Hanne Lippard. "Flesh"(2016), at Kunst-Werke Berlin.
On Hanne Lippard.
"Lippard conceived a new production titled Flesh, an immersive installation, which takes up the entire ground floor hall of the KW building and confronts the visitor with one singular element—a spiral staircase. When ascending the stairs, one enters an awkwardly shaped space that incorporates the upper windows of the ceiling as a point of view outside of the exhibition hall. The newly created space is emerged by the artist’s voice, which slowly directs the audience towards a world where the meaning of language is being shaped, structured and categorized"
It took me some time to fully appreciate this artwork, which later became one of my strongest sources of inspiration. I was asked to wait ten minutes while the sound piece started again. At first dubitative on whether the magnificient staircase would have a higher value than the one merely given by its dimensions. Later on I was asked to go upstairs, which was a surprise as I thought that the staircase was all the work to see. Surprisingly, upstairs I found a low-ceiling, squared room , with speakers in each corner.
Later on the sound piece started. A neat, complex narrative, with rememberances on Virginia Woolf´s flow of consciousness , threads concerning topics to manking; starting at banale facts on beige colour, following to the beauty and structure of everyday spoken world , and finalizing with existential concerns on the ephemerality of life and the questioning on how joyfully we experience the everyday.
The use of space at the end felt quite appropiate to the piece; the isolation of asking the public to climb upstars becomes almost performative. The beige that surrounds Lippard´s ambitious exhibition carries the metaphor of being the most ubiquitous color. I am quite aware that KW space beauty made the work already attractive, but Lippards sound is phonetically beautiful, and appealing in meaning.
I think this is a strong reference to me, as it gave me insights on how to create a space that feels "safe" for reflection; sufficiently isolated from distractions so that the viewer could grasp the meaning more profoundly. The way in which I personally felt that the artist was trying to stablish a dialogue with me (as she asked specific question and let some silence for the audience to answer it in their minds), was a strong reference to my search on private space, a direct relation to my search on empathy.
On Charles Avery Private Talk with Oliver Basciano. March 11, 2017.
Charles Avery had a comprehensive exhibition at David Roberts Art Foundation in Camden. Being DRAFT one of the galleries I find the most valuable for the always interesting decision of artists exhibited, I headed to a private talk with the artist and Basciano.
I was able to see the works beforehand. In synthesis, Avery has dedicated 13 years of work on the creation of a fictional isle, called "The Island". In the gallery there were large scale drawings on social spaces in this fictional place. For the purpose of this project I focused on the human relations portrayed. "Place de la revolution"´s large scale show various character whose behavior are hard to analyze ,as Avery had used metaphors and cultural references, such as a Mona Lisa on a bike.
During the talk with Basciano, I was impressed by Avery´s dedication to expand the realms of "The Island". He even mentioned that, on that moment, he was working on a zoo, therefore his creativity would expand towards the natural field and how would these creatures adapt to this settlement.
I think it is a hard task for artists in the visual fields to create self-dependent universes, which makes his proposal novel and a valuable reference whose concept may inspire me on my upcoming project.
Elger Esser. Morguenland at Parasol unit.
I attended Elger Esser´s private view. As a nice fact I saw the artist and he smiled at me. Essers pictures for this project were a reflection on East, as he photographed the coasts of Lebanon and the Nile. Beautifully printes, the artist has an amazing knowledge on natural light. Some works almost reach an abstract richness as the light absortion on the material is higher. At first instance it causes a sense of magnificence and minimalistic holiness.
Esser explored also printing on metal plankets. The exhibition was a long term search on the archive of unknown photographers that captured the ruins in Middle East region. There is a notorious sense of value re-assignation: Middle East not being seen as a violent place , as destruction, but instead recovering the mysticism of it´s huge cultural trascendence, it´s religion. The westernized eye is challenged to change their view on what it´s considered as a war land,which becomes an exercise of empathy.
It took me time to realize the relation with my Art and Anthropocene project. As westernizers we are highly judgmental on the East countries, to the point we forget that we have pretty much the same humanistic concerns, and potential. By pointing my project on the awareness towards Citadel of Ban´s earthquake, I was trying to make the public realize that we are not that far from them, and therefore we have the responsibility of caring , or at least noticing.
http://parasol-unit.org/elger-esser-morgenland
While on the exhibition I was allowed to make more research on his previous projects. I also found a series of photographs called "Nocturnes a Giverny". Following a similar idea in terms of an exploration to old archives of places, Esser was also curious on Monet´s places of inspiration. Light seen as the creation of the world view. The process of revealing and hiding on darkness. It is again surprising his knowledge and exploitation of natural light.
Gardar Eide Einarsson and Oscar Tuazon at Maureen Paley. Photography from the Gallery website.
Gardar Eide Einarsson and Oscar Tuazon at Maureen Paley.
"Editing ,like sculpture, is cutting. Working with you, and in response to your work, allows me to experience the power of cutting into the fabric of the present. The contemporary political situation requires urgent response, by everyone, globally, right now. Art is utilitarian, this is a tool anyone can use. Even better, it is something everyone can do. Make a cut. Thats the feeling I have working on this project right now, a fervent and irrational belief in the urgencu of art and its utility"
Oscar Tuarzon, Press release for Maureen Paley.
This exhibition was useful to my research in terms of political , proactive reference towards our, as stated by the artists, alarming historical context. Material use was minimal and highly succesful, as it´s use of distorted metal made a direct reference to an accident occuring, like a car accident specifically, which is a strong concise metaphor to give an abstract insight on our day to day experience.
On the other hand I consider that the display on the gallery lacked information resources. I appreciate when de gallery directly supports the exhibition with books about the artists, as it allows me to link their previos works with the ones shown.
On Bonnefoi exhibition at Campoli Presti.
At first unperceptable, Bonnefoi´s most interesting achievement, in my point of view, is the material delusion. Seen at first as abstract minimalistic paintings, without much to analyze, Bonnefoi hides his complex playfullness with layers and transparency. As the detail images shown, the artist took special care of the canvas transparency. Atlhough the yuxtaposed layers , of variable textures, cover most of the canvas, the remained transparecy shows the wood support at the back. I found these tiny gestures poetic and enjoyable.