The relationship between place and memory is well-tread territory in the art world, but a new exhibition at the Netherlands Institute for Media Art/ Montevideo uniquely problematizes this dynamic diad. The works included in "Territorial Phantom" are less engaged with re-inventing the question of how an individual is affected by a place, and are more illustrative of the impacts that psychic investment--in the form of interventions, collective action, or physical possession--can have upon spaces real, symbolic, and virtual. Make no mistake, the show is decidedly political, explicitly responding to scenarios in which "organizations, businesses, and countries appropriate ever more space, by privatizing public space or bringing 'democracy' to countries, and where necessary eliminating opponents." Open through May 12th, "Territorial Phantom" includes works by international artists AES+F Group (RU), Yael Bartana (IL/NL), Cao Fei(CN), Yolande Harris (UK), Marine Hugonnier (F), Karen Lancel (NL), Lucas Lenglet (NL), Raqs Media Collective (IN), State of Sabotage (SoS), and Artur Zmijewski (PL). Honing-in on zones as specific as "a city, a mountain range, or simply a piece of paper," the show calls on viewers to ask themselves how "we define our own position in a country and in regard to various territories?" - Marisa Olson
Image credit: State of Sabotage (SoS), SoS Flag