The Lucifer Effect curated by Gordon Cheung

5th October - 18th November 2007 

 

............................................Image by Reza Aramesh from the series: 'Between the eye and the object falls the shadow...'

 

Artists Include:
 

 

In August 1971, social psychologist Philip Zimbardo performed a controversial experiment, one whose results still send a shudder down the spine because of what they reveal about the dark side of human nature. In his book 'The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil', Zimbardo recalls the Stanford Prison Experiment and we witness normal college students randomly assigned to play the role of guard or inmate for two weeks in a simulated prison, yet the guards quickly became so brutal that the experiment had to be shut down after only six days. He suggests that under certain conditions and social pressures to morph into a pattern of a cultural stereotype ordinary people can commit acts otherwise unthinkable, this transformation is what Zimbardo calls "The Lucifer Effect".


At the heart of this exhibition of painting, video, photography and sculpture is how each of the artists presents to us multi-dimensional realities that dynamically illuminate perceptions of humanity. Whether they are performative rituals and systems of signifiers from popular to socio-political culture the works in this show trigger an archetypal threshold of recognition enabling us to see aspects of humanity¹s heart of darkness and ultimately our delusions to hide from the truth about ourselves.


 

Open Thursday until Sunday 11am - 6pm or by appointment


For further information please contact 
Angelica, Paul or Richard
or phone +44 (0)20 7033 3678

 

 

 

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