FACT Liverpool unveils two new powerful solo exhibitions

These immersive installations delve into complex themes such as alternative currencies, gate-kept spaces, brotherhood, and belonging, offering visitors a unique and thought-provoking experience.

From Friday, 5 July until Sunday, 13 October 2024, FACT Liverpool will host the two powerful solo exhibitions by renowned artists R.I.P. Germain and Sara Sadik.

R.I.P. Germain presents “After GOD, Dudus Comes Next!” (2024), a large-scale installation that expands on his first major UK solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London in 2023.

In “After GOD, Dudus Comes Next!”, R.I.P. Germain explores the concept of ‘false fronts’: spaces that look like one thing, but function as something else, or otherwise occlude some of their operations from general access.

The gallery presents a street facade with three such establishments, that each reveal or conceal their purpose to varying degrees, depending on who you are.

R.I.P. Germain, "After GOD, Dudus Comes Next!" (2024). Image courtesy of the artist. — R.I.P. Germain, “After GOD, Dudus Comes Next!” (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.

Inside each space are hundreds of visible and hidden objects that may or may not hold significance for us; to understand their meaning relies on the visitors’ own background and understanding of the world.

They act as clues and codes – perhaps evoking a reaction, or not resonating at all.

Through architecting these spaces, the artist examines how exclusionary structures shape alternative spaces and behaviours, shedding light on how those who feel the need to create support networks do so when official resources are inaccessible, and how illegal activity quite literally fills gaps in the fabric of cities.

R.I.P. Germain’s practice uses the micro of people’s experiences to explore the macro of the systems that shape the world. The artist’s work considers how assumptions – sometimes accurate, sometimes inaccurate – are projected onto us, but this is not a passive experience, they have an impact regardless of whether we ignore them, lean into them, or create opportunities to exploit them. Social currency allows access to spaces and experiences – for example, being invited into the V.I.P. area of a jewellery store, or being a part of a sacred ritual.

“After GOD, Dudus Comes Next!” serves as a breathing space to consider the complex overlaps between alternative currencies, gate-kept spaces and odd logics that structure hidden worlds. R.I.P. Germain isn’t asking audiences to be entirely comfortable with their experience of the work, but to explore connections between subcultures and broader cultural landscapes, urging a reevaluation of entrenched norms and perceptions.

Combining film, installation, and gaming, Sara Sadik creates fantastical worlds that sit between fiction and documentary. Sadik explores themes of loneliness, love, and empowerment, focusing on the unique subcultures developed by diasporas, particularly in her homeland of France.

Sara Sadik, XENON PALACE CHAMPIONSHIP (2023). Image courtesy of the artist

At FACT, Sadik presents a reimagining of XENON PALACE CHAMPIONSHIP (2023), an interactive film and installation environment.

The artist transforms the gallery into a pink-hued hookah lounge, mirroring the Xenon Palace—a haven created to escape reality— in which the film is set. The narrative revolves around a group of men competing in gaming tournament to win the keys to the palace. Training and competing with Xenons, bizarre creatures that emerge from wisps of smoke, the men engage in intense gaming duels.

As battles commence, the film seamlessly transitions into an interactive video game, enabling visitors to play using custom-built gesture-recognition controllers that mimic the futuristic hookah hoses depicted in the film.