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The Influx of Discourse

Uncool Gallery proudly presents The Influx of Discourse, a thought-provoking group exhibition curated by Carolina Paz, delving into the intersections of identity, power, and discourse through the works of twelve international artists: Aledra, Amy Deal, Clarice Sanvicente, Débora Rayel Eva, Fábia Bercsek, Kayla Singh Griffin, Maria Kunigk, Michan Pour-Azar, Mikaela Montenegro, Nirvana Geuvdjelian Herrera, Petya Zasheva, and Summer McCroskey. Drawing on months of study and discussion around Michel Foucault’s The Order of Discourse, the artists committed to collaborate in elaborate poetically on discourse as a mechanism of social control, examining how power molds bodies and voices, particularly women’s, across generations. Through layers of transparency, textiles, and multimedia, The Influx of Discourse captures a collective expression of female agency and shared identity, amplifying the voices of not only the artists but also their communities.

November 9 – December 14, 2024
@ Uncool Gallery

The Influx of Discourse____________________________________
by Carolina Paz

After months of debating Michel Foucault’s The Order of Discourse, the artists in Uncool Artist study group sessions came together to explore the notion of discourse as a mechanism of social control—determining who speaks, what is voiced, and how knowledge is structured to sustain authority. These sessions became central to our community’s conversations, especially regarding authorship, authority, and how discourse regulates bodies in a world shaped by powerful individuals’ ideas and norms, profoundly impacting social minorities and masses across generations and geographies. This project, featuring only women artists, was born out of a vivid round of dialogues on their poetic propositions and collective composition. Amy Deal, Aledra, Summer McCroskey, Fábia Bercsek, Kayla Singh Griffin, Maria Kunigk, Nirvana Geuvdjelian Herrera, Michan Pour-Azar, Mikaela Montenegro, Debora Rayel Eva, Clarice Sanvicente, Petya Zasheva, and Ana Julia Vilela participated in the construction of a collective entity which not only gives voice to them, but also to ancestors, daughters, and an innumerable multitude of women from various cultures. These women came together to transform discourse into a tangible shared poetic experience.

On the first floor, textile works are sewn together into a large, quilted flag suspended from the ceiling. These layered, sheer, rough fabrics and fine stitching conjure a garden-like atmosphere, where traces of the female body appear in soft rose hues and rich imagery. The installation combines a blend of personal stories woven into a collective form that seems both ethereal and corporeal, channeling the subconscious. Soft padded sculptures at the entrance are suggestive of the snake and Garden of Eden in relation to the original sin myth. This transition from Eden’s mythology to the layered fabrics signals a return to the female body—a space of both strength and vulnerability, interwoven into a delicate yet steady presence.

On the mezzanine, the installation transitions to a louder and more intense pitch. The room is fully covered with yellow paper containing a polyphonic and noisy set of unorganized handwritten words, making it difficult to read. Everything looks almost as if it is impossible to understand. The choice of the color yellow establishes a tone of urgency. A five-minute video plays with overlapping images and sounds, amplifying this sense of relentless polyphony, where understanding remains elusive but yet suggests a narrative about the mundane, consumption, and women’s roles and desires in society—reflecting how discourse often hides intent beneath layers of repetition and ambiguity. A question emerges: What is our,s and what is implanted in our bodies and minds? Here, viewers listen to voices that refuse conformed explanations and images that reverberate both affirmatively and negatively, creating tension of deep proportions that transcends single viewpoints.

The Influx of Discourse—where “influx” refers to the flow of power and ideas—reflects and diverges from the circulation of authority within society. It shows how active (and collaborative) construction can break apart solid frameworks, granting new and temporary opportunities for the examination of new methods of communication and engagement. It is an ongoing manifesto of these artists’ agency, voicing their minds for freedom, resilience, and solidarity—until “the end,” a vivid stand free from the boundaries that attempt to contain us.

The Influx of Discourse_________x