"Romanian Film Lounge #Berlinale 2023": films by Alex Mirutziu from the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Romania collection were shown at the Rumanisches Kulturinstitut, Berlin

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A survey of Romanian video art and its developments as seen from a historical, aesthetic but also socio-political viewpoint, spanning from the end of the 70s to the present day.

Alex Mirutziu’s (b.1981, Romania, living between Romania and the UK) practice extends over a wide range of media and activities, including sculpture, film, drawing, poetry and performance as well as critical and curatorial projects. Mirutziu’s practice interrogates the difficulty of dying, the immediate triviality of guilt as manifested in actions whose consequences cannot be fully imagined. He questions continuity as an irreversible, irreparable paradigm in video, performance, and mixed-media installations, and he looks for ways to materialize the conceptual and visceral sides of notions like loss, alienation, and abandonment.

“At the border of photograph and moving image, Self-portrait at 32 is a split screen showing the tops of two dilapidated buildings out of which sprouts some vegetation. The image remains almost motionless apart the delicate and subtle sway of the stems in the wind. Spontaneous vegeta-tion grows in unattended areas of the urban environment, reclaiming the ones controlled spaces and their ruins. they indicate the low economic value of the empty lots and of the dereliction of the former industrial areas. nevertheless, recently it has been shown that they actually contribute significantly to the health of the urban and rural ecosystem, as a metaphor for the condition of the artist, and a gay male in society characterized by widespread homophobia, this piece is also a tribute to the marginalized that nevertheless constitute an essential component of the character of the whole of society. the loneliness and isolation the video evokes is an expression of the artist’s own internal struggle with his position in the world, but through resilience, as we also observe in the plants that create space for themselves and reclaim what was once theirs, he succeeds in spite of environmental adversity.” (text by Olga Stefan)

Self-portrait at 32 - HD video, 1’, 2014 | From the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Romania (MNAC Bucharest) collection

Tears are Precious - Video, 2’55’’, 2007 | From the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Romania (MNAC Bucharest) collection

'The Best I Can Do At The Moment', Alex Mirutziu's contribution to 'Il faut cultiver notre jardin' a collective show at Centrul de Interes

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[EN]

A new exhibition is open from June 26 at the 4th floor of Centrul de Interes. “ll faut cultiver notre jardin”, project by Ovidiu Leuce, presents the work of 24 artists: Irina Dumitrascu, Florin Stefan, Mihai Platica, Ovidiu Leuce, Alex Mirutziu, Andrei Budescu, Andrei Ciurdarescu, Zsolt Berszan, Adrian Ghiman, Valentin Ionescu, Istvan Betuker, Gabriel Marian, Istvan Cimpan, Ioan Aurel Muresan, Robert Bosisio, Mihai Zgondoiu, Cristian Opris, Robert Andacs, Cristi Avram, Marius Fodor, Theodora Ispas, Delia Avram, Andrei Ispas, Vlad Paraschiv.

The exhibition is structured around the enigmatic concluding phrase from Voltaire's "Candide, or Optimism" (1759). After the hero of the novel travels "in the best of all possible worlds", but encounters an endless series of disasters, wars and other human madness, he ends up recommending the care of "our garden" as an antidote to ideological doctrines and as a recipe for a fulfilling life: “it is well said, answered Candide, but we must cultivate our garden.” The title of the exhibition is a response to the crisis of our time given by the artistic community which works at Centrul de Interes and not only.

In order to preserve our humanity and not give in when history triggers its destructive forces, we must look for healing and saving energies that will slowly grow on us. And the search must be daily, concrete, persevering and indispensable, like cultivating a garden or the practice of an artist. That means taking care of our garden. ‘Notre jardin’ refers to the world we live in, a world of plurality that takes shape due to the power of human action. There is never a garden of exclusively individual interests in which to hide in order to escape reality. It is that piece of land inside each one of us or within the community, where the cultural, ethical and civil virtues are cultivated that save reality from its most harmful instincts. These virtues are always ours.

***

[RO]

Centrul de Interes se redeschide în data de 26 iunie, între orele 15:00 și 19:00, cu ”ll faut cultiver notre jardin”, o expoziție menită să confirme natura Centrului de Interes de spațiu de producție și rezidențe artistice, de nucleu cultural deschis comunității și în strânsă relație cu teritoriul său.

Expoziția ”ll faut cultiver notre jardin”, curatoriată de artistul Ovidiu Leuce, reunește în spațiul expozițional de la etajul 4 al Centrului de Interes, lucrările a 24 de artiști din Cluj-Napoca, București, Oradea și Trodena (Italia), printre care, membrii Asociației Artiștilor din Centrul de Interes - Irina Dumitrașcu, Florin Ștefan, Mihai Plătică, Ovidiu Leuce, Alex Mirutziu, Andrei Budescu, Andrei Ciurdărescu, Zsolt Berszan, Adrian Ghiman, Valentin Ionescu, Istvan Betuker, Gabriel Marian, Istvan Cîmpan; artiști în programul de rezidență al Centrului de Interes - Robert Andacs, Cristian Avram, Delia Avram, Marius Fodor, Theodora Ispas, Andrei Ispas, Vlad Paraschiv; și artiști invitați - Robert Bosisio, Ioan Aurel Mureșan, Cristian Opriș, Mihai Zgondoiu.

Expoziția e structurată în jurul enigmaticei fraze concluzive din "Candide sau Optimismul" de Voltaire (1759). După ce eroul romanului călătorește "în cea mai bună din toate lumile posibile”, dar întâmpină o serie nesfârșită de dezastre, războaie și alte nebunii umane, sfârșește prin a recomanda îngrijirea "grădinii noastre" ca antidot împotriva doctrinelor ideologice și ca rețetă pentru o viață împlinită: "este bine spus, a răspuns Candide, dar trebuie să ne cultivăm grădina". Titlul expoziției e răspunsul oferit timpului actual de către comunitatea artistică care activează în Centrul de Interes.

”Pentru a ne păstra umanitatea și a nu ceda atunci când istoria declanșează forțele sale distructive, trebuie să căutam energii vindecătoare și salvatoare care să crească încet în noi. Iar căutarea trebuie sa fie cotidiană, concretă, perseverentă, indispensabilă, asemenea cultivării unei grădini sau muncii unui artist. Asta înseamnă să avem grijă de grădina noastră. ‘Notre jardin’ / ’Grădina noastră’ se referă la lumea pe care o locuim, o lume a pluralității ce prinde formă datorită puterii acțiunii umane. Nu este niciodată o grădină a intereselor exclusiv individuale în care să ne ascundem pentru a scăpa de realitate. E acea bucată de pământ în interiorul fiecăruia sau în cadrul comunității, unde sunt cultivate virtuțile culturale, etice și civile care salvează realitatea de cele mai nocive instincte ale sale. Aceste virtuți sunt întotdeauna ale noastre”, spune Ovidiu Leuce, curatorul expoziției.

IL FAUT CULTIVER NOTRE JARDIN

June 26 - September 1, 2020

Centrul de Interes

Opening Hours:

TUE-SAT: 4pm - 7:30pm

Fabricii de Chibrituri 9A, Floor 4, Cluj-Napoca (RO)

www.centruldeinteres.art

Few Were Happy With Their Condition at Motorenhalle / Dresden

Few Were Happy with their Condition: Video, Film and Photography in Romania / curated by Olga Stefan

10.9. until 17.10.2015

Curator: Olga Stefan (USA/RO)

Artists: Ciprian Muresan, Dan Acosteoaei, Jozsef Bartha, Alexandra Croitoru, Cristina David, Monotremu, Claudiu Cobilanschi, Vlad Nanca, Dragos Alexandrescu, Bogdan Girbovan, Stefan Sava, Alex Mirutziu, Stefan Constantinescu, Cristi Pogacean, Irina Botea and Mircea Nicolae.

Installation view /Alex Mirutziu - Self portrait at 32

Installation view / Alex Mirutziu - Self portrait at 32

Installation view / Alex Mirutziu - Self portrait at 32

English version bellow

Die Ausstellung Few Were Happy with their Condition beschäftigt sich mit dem Zustand Rumäniens nach 1989: Einer Zeit voller Hoffnungen und Enttäuschungen, während derer der Wunsch nach Freiheit in einer wirtschaftlichen und für das kapitalistische Modell typischen Unsicherheit resultierte, während derer Korruption die gesamte Gesellschaft erfasste und zwischenmenschliche ebenso wie institutionelle Beziehungen mitprägte. Die kommunistische Vergangenheit, die darin begangenen Verbrechen und die Unterdrückung der Öffentlichkeit lasten bis heute schwer auf dem Land. Armut und Instabilität der postkommunistischen Ära führten zu einem Trauma, das den Alltag und die Emotionen der meisten Menschen prägt und wenig überraschend auch die künstlerische Produktion.
Mit einem Fokus auf typisch zeitgenössische Medien wie Video, Film und Fotografie spricht die Ausstellung die herrschende Unzufriedenheit in einer Gesellschaft an, die noch immer zwischen zwei Zeiten lebt: Mental von der Vergangenheit geprägt, will sie sich gleichzeitig davon befreien und endlich in die Zukunft aufbrechen. 


Die Gegenwart ist in ihrer Komplexität natürlich einer der spannendsten Orte für Beobachtungen, weshalb sich auch viele Künstler in verschiedenen Formen gern mit ihr beschäftigen. Aber nicht nur die Zukunft wird durch eine Analyse der Gegenwart geschrieben: Auch die Vergangenheit hat einen mächtigen, allgegenwärtigen und mitunter erdrückenden Einfluss, gerade in einem Land wie Rumänien, wo die Phase des Übergangs scheinbar endlos anzudauern scheint.


ENG
Few Were Happy with their Condition explores life in post-communist Romania, a time of hope and huge disappointment, with the transition (towards what?) seeming to continue forever, where neoliberalism and communist-style corruption and methodologies clash and mirror each other constantly, and where the young generation is still trying to carve a space for debate and critical analysis in art and life, and position itself against its nation’s past but also the West, thus attempting to create a new contemporary identity.

The show focuses on feelings of discontentment within the context of contemporary society, vis-a-vis Romania’s current political climate, its dark past and ever developing social problems, but also to personal narratives and meditations on life and the human condition.

The artists in the exhibition, through their use of video, film and photography, reflect the contemporary need for immediacy and urgency in expression and the technology and preoccupations of our time. In addition, there is a tradition of criticality inherent in these mediums dating back to the 1960s when video art and experimental film were means of opposing broadcast television and Hollywood, and had a tendency to resist commodification through their deteriorating nature.

http://riesa-efau.de/kunst-erleben/motorenhalle/few-were-happy-with-their-condition-109-17102015/

Alex Mirutziu, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Carolee Schneemann, Hannah Wilke, David Wojnarowicz at Moving Image New York

Alex Mirutziu -Runway spill #2 (video still) / 2011

Moving Image, an art fair of contemporary video art, will take place March 3-6, 2011, during the Armory Show in New York and within walking distance of Independent. Located in the the Waterfront Tunnel event space between 27th and 28th Streets with an entrance on 11th Avenue in Chelsea, Moving Image will be free to the public and open Thursday - Saturday, March 3-5, 11-8 PM and on Sunday, March 6, 11-3 PM. An opening reception for Moving Image will take place Thursday, March 3, 6-8 PM.

Moving Image has been conceived to offer viewers a unique viewing experience, providing a rich program of time-based work from around the globe by today's most important and exciting new artists.

SABOT (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) features Alex Mirutziu’s videos. Using social consciousness and political information as fodder for open dialogue, this Romanian artist bridges the gap between form and communication. Each video is a temporal study delicately illustrating the emotional weight associated with social and political life. These films come to life through tears, volatile distortion, and isolation.

Moving Image was conceived by Edward Winkleman and Murat Orozobekov of New York's Winkleman Gallery and co-organized with Penny Pilkington and Wendy Olsoff of New York's P·P·O·W gallery.

The acclaimed video by Alex Mirutziu - "Tears are precious" screened at FAT Toronto Alternative Fashion Week

One of the most important media critical festivals in the world Lumen Festival, The Projection Gallery finds itself at the forefront of its contemporaries, screening "Tears are precious" video by Alex Mirutziu in an fashionistic never seen rhetoric.

After being awarded BEST INDEPENDENT FILM at OPTICA - International Video Art Festival, "Tears are precious" has marked scenes so diverse from the underground Bacon Street London - 2009 to now established Sabot Gallery 2009, Lumen Festival - 2009, and this year prestigious Warsaw National Museum - 2010.

FAT Toronto Alternative Fashion Week is well-regarded across Canada and has a growing international reputation, this year being the fifth event and the second in which The Projection Gallery has participated. The event include 4 themed event days; Longing, Lust, Rage and Joy, in an area of the media lounges accompanying the catwalk, and viewable throughout the events’ evening gatherings.

"Tears are precious" marks the Longing theme alongside Ben Cooper's ’11:59’, Christoph Steger's ‘Jeffrey and the Dinosaurs’ Contemporary artists’ film from The Projection Gallery.com collection: The Projection Gallery.com is a BBC London/Big Screens partner organisation, which supports the development of artists’ film and video through the collection, archival, exhibition and distribution of works in lens-based media and allied practices. Based in London, it holds an extensive database of emergent artists from around the world.