On the occasion of Mario Pfeifer’s exhibition Negotiating the Law at the Edith-Russ-Haus, we invite you to an online screening and conversation between the artist and Robert Trafford of Forensic Architecture (FA).
The conversation between Pfeifer and Trafford will take place following the screening of Forensic Architecture projects and will focus on their shared interest in how forensic methods can not only expand art institutions to include the representation and investigation of human rights violations, but also open up as dicursive spaces around such violations and civic engagement.
Forensic Architecture (FA) is a research agency based at the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London. It investigates human rights violations, including acts of violence committed by states, police forces, the military and corporations. FA works with institutions across civil society, from activists and advocacy teams to international NGOs and media organizations, to conduct investigations with and on behalf of communities and individuals affected by conflict, police violence, border regimes and so-called “environmental violence” – violence related to resource exploitation and pollution, among other things.
Robert Trafford’ s role at Forensic Architecture includes open source research, data mining and analysis, writing and editing for scripts and exhibitions, as well as occasional reporting. He is also a project coordinator. In 2017 he completed an MA in Investigative Journalism at City, University of London, having previously studied Philosophy and Theology at Jesus College, University of Oxford. He graduated with honors from both degrees. Before joining Forensic Architecture, Robert worked as a freelance journalist, which took him to France and Greece, among other places, to report on the refugee crisis. His writing has appeared in The Intercept, The Times and The Independent, among others. – forensic-architecture.org
Mario Pfeifer was the 2019 winner of the Lower Saxony Foundation’s Media Art Scholarship at the Edith-Russ-Haus. He was born in Dresden in 1981 and studied at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig, the Berlin University of the Arts, the Städelschule – Hochschule für Bildende Künste Frankfurt am Main and the California Institute of the Arts Los Angeles. Pfeifer was a Fulbright and DAAD scholarship holder and artist-in-residence at the ISCP in New York, the Gasworks in London and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Solo exhibitions: including 2020 Folkwang Museum Essen; 2019 The Power Plant Toronto; 2019 Pylon Lab Dresden; 2018 Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz; 2016 GfZK Leipzig; 2016 ACUD Berlin; 2015 Fotomuseum Winterthur; 2015 Ludlow38 New York. Group exhibitions: including 10th Berlin Biennale; 11° Bienal do Mercosul , Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein; KunstWerke Berlin; Städelmuseum Frankfurt am Main. – www.mariopfeifer.com