Random Institute is a testing ground for new exhibition formats and random ideas.
About
Random Institute is an extension of what a contemporary art institution can be, that is to say, truly unbothered by rules and bureaucracy.
From 2016 until 2019, Random Institute ran the curatorial program of the international contemporary art center Despacio in San José, Costa Rica.
From 2016 until 2019, Random Institute ran the curatorial program of the international contemporary art center Despacio in San José, Costa Rica.
People behind
Random Institute is directed by and brings together curatorial and publishing activities of the co-founders Sandino Scheidegger and Luca Müller.
This site was coded by Sarvesh Dwivedi and Emmanouil Zoumpoulakis and designed by Sandino Scheidegger.
This site was coded by Sarvesh Dwivedi and Emmanouil Zoumpoulakis and designed by Sandino Scheidegger.
Art World Killer Game
Untold Stories
Happened in June 2018
Altruism (In Focus)
The poles we hang onto during a subway ride are widely considered to be one of the most disgusting things imaginable. Touched by thousands of people, they are true havens for bacteria. Reason enough for Iván Argote to dive into an everyday scene and shake the crowd’s indifference through a very simple, very loving gesture: passionately licking a metal bar in the Parisian metro.
ThoughtsThoughts
Iván Argote is a master of the innocently offensive. With his piece Altruism, he lives up to this reputation, confronting us with a situation that makes us want to look away and look more closely all at once, as the other passengers in the car divert their gazes, uninterested or uncomfortable about what they are witnessing. “Why can’t this thing that everyone has touched be wonderful, instead of an object of revulsion?” Argote asks. In wanting to realize an act of pure love, Argote reveals just how disgusted we are by one another.
Learn more about Iván Argote on the web. His solo show Deep Affection opens at Perrotin in Paris on June 2, 2018.
InformationInformation
This piece is presented as part of In Focus, a monthly series showcasing new video art that caught our eyes, made us think, or that we simply couldn’t forget.
Altruism, 2011
Iván Argote
Video, 1:20 min
Edition of 5
Iván Argote was born in 1983 in Bogota, Colombia and graduated at the Beaux Arts de Paris. He has most recently exhibited at the São Paulo Biennale, and has had solo exhibitions at Gallery Emmanuel Perrotin (Paris, New York), D+T Project Gallery (Brussels) and Palais de Tokyo (Paris). He lives and works in Paris, France.
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