Thursday, January 31, 2008

Karen Eliot - ANTINEOISM


Karen Eliot - ANTINEOISM
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich
INDIVIDUALITY COLLECTIVELY REALIZED AND ABANDONED

Karen Eliot is a name that refers to an individual human being who can be anyone. The name is fixed, the people using it aren't. The purpose of many different people using the same name is to create which no one in particular is responsible and to practically examine western philosophical notions of identity, individuality, originality, value and truth. Anyone can become Karen Eliot simply by adopting the name, but they are only Karen Eliot for the period in which they adopt the name. Karen Eliot was materialised, rather than born, as an open context in the summer of 1985. When one becomes Karen Eliot one's previous existence consists of the acts other people have undertaken using the name. When one becomes Karen Eliot one has no family, no parents, no birth. Karen Eliot was not born, s/he was materialised from social forces, constructed as a means of entering the shifting terrain that circumscribes the 'individual' and society. The name Karen Eliot can be strategically adopted for a series of actions, interventions, exhibitions, texts, etc.