AXIS
Exhibition of Malerskole 3, Royal Danish Academy in weissraum, Kyoto
A short history.
The process started with an invitation by Elizabeth Ogilvie for Malerskole 3, (Painting Department 3) to take part in trip to Ilulissat, Greenland with a group from the ASN department in Edinburgh College of Art, to make field research about the Arctic regions. The basis of the research was to be be:
The current state of arctic environment, the effect of climate change on Greenlandic society, the Polar regions as vantage points, and societies and culture in arctic regions.
The project was to result in exhibitions in Greenland, Copenhagen and Kyoto.
During the preparation period things took an unexpected turn when due a total faliure to get any kind of grants for the project, the Danish group was not able to go to Greenland at all. Only the Scottish group went.
The BKS Garage exhibition space of the Danish Academy was already booked, so rather than canceling, we decided that the Danish group would still take part, but the exhibition would be split in two and we would work from a theme related to the original one. The Scottish group would exhibit their works based on the field research in the front room of the gallery, and the Danish group would show works based on a related theme in the inner room.
We had to think carefully about the way to do this. We could of course not do any direct research of the area, and research based on texts and films only did not appeal to us. We decided therefore to choose a theme related to the arctic, but an open one, that could have many sides and aspects to it. We chose the word "Snowblind", in danish "Sneblind"
The resulting works were a very broad range of interpretations of this theme, but all the works had some kind of relation to it. The works were made with a wide variety of media.
When the time came to make works for the exhibition in Weissraum, we faced another problem. The participating Danish group had changed considerably, and somehow we felt that as we were to travel with the exhibition to Kyoto, and show the works in totally different circumstances, the "Snowblind" theme did not make sense to us any more.
We therefore decided on another theme, equally open, "Axis" This meant of course that we moved still further away from the original concept of the Arctic regions, which is a pity, but there is still the abstract connection to the Earth's axis between the two Poles, which was the idea behind the name.
We felt that we could make a better exhibition, and challenge ourselves in a different way with this approach. New place and space, new subject. In a way the compact size of the works made for the small room in Weissraum is already a challenge in it self. We decided on a maximum size of 30 x 30 x ∞ cm.
Then the catastrophy struck. A terrible shock for Japan and the whole world. We were forced to cancel our trip. We have sent our works to Kyoto, and our good friend Takaya Fujii has promised to install the show for us.
We look very much forward to seeing photographs of both exhibitions.
Tumi Magnusson
A v a n n a a N o r t h
An exhibition by artists with backgrounds in fine art, design, anthropology and natural science. The artwork included in the exhibition is based on research on Ilulissat, Greenland, and the North, highlighted by a research trip to Ilulissat in May 2010.
Jack Cupples
Jack's current work tests the construction of conscious space and identity. In particular, he is interested in how memories of place as grounded by people and experiences resonate within the sense of self. Jack lives and works in Chicago.
www.jackcupples.com
Mark Eischeid
Mark is a landscape architect and an artist currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His work strives to distill the complexities of place.
www.markeischeid.com
Jennifer Littlejohn
Scottish artist Jennifer Littlejohn has been developing a body of work that investigates the exploration of the Polar Regions.
Malize McBride
Trained as a linguist, Scottish visual artist Malize McBride is interested in the physical nature of landscape and the human response to it.
www.malizemcbride.com
Jo Vergunst
Jo is an anthropologist at the University of Aberdeen, researching the connections between art, anthropology and the environment.
Loading...
10:57
2011 AUG David Jhon Wiiliams in weissraum, kyotoby martin1953t31 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)