It was a new exhibition for a new home last week at Hang Up, as the urban art gallery revealed work by The Connor Brothers, on show at Hang Up’s new gallery in Hackney. The brothers have put together an exhibition from their Pulp Fiction services, some leaked documents – and information about work they have done in “the Jungle” refugee camp in Calais, in collaboration with Pussy Riot’s activist and musician Nadya Tolokonnikova. Nadya came to the launch to talk about the collaboration, which aims to raise awareness of the reality of refugees’ lives in Calais – a popular choice which ensured that the audience was spilling out onto the street.
What unites the work is an exploration of the relationship between fact and fiction. The representations of paperback books remind us that fiction enriches our factual world. The redacted documents are factual representations of a world which has little reality for many citizens. The Jungle is a living hell – a fact much harsher than fiction. What is real – and how are our perceptions distorted through the experiences of our fictional lives?
•“So it goes…” by the Connor Brothers is at the Hang-Up Gallery, 81 Stoke Newington Road, N16 8D (tel. 020-3667 4550) until 6th December.
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