Interfering with Nature

Living studio
brought to you by Jan Arnold Gallery

Frei_Raum MQ FEB 1-14 11am-9pm
Exhibition FEB 16-23

In the next two weeks a collective of fellow artists, myself included, will be cohabiting a showroom in the Frei_Raum section of the museums quarter in Vienna.

A little nervous sharing this open-plan studio pop-up as opposed to minding my own business tucked away in my studio. On the other hand I’m anxious to get started and make progress.

In September I was invited by Impropperwalls Gallery to #Vilnius to make an installation at Loftas. Here is a shot of the inflatable sculpture installation at the festival. You have to love plastic. The material is so versatile but I feel it lacks the respect it truly deserves.

My statement for the piece:

Title: Interfering with Nature

Opulent and fragile, this sculpture is indeed inflated. Would it not be for it's source of power this would merely be a heap of garbage bags. The sum of the plastic parts create an animated greater whole. I'd like to demonstrate how the best things in life are finite. Produced with a minimal budget, I found plastic bags to be ubiquitous and dirt cheap though weighing heavy on my ecological conscience.

But then my statement was regurgitated in poor English and put on display as were the others. The group of us cringed but agreed to let it fly with no more than a gentle critique to our envoy considering their warm hospitality.

I was living with a growing number of friends and fellow artists in a sponsored Airbnb and was loving the vibe. Everyone would be doing their own thing but always popping round each other’s spot in this factory areal, checking in to offer help, coffee, beer, syncing appetites but often just to see how things were progressing. It was cold and raining almost constantly which meant we were also swapping clothing which I found very endearing under the circumstance.

I hope this current set up will yield a similarly positive experience.

Artists:
Boicut
PERKUP
nita
Z
Dirty Elmo
Video by: simp

In December I was invited to contribute some inflatables to a two day show in the Nordbahnhalle. The theme of the show was Jewellery and sculpture, all brought together by the fierce and fabulous @gutsobyme (insta that)

So naturally now I’m leaning towards making another inflatable installation but pushing it a little further this time. I have a sketch which I'll reveal in due time. There are plenty of technical things Im hoping to try out too...in due time. For now I want to achieve basic repetitive motion without rigging too much. I’ll make a post when I’m ready to show some progress.

Anyone who happens to be in Vienna can stop by during business hours and personally tease the artists at work ;)