AGOSTO
Joseph Pearson is a founding member of the AGOSTO / artist collective, based in Berlin.
The collective is formed of artists mostly working within the ambit of the Schaubühne, Germany’s best-known avant-garde theatre. Their collaboration unites their respective disciplinary expertise: Katharina Ziemke (painting and sculpture), Ruth Rosenfeld (drama and voice), Joseph Pearson (history and literary arts), and James Helgeson (music performance and composition).
AGOSTO’s inaugural group show, ‘Can You See Me More Clearly Now: Remembering Women in Science‘, opened in November 2021, at Projektraum Kurt-Kurt. Five video installation pieces explored the pioneering contributions of women in a domain dominated by men, where their contributions have been excised or ignored by the historical narrative.
As a project in the history of memory, ‘Can You See Me More Clearly Now’ remembers the Brazilian physicist SONJA ASHAUER (1923-1948), American transsexual computer engineer LYNN CONWAY (1938-), Hungarian-Canadian engineer KATALIN LŐRINCZ (1923-), Indian meteorologist ANNA MANI (1918-2001), and Japanese geochemist KATSUKO SARUHASHI (1920-2007).
Both the content and technique are multi-perspectival. In each video, a forgotten scientist is brought ‘to life’ or ‘back to life’ through live painting, literary texts, voice, and music. Together these art forms summon viscerally the example of a pioneer.
This first group exhibit was made possible through a generous grant from the Gwaertler Stiftung, Basel. Our next show is in preparation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxQPxsjDxMo&t=16s