Art Residencies

As part of the United event hosted by East Street Arts, which took place on Friday 26th June, I exhibited some work that I have created so far whilst on the residency at Lumen. I included four experimental works in the show- please see details below. I am still working on the sound installation mentioned in the last post, and hope to make the recording in the next couple of weeks at the DM Academy in Shipley.

Work In Progress
Lumen Screening Lab
Friday 26th June 2009

List Of Works

My Body Became Time
Looped 4 Screen Video Installation
54-Minute

For My Body Became Time I invited contemporary dancer Lucie Lee to explore and respond to the empty Lumen Screening Lab using her body. I strapped cameras to both of her legs, and asked her to hold a camera in each of her hands to capture movement from four different perspectives. As a result, the video cameras become extensions of her body, their weight and bulky shape determining how she navigates the space.

Isolated in the white room, the minutes and seconds unfold as Lucie cautiously begins to navigate the cameras around the boundaries of the room. Feelings of claustrophobia, frustration, isolation, restriction, and fear effect Lucie’s movements as she is faced with the new space. She suddenly feels more secure by the walls and corners, as the overwhelming feeling of the cameras weight, and the atmosphere the space creates, changes how she moves.

The boundaries of the space, of my minimal instructions, and the heavy and awkward cameras restrict her expression. She wants to shout, talk, bend, squat, sit, run. But she can’t. She wants to leave the room, get out of the situation entirely. She continues moving, determined to create the visual pathways she has been directed to take. Everything she knows about her profession is questioned, as her freedom of expression is taken away from her. The camera feel like part of her own body, and she feels like part of the camera. Lost in time, her movements become the only tangible reality.  Her body is her only notion of passing time.

(Written after a conversation with Lucie Lee about her experience in the Screening Lab.)

5957 Days
Looped Digital Video
12 min

When I was 10 years old, my school headmaster selected me, along with one other pupil, to place a time capsule in the newly built bridge in our small village. I was fascinated by the prospect that traces of my childhood, my existence, were going to be buried and then dug up 100’s of years later by people I would never meet. The time capsule was buried on the 5th March 1993. After the Time Capsule had been covered over with cement in its designated hole, I pushed my hands in to the surface leaving small prints as an additional record that I was there.

Every time I travel over the bridge, I imagine the artifacts that I compiled sitting within the grey cylinder of the Time Capsule. Traces of my life, and the lives of my childhood friends, are collected and preserved in this miniature museum right in the heart of Horbury Bridge.  As I grow older and time passes, the objects remain the same, until the bridge itself begins to collapse. In this small airtight compartment deep within the bridge, the artifacts escape the effects of time.

Ballet Steps
Looped Digital video
7 min 44 secs

There is no absence without presence. A red step is captured during a Ballet rehearsal. The dancers are present, their movements audible over the worn and tinny classical recordings. As the dancers get closer to the frame of the camera, their shadows flicker across the red fibres of the carpet. The frame captures a static object void of movement, yet the suggestion of movement is highlighted by the visual absence of the dancers. The work moves beyond the frame, as the un-captured image is suggested.

Absent Presence
Looped Digital Projection

The simple imagery projected site-specifically represents the surface on which it appears, forming layers of time through the space and its physical history.

 
 www.victorialucas.co.uk

Over the past month, the work I am currently developing at Lumen on my residency has significantly progressed away from my initial project proposal. Whilst still focusing on notions relating to photography and film, the absence of the real and the temporal nature of actuality, the work in progress focuses solely on the individual moment, rather than its immediate environment as initially planned. Stills, a piece that I created earlier this year whilst in Berlin, acts as a point of departure for this new thread of enquiry. Moving away from site specificity, Stills is an exploration in to the relationship between Photography and Film. 

Reminiscent of life and present on digital film, the inanimate taxidermy specimens imitate a series of photographs; petrified as if captured in one singular moment through the lifelike pose and appearance long after death. These portraits re-present a duration of time; their deceptive gaze seemingly watching time pass as the reflection of their spectators moves across the glass surface of their eyes.

Exploring the relationship between photography, film, and temporality, Stills presents the reality of the medium in which it is created. The moving image significantly conveys the temporal aspects of actuality, in relation to its existence as a subject affected and controlled by the forces of time. Here time is still present, but the most important characteristic of life, movement, has been extracted.

‘Stills’ 2009

The work I am creating at Lumen as part of my residency extracts the visual all together. Concentrating on audio recordings, I am developing an installation that removes the physical subject entirely. Working with a group of Ballet Dancers, the sound and vibrations created with their ballet shoes is recorded; archiving the contact noise between the points and the floor whilst they dance a ballet sequence in unison.

This sound will then be played back to an audience in a gallery, emerging from an empty constructed stage. Faced with the absence of the dancer, but left with an impression of a past moment, the viewer is provided with what seems like a moment of closeness in proximity to the dancer, whilst removing the physical body all together.  

Today I attended a panel discussion that initially posed the question What is the future of new Media Art? As the discussion progressed, it became much more about New Media in the present, and how it sits within the historical framework surrounding the way in which we present art to an audience. The discussion was part of the Evolution festival, which is an annual showcase of exceptional programmes of work from artists that use media in their art. 

An Art Gallery is a space that connects the artist, artwork and its audience, through the interpretation and expertise of the curator. How can galleries and museums be used to re-present new media works to an audience successfully, given financial, spatial and logistical constraints now presented to us through this complex genre of contemporary art?

A painting or photograph hung on a wall is contained within the boundaries of the frame or canvas. It exists as an individual entity, unaffected by the context in which it is placed. New media presents us with an image that is absorbed or reflected off a surface plain. Thus the space in which a projected image is shown is the structure that allows the piece to exist. A room supplies power, provides a surface to project on to, or a screen on which to present imagery. The space, like a canvas, becomes the frame in which the work is viewed; and is very much intrinsic to how the work is interpreted.

This relationship between digital space and the space that supports it is something that art galleries are becoming increasingly aware of, as constantly advancing technology and digital mediums become broader and less easy to control. Control is an interesting concept for me, particularly as an artist who uses various forms of new media. At what point do artists hand over control of the work they have produced to another, and what effect does this removed responsibility have to a piece of artwork?

I showed a video as part of an installation in a gallery in Stroud a few years ago. It was a small show, and I travelled to the space especially to install the work. When I came back a few weeks later to de-install, the work had significantly changed. Invigilators had accessed the installation, in order to turn the power on and off at the start and end of each day. I had left specific instructions on how the piece should be presented, and the gallery had not respected these simple requirements. As a result, the piece was ruined, and I had lost control of the piece though no fault of my own.

A discussion I attended at Art Forum in Berlin last year touched upon this topic of control. Video artist Phil Collins stated that when he sells his work to a collector or gallery, the only control that he has is through the instructions he supplies on how to install the work. To him, this was an intrinsic part of the process, and I feel that collectors and curators should consider taking on this responsibility of following guidelines supplied with new media as a vital part of the creative process.

Nigel Walsh contributed to the talk at the Burton Gallery today, recalling a sound piece from the Leeds Art Gallery collection created by artist Tacita Dean. He and his colleagues worked closely with the artist when installing her work, combining their expertise on audience engagement with the artist’s conceptual intention.

Separations, the exhibition that I created almost a year ago with colleague Andy Broadey, was for me very much a way of reflecting concerns regarding the relationship between art and context. Sourcing an alternative exhibition space, I used the site to create a piece of work that existed solely in the space in which it was created and exhibited. I used the space as my resource, filming minutiae and happenings that occurred during two weeks leading up to the show. What was interesting about the work was the fact that without the space surrounding the films presented on multiple screens, the work would not exist. The space and films worked symbiotically, only physically existing for two-weeks during the exhibition. The work was very much about experiencing a context, and reflected the temporal qualities of the moving image and how we can relate that to our own actuality.

This work, entitled Fragments (2008), now exists solely through the medium of photography. As a result, the integral part of experiencing the work first hand by an audience has been removed; thus the act of preserving the work so that it can be archived and experienced beyond the event itself is impossible. The fear that new media works will be lost to time, as the memory of an event such as Separation fades, is something that concerns me as a practitioner. 

Fragments 2008 Photo: © David Lindsey

After staying in Berlin for an extra 3 months post residency to work on other exhibitions, I am now back in the West Yorkshire region undertaking a three month Art Residency with Lumen, in the city of Leeds.

Lumen are an arts organisation that support artists and organisations working with New Media and technology, through their artistic programme and audio-visual equipment resource. Throughout my residency, I hope to experiment with their extensive range of professional equipment in order to create a new body of work.  I have decided to continue this blog as a way to archive thought processes and events that occur throughout the residency.

For more information on Lumen please visit www.lumen.org.uk.

All Photographs in this post were taken by Elly Clarke. Visit http://www.ellyclarkephotography.com/

Hosting exhibitions within the domestic space is something that is explored as renting costs increase and gentrification slowly spills over the boundaries of Prezlauerberg and Mitte to places such as Kreuzberg and its surrounding areas. Alongside projects such as Torstrasse 166 (See Post below), a number of shows are being held within domestic spaces as a way to cut costs. But what effect does the domestic environment have upon the interpretation of the work exhibited?

The Clarke Gallery is situated in the corridor of a typical Berlin apartment in Neukölln; a surprisingly spacious hallway that lends itself to small works and site-specific installation. The second exhibition to feature in this space opened last Thursday; comprising a series of single edition photographs taken by Clarke (founder), on her many ventures around the world. One self portrait, in which the artists leg is captured amongst a scenic landscape, links all the images together; the instants or moments captured and controlled are all taken by one person- and the many views and experiences of that person are replayed and shared in stills within the home, surrounded by objects and memories collected in situ.

This successful exhibition was due to the intimate and personal context of the domestic space; it documented a journey that visitors could follow right up until the present moment, as we stood in the artist’s kitchen amongst the boxes of cereal and crockery. It is sometimes difficult to understand another person’s experiences of the world in which we live. This show gave the audience a small insight in to a person’s life, as if they were studying a collection of photographs on the mantelpiece.

Clarke Gallery, Neukölln

Work can still be viewed and purchased at http://www.flickr.com/photos/clarkegallery/se ts/72157610338386714/

As the I am the SpaceWhere I am exhibition moves ever closer, I am contemplating this notion of space, and how a context surrounding an artwork can become part of the work itself. It leads me to question where a piece of work begins and a space ends. If we look at a piece of work created 100 years ago we are able to see its boundaries; but a contemporary work exists within the culture it has been created, and is much more likely to blend with its context. Contemporary works respond to the cultures we create and constantly reinvent for ourselves; relating not just to the current room, but also to the street, city, and country it is situated within. As it states across the front of the Altes Museum in neon – ‘All Art has Been Contemporary’

In two weeks time I will open up my studio, home, and office; revealing the space, and the works I’ve created within it to the general public. Alongside this public versus private contradiction, I have also invited 7 other artists, who are also familiar with the surrounding space, to create interventions that will change the existing space and allow the public to consider it from a completely different perspective. How can a domestic environment be explored and reinvented for an audience, and how can the space be viewed in relation to the artists that have responded to it?

See www.victorialucas.co.uk for work in progress and exhibition information. 

Space in Berlin is generally multi-functional; anyone can open up a bar for example, and empty shops, apartments, warehouses and cellars become communal sitting rooms or bare spaces in which you can drink and dance until dawn. I went to a party that was organised by a friend of mine on Friday night, held in a small bar near Görlitzer Bhf. At first the space appeared to be a typical Berlin bar- sofas and wooden furniture filled the space, a bar to the left of the entrance. Initial comments from friends were ‘how are they going to hold a techno party in here?’

We approached the bar and suddenly noticed people disappearing down the side of it; the cellar had been changed in to a club- the steep cellar steps leading to a dark room filled with people dancing to the muffled noises escaping up the staircase. It was like Alice in Wonderland- the steps were almost vertical and you had to stoop so that you didn’t hit you head on the landing. The subterranean space was raw and unfurnished- a makeshift bottle bar had been set up next to the downstairs fridges and all the stored items had been moved to a back space which was blocked from public use. The context of the event made it very special, and everyone really enjoyed the night and danced until the early hours. 

Ezze Ramone DJing at his event E-MAX. Vor Wien, Skalitzer Str 41, Kreuzberg. 

See http://www.myspace.com/ezzeramon for more information. 

This weekend was amazing- 5 Art Fairs across the city as well as various gallery openings and Brunches. I managed to get to Art Forum, Bridge Art Fair, Preview, and Kunst Salon, and all were interesting for different reasons.

The Bridge Art Fair was the first Fair that I visited, and it was an interesting space as each gallery was housed in an apartment in the 3 blocks occupied by the event. Some of the artists were staying in the apartment with their work, and so there was an element of domesticity as you walked around a series of commercial yet relaxed environments. I attended the opening and so it was quite busy, and nice to bump in to friends on the stairs, or in an apartment with the bed just left in the middle of the room, the art placed on the walls around it. Quirky, with some really interesting works- I was particularly drawn to a series of photographs by artist Kevin Capon, represented by City Art Rooms (New Zealand); Really stark, powerful imagery. 

Kevin Capon, Electroblitz-electronic insect control, 2006

I expected Art Forum to be on the same scale as Frieze in the UK; But I found it to be much more digestible, in a great space in Messe Berlin GmbH. The atmosphere was of course much more commercial than all of the other spaces, but there was a real energy to it- and some beautiful works by artists such as Jesper Just (Gallery Christina Wilson), Amalia Pica (Gallerie Diane Stigter), Chris Larson (Magnus Müller), and Alexej Meschtschanow (Klemm’s).

Jesper Just, The lonely Villa, 2004

I also saw a really interesting discussion entitled Video and Film 3-, which included Phil Collins and Jean-Conrad Lemaitre on the panel. The discussion was about the medium of video, and its position within the contemporary art market. Collectors on the panel agreed that an Art Fair was not the ideal arena to be looking to buy video art. The medium needs a controlled environment, in which the viewer has time to watch the work without distraction. It was also interesting to see what Lemaitre had to say about his collection of films and how he views them- he compared video art to etchings- they are stored away until friends come to visit, or when he has a spare afternoon. Then a big screen is put up in the living room and these films are watched at leisure. Phil Collins also made an interesting point about the installation of works once they had being bought by a collector or institution. As a video artist is easy to lose control over how each work is presented, and this can be detrimental to the work as the format and context is ultimately a crucial part of the work presented. A certain amount of control through a set of instructions given to the buyer as part of the agreement is a way to control these variables. Other factors, such as editioning works, and the pros and cons of having representation on the Internet, were discussed, and it was a really informative and interesting talk.

Preview was the emerging Art Fair, but comprised of works that were on a par with works at Art Forum in some cases. There were some really stricking works, such as Camil Tulcan’s What Makes Us Different, a really beautiful film of two dogs play fighting in a garden (Ivan Gallery). Berit Hummels film Utopia was also notable, capturing a White Tiger surrounded by a fake scene in a zoo, depicting what would be its natural environment.   Another film that captivated me was shown at Kunstsalon, and was created by artist Simone Häckel, entitled Schwäne (Gehag Forum). The simple film depicted a flock of white swans that almost mimicked the movement of ballet dancers from Swan Lake – it was mesmerising and gorgeous. Work from Robert Dämming, Betina Kunstzsch, and Mirja Schellbach were also notable.