A Constructed World
The Social Contract
The Social Contract is an installation and a legally binding
Participation and Confidentiality Agreement that the viewer is
invited to undertake with the artists. In doing so they become part
of a temporary community of silent participants for a given period
of time, agreeing not to disclose the contents of the gallery.
The Social Contract is a participatory work that requires the
audience to take into account their own honesty and authenticity,
soliciting questions about integrity, transparency, responsibility
and the consequences of transgressing accepted conventions. It
is a work made by those who come to see the exhibition, implying
that the viewer make some awareness of their own production
and the possibility of changing the relation between the subject
and speech.
Each edition of The Social Contract is considered with the curator
and the agreement is drawn up by a lawyer based in the relevant
city. The first version of this work was made in 2007 in a private
apartment in Milan, and subsequently at the Australian Centre
for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, NUS Centre for the Arts,
Singapore and most recently at Spring Workshop, Hong Kong.
The Social Contract, 2007, legal agreement, installation, dimensions variable
Private apartment in Milan, event coinciding with A Constructed World’s solo exhibition Schifanoia at N.O. Gallery,
Milan, curated by Ilaria Bonacossa
The Social Contract, 2008, legal agreement, room installation, dimensions variable
In A Constructed World’s survey exhibition, Increase Your Uncertainty, Australian Center for Contemporary Art,
Melbourne, curated by Juliana Engberg
The Social Contract, 2009, legal agreement, room installation, dimensions variable
In And the difference is..., NUS Center for the Arts, Singapore, curated by Alexie Glass and Heman Chong
The Social Contract, 2013, legal agreement, room installation, dimensions variable
Spring Workshop, Hong Kong, curated by Heman Chong as part of Moderation(s), a year long collaboration
between Witte de With, Rotterdam and Spring Workshop, Hong Kong