GILBERT & GEORGE AND VICTORIA APPEAR TOGETHER FOR YOUR PLEASURE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME AT THE SERPENTINE'S PRESS UPDATE 8 OCTOBER 2015

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1 PRESS UPDATE 8 OCTOBER 2015 GILBERT & GEORGE AND VICTORIA APPEAR TOGETHER FOR YOUR PLEASURE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME AT THE SERPENTINE'S TRANSFORMATION MARATHON Writers, thinkers, artists, musicians, film-makers and scientists explore ideas around change, evolution and metamorphosis as the Serpentine celebrates the 10th anniversary of its unique festival of ideas Saturday 17 October 2015, 10am 10pm The Magazine, Serpentine Sackler Gallery Sunday 18 October 2015, midnight 12pm Serpentine Radio at radio.serpentinegalleries.org Live Stream at youtube.com Tickets 15/ 10 (conc.) Available from Ticketweb or via the Serpentine Galleries Watch highlights from the previous Serpentine Marathons here: youtube.com #TRANSFORM15 The Serpentine celebrates 10 th Anniversary of the annual Marathon event, its unique multi-disciplinary festival of ideas, which sees leading figures from a wide range of disciplines explore one topic from different angles. Launched in 2006 by Serpentine Co-Director, Hans Ulrich Obrist, with the now legendary Interview Marathon co-curated with Rem Koolhaas, the Marathons have covered the topics of experiments, manifestos, poetry, maps, gardens, memory, the generation born after 1989 and extinction. Over 480 have participated in the Marathons, including the widest range of participants from many different fields. Among them were Marina Abramović, Adam Curtis, Gilbert & George, Marcus du Sautoy, Brian Eno, Yoko Ono, Etel Adnan, Eleanor Bron, Gustav Metzger, Alice Rawsthorn and Douglas Coupland. The Transformation Marathon explores, among other topics, transgender politics and shifting attitudes; adaptation and the environment; the

2 transformative potential of micro-politics; changes in art, literature and design and the futurology of cyborgs, bio-engineering and artificial intelligence. The Marathon continues on air, from midnight on Sunday 18 October, for a further 12 hours of talks, conversations and sound performances. Serpentine Radio is the first time the marathon has been broadcast on radio and returns the Marathon to its original 24-hour format. Transformation Marathon Highlights: There are participants, without whose presence Serpentine Marathons would not be the same, including architect Eyal Weizman and Lebanese-American poet Etel Adnan, who will read a poem. Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, will be giving an interactive talk titled, Granada, Goldberg and Ghosts. Serpentine exhibition artist Jimmie Durham will take part in a group discussion with artist poet, essayist and political activist Abraham Cruzvillegas, whose site-specific commission for Tate Modern s Turbine Hall opens during Frieze Art Fair Week, Mark Godfrey, Senior Curator at Tate Modern and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Serpentine Galleries. Cultural anthropologist, and worldwide expert on hackers and digital activism, Gabriella Coleman explores how hacker strategies have been appropriated by leaders in many other fields. Gender politics and LGBT issues play a key part in the Marathon this year and include a performative lecture of a fictional story by Juliet Jacques, author of the recently-published memoir Trans and the Transgender Journey series for the Guardian. Kenyan author, Binyavanga Wainaina will give a talk around literature and activism. The Marathons are renowned for producing highly idiosyncratic events and performances that would happen nowhere else. This year, these include a performance by artist Koki Tanaka, who initiates a chain of selftransformation by encouraging the audience to swap clothes and books that point to their personal history. Samson Kambalu presents Doing Time, which involves connecting members of the audience with handcuffs encouraging people who wouldn t normally socialise to spend time together in groups of two or four. In a historic event, Gilbert & George, who have participated in every single Marathon, will appear with their lovely friend Victoria for the very first time on the occasion of the Transformation Marathon. Befitting an organisation which itself has evolved constantly since it opened in 1970, several presentations at the Serpentine focus on the transformation of the arts institution, including a talk by philosopher Bruno Latour, who will be in conversation with artist Tino Sehgal. Art critic Kim West will address the museum in the age of information technology, while curator and historian Dorothea von Hantelmann tells the story, over the course of the day, of the transformation of the museum through a series of mini-lectures that will punctuate the programme. This section is co-curated with Dorothea von Hantelmann and Tino Sehgal.

3 The Marathon this year also focuses on the evolution of design and includes a discussion on led by critic and writer for the New York Times, Alice Rawsthorn, who will discuss the relationship between design and personal identity with Gabriel Ann Maher; the transformative power of design in society with Hilary Cottam and the interrelations of design and the environment with Christien Meindertsma. Gabriel Ann Maher has also designed the stage for the Marathon. Adrian Hon author of A History of the World in 100 Objects is also participating in the Marathon with a futurological talk about the necessity to transform our relationship with technology in view of the increasing hybridisation of human and machine. Architecture and urban planning feature strongly in the Transformation Marathon and includes a presentation on how to effect change in complex urban systems by the world-renowned sociologist and expert on globalisation and human migration Saskia Sassen. Cultural anthropologist and author of Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship, Aimee Meredith Cox explores urban change at the level of neighbourhoods and urban centres, while architect Eyal Weizman focuses on the constant transformation of buildings and cities in relation to shifting environmental and socio-political conditions. Architects Territorial Agency talks about the transformations brought about by the Anthropocene, while Adam Greenfield will explore how to make smart cities work in more socially-conscious and ethical ways. Events at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery culminate with a set by DJ and producer Nkisi whose fast paced music - labelled by some as Doomcore - draws from influences ranging from central and West African rhythms to techno and gabber. Radio Serpentine Radio Serpentine begins at midnight and continues until noon on Sunday 18 th October. Reflecting on the transformative power of radio in the 20 th century, Radio Serpentine has invited artists and participants to appropriate all aspects of a traditional radio broadcast. Participations will include a section on gender studies, pornography and the disembodied, post-human voice, led by philosophers and theorists Rosi Braidotti, Ayse Gul Altinay, Katherine Angel and Helen Hester. Artist Jumana Manna, whose new film is on show at the Chisenhale, presents a music programme featuring the history of music from Palestine, while special programmes by Haunted Machines and Deep Lab explore respectively, the occult and alchemy; and technology and transformation with several key figures in the technology world. Specially-produced performances and sound pieces by artists and musicians, including personal Facebook post accompanied by a sound design by Elysia Crampton, radio jingles by Lorenzo Senni, a ghostly musing by Jalal Toufic, sounds of democracy from Japan by Koki Tanaka, science-fiction by Jude Crilly, time announcements by Tim Etchells and storytelling by Julia

4 Tcharfas and Holly White, will intersperse the radio programmes, while Jaakko Pallasvuo and Roy Boswell have produced a radio play. The Radio broadcast will also include conversations between Hans Ulrich Obrist and legendary feminist artist Judy Chicago, Serpentine Sackler Gallery artist and Frieze Artist Award winner Rachel Rose and cult writer Alexandra Kleeman. Early in the morning, philosopher Federico Campagna and poet Lucy Mercer present a series of in-conversations about the importance of Greek antiquity in philosophy and literature today. Around breakfast time, artist and e-flux codirector Julieta Aranda presents a programme with a Foley artist on transforming sound, while Sophia Al-Maria and Maurice Louca offer a very unusual musical and sci-fi weather report. For press information contact: Miles Evans, milese@serpentinegalleries.org, +44 (0) V Ramful, v@serpentinegalleries.org, +44 (0) Press images at serpentinegalleries.org/press Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA Serpentine Sackler Gallery, West Carriage Drive, Kensington Gardens, London W2 2AR Notes to Editors About Serpentine Marathons The Transformation Marathon will be the 10 th in the Serpentine s annual Marathon series, an ambitious event that brings together the fields of art, culture, science and technology. Conceived in 2006 by Serpentine Co- Director, Hans Ulrich Obrist, previous Marathons are: Interview Marathon, 2006 (with Rem Koolhaas); Experiment Marathon, 2007 (with Olafur Eliasson); Manifesto Marathon, 2008; Poetry Marathon, 2009; Map Marathon, 2010; Garden Marathon, 2011; Memory Marathon, 2012; 89plus Marathon, 2013; and Extinction Marathon, The Marathons have produced unmissable presentations: world-leading neuroscientist Israel Rosenfeld looked into the brain s interpretation of reality, artificial intelligence and out-of-body experiences for the Experiment Marathon in 2007; David Lynch produced a short new film and Michael Stipe performed an autobiographical piece for the Memory Marathon in 2012; forecasting agency s K-HOLE launched the concept of Normcore and musician Le1f performed at the 89Plus Marathon in 2013; Gustav Metzger made a powerful call-to-action against extinction, Chris Watson presented a stunning surround-sound recording of starlings; Adam Curtis created a documentary on the plight of the pangolin; Gilbert & George protested with a placard and Lily Cole presented a moving interactive performance by Yoko Ono at the Extinction Marathon in Past Marathon participants include: Marina Abramović; David Adjaye; Etel Adnan; Sophia Al-Maria; Halil Altindere; Ed Atkins; Tarek Atoui; David Bailey; Jonathan Baillie; John Baldessari; Stewart Brand; Gavin Bryars; Zygmunt

5 Bauman; John Brockman; Hussein Chalayan; Ed Cooke; Lily Cole; Douglas Coupland; Adam Curtis; Nick D'Aloisio; Jake Davis; Tacita Dean; Pierre de Meuron; Jimmie Durham; Marcus du Sautoy; Brian Eno; Tracey Emin; Richard Fortey; Paul Fryer; Gilbert & George; Amos Gitai; Édouard Glissant; Dan Graham; Zaha Hadid; Richard Hamilton; Jacques Herzog; Damien Hirst; Michael Horovitz; Jude Kelly; K-HOLE; Rem Koolhaas; Hanif Kureishi; Le1f; Ken Loach; David Lynch; Smári McCarthy; Kevin McGarry; Fumihiko Maki; Jonas Mekas; Gustav Metzger; Yoko Ono; Philippe Parreno; Cornelia Parker; Dan Pearson; Steven Pinker; Richard Prum; Lord Martin Rees; Richard Rogers; Israel Rosenfield; Dimitar Sasselov; Donald Sassoon; Peter Saville; Zachary Sims; Nancy Spero; Luc Steels; Michael Stipe; James Thornton; Juergen Teller; Chris Watson; Ai Weiwei; Jay Winter; Cerith Wyn Evans and Peter Zumthor.