Leo Asemota: AFTER WALTER

You are invited to the book launch of artist Leo Asemota‘s AFTER WALTER: 10th anniversary edition. The artist’s book is based on his performance interpretation of Walter Benjamin’s landmark essay ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ (1936). The performance, which he wrote specifically for radio, was staged in the studios of and broadcast on Resonance 104.4FM on 19 January 2007.

This book launch is part of an international programme motivated by the 80th anniversary of Benjamin’s essay in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of Asemota’s performance.

The anniversary programme has involved a screening of the video recording of the performance and artist’s talk at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin (20 September 2016), an exhibition at Leeds College of Art of the archive of the project including drawings, preparatory notes, film and photographs (20 October – 16 December 2016) and a show on Resonance 104.4FM (19 January 2017), which included a re-transmission of the original broadcast 10 years to the date followed by a conversation between Asemota and Mark Miller (Tate Britain and Tate Modern).

Biography

Artist Leo Asemota was born in Benin City in Nigeria. His heterogeneous ideas and projects often bring together many creative disciplines, for example, the traditional arts of drawing, performance, sculpture and printmaking alongside filmmaking, photography and installation. His work has been engaged with internationally, in exhibitions, performances, screenings and public programs in the UK, Europe, Nigeria, Canada and the US. Asemota resides in London.

Recording