ICA at VCU announces the second iteration of its research programme MURRMUR

How do we perceive the act of reading? What do we think about publishing and distributing art and ideas? Is the act of learning really linear with the abundance of reading, misreading, unreading and re-reading? These were just some of the questions that viewers were compelled to contemplate in the first edition of Misread Unread Read Re-read Misread Unread Re-read (MURRMUR), a 10-month-long curatorial programme that aims to broaden perspectives surrounding exhibitions, reading, publishing and distributing. The Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University (ICA at VCU) now announces the second iteration of the investigative series, titled MURRMUR: Blurs and Senses—this time, inquiring about scavenging, collecting, marginalia, peripheries and material re-imaginings.

From February 16 to June 9, 2024, the exhibition will be on view at ICA at VCU, opening with two others in the Spring program: Patrice Renee Washington: Tendril and Traces of Ecstasy. “The Spring 2024 reprise of the series asks: What drives our impulse to discard? What drives our desire to keep? How do the traces of what no longer remains affect our experience of the present?” the official release states. The anticipated show MURRMUR: Blurs and Senses will showcase the work and ideas from artists, designers, writers and publishers including Lauren Francescone, James Hannaham, Zeynab Izadyar and ssSssssssssss (a study-friendship between Ashkan Sepahvand and virgil b/g taylor).

ICA at VCU based in Richmond, Virginia is a non-collecting institution that showcases a range of changing exhibitions, performances and programmes. The ICA offers a space to explore new ideas, providing an open forum for dialogue and collaboration across the region and the world. Through their programme MURRMUR, they suggest that an act of reading—encompassing misreading, unreading, re-reading, and so on—is an active experience wherein our understanding undergoes a continuous evolution. Previous iterations of MURRMUR exhibited work and prototypes, publications, and presentations from artists Rafael Domenech, nicole killian, Riley Hooker and Sam Taylor.

The design exhibition will examine the mentioned queries by delving into traditional processes of publishing and curating. The newly commissioned work partaking in the exhibition space will deal with the impulse to scavenge, collect and preserve scraps of different kinds—from the material to the conceptual. These remnants can range from newspaper headlines that inspire dread and hilarity in equal measure (Hannaham), scattering as material fantasies of gift exchange and formal reception (ssSssssssssss), pieces of clay forged by notions of time, waiting, and phantom connections (Francescone), to found iconography and verbal expressions that inspire new forms (Izadyar). These words, materials and designs are translated into newly created videos, prints, ceramics, textile installations, texts and performances. Together, they will transform Blurs and Senses into a space for considering marginalia, peripheries and neglected details. MURRMUR: Blurs and Senses is organised by ICA Assistant Curator of Commerce + Publications, Egbert Vongmalaithong.