Per/Form. How to do Things With[out] Words

The Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (CA2M) of the Comunidad de Madrid (Móstoles), opened on March 22 an exhibition whose objective is to analyze the role played by artistic action in the current art scene. Subtitled How to do Things With(out) Words, this exhibition explores the relationship between actions and language throughout several situations. Per/Form refers to the form in which performativity works in contemporary art. "Per" means in Latin "to cross" "to go through," and can also refer to an objective of meaning. On the other hand, "Form" is the manner in which an idea is molded and acquires a presence in the world. To activate reality is the central theme analyzed in a group exhibition that includes objects, audiovisuals, installations, photographs, films and "bodies," as it consists of a "live" show. Per/Form functions as a lab and offers a large number of performances or action art, talks and debates. The event has also scheduled two days (May 10 and September 20) to perform most of the actions in what has been named "Days of Intensity." The project also offers a space called "Intensity Lab," where some of the actions take place and where archival material about the project is made available to visitors. It includes 16 installations in order to showcase several ways of "exhibiting" the works. The works that include direct elements and others that can be directly activated but in a different manner, belong to the following artists: Mathieu Abonnenc, Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Geneviève Cadieux, Jean-Pierre Cometti, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Cevdet Erek, Esther Ferrer, Chiara Fumai, Ryan Gander, Dora García, Camille Henrot, Sandra Johnston, Amelia Jones, Latifa Laâbisi, La Ribot, Ines Lechleitner, Franck Leibovici, Cristina Lucas, Haroon Mizra, Antonio Negri, Roman Ondák, Falke Pisano, Chloé Quenum, Pedro Reyes, José Antonio Sánchez, Julião Sarmento, Ulla von Brandenburg, Carey Young and Héctor Zamora. The exhibition also offers a catalog that includes writings by French philosopher Jean-Pierre Cometti, historian and art critic Amelia Jones, philosopher and post-Marxist Italian thinker Antonio Neri, the curator of the exhibition and art critic Chantal Pontbriand, and research teacher José Antonio Sánchez.