Ei Arakawa
Tony Chakar
Kajsa Dahlberg
Carmen Gheorghe
Knut Henrik
Henriksen
Ian Kiaer
Koo Jeong-A
Laurent Montaron
Dominique Petitgand
Josephine Pryde
Group show. Instead of relating to a central theme, the artworks display a mixture of associated concerns and productive incompatibilities. Organised by MA Curating Contemporary Art graduating students.
Group show
Ei Arakawa, Tony Chakar, Kajsa Dahlberg, Carmen Gheorghe, Knut Henrik
Henriksen, Ian Kiaer, Koo Jeong-A, Laurent Montaron, Dominique Petitgand,
Josephine Pryde, Florian Pumhesl
Organised by MA Curating Contemporary Art graduating students
Most of the artists in Various Small Fires were commissioned to produce
works reflecting on physical and psychological space in response to the
Royal College of Art galleries. These galleries exist in a perpetual state
of flux, witnessing the constant making and un-making of exhibitions, but
also function as a daily thoroughfare for staff and students. Various
Small Fires uses the exhibition space as the material and the environment
for a number of dialogues between ideas, architecture, artworks and
visitors. Within this environment the works function individually and can
also be clustered into constellations of small fires.
Carmen Gheorghe Vaterland IX (2007), a floor-based work made from sand
quartz, appropriates motifs from Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, and Michel
Majerus. These patterns are altered and the sand is dispersed as visitors
interact with the piece.
Florian Pumhesl Programm (2006) is a film that reflects on the Casa
Modernista, an icon of Brazilian Modernism, while also attempting to
explore how images can be reconstructed and memorised.
Kajsa Dahlberg Ett Etget Rum/Tusen Bibliotek (A Room of One’s Own/A
Thousand Libraries) (2006) is a series of drawings of the marginal notes
made by readers onto library copies of Virgina Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own
(1929).
Ei Arakawa 1979 Pink Floyd as Reconstruction Mood (2007) is a performance
involving a high-speed transformation that disrupts the gallery space and
includes the production of an on-site magazine.
Laurent Montaron Craignez celle qui suit (1998/2007) is a film projected
inside an inaccessible room filled with dust that causes the image to
gradually deteriorate, highlighting the ephemeral nature of things.
Dominique Petitgand Proportions (1997/2007) plays with the ability of
sound to permeate space, thereby influencing the path the viewer takes
through the exhibition.
Tony Chakar Martyrs’ Square Revisited (2007) is an adaptation of earlier
texts in which the written word conveys inhabited space and reflects on
recent events in Beirut.
Josephine Pryde How Does It Feel to Play the Piano? (2007) is a series of
photographs that attempts to provide a visual answer to the title’s
question. The piano is an instrument that can offer uninhibited expression
to a player but is also associated with a controlled and accomplished
education.
Ian Kiaer Bruegel Project/Pink Bird (2007) consists of different objects
including a monochrome painting, a crumpled tissue and a plastic bottle
arranged into a composition, that draws the surrounding space into an
open-ended landscape.
Koo Jeong-A Dreams & Thoughts (2007) discreetly introduces 30,000
sticks of unwrapped chewing gum into the gallery space. This everyday
mass-produced material is used to investigate ignored spatial qualities
and create a subtle perceptual readjustment.
Knut Henrik Henriksen Untitled (2007) is a wooden wall that runs the
length of the gallery, following the soft curves of the banisters and the
central window in a 40 metre-long wave.
Opening: 16 march 2007
Royal College of Art Galleries
Kensington Gore - London
Hours: 10am-6pm daily
Free Admission