Suzanne Treister
SURVIVOR (F) + Interplanetary Dresses For Space Travel (2018) Mural

Suzanne Treister’s site-specific commission appears on the hoardings around Battersea Power Station at the newly opened stretch of riverfront in Circus West Village. Watercolours from Treister’s SURVIVOR (F) project (2016-ongoing) are combined with images of the power station’s iconic chimneys in a new 80 meter long mural.

As the power station is poised to begin a new chapter in its history, Treister’s project reflects on technological advancement and the ruins of older technologies left in its wake. Her watercolours incorporate imagery and slogans that recall the futurism of the pre-internet era, but references to clouds, algorithms and a sky ‘the colour of the death of the internet’ position the work as a psychedelic prophecy, evoking what Treister describes as the ‘post-futuristic sublime’.

With a band of blue forming its upper horizon, the mural will at times seem to merge with the sky, giving this architectural monument a lightness of possibility, as Treister transforms it into a space for imagining different futures.

A specially-composed piece of music, Songs of Survivor(F) Track 01 (2018), will be played from 7pm-11pm on Saturday 7 July and from 12pm-6pm on Sunday 8 July. Composition: Sean Ashmore; vocals: Michael Boe; lyrics: Suzanne Treister.

Image courtesy the artist, Annely Juda Fine Art, London and P.P.O.W., New York

Suzanne Treister (b.1958, UK) draws on virtual reality, imagined worlds and speculative fiction in her explorations of the potential of artificial intelligence. Regarded as a pioneer of net art in the early ‘90s, she began her artistic career as a painter and drawing and painting continue to play an important role in her practice. Her distinct bodies of work typically span several years and involve in-depth research into the influence of corporate, military and paranormal forces on our relationship to information and technology.

Battersea Power Station,
a decommissioned coal-fired power station built in the 1930s, is one of the largest brick buildings in Europe and once generated 20 percent of London’s energy supply. The iconic Grade II* listed structure remained largely unused for more than 30 years after its closure, but is now at the heart of the significant redevelopment of the area, which will include new homes, as well as retail, leisure and commercial space.

A project supported by Battersea Power Station as partners of Art Night 2018. Find out more details on how to get to Battersea Power Station here.