NO TOXIC FACTOR explores the creative and energetic potentiality born of the masses. Taking as inspiration such enigmatic events as the Dancing Plague of 1518 and the Tanganiyka Laughter Epidemic of 1962, this exhibition seeks to examine the mass hysteria that can arise amongst highly energized, closely situated individuals. History has thus shown us that large groups of people can generate unpredictable synchronized behaviors that often remain unexplainable by science. Despite suspicions that environmental poisons or other bacterial agents may be at the core of such phenomena, oftentimes these events, when investigated using modern research methods, are shown to have "no toxic factor" involved. This exhibition points to the ambiguity of mass hysteria, suggesting that the line between laughter and psychosis, joy and mania, the rational and the senseless, are innately blurred. Recognizing the destructive forces that lie dormant within all groups, we instead choose to celebrate creativity, community and collaboration. 

The show is curated by Keren Moscovitch and features 33 artists who spent the summer of 2011 at a residency with the School of Visual Arts, and have come together again to reactivate the power of their collective imagination. 

We invite you to join us!

Opening: Wednesday March 23 6-8pm

Closing: Sunday March 27 4–6pm

Exhibition Dates: 23–27 March 2016

Venue: Central Booking Gallery
21 Ludlow Street New York, NY 10002 (see map)

Between Grand and Canal. Subways: F - East Broadway, B D - Grand St.