Andreas Angelidakis, Magda Mostafa, Jordan Whitewood-Neal: A Sock in the Eye

20 Jun – 3 Aug 2024

opening: 20 Jun 2024, 15:00

A Sock in the Eye is a traveling exhibition, originally curated by Andreas Führer for Institut Funder Bakke (IFB), an independent exhibition venue outside of Silkeborg with step-free access where it is on show from 4th May through 16th June 2024 (see more at www.institutfunderbakke.com).

The exhibition takes its title from the poem “I Am Not One of The” by the poet, performer, and disability rights activist Cheryl Marie Wade.

It takes its point of departure from a building included in the Danish Conservation Act of 1918 (Fredningsloven), the Charlottenborg castle. Erected during the 1670s and home to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts since 1754, the building has been included in the Danish Conservation Act since the legislation was passed in 1918. This, as a consequence, has made education near impossible for those with disabilities, as the Danish Conservation Act makes it incredibly difficult—or, more simply, prohibitively expensive—to alter the architecture in order to, for instance, install an elevator.

In the O—Overgaden iteration of A Sock in the Eye, the exhibition consists of three architectural models commissioned in collaboration with Chair of Architecture and Care at the Department of Architecture ETH Zürich. In each model, the architect and/or researcher has taken on the task of fantasizing about what The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen could look like, if the building was accessible. This is done from three different perspectives on accessibility: Crip (Jordan Whitewood-Neal), Neurodivergence (Magda Mostafa), and Queer Aging (Andreas Angelidakis).

The combination of these three perspectives produces concrete proposals for the Academy and, more generally, lends itself to an idea that moves architectural thinking away from compensation and towards dreams beyond accommodation.
The exhibition is produced through a collaboration between Institut Funder Bakke (IFB) and O—Overgaden. O—Overgaden is itself a venue included in the Danish Conservation Act. Currently O—Overgaden offers wheelchair access through its main entrance with a mobile stair climber, while working on obtaining permission to install a permanent stairlift. Accompanying A Sock in the Eye, the slow bureaucratic process of obtaining this permission will be documented alongside the main display of the architectural models.