ARTIST DAVID LAMIGNAN LARSEN

Weird Science Exhibition @ Studio 17, Stavanger. (opening night 7th october 2016)

Exhibition Text (scroll down for pictures)

Afrofuturism is a literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of color, but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examine the historical events of the past. Afrofuturism addresses themes and concerns of the African Diaspora through a technoculture and science fiction lens, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afrodiasporic experiences. Afrofuturism can be identified in artistic, scientific, and spiritual practices throughout the African diaspora. Contemporary practice retroactively identifies and documents historical instances of Afrofuturist practice and integrates them into the canon.

– Wikipedia

David Lamignan Larsen (Norway/Nigeria) started the hiphop label Monkeybwoy Productions in 2004. As a teenager, while living in Africa, David was robbed by two guys and a monkey. The name of David’s hiphop label originates from this incident. The event also inspired David to start training in martial arts.

David grew up with hiphop from the 80’s and 90’s, when rappers actually had something to say and stand up for. David is also a big fan of the cult/B movie culture, such as Nollywood and Blaxploitation movies, where everything is so bad it is good.

In 2005 David begun his studies at the University of Contemporary Art in Trondheim (KiT-NTNU). The same year he produced a radio show for which he made everything from commercials, news, and music. For this piece he also played the radio host and created a number of alter egos, such as the Nigerian rapper Bushman. As the years went by more musicians were created: Afro B, Mae$trO (CEO), Jah Samson, F=1LUV, AMAN, DJ Enan (MB main producer), MC Lyrical STD, Mr. Bubble Guy, Peace Pipe, Alex Ventura, RaïRaï, MC Ryan, and so forth. These characters have been taken out from the virtual world and given life through mediums such as music videos, interviews, live performances, and documentaries/mockumentaries.

Weird Science is a journey where video, music, coffee, comics, martial arts, and performance intersects with the artistic world. Weird Science is a mix between conspiracy theories, capitalism, materialism, human slavery, science fiction, aliens, blaxploitation, and time travel. Weird Science is an artistic afrofuturism experiment. Weird Science is the fucked up mind of artist, David Lamignan Larsen.

www.lamignan.com

www.monkeybwoy.com

The exhibition is supported by: Rogaland Kunstsenter & metropolis stavanger