THE PORCUPINE IN THE ROOM / GITANJALI DANG 5/7 ARTARTAFRICAAFRICA
You stage an encounter between Mendieta and Gupta and a space comes
into being, through which one imagines dialogues between these two
artists. These dialogues cross time, space and geography. An idea of
proximity and intimacy is suggested and I think of it in relation to your
exploration of Freud’s telling of Schopenhauer’s story of the porcupines.
The animals huddle together for warmth, only to separate again as the
quills are felt, repeating over and over again this experience of closeness
followed by distance.I have given much thought to the anxiety of the visible, and whether it’s just
performing a role, feeding a monster, doing what is now routine in the arts.
This made me think of patterns, and I began to be interested in a broader
philosophical framework through which to look at different projects. The
philosopher Timothy Morton, who is also part of the exhibition at Delfina, has
written a lot about intimacy. I’ve been reading his work for a while. In the run-
up to my visit to London I had been trying to make sense of intimacy in a very
personal way, trying to live through the work somehow.Installation view of ‘The Porcupine in the Room’. Photograph: Jaebum Kim.