fortunes guide to government contracts / prayers for pandrogeny & breaking sex is an exhibition that links politics and sexuality, probing the sensitive and emotional dimension of a possible trans-personal and supra-national political class.

the show develops along two main axes: the vertical features five photolithographic prints by sir eduardo paolozzi, and the horizontal with nine prayer-cards by genesis p-orridge. various sculptural interventions by jacopo mazzetti are arranged all over the space, turning the show into one organic installation.

the two 1965 photo-lithographs by paolozzi, titled fortunes guide to government contracts, depict a series of molecular patterns that recall displays of biohacking and genetic manipulation. each work supports two metallic micro-spirals hanging from human hairs. these high precision industrial devices are commonly used for detecting data related to pressure and temperature. in 2020 if your body temperature is higher than 37°c doors don’t open.

in animals as aliens, paolozzi transfigures a bear to the point of a deranged puppet. in contrast to the naive and playful aesthetic of the print, the title reveals the dark side of pop art, denouncing the increasingly irreversible effects of environmental disasters, and the critical status of the planet’s wild ecosystems. three guatemalan worry dolls hang over the image of the bear, offering a placebo in respite of its internal disquieting.

untitled (the machine) is displayed under an indoor climbing plant. the work depicts a bulldozer reaching into a geometric pattern of colored circles, squares and rectangles. in the top left of the image, an emanation sigil suggests a viewfinder of this machine, here operating on a cellular scale, echoing a recently familiar dynamic of global political structures vying toward a vaccine.

in the classic style of paolozzi, high life is a composition of modulated colorful patterns, installed in proximity to two septarian stones. in this context, the print addresses the mystical aspects and the importance of psychoactive experiences as a tool for deep connection with the biosphere through its mineral energy circuits.

leaning on the boiserie, prayers for pandrogeny & breaking sex is a series of holy cards that genesis p-orridge used to stick on the back of their collages and sculptures. on this occasion jacopo mazzetti has encapsulated each card in between glass ashtrays that become caskets for the works. each card recites a prayer praising androgyny and liberation from the war between sexes, in favor of a psychological, political and even genetic shift towards a new sexuality and freedom.

never before has a generation felt such a rage to live, destroy gender, destroy the
control of dna and the expected. every man and woman is a man and woman.
genesis and lady jaye breyer p-orridge

in their pandrogeny and breaking sex manifesto, genesis and lady jaye breyer p-orridge rant against the “fictional character’’ of a “self” determined by fixed notions of identity, gender, and the body. while there are many implications of pandrogeny, involving troubling the binaries masculine/feminine, self/other, mind/body, and nature/culture, one could argue that, at its core, the project’s philosophical drive boils down to the following statement: “we are malleable and committed to being malleable.”

in the wake of a global pandemic, akin to an antibody entering in action, fortunes guide to government contracts / prayers for pandrogeny & breaking sex warns on the fundamental premise of slavery: slaves do not know they are slaves.

the best slaves are the ones who think they are free.