Cazul actual al unor tineri artiști români

Cazul actual al unor tineri artiști români

Vlad Albu, Andreea Anghel, Anca Bucur, Flaviu Cacoveanu, Ioana Ciora, Lorena Cocioni, Giulia Crețulescu, Roberta Curcă, Matei Dumitriu, Diana Gheorghiu, Alexandru Grigore, Mihaela Hudrea, Adriana Preda, Mihai Teodorescu, Tăietzel Ticălos, Matei Toșa, Ștefăniță Tudor

08.09 – 09.10.2021

01 – Mihai Teodorescu, Sailor Saturn, 2021, tuș pe bază de alcool, pe hârtie pe panou de lemn / alcohol based ink on paper mounted on wooden panel

Portretul iubitei din copilărie sau cum te poți îndrăgosti de un desen animat.
Crescând nici nu cunoșteam ce înseamnă “anime”, ceea ce știam este că pe TVR2 erau tot timpul Dragon Ball și Sailor Moon, iar programul meu era determinat de orele de difuzare ale acestor desene, iar programarea mea a fost să o găsesc pe Sailor Saturn.

/ The portrait of a childhood crush or how can one fall in love with a cartoon character.

Growing up, I didn’t even know what “anime” means, what I did know is that on TVR2 they kept showing “Dragon Ball” and “Sailor Moon”; my childhood was based on the time these cartoons aired and my programming was to find Sailor Saturn in real life.

02 – Mihai Teodorescu, Dumbrava minunată, 2020, tuș pe bază de alcool, pe hârtie pe panou de lemn / alcohol based ink on paper mounted on wooden panel

Un amalgam de avatare folosite pentru meciurile online de Counter-Strike. Un portret al unei relații toxice, Patrocle își continuă drumul, obosit, lăsând-o pe Lizuca în urmă. Imaginile suprapuse cu motive ce se pierd gradual precum amintirile neplăcute. O lucrare despre vicii, ce trăiesc simultan până când unul îl înlocuiește pe celălalt.

/ A mix of avatars used for online Counter-Strike marches. A portrait of a toxic relationship, Patrocle moves on, tired, while leaving Lizuca behind. As with some bad memories, the motifs are fading gradually in and overlying of images. A work about vices that live simultaneously until one surpasses the other.

03 – Mihai Teodorescu, Calea Turzii 21, 2019, sculptură din beton / concrete sculpture

Titlul este ca o intrare din jurnal. O flacără apărută folosind ca matriță pământul din curtea spațiului Matca din Cluj.
Construiesc aceste lucrări în memoria adunărilor cu diverși apropiați, tovarăși de drum; asemeni unor focuri de tabără unde de poți odihni.
Flăcările sunt turnate în ciment ca pentru un monument al spațiului meditativ, un prim loc in care omul a intrat în interiorul minții sale folosind dansul flăcărilor pe post de mantră.

/ The title is the same as a journal entry. A flame that came to life using the courtyard from Matca’s art space in Cluj.
I build these works in memory of the gatherings with my close ones, fellow travellers on the road; the same as with campfires where one could rest.
The flames are poured in concrete as for a monument for a meditative space; one of humans first encounter with the inside of his mind using the flames dance as a mantra.

04 – Matei Toșa, Objects From My Memories nr. 36: King Kong vs Godzilla, 2020, creion pe hârtie / pencil on paper

Objects From My Memories

*Memory is not a perfect processor, and is affected by many factors. The ways by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved can all be corrupted.*

Through “Objects From My Memories” I try to explore concepts as memory or perception by combining key elements from my childhood with other banal places that are still a part of my life. In a way, showing the passage of time. Every landscape I look at is an empty background ready for me to fill in with an action. This was an exercise I used to do as a child when I was bored at school or in different places. These objects with which I fill these landscapes are touchable artefacts from my past, and in the past, they where the means through which I brought to life stories from my imagination. “Objects From My Memories” are a series of personal artefacts that are supposed to illustrate how memory is affected, by the ways in which we store information, through their altered appearances resulted from using them as the basis for this body of works. Changing an objects natural form in a way that is slightly altering its appearance imitates the process through which information is stored erroneous. Objects, in this context, can also be just images I daydreamed about, not necessarily just physical objects. Nothing is complete, and most things change, losing or transforming little bits and pieces, in an infinitely changeable past, from which almost nothing concrete remains.

05 – Lorena Cocioni, Apocrine Gland (Liquid Ground), 2020, ceramică glazurată / glazed stoneware

Apocrine glands are connecting the body to its watery, fleshy and sensorial side. They are tubular, coiled secretory glands that act as a main thermoregulatory device, cooling the body and secreting watery sweat. Being sensitive to adrenaline, apocrine sweat glands are involved in emotional sweating in humans.

06 – Lorena Cocioni, Watery Embodiment (I), 2020, ceramică glazurată / glazed stoneware

Watery embodiments are not yet formed creatures reminding us of the fact that the human body is a series of open-ended systems, made up of modules and being much more than an organism. They take the metallic rigidity finish along with the implicit futuristic qualities of the world they inhabit, but they would likely remain physically embodied and permeable to the influences of water cycle which can dissolve them altogether, or recycle them into new figures and forms.

07 – Taietzel Ticalos, She-appeared-excessively-“real”, 2021, video colaj (11:44 min) – 3D și imagini deepfake găsite / video collage – 3D and found deepfake footage

Amestecând 3D cu imagini deepfake găsite, videoul Ea-a-apărut-excesiv-de-„reală” semnalează creșterea conținutului generat de AI care vizează corpurile feminine. Narațiunea leagă noile construcții media sintetice de mitul Pandorei, care are o origine similară. Replicanții par, de asemenea, să aibă același scop, fiind concepuți ca instrumente de răzbunare. Folosind modificările din videourile deepfake fără consimțământ, Ea-a-apărut-excesiv-de-„reală” perpetuează subiectul abordat, rămânând astfel în același cerc vicios. În timp ce chestionează ceea ce se întâmplă online, videoul devine, de asemenea, problematic.

/ Blending 3D with found deepfake footage, the video She-appeared-excessively-“real” points to the rising of AI generated content targeting female/femme bodies. The narration links the new synthetic media constructs with Pandora’s myth, who has a similar manufactured origin. The replicants also seem to have the same purpose, being designed as tools of revenge. By using the unconsented alterations of the deepfakes, She-appeared-excessively-“real” perpetuates the exact thing it talks about, thus remaining in the vicious cycle. While rising questions regarding what’s happening online, the video becomes as well questionable.

08 – Giulia Crețulescu, A layer of shed skin, 2021, fâș buretat cusut / sewn sponged waterproof material

A layer of shed skin,
Making a quilt out of it that will take the form of a witness of this whole experience.
A witness that will whisper in form of intuitions the prospect of future selves,
The imprint of these scars will heal into clear paths of memory.

09 – Roberta Curcă, Vesuvius, 2021, mozaic, pastă de relief, desen, panou de lemn / mosaic, relief paste, drawing, wooden panel

10 – Roberta Curcă, Burning Flower, 2021, mozaic, pastă de relief, răsină, panou de lemn / mosaic, relief paste, resin, wooden panel

11 – Roberta Curcă, Lava, 2021, mozaic, spray, panou de lemn / mosaic, spray-paint, wooden panel

Lucrările completează un text care propune ideea că arhitectura cu estetică defensivă își are originile în Napoli datorită unei frici internalizate cauzată de proximitatea față de vulcanul Vezuviu.

/ The artworks explore together with a text the idea that diamond point rustication which was inspired by defensive aesthetics has its origin in Naples due to an internalised fear caused by the proximity to the Vesuvius volcano.

It should come as no surprise that the place that gave way to architecture inspired by defensive design would be Naples, always under the looming danger of the temperamental volcano Vesuvius. Layers under the city today confirm that Naples itself was also once covered in lava much like the ancient city of Pompeii which resides on the other side of the volcano. The appearance of diamond point rustication in Naples is of course highly influenced by the economic wealth associated with the Italian renaissance which allowed some prominent families to build homes that would reflect their political and economic power. Nevertheless, this architectural detail also discloses a protective function as its inspiration can also be traced back to the “royal rustication” characterizing the basement escarp of Castel Nuovo, a palace, but also a fortification. Defensive architecture can exert a particular fascination, as it can give way to architecture that is also appealing, not just functional. It is because of this appeal that defensive architecture is more carefully implement today. That is why the spike field proposed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in 1970 could be deemed more fascinating rather than terrifying and was not in line with the defensive design needed for such a dangerous radioactive zone. Defensive architecture can only do so much, especially in the face of higher economic powers. Palazzo Sanseverino, a palace adorned with diamond point rustication, was confiscated from its original owners because of political intrigues in the 1580s and was eventually transformed into the still-standing Gesu Nuovo church. While the defensive aesthetics of diamond point rustication has little to do with the protection of one of the oldest institutions, the building itself was so particular and even so cherished that it was also featured on Italian 10000 lire banknote between 1976 to1984. Yet, Gesu Nuovo is not just an architectural landmark; its construction history seems to further highlight the overwhelming power the church still has to this day, a power that not one individual or even prominent family can truly have or retain. Much like the spike field designed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project, religious architecture can also be deemed fascinating rather than terrifying sometimes. Ironically, those who thought of how to indicate the dangers of the Waste Isolation Pilot Project agreed that the only efficient long term defensive method would be one based on the cultural ramifications and the continuous stability that the church has had. Nevertheless, the fear of nature’s wrath is still somehow falsely perceived as greater than the prolonged terrifying power that manmade creations exert on us on a daily basis.

12 – Ioana Ciora, One day I’ll be rotten in your drawer, 2019-21, fotografii analog digitalizate / digitalized analogue photography

“One day I’ll be rotten in your drawer before even knowing it“.
Given the visual context, the viewer can make connections between this note and the surrounding story.
Playing with connotations and the direction both the artist and the viewer create for them, this work composed of 3 collages, with digitalized analog photos and a scan of the same post-it, talks about what is a personal experience. The photos change the meaning of the written sentence, while the presence of such a sentence changes the meaning of how the viewer’s personal experience influence the final interpretation. Three unique, yet banal moments: a couple dressed in Santa costumes, a car accident and an eccentric drummer. Threat like, the post-it has a slightly jealous undertone; something like an inner child being pouty if forgotten.
The triangulation between the photos being the context host, the post-it summarizing the concept and the viewer’s own perception works as a reminder of human memory and its deterioration and impact on our understanding.

13 – Matei Dumitriu, How to Breathe, 2019, c-print pe dibond / c-print on dibond

Scopul seriei Cum să este să prezinte o posibilitate de desfășurare a proceselor pe care le vizează, într-o formă mai mult sau mai puțin metaforizată. Titlurile lucrărilor pretind prezența unui fel de instructaj, de unde recuperez noțiunea de utilitate, însă pe care, în contextul de față nu o pot înțelege decât, cel mult, ca modalitate de a arăta cum un proces precum respirația, șoptitul sau traducerea pot fi interpretate și tratate diferit de către o altă persoană. Instrumentarea de tipul ,,cum să’’ devine un format de comunicare intuitiv, un cod care nu se opune instructajului, ci-i extinde disponibilitatea, prin adoptarea unei perspective mai largi, în care transferul de informații, de senzații și medii ar fi posibil. Nu este vorba despre a directiva cum să faci lucruri, ci mai degrabă de a oferi o altă perspectivă asupra acelor chestiuni.

/ The purpose of the How to series is to show a possible way in which the processes that it aims can metaphorically (or not) take place. The titles of the works appear to somehow announce the development of an instruction within each work but that would imply utility and there’s no flagrant usefulness to them other than maybe showing how a process like breathing, whispering or translating can be interpreted and treated differently by another self. The How to type of working becomes an intuitive communication format, a code that does not oppose the means of an instruction but extends its reach by adopting a broader perspective, in which the transfer of information, sensations and mediums can take place. It’s not about teaching how to do things but rather offering another perspective on those issues.

14 – Ștefi Tudor, Fără titlu, 2021, acrilic pe pânză de iută / acrylic on jute canvas

15 – Alexandru Grigore, Plower Power, 2021, roți de plug din lemn de ulm vechi, hoverboard / plough wheels from old wood, hoverboard)

Pe măsură ce omul e încolăcit de rețelele comunicării satului global, s-au transformat și forțele care-i pompează perpetua explorare? Dacă da, ce unelte shape shifting sunt necesare pentru a echilibra tranziția umană printre tărâmurile vizibile și invizibile tranzacționate mental, pe parcursul adaptării la plăcile tectonice ale realității imediate și percepția acesteia?

/ As man becomes increasingly entangled in the circuits of the global village, have the driving forces fueling man’s perpetual quests changed? And if so, what sort of shape shifting tools are required to maintain an equilibrium between the visible and invisible grounds the mind treads on, as it gropes to adapt to the ever gliding tectonic plates of reality and its perception?

16 – Adriana Preda, A girl must wear devil’s coat once in a while, 2021, instalație medii mixte (pictură pe material textil, carton, burete), montaj video / installation (textile piece, 2D cardboard painting, 3D cardboard object painting, painting on sponge, video)

17 – Mihaela Hudrea, Flower Moon, 2021, pictură pe pânză / vinyl paint on canvas

18 – Mihaela Hudrea, Slow Pulse, 2021, pictură pe pânză / vinyl paint on canvas

19 – Mihaela Hudrea, Venus, 2021, pictură pe pânză / vinyl paint on canvas

În proiectul meu actual explorez cercul. Această formă geometrică este un simbol universal cu semnificație extinsă, însă ceea ce mă interesează cel mai mult este că reprezintă energia continuă găsită în natură. De asemenea, structura atomică și regulile cosmice se bazează pe forma circulară, care, în opinia mea, e o dovadă suficientă că simbolul cercului este unul puternic.

/ In my current project I explore the circle. This geometrical shape is a universal symbol with extensive meaning, but what interests me the most is that it represents the ongoing energy found in nature. Also, the atomic structure and the cosmic rules are based on the circular form, which, in my opinion, is enough evidence that the circle is a powerful symbol.

20 – Anca Bucur, Corporeal Red, 2021, video HD, 10:58 min

21 – Anca Bucur, Corporeal Red: a landscape, 2021, instalație (pânză, tavă metalică, bauxită) / installation (metal tray, textile material soaked in bauxite)

Corporeal Red (video, 10:58 min) și Corporeal Red: a landscape documentează lacul artificial de deșeuri de bauxită situat în apropierea apelor Deltei Dunării din România. Fiind cunoscută ca principala materie brută de producție a aluminiului, bauxita se numără printre cele mai extrase minereuri din întreaga lume, mai ales în teritoriile bogate în resurse din Global South, datorită utilizării sale extinse în aproape fiecare sector economic, de la echipamente militare la fabricarea de avioane și automobile, până la industria alimentară. Reziduurile procesului său de rafinare, cunoscute și sub denumirea de nămol roșu, constituie unul dintre cele mai abundente deșeuri industriale de pe planetă, cu peste 3 miliarde de tone fiind stocate în prezent în lacuri masive de pământ steril și alte 150 de milioane de tone generate în fiecare an. Corporeal Red (video, 10:58 min) combină fragmente găsite din Ghana și Guineea cu filmări atât aeriane cât și în detaliu a reziduurilor de bauxită ale companiei Vimetco din România. În timp ce imaginile compun o estetică a pământului ruinat, deconstruind un regim al vizibilității macro-dezvoltaționiste, textul care însoțește videoul încearcă să localizeze genealogia industriei capitaliste extractive actuale ca fiind înrădăcinată în proiectul colonial. Corporeal Red: a landscape este o instalație care funcționează ca întruchipare a unui mediu toxic, privat de propria-i agentivitate, dar și ca un comentariu asupra muncii reproductive feminine în teritorii considerate a fi extractibile.

/ Corporeal Red (video, 10:58 min) and Corporeal Red: a landscape document the bauxite waste pond situated near the Danube Delta waters in Romania. Being the raw source of aluminum production, bauxite is amongst the most extracted ores around the globe, mostly in Global South resource-rich territories, due to its extensive use in almost each economic sector, from military equipment to aircraft and automobile manufacture to food industry. The residues of its refinery process, also known as red mud, are one of the most abundant industrial wastes on the planet, with over 3 billion tons being currently stored in massive tailings ponds and an additional of 150 million tons being generated each year. Corporeal Red (video, 10:58 min) combines found footage from Ghana and Guinea with both aerial and closeup scanning of the bauxite residuals of Vimetco company in Romania. While images compose an aesthetics of the wretched earth, deconstructing macro-developmentalist gaze, the text accompanying the video tries to situate the genealogy of the current extractive capitalist industry as rooted in the colonial project. Corporeal Red: a landscape is an installation which acts as an embodiment of a toxic environment, deprived of its own agency, but also as a comment on the extents of female reproductive labor in territories regarded as extractible.

22 – Flaviu Cacoveanu, WE ARE HERE, 2021, tipar digital pe material textil, capse metalice / digital print on textile material, metal eyelets

Pornind de la noțiuni ce țin de limbaj și cuvinte, lucrările prezentate în expoziție examinează idei formale și conceptuale care se traduc prin limbă ca și material. Acestea prezintă relația noastră cu mediul înconjurător și interacțiuni efemere dintre noi, ca ființe umane, cu o tematică subtil existențială.

/ Starting from language and words, the works presented in the exhibition explore formal and conceptual ideas which translate into language as a material. They reveal our relation to the surrounding environment and ephemeral interactions between ourselves, as human beings, with a subtle existential theme.

23 – Diana Gheorghiu, Reduce stress level and sleep better, 2021, imagine digitală tipărită pe Photo Rag Baryta 315gsm, pe dibond / digital image printed on Photo Rag Baryta 315gsm, mounted on 3mm dibond

24 – Flaviu Cacoveanu, I gazed at the stars but they all fell down, 2013-17, instalație neon / neon, electrical wires, metal frame

25 – Andreea Anghel, Le Précariat (darkweb1), 2018, print digital pe pânză, pastel uleios, cretă, glazură, spray fixativ / digital process print on canvas, oil pastels, chalk, lacquer, hairspray

26 – Andreea Anghel, Us Too (darkweb2), 2018, print digital pe pânză, pastel uleios, cretă, glazură, spray fixativ / digital process print on canvas, oil pastels, chalk, lacquer, hairspray

Mai repede, mai tare, tot timpul, online, pentru tine, FOMO, ai fute-m-aș, ce-am pierdut? Pe bune??
—- Mă înec într-o mare de date, nu mai sunt în stare să disting între ecranul la care mă holbez și inima-mi bătândă, și ăia mari știu, Mark știe, nu mușcăm mâna care ne hrănește marfa bună, cu totii știm că doar algoritmul are marfa cea mai bună. Doar un pic, așa, de gust, și-o să fim ok până mâine.

/ Faster, harder, all the time, online, for you, FOMO, fuck my life, did I miss anything? Really??

—- I’m drowning in a sea of data, I can no longer distinguish the screen I’m staring at from my beating heart. And the big guys know, Mark knows, do not bite the hand that feeds you the good shit, we all know the algorithm alone has the good shit for us. Just a taste and we’ll be fine until tomorrow.

27 – Vlad Albu, Waiting For Changes To Happen, 2021, instalație (oțel, material textil, 5 fotografii, pietre de marmură) / installation (stainless steel, textile material, marble stones, 5 photographs)

Locuirea, ca trăire umană, nu este o reflectare pasivă, ci un mod de transformare continuă a spațiului în care se desfășoară viața individului și a colectivităților. Cum locuim un spațiu de așteptare și ce raport construim cu acesta? Lucrarea își propune o analiză din perspectivă personală, dar și social-politică a ideii de așteptare în spații ce nu au fost neapărat construite cu acest scop. Elementul de susținere este o masă căreia îi este suspendată funcționalitatea. Același obiect a fost utilizat ca scaun deconstruit în cadrul expoziției Traiectorii Întâlnite, Salonul de proiecte, 2020. Alăturarea fotografiilor personale cu cele din arhiva Library Of Congress, imagini cu spații din Monticello (plantația lui Thomas Jefferson unde locuiau aproximativ 400 de sclavi) și reședința acestuia, Poplar Forest încearcă să analizeze modul în care aceste spații sunt imaginate, și ce tip de asocieri generează. Cum ne modifică și cum modificăm aceste spații prin simpla așteptare a ceva ce va fi în viitor? Rămân obiectele și spațiul la fel după ce momentul așteptat s-a înfăptuit?

/ Habitation, as a human experience, is not a passive reflection, but a way of continuous transformation of the space in which the life of the individual and of the communities takes place. How do we live a waiting space and what relationship do we build with it? Waiting For Changes To Happen try to analyze from a personal, but also a socio-political perspective of the idea of waiting in spaces that were not necessarily built for this purpose. The main element is a table whose functionality is suspended. The same object was used as a deconstructed chair in the exhibition Encountered Trajectories, Salonul de proiecte, 2020. Connecting personal photographs with those in the Library Of Congress archive, images with spaces in Monticello (Thomas Jefferson’s plantation where about 400 slaves lived) and the residence Poplar Forest is trying to analyze how these spaces are imagined, and what kind of associations they generate. How do we change and how we modify these spaces by simply waiting for something that will be in the future? Objects and the space remain the same after the expected moment has taken place?