Selin Davasse—Corpus Iuris Artis: II. The Hearing

Based on a fictional legal system and its foundational penal code, ›Corpus Iuris Artis‹ unfolds as an exhibition and performance cycle, in which Selin Davasse presents a new body of works questioning, codifying, institutionalizing, and putting on trial what constitutes ethical artistic or curatorial practice today. Approaching the mechanisms and power dynamics within the art world in a humorous and self-critical tone, the project equally nods to the performative nature of law and the frail state of legal systems. 

Selin Davasse’s exhibition ›Corpus Iuris Artis: II. The Hearing‹ at soft power revolves around the fictional Court of Ethical Reckoning in the Arts. As the artist adopts the roles of the various parties involved—prosecution and defense, interrogator and witness, jury and judge—she challenges our own respective positions; our sincerity and truthfulness, complicity and liability. After all, ignorantia iuris non excusat (›ignorance of the law does not absolve‹).

›Corpus Iuris Artis: II. The Hearing‹ is presented at soft power as part of Featured 2025, in cooperation with Pickle Bar’s presentation of Davasse’s performance ›Corpus Iuris Artis: III. The Appeal‹.