29 May 2019, 7-9:30 PM, Science Museum, Winton Gallery, London
curated in collaboration with Károly Tendl and Dasha Loyko
20 May 2019, 7-9 PM, Gossamer Fog, London
Two nights of readings and performances in honour of the dead queen of kilograms and the eponymous book, Le Grand K. Le Grand K is an anthology, an obituary, a response by artists and writers to the dematerialisation of the kilogram, in poetry, prose, images, scripts, and possible worlds, edited by Dasha Loyko, Károly Tendl, and Andrea Khôra.
On the 20th of May, 2019, on what is known as World Metrology Day, The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) redefined the value of the kilogram. The physical standard, a cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy held in the BIPM vault in Paris, and kept under constant conditions since 1889, became a relic destined for a museum shelf. The International Prototype of the Kilogram, nicknamed Le Grand K, was replaced with a set of instructions for measuring 1 kg exactly, using electric current and the value of the Planck constant.
On this year's World Metrology Day, we launched Le Grand K the book, and departed for a reality that is perpetually performed, where inert definitions lose their grasp and are afloat among rocks, trees, chairs, ants, rooms, plastic, and hearts.
On Wednesday, the 29th of May, we paid tribute to the now-redundant measurement standard with an evening of readings and performances, an iteration of the live event that accompanied the launch of Le Grand K, at the Science Museum. The event took place as part of the Science Museum Late: The Measure of All Things, organised in partnership with National Physical Laboratory.
With work by: Julia Wolf / Alice Bucknell / Arieh Frosh / Marijn Ottenhof / John Henry Newton / The Idle Institute / Johanna Flato / Demelza Toy Toy & Annie Pender / Name Surname / Károly Tendl / Fiona Glen / Flo Ray / Samuel Capps / Dario Srbic / Farvash / Cameron Randall / Luca George & Déas McMorrow / Col Self / Andrea Khôra / Xenia Busalova / Mathilde Heu / Tatjana Vinona Joneska / Allan Gardner / Judith Hagan / Léonie Sinden / Nikolai / Dasha Loyko
Introduction by Jeremy Millar
Edited & curated by: Dasha Loyko / Károly Tendl / Andrea Khôra
Identity design by Farvash