SOLITARY by Tyler Coburn, with Becket MWN
conversation between Tyler Coburn and Becket MWN
Thursday October 5, 8pmSolitary is an experiment in site-specific writing produced at a wellness center in South Korea designed to resemble a prison. To make this work, artist Tyler Coburn commissioned nine contributors to spend time in ‘solitary confinement’ at the center, where they produced texts using the materials on hand. What results is a book exploring wellness, solitude, incarceration, and what it means to seek freedom through confinement. For this event, Coburn will introduce the project then discuss its making with writer and artist Becket MWN.
Solitary is co-published by Sternberg Press and Art Sonje Center. Contributors include Jaeyeon Chung, Sunjin Kim, Hyunjeung Kim, Kyungmook Kim, Min Kyoung Lee, Woochang Lee, Russell Mason, and Jiwon Yu. The book was designed by Luke Gould and primarily translated by Minji Chun.
Tyler Coburn is an artist, writer, and teacher based in New York. He received a BA in Comparative Literature from Yale University and an MFA in Art from the University of Southern California. He also served as a fellow in the Whitney Independent Study Program from 2014-2015. Coburn’s work has been presented at numerous venues including Centre Pompidou, Paris; Bergen Kunsthall; Hayward Gallery, London; Para Site, Hong Kong; and Kunstverein Munich. In addition to Solitary, he is the author of three books: I’m that angel (2012); Robots Building Robots (2013), published by CCA Glasgow; and Richard Roe (2019), published by Sternberg Press. His texts have appeared in e-flux journal, Frieze, Dis, Mousse, ArtReview, LEAP, and Rhizome.
Becket MWN is a writer and artist based in Amsterdam, NL and originally from the United States. He received his MFA from the University of Southern California in 2014, and was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in 2016-2018. His recent projects have focused on the relation between language and the production of the self; the circulation of affect and mass media; and current forms of political subjectivity. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include The Tail (Brussels, BE), Kevin Space (Vienna, AT), Kunstverein Graz (Graz, AT). Recent group exhibitions include Shimmer (Rotterdam, NL), Rongwrong (Amsterdam, NL), Kunsthalle Fribourg (Fribourg, CH), Kristina Kite Gallery (Los Angeles, US), Motto Books (Berlin, DE), and Vleeshal (Middelburg, NL). His work will be included in an upcoming exhibition presented by the Inter Media Art Institute (Düsseldorf, DE) relating to their archive of artists working with video magazines. He also publishes art criticism and essays under the name Becket Flannery.
