Saturday 14 December 2013, 3-5pm

To bring to a conclusion the current exhibition, X-Operative, X Marks the Bökship has programmed a special series of publication launches, readings and performances that each take an influential original text and recaptures or re-interprets it in a diverse selection of ways.

Launch of The Fox – Although technically a first issue, The Fox ‘issue 4’ is loosely a continuation of the seventies journal of the same name produced by the artist's collective Art & Language. However this regenerated version, edited by Matthew Whittington, deviates from the concerns of the past publication, being more closely aligned with the 'natural world' and using the urban fox as a medium with which to explore attitudes towards the city, culture, nature, labour, architecture and design. 

The Fox includes contributions from Daniel Arsham, Federico Campagna, Mike Davis, Mabli Elliman, Paul Elliman, Kristen Gallerneaux Brooks, Valentijn Goethals, Bill Hutchison, Esther Leslie & Ben Watson, Tetsuo Mukai, Leonard van Munster, Melissa Pilon, and Hermione Spriggs, as well as a selection of re-published material from the 19th and 20th century.

More information about The Fox here.

Launch of PERSONA including performance with Paul Becker and Nadia Hebson directed by Jessica Wiesner - PERSONA is an artist-led magazine co-edited by Melissa Gordon and Marina Vishmidt. It is the second in a series of magazines that grew out of the need to respond to questions that arose during four meetings of female artists entitled A conversation to know if there is a conversation to be had, held in New York, Amsterdam, Berlin and London in 2010-11.

PERSONA looks at the condition of self-presentation for the contemporary artist, and in an expansive manner encompasses discussions on refusal, interiority, friendship, candor, and embarrassment.  The launch will be marked by a performance of East Coast/West Coast Re-presented directed by Jessica Wiesner. The performance reconstructs the original East Coast/West Coast - a videotaped argument between Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson conducted with Joan Jonas in 1969. Watch footage of this event on the Bokship Youtube channel here.

Audio extract from The Wanderer by Franz Kafka by Rory Macbeth – Macbeth’s novel has been written by translating Kafka’s classic tale without knowledge of the German language or use of a dictionary. Rather than relying on computer-aided translations, Macbeth uses belief as a method for writing, forcing himself into a place where he simply believes the translation to be correct. Once a sentence is believed to be right, it is set in stone: there is no going back and reviewing it for the sake of a ‘better’ story – changing a word would invalidate the rest of the text. In this way, running parallel to the story of Gregor, is another story in real time – the story of a book being written.

The Wanderer by Franz Kafka is an ongoing work that has been performed and shown in galleries internationally, each time being printed and bound with blank pages.  The final work will also be an audio book. The unfinished novel has recently been adapted for film by Turner nominee and former Wysing resident artist Laure Prouvost. Macbeth has worked on the novel during his time as Writer in Residence at X Marks the Bökship.

Errors hit Orient by Chris Evans and Will Holder – Chris Evans went to British Library Newspapers, Colindale, to read B.S. Johnson's football reports (published in The Observer in 1964 & 65) then suggested to Will Holder that they be set to music. Eight reports are scored for speech and eight improvised themes, played 'bottleneck' on bass guitar. Four modular, percussive and affective pieces accompany this, composing a commentary in the indeterminate manner of some of the author's novels.

No Strange Men Shall Remove the Stone by Rebecca Jagoe – Current writer in residence for the duration of X-Operative, Jagoe will be bringing together her collected writing and presenting a selection of new work created during her time at Wysing.