Squatter Sovereignty: Origami Fireworks 2011

Description

Squatter Sovereignty: Origami Fireworks are made from a series of key texts which first introduced the concept of ‘Popular Sovereignty’ in the U.S., later derided by Abraham Lincoln as ‘Squatter Sovereignty.’ These works are sited intermittently throughout the exhibition and can be picked up and played with or taken home by the viewer. As impotent remnants of celebration, echoing fireworks on the 4th July, each firework is a small unfolding contradiction between the celebration of Empire and the struggle for deep Democracy in the ‘will of the people’. In employing varied material in this project under the term ‘Squatter Sovereignty’ Loughran alludes to the potential for these spaces and for ‘squatting’ to take place in multiple spaces at multiple moments. In questioning what is the relationship between them the viewer is invited to consider both the contrasts and parallels between such sites and their potential in becoming.

Curated by Georgina Jackson