Overview 

The refined sense of the ridiculous in Nora Fleming’s Mis-guided Tour upends the conventional logic of how art should be viewed, seeming at first to be an unnatural distortion. Here, satire is a weapon in an honourable struggle to show things in a new light. Paradoxically, it indicates a deep respect for a particular system of values, if not for its targets. It is an attempt to turn the compost of art production and asymmetrical encounters to make way for new cultural growth and alternative art practice, in which play is a serious pursuit. Deadly serious. You risk the loss of your certainty and your gravity on a mis-guided tour.

The art world is a pale reflection of the worst and the best on planet earth. What is the place of art in a world that has come to be seen, in global terms, as horror and inequality? Is it Compromise? Aesthetic principles conceding to mediocrity. And yet, this does not inhibit the art market, which is voracious. It is, in its own right, a creative force to be reckoned with.

Nola Farman is an artist and writer who has for many years worked between genres, including large and small sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, sound art, video, artist books, writing and performance.