THINK TANK
NoMuNoMu presents Think Tank! An exhibition featuring the work of Esteban Whiteside and The Menial Collection. By framing themselves as neutral and nonpartisan, think tanks have historically referred to themselves as “universities without students” despite the reality that their work is produced in the service of private interests behind closed doors. In its cannibalization of the term, think tank proposes an alternative -- knowledge produced and shared by its visitors, as students without the University. Drawing inspiration from the “concrete oppressionist” paintings of Esteban Whiteside and books from The Menial Collection, visitors take on the role of researchers, students, activists and policy makers.
In workshops led by The Menial Collection, visitors are invited to engage in collaborative research on the subject of strategies of protest, dissent, et al. Throughout the run of Think Tank, participants will sift through all of The Menial Collection and NomuNomu’s collected materials that deal with or hone the skills and strategies of protest and radical leftist praxis, scan, copy, print, collage, and composee them into a collaboratively produced primer and introduction to the art of dissent. Here we celebrate that no research is neutral or apolitical.
