Proh-soh’ pa-peer is a sustained exploration of the representational logic of the mainstream media – in particular, the role the media has in shaping the ideological predicates of contemporary political, activist and libidinal (in particular queer) subject positions. The exhibition’s title is a phonetic play on the word ‘prosopopoeia’: a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to an audience by speaking as another person or object.

The first exhibition, hosted by Auto Italia, will take place in the form of a structured performance and film shoot. Proceedings will have the spirit of a contemporary live TV programme and be shot in front of an open-invitation audience. The ‘television-magazine’ tone of the shoot, encompassing live performance and actions, will centre on the dialectical relationship between sex and power in both historical and contemporary modes of political activism. Highly choreographed, yet suitably chaotic, the performance will incorporate multi-scenarios, players and situations into a live event spread over a four acts.

Following the live event, the footage filmed during the first part of the exhibition will be condensed and edited into a video installation. Occupying the project room at SPACE for six-weeks the footage will be displayed on a loop alongside a specially constructed environment.