22. 04. 2010The Dump – Recycling of Thoughts
Metka Zupanič and Vesna Bukovec are participatig in the exhibition The Dump – Recycling of Thoughts
April 24 – May 30, 2010
Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk
Artists: Dave Ball, Vesna Bukovec, Agnieszka Chojnacka, Łukasz Jastrubczak, Agnieszka Kurant, Łukasz Ogórek, Tom Milnes, Kama Sokolnicka, Metka Zupanič
Curator: Agnieszka Kulazińska
About the exhibition:
The idea of “The-Dump.net” was conceived by French artist and theorist Maurice Benayoun. It comes down to a dump of thoughts. It exists in the form of an Internet blog which comprises concepts of works in theoretical or hypothetical shape, ideas too complex to be realized, and not clearly defined, transient thoughts being born each day in artist’s mind.
What is the difference between today’s artists and regular citizens? Since the Renaissance the situation was clear as the craftsmanship was an indispensable element of artistic production. The artist worked according to disegno – the intellectual idea – and the capability to put it into practice was essential. In the 20th century the proportions reversed: the craft ceased to matter and artistic activity shifted into the sphere of pure conceptuality. Today, the final work can be as well accomplished by another person, be born through coincidence, or the viewers themselves can become co-authors or provide conditions for it to appear.
“The Dump – Recycling of Thoughts” is an experiment whose construction brings to mind an Internet forum. The artists invited to the project will be asked to realize concepts picked up from the dump.
Metka Zupanič is participating with the project Wish To Be There, 2010
The first known labyrinth was built by Daedalus, Greek artists, to keep the monster, Minotaur, away of people, of civilization. Later, labyrinths were used to symbolize a hard path to God, as symbolic forms of pilgrimage. This double meaning conveyed in the image of labyrinth, has stayed within cultural and visual history of mankind throughout the modern times.
In her recent work, she deals with the art system as something opposed to an artist. Artist is struggling in an environment, which is constantly puzzling him, where the paths could lead to many dead-ends but sometimes also to the “highest throne”, which are in this case the most famous art institutions. In the art world, an artist is constantly walking through the labyrinth, not knowing, whether he will meet a Minotaur or God on the next corner…
(Labyrinth is made from the names of well known galleries and institutions..)
The project is an interpretation of the Maurice Benayoun’s blog post Bibliography generator from July 2, 2008
Vesna Bukovec produced a series of 5 drawings entitled I promise to change the world but only if 10 other people will do the same, 2010.
Following Maurice Benayoun’s post To Change the World from June 18, 2008 in which he suggests to make a catalogue of all the things in our environment that can be changed by our activity she started to think about the level of moral responsibility of contemporary (western) individual. Her project is not just a realization of an idea from the blog, but an interpretation that critically and ironically deals with the social / political / environmental activities initiated by social networks on the internet.
More…
Exhibition view
