We got to go to Istanbul last week and managed to catch some great art during our time. ‘Not All That Falls Has Wings’ was a group show presenter by Arter containing Bas Jan Ader, Phyllida Barlow, Cyprien Gaillard, Ryan Gander, Mikhail Karikis & Uriel Orlow, VOID and Anne Wenzel. Since opportunities to see works by Ryan Gander can never be turned down we definitely weren’t missing this one. The exhibition presented the idea of falling as more than a mere curse or a sign of impotence. Provided that ‘all falls and keeps falling’ (as it says in the press release), the movement here points to a shared condition that ties all things, be they tangible or intangible. Beginning from this common ground, the works in the show are highlighting the notion of some sort of disorientating movement that bridges the unexpected and the mundane. Falling makes it possible to trace a movement from beginning to end, which creates the conditions for dealing with the surface, and coming to terms with the bottom. The works in the exhibition manifest the invisible forces of gravity working on small and large scales, and contextualise an all-time dynamic by each of them offering up their own definitions at the point of their production. Some favorites included three 16mm films by Bas Jan Ader from his legendary ‘Fall’ series. Our enjoyment of these works come from Ader taking this idea of ‘fate’ into his own hands; usually is one were to fall it would be by accident (or ‘chance’ as some call it) but he is removing this by inflicting it upon himself.
Ryan Gander’s installation was one we had seen many a time via the Internet but never IRL. It’s one, which references the disagreement had by Piet Mondrian and Theo Van Doesburg about the significance of the diagonal line (Mondrian being opposed to them and only using horizontal and vertical lines and Van Doesburg embracing them). Hundreds of black arrows, all of which seem to have been shot at varying angles, transform the existing gallery space into a battleground. This work in praise of a diversity of lines and paths provides a scene for fact and fiction to collide; a site where nothing actually falls other than the viewer’s certainty.
While we were there we also visited Istanbul Modern that had a group show titled ‘Artists in Their Time’. As the title suggests, the main theme of the exhibition was how artists position themselves and their work within the concept of time. One of our favourites was ‘Stairway to Hell’ by Monica Bonvicini. Previous knowledge of her interest in architecture, sex and politics highlight the dark humour of this work. It manifests as a steel staircase, suspended from the ceiling by long strands of steel chains, which culminate in panels of safety glass punctured by the occasional hammer crack. To climb a staircase suggests the possibility of redemption but the prospect of finally emerging from the staircase only to be trapped within this nightmarish combination of brightly lit metal and broken glass definitely overrides this.
Another was ‘Taxidermist’ by Ali Kazma. This was a film where a taxidermist went through the process of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals. It was mesmerising to see watch and the process of the animals starting out at limp, lifeless bodies to mimicking their once animated selves. It reminded us of a film by Daniel Eisenberg called ‘The Unstable Object II’, which is about the conditions of factory production in the early part of the twenty-first century. This particular film is one based in a prosthetics factory where thousands of hands, feet, arms, and legs are produced daily for the world market. When watching it, you get this strange feeling of people building people; when there are close-ups on hands making hands it’s hard to tell which ones are ‘real’. The connection between the two works was the hidden nature of them, both are rarely in the public eye, and the uneasy feeling they both in still with regards to the viewings confidence in reality.
Şener Özmen’s film, ‘What Actually Does an Artist Want?’, was another piece that stuck in our memory. The artist shouts into an empty field, while his voice drowned out by passing planes. This is similar to an idea we’ve seen enacted by Joshua Tabti (see his website here) where he gives a lecture but is standing outside while the audience is inside, watching him through a window.
The photos from ‘Level Playing Field’ are finally here, along with documentation of ‘God’s Own County’ (we appear at around 53:54 on the YouTube video here) and ‘swimmers/secretkeepers’.
There are some other new things, which are in process, one of which is a platform that someone is building for artists where they have a profile and a selection of interview style questions that they’ve answered about their practice. Another is an exhibition called ‘Bedroom Artists’ (although this is potentially a working title), which is a show consisting of predominantly live (performance or live art) works or works that are less ‘live’ but more unfold in front of you (moving image). It’s in the very early stages at the moment but it’s going to be held in London some time in September. The third and final of these is a project titled ‘withfc’. It’s basically a new curatorial collaboration between Hamish Chapman and Freya Fullarton (click on their names to check out their individual practices or here to find out about their previous project, ‘The Plinth’). The backstory is that they’ve been asked by Very Friendly to stage a ‘take over’ of Voidoid Archive for the month of August, and have selected 50 artists to be involved in one of their programmed exhibitions. The exhibition’s working title is ‘Bought Objects,’ the premise of which is to explore the role of found objects in a contemporary artistic practice. And to develop a new sub-category within this of ‘bought objects,’ essentially that a bought object is one an artist seeks out consciously for some artistic purpose. This exhibition will take place at Voidoid Archive in Glasgow and will open on the 12th August. Find out more on the withfc website here. Something that continues to be in progress is ‘The Great Unanswered II’ and is going to take more of our focus as we’re nearing the exhibition date.
