Three Uses of the Knife is an annual series of lectures and seminars around various topics of art organized in Vilnius since 2009.

Inspired by a cloud of recent discourses around the revival of the linguistic turn, or its modification into the narrative turn, as suggested by Dieter Roelstraete, this year’s Three Uses of the Knife (re)turns its focus on language and oral communication.

The subject is approached in the most open sense possible. The discussion spans from language as a medium — a carrier of messages, a particular visual and vocal expression, a set of means of communication, narration, manipulation, etcetera — but also language as an array of arbitrary signs or an abyss of meanings. The idea is also to look as how the easily accessible (democratic, even) medium of language is used by artists and curators also as a means to eliminate or establish institutional hierarchies.

The last decade has witnessed a new wave of talks, panels, conversations and monologues, readings, stand-ups, lecture performances, karaoke and variety shows, alternative education projects, and use of voice in general in contemporary — formerly known as visual — art. Three Uses of the Knife invites to talk about all this talking and telling once more and to explore its (possible) uses.

–
Three Uses of the Knife – an annual series of lectures and seminars around various topics of art organized in Vilnius since 2009, initiated by the team of contemporary art online magazine artnews.lt in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Centre (Vilnius) and the Art Information Centre of the National Gallery of Art (Vilnius).

2009: Three uses of the knife #1 | focused on creative art writing. Speakers: Anders Kreuger, Vivian Rehberg, Jan Verwoert, Jalal Toufic, Will Holder, Ellie Levenson, Simon Rees, Lolita Jablonskienė, Laima Kreivytė, Agnė Narušytė, Erika Grigoravičienė, Gintautas Mažeikis, Artūras Tereškinas, Audronė Žukauskaitė.

2010: Three uses of the knife #2 | focused on exploring alternative modes of contemporary art curating. Speakers: Tom Morton, Darius Mikšys, Lonas Žakaitis, Benoit Maire, Anton Vidokle, Transmission Gallery.