The wish was that the text is produced.
The wish was that the text includes three wishes.
The wish was that the consequences of the wishes are twisted from what was intended.
The consequence is that paradoxically third wish is applied by not being applied at the same time, which enables THIS TEXT to become anything else than it is at presence; it cannot represente anything else than the text itself.
Monday, 25 February 2008
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Roman Signer in the Hauser & Wirth London Gallery
Walking from the busy Piccadilly Circus Street into the Hauser & Wirth London Gallery space the viewer finds the surprising installation made out of the small automatic lawnmower and fifteen chairs. The lawnmower pushes and knocks the chairs around in a chaotic way, bumps itself between the legs in a constant struggle with the dead objects. The gallery space is interesting itself, or more precisely the way it’s accessed from the main street. Behind the black curtain, which is actually the only element, which separates the chaos of the street from the art products, the little lawnmower can be spotted, which automatically finds its way around the fifteen chairs, constantly pushing and knocking them around. Upstairs three videos can be viewed, “Helicopter on shelf”, “Water” and “Hose”. All three videos document the actions of the objects and mechanism interacting with the flow of the water. The little toy helicopter placed on the shelf drifts on the water surface moving slowly towards the waterfall and as its about to fall it’s suddenly lifted up by someone navigating it from distance and saved from being drawn in the water. Once the shelf is again drifting flat at the bottom of the waterfall the helicopter gently lands up back on it to continue it’s drifting journey. In the lowest level of the gallery the bottle hung on the string is suspended above the electrical fan, which determines it’s spinning movement. In the vault another video can be watched, “Old Shatterhand”, on which artist himself unsuccessfully tries to gun at a target, as the slimming device surrounding his waist, causes the violent vibrations, which unable him to make the correct shoot.
The gallery presents some old and more recent works of Swiss artist Roman Signer, who explores everyday utilized objects and man-made machines in rather intriguing and absurd relation. It is difficult to avoid the smile while watching the chaotic lawnmower or the video works. The functionality of the objects with its relation to our everyday existence is gently laughed at when all those perfectly useful items find their new dimension in rather subverted and ridiculous permutations. The appearance of the objects and through them the appearance of our own everyday life is brought to the level of absurdity and nothingness at the same time, in a rather humorous way. What is even more interesting is the fact that the whole experience could be easily described as pathetic. The boundary between something what represents nothing and something what has a value is very fragile and it is definitely the subject matter of Signers work, however in a less optimistic interpretation it can be argued how successfully the work manifests itself. The question appears; what is the determining factor according to which we are actually able to make a judgment about the work? In terms of Signers work the question is which elements decide about the fact that it is actually as successful as it is pathetic? Aren’t the categories through, which the work is to be decided if it’s successful or not, created by the specific environment, therefore not objective at all? It is difficult to not to think about Fischili and Weiss, when looking at Signers work, it is difficult to not to remember their sophisticated and humorous approach towards the everyday objects. What strength than, in Signers work, makes the viewer to actually stay within the gallery space after being welcomed by the chaotic and ridiculous movement of the lawnmower? Possibly it is the element of surprise, which we often expect when entering any gallery space, the element of surprise in all possible contexts, the ability to notice something what wasn’t pointed at us before, something we wouldn’t get a chance to think of, if not some Swiss crazy guy presenting his absurd within the closed space, called the gallery.
The gallery presents some old and more recent works of Swiss artist Roman Signer, who explores everyday utilized objects and man-made machines in rather intriguing and absurd relation. It is difficult to avoid the smile while watching the chaotic lawnmower or the video works. The functionality of the objects with its relation to our everyday existence is gently laughed at when all those perfectly useful items find their new dimension in rather subverted and ridiculous permutations. The appearance of the objects and through them the appearance of our own everyday life is brought to the level of absurdity and nothingness at the same time, in a rather humorous way. What is even more interesting is the fact that the whole experience could be easily described as pathetic. The boundary between something what represents nothing and something what has a value is very fragile and it is definitely the subject matter of Signers work, however in a less optimistic interpretation it can be argued how successfully the work manifests itself. The question appears; what is the determining factor according to which we are actually able to make a judgment about the work? In terms of Signers work the question is which elements decide about the fact that it is actually as successful as it is pathetic? Aren’t the categories through, which the work is to be decided if it’s successful or not, created by the specific environment, therefore not objective at all? It is difficult to not to think about Fischili and Weiss, when looking at Signers work, it is difficult to not to remember their sophisticated and humorous approach towards the everyday objects. What strength than, in Signers work, makes the viewer to actually stay within the gallery space after being welcomed by the chaotic and ridiculous movement of the lawnmower? Possibly it is the element of surprise, which we often expect when entering any gallery space, the element of surprise in all possible contexts, the ability to notice something what wasn’t pointed at us before, something we wouldn’t get a chance to think of, if not some Swiss crazy guy presenting his absurd within the closed space, called the gallery.
Monday, 14 January 2008
Sunday, 2 December 2007
one hundred years of solitude- more quotes...
“a past whose annihilation, consuming itself from within, ending at every moment but never ending its ending.”
"[Aureliano (II)] saw the epigraph of the parchments perfectly paced in the order of man’s time and space: The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by the ants. . . . MelquÃades had not put events in the order of a man’s conventional time, but had concentrated a century of daily episodes in such a way that they coexisted in one instant."
"[Aureliano (II)] had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth."
"[Aureliano (II)] saw the epigraph of the parchments perfectly paced in the order of man’s time and space: The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by the ants. . . . MelquÃades had not put events in the order of a man’s conventional time, but had concentrated a century of daily episodes in such a way that they coexisted in one instant."
"[Aureliano (II)] had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth."
Saturday, 1 December 2007
AUSTERLITZ - quote on time...
TIME, SAID AUSTERLITZ IN THE OBSERVATION ROOM IN GREENWICH, WAS BY FAR THE MOST ARTIFICIAL OF ALL OUR INVENTIONS, AND IN BEING BOUND TO THE PLANET TURNING ON ITS OWN AXIS WAS NO LESS ARBITRARY THAN WOULD BE, SAY, A CALCULATION BASED ON THE GROWTH OF TREES OR THE DURATION REQUIRED FOR A PIECE OF LIMESTONE TO DISINTEGRATE, QUITE APART FROM THE FACT THAT THE SOLAR DAY WHICH WE TAKE AS OUR GUIDELINE DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY PRECISE MEASUREMENT, SO THAT IN ORDER TO RECON TIME WE HAVE TO DEVISE AN IMAGINARY, AVERAGE SUN WHICH HAS AN INVARIABLE SPEED OF MOVEMENT AND DOES NOT INCLINE TOWARDS THE EQUATOR IN ITS ORBIT. IF NEWTON THOUGHT, SAID AUSTERLITZ, POINTING THROUGH THE WINDOW AND DOWN THE CURVE OF THE WATER AROUND THE ISLE OF DOGS GLISTENING IN THE LAST OF DAY- LIGHT, IF NEWTON REALLY THOUGHT THAT TIME WAS A RIVER LIKE THAMES, THAN WHERE IS ITS SOURCE AND INTO WHAT SEA IT FINALLY FLOW? EVERY RIVER, AS WE KNOW, SO WHERE, SEEN IN THOSE TERMS, WHERE ARE THE BANKS OF TIME? WHAT WOULD BE THIS RIVER’S QUALITIES, QUALITIES PERHAPS CORESPONDING TO THOSE OF WATER, WHICH IS FLIUD, RATHER HEAVY, AND TRANSCULENT? IN WHAT WAY DO OBJECTS IMMERSED IN TIME DIFFER FROM THOSE LEFTUNTOUCHED BY IT? WHY DO WE SHOW THE HOURS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS IN THE SAME CYCLE? WHY DOES TIME STAND ETERNALLY STILL AND MOTIONLESS IN ONE PLACE, AND RUSH HEADLONG BY IN ANOTHER? COULD WE NOT CLAIM, SAID AUSTERLITZ, THAT TIME ITSELF, HAS BEEN NON-CONCURRENT OVER THE CENTURIES AND THE MILLENNIA? IT IS NOT SO LONG AGO, AFTER ALL, THAT IT BEGAN SPREADING OUT OVER EVERTHING. AND IS NOT HUMAN LIFE IN MANY PARTS OF THE EARTH GOVERNED TO THIS DAY LESS BY THE TIME EHAN BT THE WEATHER, AND THUS BY AN UNQUANTIFIABLE DIMENSION WHICH DISREGARDS LINEAR REGULARITY, DOES NOT PROGRESS CONSTANTLY FORWARD BUT MOVES IN EDDIES, IS MARKED BY EPISODES OF CONGESTION AND IRRUPTION, RECURS IN EVER-CHANGING FORM, AND EVOLVES IN NO ONE KNOWS WHAT DIRECTION?
W.G. SEBALD, AUSTERLITZ, TRANS. A. BELL (LONDON: PENGUIN, 2001), PP. 141F.
W.G. SEBALD, AUSTERLITZ, TRANS. A. BELL (LONDON: PENGUIN, 2001), PP. 141F.
Onomatopoeia- work in progress, notes and ideas...
Onomatopoeia- work in progress.
The initial idea of presenting multiple projection of the “sounds” has evolved slightly…I looked at the material I managed to record and it wasn’t satisfying. Presentation of memorized sounds doesn’t emphasize the issues I would like to raise. I will try to extend the time of the performance itself.
I wanted to combine the video with the book of Gabriel Garcia Marquez “One Hundred Years of Solitude”. The issues I want to raise overlap with the book perfectly… The question is how to link all the subjects and elements in ability to present a gently flowing experience.
The calendars, which are included to all mobile phones and computer systems, can “go back” one hundred years in fifteen minutes. I want to combine my sound memorizing performance with the video of the mobile phone scrolling “back in time”. Starting from the date of the exhibition evening, and finishing exactly one hundred years before… Now, the book has to be linked as well. I was considering the huge print of Buendias family tree hanging next to the screen, however still have to experiment with all the elements coexisting next to each other…I’m not sure if including so obvious elements like family tree, doesn’t push the boundaries too much. It’s like stretching the subject to its extreme instead of experiencing it as a gentle flow…
The initial idea of presenting multiple projection of the “sounds” has evolved slightly…I looked at the material I managed to record and it wasn’t satisfying. Presentation of memorized sounds doesn’t emphasize the issues I would like to raise. I will try to extend the time of the performance itself.
I wanted to combine the video with the book of Gabriel Garcia Marquez “One Hundred Years of Solitude”. The issues I want to raise overlap with the book perfectly… The question is how to link all the subjects and elements in ability to present a gently flowing experience.
The calendars, which are included to all mobile phones and computer systems, can “go back” one hundred years in fifteen minutes. I want to combine my sound memorizing performance with the video of the mobile phone scrolling “back in time”. Starting from the date of the exhibition evening, and finishing exactly one hundred years before… Now, the book has to be linked as well. I was considering the huge print of Buendias family tree hanging next to the screen, however still have to experiment with all the elements coexisting next to each other…I’m not sure if including so obvious elements like family tree, doesn’t push the boundaries too much. It’s like stretching the subject to its extreme instead of experiencing it as a gentle flow…
One Hundred Years of Solitude- some quotes about/from the book
Mark Frisch, Duquesne University;
"Two types of time govern One Hundred Years of Solitude: the historical time with its births and deaths, beginnings and endings, and its stress on memory; and the mythical time of creation with its emphasis on the frozen moment in which past, present, and future coalesce. Ultimately, the latter predominates (Vargas Llosa 547). The opening line of the work sets the pattern for time throughout: "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice" (1). Present time lies between the moment when he will face the firing squad and the moment when he first discovered ice. The future, the present, and the past are contained within the same instant. The narration here and in other parts of the novel then moves back to the past and flows toward that future moment. These concentric circles emphasize reality as myth, legend, fiction, and history."
some quotes from the book;
…the history of the family was a machine with unavoidable repetitions, a turning wheel that would have gone on spilling into eternity were it not for the progressive and irremediable wearing of the axle."
Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, General Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.
They felt that they had been the victims of some new and showy gypsy business and they decided not to return to the movies, considering that they already had too many troubles of their own to weep over the acted-out misfortunes of imaginary beings.
At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.
"Two types of time govern One Hundred Years of Solitude: the historical time with its births and deaths, beginnings and endings, and its stress on memory; and the mythical time of creation with its emphasis on the frozen moment in which past, present, and future coalesce. Ultimately, the latter predominates (Vargas Llosa 547). The opening line of the work sets the pattern for time throughout: "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice" (1). Present time lies between the moment when he will face the firing squad and the moment when he first discovered ice. The future, the present, and the past are contained within the same instant. The narration here and in other parts of the novel then moves back to the past and flows toward that future moment. These concentric circles emphasize reality as myth, legend, fiction, and history."
some quotes from the book;
…the history of the family was a machine with unavoidable repetitions, a turning wheel that would have gone on spilling into eternity were it not for the progressive and irremediable wearing of the axle."
Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, General Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.
They felt that they had been the victims of some new and showy gypsy business and they decided not to return to the movies, considering that they already had too many troubles of their own to weep over the acted-out misfortunes of imaginary beings.
At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
ONOMATOPOEIA - within the present future equals past
ONOMATOPEYA
ONOMATOPOEIA
ONOMATOPEIA
ONOMATOPEJA
This is a piece, on which I’ve been recently working. It’s rather a paper version at the moment, than a completed video piece. The video is going to be a probably a multiple screen projection, with about twelve screens. My basic idea was to record close ups of the face, so it would be possible to analyze the way the mussels work in ability to produce the facial expression. However it wouldn’t say anything else except how the face “language” works.
It isn’t satisfying.
Since making the clapping video I’ve become interested in this gestalt language, which is recognizable everywhere in the world, as a non-verbal opportunity to communicate. It hasn’t really changed. It’s like a constant within time, and I kind of love this sentence itself because of its paradoxical appearance. “Panta rhei” as Heraclitus spoke it, doesn’t work with the clapping for example and possibly with some other human made signs, or sounds.
As a material for my video piece I used all kind of human made sounds, the ones, which we make, when being amazed- ‘wow”, when we understanding- “aaaahhhh”, when we agreeing- “mhm”, and so one. What I find interesting is the fact that even without them being words, they do communicate, also the way they last unchanged.
The question is how am I going to make them work in the context of time. In the more general understanding of time, they represent the constant; I would say that within the present, future equals past. The sound last unchanged.
How does the gesture repeat itself in terms of memory? In general we memorize the sound, as it’s always pronounced more less the same, however within the constant repetition it looses its impact. It’s like within Bresson movies, where acting is repeated to the point when it becomes completely mechanical. And these are the mechanics within the human gestures, which interest me. Because of repeating the sound it completely looses it’s impact even if memorized so well.
ONOMATOPOEIA
ONOMATOPEIA
ONOMATOPEJA
This is a piece, on which I’ve been recently working. It’s rather a paper version at the moment, than a completed video piece. The video is going to be a probably a multiple screen projection, with about twelve screens. My basic idea was to record close ups of the face, so it would be possible to analyze the way the mussels work in ability to produce the facial expression. However it wouldn’t say anything else except how the face “language” works.
It isn’t satisfying.
Since making the clapping video I’ve become interested in this gestalt language, which is recognizable everywhere in the world, as a non-verbal opportunity to communicate. It hasn’t really changed. It’s like a constant within time, and I kind of love this sentence itself because of its paradoxical appearance. “Panta rhei” as Heraclitus spoke it, doesn’t work with the clapping for example and possibly with some other human made signs, or sounds.
As a material for my video piece I used all kind of human made sounds, the ones, which we make, when being amazed- ‘wow”, when we understanding- “aaaahhhh”, when we agreeing- “mhm”, and so one. What I find interesting is the fact that even without them being words, they do communicate, also the way they last unchanged.
The question is how am I going to make them work in the context of time. In the more general understanding of time, they represent the constant; I would say that within the present, future equals past. The sound last unchanged.
How does the gesture repeat itself in terms of memory? In general we memorize the sound, as it’s always pronounced more less the same, however within the constant repetition it looses its impact. It’s like within Bresson movies, where acting is repeated to the point when it becomes completely mechanical. And these are the mechanics within the human gestures, which interest me. Because of repeating the sound it completely looses it’s impact even if memorized so well.
Saturday, 24 November 2007
spaces within spaces
More clapping to come…
Clapping within the clapping, or maybe individual group clapping or authentic duplicates…it all applies to another video piece, which is a continuation of “the clapping exercise with the use of capital letters and the lion king as a background”.
The piece itself is paradoxical in a way. The clapping is almost never performed on its own. It’s mainly placed in the context of the group experience. The repetitiveness of the gesture, in the physical and historical context allows me to extend the process of repetition in the way where the gesture is repeated within the gesture. After performing it once and recording it, I recreated the exercise few more times and recorded every single performance.
Another idea of using the clapping is developed in another piece in which the actual physical clapping was performed once only. After making the first video I simply reproduced it by recording it from the TV screening. Than I produced another video, which was based on the piece recorded from TV. And so it goes. All together I made 12 pieces, where the only one was actually performed. The rest of them are records of records.
More clapping videos to come…
The piece itself is paradoxical in a way. The clapping is almost never performed on its own. It’s mainly placed in the context of the group experience. The repetitiveness of the gesture, in the physical and historical context allows me to extend the process of repetition in the way where the gesture is repeated within the gesture. After performing it once and recording it, I recreated the exercise few more times and recorded every single performance.
Another idea of using the clapping is developed in another piece in which the actual physical clapping was performed once only. After making the first video I simply reproduced it by recording it from the TV screening. Than I produced another video, which was based on the piece recorded from TV. And so it goes. All together I made 12 pieces, where the only one was actually performed. The rest of them are records of records.
More clapping videos to come…
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