31/12/15
Risk
Turner Contemporary, Margate
10 October 2015
– 17 January 2016
The term “risk” is thought to have first appeared in
maritime insurance contracts in the 13th century. The concept has evolved with
time, becoming imbued with scientific, physical, psychological, societal,
political, statistical and myriad further connotations. The sociologist Gerda
Reith, for example, argues that there is no such thing as risk in the world,
only the dangers we construct in our heads. Artists have certainly long played
with the many different aspects of risk-taking, pushing themselves and their
practices and materials to the limit, letting go of control, risking harm, even
deliberately causing (self-)harm – and to enjoy their works, audiences are
often also invited to take some level of risk. This exhibition brings together
more than 70 works from the mid-20th century to the present day, as well as
some older artefacts, exploring the concept of risk in a society increasingly
controlled by risk aversion, with our preoccupation for health and safety and
disaster planning.
Read the review here