For its first “disembodied” iteration, Cloaca Projects presents through the electric grid promised land..., a project inspired by the power and shortcomings of infrastructures and how these shape cultural communities.

The title is borrowed from the only known work of narrative fiction by Derek Jarman, Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping (written in 1971 and published for the first time in 2022 by House Sparrow Press). It narrates the adventure of a blind protagonist, King, and his valet, John, as they take a road trip through the promised land, America. The story contrasts the landscape with the impingements of modernity.

In one of the episodes of their journey, they encounter Pierrot who throws sheets of newspaper into the air and sings: “Owing to lack of interest, tomorrow has been cancelled.”

It is a given that man-made infrastructures permeate every contemporary human interaction. Functioning as invisible skeletons, often of a rather arthritic disposition, organizational systems such as the electrical grid, the cloud, and the internet greatly maneuver the mechanics of our everyday existence. In the past couple of years, we've seen just how much the survival of our communities is entangled with the expanding capacities and failures of these systems.

After succumbing to the realities of the local real-estate infrastructure fallout, Cloaca Projects became hyper-aware of how other cultural communities in our close vicinity develop, flourish, struggle, and often wane as a result of failing systems.

The idea for this show came to us during the inauguration of the brick and mortar space for SutroFM, a local online radio station. On that night, we were inspired by the enthused and flourishing community present at the event. With the recent demise of many institutions and spaces in San Francisco’s cultural landscape, it has been thrilling to watch how a handful of online radio stations in the city have thrived. Along with SutroFM, HydeFM and Fault Radio have recently established physical spaces while creating a burgeoning shared community around their programming.

However, it is impossible not to consider the difficulties that may lie ahead for these new spaces and their shared communities. Knowing that their endurance can be highly affected by certain logistic infrastructures, this latest Cloaca project extrapolates on the elements and protocols necessary to support the life of communities centered around a shared local culture.

- marcella faustini

through the electric grid promised land..., curated by Cloaca Projects (marcella faustini and Charlie Leese) is the eighth in a series of exhibitions at /, each organized by an independent Bay Area-based curator. Alongside Mathew Kneebone and Most Dismal Swamp, the exhibition will also feature Fault Radio and HydeFM. A public program at The Lab on April 14th will present a San Francisco iteration of Writing on Raving, a NY event series spearheaded by Zoë Beery, Geoffrey Mak, and Mckenzie Wark.

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