YOU ARE NEXT
The 20s Take 2: What a contrast! As we turn the corner to embrace the new 20s, looking back at a previous era of jazz, parties and celebration, we dream about getting together, long for moments of community and we miss each other. Artz ID is launching its first official international exhibition to attempt to redefine the current status quo of isolation and distancing and look to the 1920s as a source of uplifting inspiration. The 1920s, also known as the ‘roaring twenties, was a decade marked by stark contrasts – the Great War had just ended, peace had returned, and with it prosperity – although another war would break out not too far ahead.
Fast forward to now, we are facing uncertain times and we are also unable to plan for the future, not knowing exactly what it holds. Yet we make the most out of the present moment.
Therefore, the works selected for this exhibition create a contrast between the now and the past though a virtual escape.
This is an International exhibition featuring 10 selected artists celebrating the promises and dreams of the new now through art.
Featured Artists:
Charlene Galea
Joshua Evans-Hooper
Deimante Dociute
Suvi Karjalainen
Woosun Choi
Francesca Grech
Michela Grech
Anita Kos
Ebru Cinar
Aidan Celeste and Johannes Buch
Take Two Artist Blog, Feature Questions
Tell us about how your practise started? We're both incessantly cryptic and good at reading the unknown parts of each other's process. In 2019, we shared a house with a few other artists. The lines between the kitchen, the garden, and the studio started to make themselves disappear. You'd glance at one object on a shelf, and discuss it over brunch. In retrospect, I realise that good hospitality was essential, and I'd like to thank the values of The Amber Spark for that. It was clear that over the next year, pandemic and all, our work took on a more domestic size and shape, and both of us were open to one-on-one collaboration. The first plan was written on a scroll, one metre on the side, and endless in length titled a straight line of collaboration. Torn in half, rolled up, and placed against a wall, you could not see any of the notes, nor the string which holds it together.
2. What influence has your heritage had on your work? NA.
3.Favourite artwork/project/exhibition? What is your preferred research method? Walking is an essential part of our practice. Initially, we came across each other's work, or photos of it, more than we came across each other. The landscape, especially harbours and their coastline, provided a good point of contact for our imagination. It was a way to ground our ability to interpret, and also change our experience of the same old ideas with something that feels real. Formal research can help bring out the underlying value of this process. It makes the outcome more tangible with a formal output. Under a traditional system of knowledge making, such as an MA, Mphil, or otherwise, it can also prove useful for the long term. The artistic method is more tactical. It challenges the formal structure of research. It is more about luck, experience, and finding the right time and place to use it in. This takes a level of insight, and commitment to look for a single idea which works, and to scratch out over a thousand other bad ones. It's highly laborious, not efficient, and the best idea is always a good surprise to us both.
4. Favourite artist/s? Why and how they've influenced your work ? NA.
5. Tell us a bit more about the piece you contributed to ‘The 20s Take Two’ exhibition. What was the inspiration? What was your process? What techniques did you use? We engaged with essential shops to help make sense of 2020. As our social life lost its footing, we introduced shopkeepers to the work of Duchamp from 1920, including his provocative statement, Why Not Sneeze Rose Selavy? By itself, the statement never made sense, but in the context of another pandemic, it was a good primer for conversation, and as a step forward to understand the strange times we live in. In response, locals shared their story about anxiety, finding relief in fixing whatever they can, and meeting one another at an ironmonger with the friendliness of a bar. The outcome included zines, and a webinar to share the process. The primary output is a set of text based work for their windows and stalls. The object shown here is based on installing the text, YOU ARE NEXT on an aperture, such as a showcase at a shop, or a window which overlooks public space in a gallery.
6.Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Metaphorically painting more than one canvas at a time. Ideally, we can work across countries, and build a three legged media art imperium. Facebook did it with IG and Whatsapp - maybe a little less invasive, less enraging, more empowering, and with better people at the helm. Jokes aside, our focus is building a lifelong collaboration in fields that both concern us politically, such as heritage, climate, autonomy etc..., and can also provide support with an active income. The world of education and academia seems like a good host for the future we want. The traditional option is the art market, but neither of us believe in a stage-by-stage career for the arts. It's all hype and blinded by a survival bias. Statistically, full time artistic practice is responsible for more poverty than it is for wealth, health included. So what's the third option after education, and the market? It is probably time for an ugly word like art-entrepreneurship (I can't even spell this properly), but we really don’t know what the future holds. For now, we’d rather focus on first, making work, and first again, finding a hospitable environment to do so. As of late, we are working on a more formal approach to host online collaboration. It is an offshoot of two communities coming together, the residents and alumni of De Leceiras 18 in Portugal, and the former participants of Driven By Points Made Apart (Supported by the Arts Council Malta). This online space takes the shape of an open studio by a loose collective of artists and you can follow us on www.temporary.show.
How to beset the stage: YOU ARE NEXT
Together with shopkeepers in Valletta, the artists Aidan Celeste and Johannes Buch engaged with locals by using their essential shops to collaborate and design a set of interventions for their windows, and stalls, along with signage. This work evolved into an ephemereal vr work for the 20s take two exhibition:
See the VR work here until 26th of April 2021:
The ’20s take 2 is in collaboration with Christine X Gallery and Art Paper. The Vr space is provided by the London based company Emperia.co.uk. The exhibition is sponsored by I AM ltd, partially funded by Arts Council Malta through the Creative Industries Platform.
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