43 Minutes is an experimental project that attempts to demonstrate, oppose and manipulate some of the major characteristics and effects of neoliberal capitalism, such as the metaphorical acceleration of time, the overproduction of objects, the economic rationalisation of social life, the emphasis on the individual, and the promotion of personal responsibility. 

The 43 Minutes exhibition invites members of the public to participate in painting a wall “1000 times” for an arbitrary 43 minutes. Following, the opening night performance will acknowledge and question the group’s complicity in neoliberal capitalism, and also (sadly), the impossibility (even futility) of their intention.

—

Conceptualised and programmed long before the COVID-19 crisis, 43 Minutes aimed to demonstrate, oppose and manipulate some of the major characteristics and effects of Neoliberal Capitalism, such as the metaphorical acceleration of time, the overproduction of objects, the economic rationalisation of social life, the emphasis on the individual, and the promotion of personal responsibility. Employing signifiers of Capitalism, such as white paint and mass-produced building materials like plasterboard, ply, particleboard, MDF and timber stud, The KACA Projects invited members of the public to participate in painting a wall “1000 times” for an arbitrary 43 minutes. The project asked: Can we re-evaluate the meaning and purpose of social relationships? And, is it possible to produce a new kind of attention to the world and people around us?

The COVID-19 global crisis has brought the world’s focus and dependence on money into sharp focus. We watch as people panic-hoard toilet paper, and others profit. The driving focus of Capitalism—and its malevolent successor, Neoliberal Capitalism—is money and profit. Under this regime, social connections that exist outside economic gain are often undervalued, even irrelevant. COVID-19 has served to powerfully illustrate this—laying bare the precarity of social connections. 

The timing of 43 Minutes—unfolding as it has when the reality of COVID-19 began to take hold—has been critical to the way it has made meaning for us. On the day we were due to install the exhibition (Sunday, 15 March), and in consultation with Side Gallery, we took the difficult decision to proceed with the project, working closely with our team to deliver the project creatively and safely. Following WHO’s COVID-19 guidelines, Side Gallery implemented strict social distancing and sanitation procedures; ensured participation in the ‘wall painting experience’ was by appointment only; and programmed a limited ticketed opening event that is being live-streamed via Facebook.

For us, our supporters and participants, 43 Minutes has revealed itself to be a powerful demonstration of possible small modes of being that are so valuable and necessary in times of adversity. Connections for which we should all uncompromisingly fight, for their existence, relevance and value. Because if we don’t, what, dare we ask, is the point?

Thank you for your support.

The KACA Projects