PUBLIC OF STOCKHOLM TO PERFORM PENDING WORK #7

Added on May 27, 2012 by Alex Mirutziu.

Five moments of silence for Pending Work #7

Note #3 to Pending work # 2 (Homage a Gencer) 2011 - Digital print on

photographic paper

ALEX MIRUTZIU

WHAT IS THE REALITY OF NEVER?

MAY 27 - JUNE 12 2012

Lucie Fontaine Studio

Iaspis, Maria Skolgata 83, Stockholm

Lucie Fontaine and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm are proud to present the fourth exhibition at Lucie Fontaine’s Stockholm satellite, located at Iaspis, on Maria Skolgata 83. Entitled “What is the reality of never?” the exhibition presents a selection of works by Romanian artist Alex Mirutziu, who for this occasion will perform a new work entitled Five moments of Silence for Pending Work #7 (2012). The performance is accompanied by the following synopsis:

Pending works reside in few answering curves of theory. They are irreducible to any medium and their room is multifaceted and complex. This body of work explores the idea of classicism and the establishment of drama, stressing how the work makes it or doesn’t make it through the play, buffering in the instantaneous present.

There are two important conceptual triggers related to the pending works machinery. The first question is the reliability of the event and its performativity within a fluctuating timeline. The second refers to the cathexis of time and action versus duration, anti-duration and political evidence. Ultimately the chief interest of the pending works lies in the dialectic between evidence and the event as transformative of each other.

On one hand the artist’s extensive engagement with performance and installations aims to open an ontological terrain inside his so-called “Pending Works and Scotopolitic Objects.” He is the only artist to have made a group with a hyper-object, namely with himself at 29 and exhibit as a collective for the first time at Barbara Seiler Gallery in Zurich. The artist and himself at 29 is a medium. None is superior to the other and none can comprehend the fullness of atoms that shape each other. The biggest question is who arrived at whom first, faster or even at all? The question therefore rests upon distance. Is there any distance separating them? Can there be a possible distance between them, or is the artist at 29 years old collapsing into the artist now? Considering these projects one of the critical aspects in his work is that it resists closure by asking: What is the reality of never?

Alex Mirutziu is an artist based in Sibiu, Romania. He had solo shows at Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zurich (2011), Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (2010), Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich (2010) and Galeria Sabot, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2009). His work is included in “European Travelers – Art from Cluj Today,” currently on view at Műcsarnok | Kusthalle Budapest.

The show is made possible through the support of Iaspis and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm. If you need further information please contact Lucie Fontaine’s employees: employee@luciefontaine.com.

All images and video belong to Alex Mirutziu

Alex Mirutziu: What is the Reality of Never? at IASPIS, Stockholm

Added on May 21, 2012 by Alex Mirutziu.

ALEX MIRUTZIU : WHAT IS THE REALITY OF NEVER?

27 mai – 12 iunie 2012

Studioul Luciei Fontaine, Iaspis, Maria Skolgata 83, Stockholm

Vernisaj duminică, 27 mai, ora 18.00

Performance de Alex Mirutziu: Five moments of Silence for Pending Work #7

Institutul Cultural Român de la Stockholm şi Lucie Fontaine prezintă prima expoziţie individuală a artistului Alex Mirutziu în Suedia, găzduită de Lucie Fontaine în studioul său de la Iaspis, transformat într-un satelit al spaţiului expoziţional pe care aceasta îl conduce în Milano. Expoziţia “What is the Reality of Never?” prezintă o selecţie de lucrări ale artistului Alex Mirutziu, incluzând performance-ul Five moments of Silence for Pending Work #7, ce va fi prezentat în premieră la vernisaj. Performance-ul este acompaniat de următorul discurs:

Pending works reside in few answering curves of theory. They are irreducible to any medium and their room is multifaceted and complex. This body of work explores the idea of classicism and the establishment of drama, stressing how the work makes it or doesn’t make it through the play, buffering in the instantaneous present.

There are two important conceptual triggers related to the pending works machinery. The first question is the reliability of the event and its performativity within a fluctuating timeline. The second refers to the cathexis of time and action versus duration, anti-duration and political evidence. Ultimately the chief interest of the pending works lies in the dialectic between evidence and the event as transformative of each other. (Alex Mirutziu)

Interesul lui Alex Mirutziu pentru performance şi instalaţii a dus la crearea unui teren ontologic în cadrul lucrărilor din seria Pending Works and Scotopolitic Objects. Mirutziu este primul artist care a format un colectiv cu un hiper-obiect şi anume artistul însuşi, aflat la vârsta de 29 de ani. The Artist and Himself at 29 subliniază încă o data înclinaţia lui Mirutziu pentru studiul existenţei, lucrările sale opunându-se limitărilor prezente prin încercarea de a defini realitatea infinitului temporal.

Alex Mirutziu: What is the Reality of Never? este parte a proiectului Body of Work dezvoltat de Lucie Fontaine în colaborare cu Iaspis. Pe parcursul rezidenţei sale la Iaspis, Lucie Fontaine găzduieşte o serie de discuţii şi va organiza o serie de expoziţii având la bază teme precum condiţia autorului şi autenticitatea operei de artă. Toate activităţile vor avea loc la Iaspis, Maria Skolgata 83, Stockholm, în studioul Luciei Fontaine. Anterior expoziţiei lui Alex Mirutziu Lucie Fontaine mai organizează proiecte şi discuţii cu Agnieszka Kurant, Claire Fontaine, Daniella Isamit Morales, Alice Tomaselli & Alice Mandelli şi Josefine Wikström.

Alex Mirutziu (n. 1981) locuieşte şi lucrează la Sibiu, România. În 2011 a avut o rezidenţă la The Glass Factory, Boda Glasbruk, Suedia, unde a colaborat cu artista suedeză Åsa Jungnelius. A avut expoziţii personale la Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zurich (2011), Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (2010), Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munchen (2010) şi Galeria Sabot, Cluj-Napoca (2009). În prezent participă la expoziţia de grup “European Travelers – Art from Cluj Today” de la centrul de artă Műcsarnok din Budapesta.

Lucie Fontaine este un personaj fictiv în numele căruia acţionează un grup de artişti, curatori, colecţionari, editori şi scriitori, ce se autointitulează angajaţi ai Luciei Fontaine, aducând astfel în discuţie problema identităţii artistice. Prin urmare, Lucie Fontaine se prezintă ca un angajator în deomeniul artei, şi prin relaţia cu angajaţii săi, îşi permite să fie activă ca artist, curator, dealer, colecţionar, editor, scriitor etc.

Acest proiect este o colaborare între ICR Stockholm, Lucie Fontaine şi Iaspis.

[EN]

ALEX MIRUTZIU : WHAT IS THE REALITY OF NEVER?

MAY 27 - JUNE 12 2012

Lucie Fontaine and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm are proud to present the fourth exhibition at Lucie Fontaine’s Stockholm satellite, located at Iaspis, on Maria Skolgata 83. Entitled “What is the reality of never?” the exhibition presents a selection of works by Romanian artist Alex Mirutziu, who for this occasion will perform a new work entitled Five moments of Silence for Pending Work #7 (2012). The performance is accompanied by the following synopsis:

On one hand the artist’s extensive engagement with performance and installations aims to open an ontological terrain inside his so-called “Pending Works and Scotopolitic Objects.” He is the only artist to have made a group with a hyper-object, namely with himself at 29 and exhibit as a collective for the first time at Barbara Seiler Gallery in Zurich. The artist and himself at 29 is a medium. None is superior to the other and none can comprehend the fullness of atoms that shape each other. The biggest question is who arrived at whom first, faster or even at all? The question therefore rests upon distance. Is there any distance separating them? Can there be a possible distance between them, or is the artist at 29 years old collapsing into the artist now? Considering these projects one of the critical aspects in his work is that it resists closure by asking: What is the reality of never?

Alex Mirutziu is an artist based in Sibiu, Romania. He had solo shows at Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zurich (2011), Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (2010), Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich (2010) and Galeria Sabot, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2009). His work is included in “European Travelers – Art from Cluj Today,” currently on view at Műcsarnok | Kusthalle Budapest.

The show is made possible through the support of Iaspis and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm. If you need further information please contact Lucie Fontaine’s employees: employee@luciefontaine.com.

EUROPEAN TRAVELLERS. Art from Cluj Today at Műcsarnok Kunsthalle

Added on April 13, 2012 by Alex Mirutziu.

EUROPEAN TRAVELLERS

Art from Cluj Today

April 19 - July 1, 2012

Műcsarnok / Kunsthalle

Curator:

Judit Angel

Artists:

Marius Bercea, Zsolt Berszán, István Betuker, Mihut Boscu, Razvan Botis, Mircea Cantor, Radu Comsa, Csaba Csiki, Duo van der Mixt, Oana Farcas, Adrian Ghenie, Simon Cantemir Hausi, Mihai Iepure Gorski, István László, Victor Man & Anna-Bella Papp, Szilárd Miklós, Dénes Miklósi, Alex Mirutziu, Nita Mocanu, Ciprian Muresan, Cristian Opris, Cristi Pogacean, Victor Racatau, Cristian Rusu, Serban Savu, Leonardo Silaghi, Mircea Suciu, Péter Szabó, Sergiu Toma, Gabriela Vanga, Szabolcs Veres

[EN] Cluj’s contemporary art has for years been the subject of special international attention. The term Cluj School in reference to new figurative painting – which appeared in the mid 2000s and has been the topic of debate ever since – and the Paintbrush Factory – which houses studios and independent cultural institutions – quickly became widely known in Europe. Of the Cluj artists, many have exhibited in such prestigious international venues as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, MoMA in New York, the Kunsthaus of Zurich, and the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein. Their works have been discussed in internationally significant publications and they have collaborated with distinguished galleries. The art institutions of Cluj have notable networks of international connections and continuously host prominent foreign experts.

The success story of Cluj is no overnight “miracle” however, as it is a continuously growing, multi-layered phenomenon. Its development and evolution have not only required exceptional artistic talent, inspiration and perhaps a bit of luck, but in the background, are also the result of mostly private initiatives, as well as an immense amount of work, an open attitude, persistence and conscious self-positioning on the part of independent art institutions.

The Műcsarnok exhibition aims to offer an authentic representation of the “Cluj phenomenon.” As a special point of interest, in addition to the artworks, the show also familiarizes viewers with the most important institutions of the local art scene, which are of many different types. These include centres that house contemporary art exhibitions and accommodate theatrical and dance productions, studios that experiment with digital media, publishing projects, as well as community and activist platforms. The University of Art and Design Cluj, with its strong emphasis on building international connections, also makes its appearance. The more than thirty artists and seventeen art groups and institutions that are featured in the exhibition have been selected with a focus on the – internationally also significant – developments in Cluj within the past decade.

The international embeddedness of the contemporary art of Cluj is also well indicated by the fact that a considerable portion of the works has been borrowed from collections in Western Europe. Thepaintings, graphics, objects, photos, videos and installations featured in the exhibition include both newly realised and site specific works. Similarly to the artist generation of the nineties, albeit with less directness, these artists also react with sensitivity to the challenges of the local social and cultural milieu. The displayed works relate to the mechanisms of history and memory, the ambiguities of the transition period, and the changes in ideology with the same reflectiveness as they do to art history and painting traditions. Figurative painting and critical and lyrical conceptual tendencies – the two defining trends of the contemporary art of Cluj – are represented in a mutually complementing manner at the Műcsarnok.

As part of the special installation of the exhibition, visitors can enjoy an active resting area where they also have access to an abundance of information.

www.mucsarnok.hu

***

[RO] Expoziţia „European Travellers. Art From Cluj Today” îşi propune să ofere o reprezentare autentică a „fenomenului Cluj”. Un interes suplimentar față de operele de artă expuse îl constituie familiarizarea publicului cu cele mai importante instituţii ale scenei de artă locală, din diferite domenii. Acestea includ centre care găzduiesc expoziţii de artă contemporană şi producţii de teatru şi dans, studiouri experimentale de artă digitală, proiecte editoriale, precum şi platforme comunitare şi activiste.

Arta contemporană din Cluj se bucură de o atenţie internaţională deosebită. Termenul „Şcoala de la Cluj”, cu referire la pictura figurativă – apărut în mijlocul anilor 2000 – a fost subiect al dezbaterilor, discutat în publicaţii importante la nivel internaţional şi Fabrica de Pensule, care găzduieşte studiouri şi instituţii culturale independente, a devenit rapid cunoscută în Europa. Artiştii clujeni au expus creaţia lor în muzeee şi galerii de prestigiu internaţional, cum ar fi, de exemplu, Muzeul Stedelijk din Amsterdam, MoMA din New York, Kunsthaus din Zürich şi Neuer Berliner Kunstverein. Instituţiile de artă din Cluj au reţele notabile de conexiuni internaţionale şi găzduiesc continuu experţi proeminenţi din străinătate.

Universitatea de Artă și Design din Cluj, cu accentul său puternic pus pe stabilirea unor legături internaţionale, este prezentă în expoziția European Travellers. Cei peste 30 de artişti, 17 grupuri de artă şi instituţii participante în expoziţie au fost selectaţi/selectate ca urmare a evoluţiei lor pe plan internaţional.

Prestigiul internaţional al artei contemporane din Cluj este indicat şi de faptul că o parte considerabilă a lucrărilor au fost împrumutate din colecţii din Europa de Vest. Picturile, lucrările de grafică, obiectele, fotografiile, video-urile şi instalaţiile prezentate în expoziţie includ atât lucrări noi cât și lucrări site specific. Asemănător generației de artiști a anilor ’90, deşi nu într-o manieră atât de explicită, artiștii prezenți în această expoziție reacţionează cu sensibilitate la provocările mediului local, social şi cultural. Lucrările afişate se referă la mecanismele istorice şi ale memoriei, ambiguitățile perioadei de tranziţie, precum şi la schimbările ideologice, în același fel cu care o fac raportându-se la elemente din istoria artei şi tradiţiilor din pictură. Atât pictura figurativă, cât şi tendinţele conceptuale critice şi lirice – cele două tendinţe definitorii ale artei contemporane din Cluj – sunt reprezentate într-un mod complementar la Műcsarnok.

Ca parte specială a instalației expoziționale, vizitatorii se pot bucura de o zonă de odihnă activă unde au acces la o varietate de informaţii.

PLAY DICE WOULD BE NICE

Added on April 13, 2012 by Alex Mirutziu.

PLAY DICE WOULD BE NICE

April 13 – June 8, 2012

Opening reception: Friday April 13, 6-9 pm

[ Gaudel de Stampa | 3, rue de Vaucouleurs, 75011 Paris ]

www.gaudeldestampa.fr

www.galeria-sabot.ro

A BRAND NEW BABY CARRIAGE STANDING THERE ON THE PORCH

Added on April 11, 2012 by Alex Mirutziu.

Uriel Orlow, Untitled (from the series What Cannot Be Seen), 2012

A BRAND NEW BABY CARRIAGE STANDING THERE ON THE PORCH

Pauline Bastard, Dina Danish, Rubén Grilo, Shana Lutker, Alex Mirutziu, Uriel Orlow, Annaïk Lou Pitteloud, Sebastian Schaub

April 14 - June 02, 2012

Preview: Friday, April 13, 2012 from 6 - 9 pm

“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for (at some forty-five hundred heartbeats an hour). I know, however, of a young chronophobiac who experienced something like panic when looking for the first time at homemade movies that had been taken a few weeks before his birth. He saw a world that was practically unchanged-the same house, the same people- and then realized that he did not exist there at all and that nobody mourned his absence. He caught a glimpse of his mother waving from an upstairs window, and that unfamiliar gesture disturbed him, as if it were some mysterious farewell. But what particularly frightened him was the sight of a brand-new baby carriage standing there on the porch, with the smug, encroaching air of a coffin; even that was empty, as if, in the reverse course of events, his very bones had disintegrated.”

In ‘Speak, Memory’, Vladimir Nabokov describes the birth of his own sense of time and of being as ‘tremendously invigorating’. It was the comparison of the age of his parents, thirty-three and twenty-seven, with his own age of four, that brought about his sense of himself as separate from the world around him, along with the realization, that the world had been there before his entrance. Nabokov describes this revelation as his second baptism: "I felt myself plunged abruptly into a radiant and mobile medium that was no other than the pure element of time. One shared it – just as excited bathers share shinning seawater – with creatures that were not oneself but that were joined to one by time’s common flow, an environment quite different from the spatial world". This early intuition is akin to the theory of Duration by French philosopher Henri Bergson, who attempted to redefine the modern conceptions of time, space, and causality. Seeing Duration as a mobile and fluid concept, Bergson argued that one couldn’t understand Duration through "immobile" analysis, but only through experiential, first-person intuition. In his essay ‘The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics’ he described the dilemma of measuring time: the moment, one attempted to measure, was gone at the moment one attempted to measure that specific moment. He concluded that the inner life of man as a form of Duration was neither a unity nor a quantitative multiplicity but could only be shown indirectly through images and could only be understood through a simple intuition of the imagination. ‘Speak, Memory’ is a systematically correlated assemblage of personal recollections, images and words, which transcend the limitations of ordinary time. Characters appear and reappear in different contexts and at different moments, disintegrating the narrative structure and questioning not only the reality of the recollections but also the linearity of time. “I confess I do not believe in time. I like to fold my magic carpet, after use, in such a way as to superimpose one part of the pattern upon another. Let visitors trip. And the highest enjoyment of timelessness-in a landscape selected at random-is when I stand among rare butterflies and their food plants. This is ecstasy, and behind the ecstasy is something else, which is hard to explain. It is like a momentary vacuum into which rushes all that I love. A sense of oneness with sun and stone. A thrill of gratitude to whom it may concern-to the contrapuntal genius of human fate or to tender ghosts humoring a lucky mortal.”

This exhibition affiliates eight young artists who share in their work a preoccupation with the concept of time and investigation of elements of time. One group of works on display can be categorized as attempt to (re-)create time through different time-based elements which can take place within the tool (i.e. video camera), through a narrative or a process, but is not limited to a specific medium such as film but also includes two-dimensional images. One group of works investigates the measurement of time whereas the measuring tools have been alienated of their original function. Another group of works looks at time as a recollection of memories. Akin to Nabokov’s ‘magic carpet’ they create images of past events and times, though memories of other people, through objects that serve as placeholders, though found objects or photographs. By displaying them as collage or parallel to one-another the artists question whether these memories can serve as evidence or if they are, at least in some parts, rather fictitious, thus ultimately questioning the linearity of time. The most radical questioning of the concept of time can be seen in a work on view that does not yet exist but can only be seen in the form of a pending work.

BARBARA SEILER GALERIE - Anwandstrasse 67 CH - 8004 Zürich