Fia Backström

Fia Backström stages a two-person performance as the final element of her new work The Last of US—that safe spot in the dot above I in the word life, created for the group exhibition In Support.

Backström charts an associative trajectory in this multifaceted work, which has unfolded in stages since the exhibition’s opening in November. The foundation of the work is a set of what the artist calls “givens” in The Kitchen’s space—existing materials related to historical or recent activities such as temporary structural remedies, wall colors, and artworks previously installed. Blurring the borders between past and present, real and staged, Backström doubled each of these “givens” for the opening of the exhibition through the insertion of materials and representations in The Kitchen’s space between staff-only areas and publicly accessible points. In the work’s second phase, these “givens” act as springboards from which the artist explores connections to personal stories and broader cultural forces. Across these elements, Backström focuses on language operations in relation to psychotic breaks and authoritarian propaganda—two distinct forces correlated in the ways they impair or undercut a sense of reality on an individual or collective level, respectively.

On the final days of In Support, Backström’s new performance will bring together the accruing associations of The Last of US — that safe spot in the dot above I in the word life. The performance will lay out a fragmented narrative while winding a path through The Kitchen’s building that bridges the locations of the “givens,” artworks including the series Language Holders Backström created in response, Alphabet Set (2019) on loan from artist Katherine Hubbard, and language written with one of artist Shannon Ebner’s photographic typefaces called WET LETTERS (2019– ). The performers will pull and transform language from various sources—including personal, clinical, and historical—to explore the visceral and mutable speech acts of psychotic experiences and fascist rhetoric.

Organized by Alison Burstein, Curator, Media and Engagement, with project management by Zack Tinkelman, Production Manager.

# About [In Support](https://thekitchen.org/on-view/in-support/)

In Support takes on the project of parsing various dimensions of support as related to institutional activities. Featuring new commissions by Fia Backström, Francisca Benítez, Papo Colo, and Clynton Lowry, this exhibition calls for an examination of how support operates in distinct—and often unseen—ways as an offering, practice, and position within and beyond institutional settings. In Support unfolds across The Kitchen’s three floors and mezzanine levels, with works appearing in interstitial architectural sites that are associated with support in its manifold forms. The exhibition is on view through March 12 and viewing hours are Thursday–Saturday, 2–6 pm. Click here to learn more.