It was the offline launch of the first isthisit? magazine the other day! It was hosted at serf in Leeds so we took a trip up and it was really well done. The show basically big prints of pages in the magazine as well as one scroll containing the whole thing. Other pieces in it were isthisit? merch' such as pens, a mug, a t-shirt and a hat. It was an exhibition that seemed serious on the outside but was very tongue in cheek if you know a little about the organisation. It was the first time that we have seen the magazine in the flesh and it truly looks amazing; beautifully bound, beautiful paper quality, just a lovely object. All in all a great show, looking forward to the second issue!
While Leeds we went over to the Henry
Moore Institute and saw a superb show by Aleksandra Domanović.
She had been invited to create new sculptures that respond to the building
itself. What’s on show are a number of sculptures made in the tradition of
Greek Korai, sculptural dedications of female figures that hold
offerings. Three of Domanović’s figures hold animals and fruit – taking their
cue from votive statues from the Sanctuary of Hera in Samos, Greece. But these
once organic things are now mechanical in their appearance, and in no way are
attempting to hide it. So there’s this clever combination of the past and the
future, folding the aesthetic of classical sculpture into how developing
technology relates to the societies that create it.
But our favourite work in show was
definitely ‘Turbo Sculpture’, a moving image work underscoring the artist’s
concern with the public life of sculpture. It looks into the emergence of a new
kind of public art in the ex-Yugoslavia republics, which she defines in
reference to ‘Turbofolk’, a popular style of music in the region, suggesting
that these sculptures remain neutral in the turmoil of political disputes. But
the strange things is that unlike war memorials, these public monuments do not
refer to a common history of a specific site or occurrence; they are based,
instead, on modern popular culture. Instead of war heroes, who would have been
immortalised by classical monuments, local authorities now decide to eternalise
Hollywood stars and heroes of the Western world in bronze. Bruce Lee, Johnny
Depp, Rocky Balboa, and other film characters or public personae provide new
points of identification for the community in place of celebrating national
heroes, following the atrocities of war and the damaged reputations of
political leaders. A very interesting work which actually taught us a lot!
Some good news in Dollspace land; we’re
finally getting the first show together! It’s going to be a solo show by Bob
Bicknell-Knight (click >>>here<<< so check out his previous
works). His plan looks pretty fun, looking into some common themes of his work
such as escapism and ideas of utopia.
Today is the final day of 3030 and it’s
been excellent, as always! A great opportunity to make work in a new, different
and fun way, every day! For our last work we’ve made a compilation of vloggers
moaning about being artists and all the problems that they go through,
including the price of paints, being asked to draw stuff for people and just not
being very good in general. Enjoy!