All of the Lights

The works in Haig Aivazian’s exhibition All of the Lights, currently on view at the Renaissance Society through March 21, cover a lot of ground—geographically, historically, and conceptually—as they draw out connections between places, things, and events that might at first seem unrelated. In his two videos and the surrounding installation, considerations of power, technology, and the control of public life rise into view as he makes compelling use of found footage and other repurposed materials.

On the final weekend of the exhibition, 3CT fellow Joseph Masco and 3CT co-director Lisa Wedeen offer their reflections on Aivazian’s work and their own, before joining the artist in discussion, moderated by curator Karsten Lund.

Each working at the intersection of many fields in their research, Masco and Wedeen, like Aivazian, at times delve into the effects of technology, political imaginaries in the US or the Middle East, power and violence, and the roles played by mass mediation and visual culture. Together with the artist, they offer wide-ranging perspectives on these dynamics, to name only a few, and the images and narratives that shape them.

The two video works in Aivazian’s exhibition, All of Your Stars Are but Dust on My Shoes (2021) and Prometheus (2019), will screen three times on Renaissance TV before and after the talk, at 11am, 1pm, and 4pm CDT: view them here.