ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER THINGS
A group exhibition exclusively based on exclusion? Perhaps this is not the sole aim of this show, which includes a number of carefully selected works by 24 international artists that together pose one question: which one of us is not one of “us”? Which work does not belong to the show? Which one of these things is not like the other things? (It’s definitely more than one question, but do we always mean one when we say one?).
Visitors are welcome to use gallery maps and single out an artwork they find does not correspond with the rest of the show. No prize is gained from this activity though. Neither a game, nor an IQ test, O.O.T.T.I.N.L.T.O.T positions itself as a cognitive experiment in the format of an exhibition. Situating itself within a discourse of democratic all-inclusiveness, which embraces everything from immigration policies to writing on art, and which justifies the inclusion of work B by the simple fact that A is already there, O.O.T.T.I.N.L.T.O.T inverts the main principle of this ideology by asking to exclude rather than include.
Some of the participants in the exhibition rehearsals were able to quickly and easily determine which works should be excluded. Others found it difficult because all kinds of conceptual or formal links with other works would materialize as soon as they identified an artwork of a different order. “At least we had some fun,” these visitors concluded. For a third group, the process of exclusion went so far as to remove all the works in the show; supposedly none of the parts fit with the whole. Although this group’s efforts were not devoid of fun either, their quest for exclusion ended up attaining the show’s missing center.
According to Slavoj Zizek, the missing center may constitute the essence of exhibition making, yet Zizek himself is deprived of his own essence in spots of spittle he projected onto notes taken by Ana Prvacki during one of his lectures. Benoît Maire left holes in the French Encyclopedia of Philosophy from Husserl to Decartes—these contain categories and concepts related to how we can experience reality without reading philosophy. A wall drawing by Pierre Bismuth contains traces of Sofia Loren right hand movement in the film “Too Bad She Is Bad.” Positive and negative exchange roles in drawings by Gabriel Acevedo Velarde. Juozas Laivys found a bird’s nest that dropped out a tree, but will it stick to the show? One frame of a blank film stayed in Mario Garcia Torres’ pocket for a month, now it is projected on the wall for three. More than two questions are being asked in two photos by Falke Pisano—if they were less abstract there would be even more. Gintaras Didziapetris’ music only plays at night when no one sees his water-colors. Some works contain color. Some are black and white. A few exceed spectrum. Donelle Woolford is a spectral being herself, although her works stem from the history of African-Americans. Portraits by Loris Greaud have disappeared from the canvas. Did we see it happen? Who took hands off of your eyes too soon? Can anyone confirm that nothing has changed in Aurelien Froment’s film since last time we saw it? Who saw when Marco Raparelli broke the hole in the wall, for example? Or when Gabriel Lester came up with an idea for his strangest piece ever? Who here listens to BBC News on Friday night? And who didn’t make it to the press release? Rosalind Nashashibi sometimes portrays thought processes without an actual portrait— they can help. A transparent sheet of paper that was falling off the table is captured and laser-engraved in Ryan Gander’s glass ball. Mariana Castillo Deball worked with a time machine in Serbia to produce drawings that transcend timelessness. If it were not in an airport, Joao Penalva would not have stepped on time’s shadow. Torreya Cummings wore glasses with three lenses— they change perception and looks. Shoes are not allowed in Darius Miksys’ drawing though. The unsettled dust of Sci-Fi books defines the landscape of Julieta Aranda’s objects and photos. Her crosswords are open for words to cross themselves. Not only strange things happen. A fragment of a work of Luca Trevisani was removed from his installation, cut off of its ties and entangled with lives of other parts. Rorschach is not a test anymore—Jason Kalogiros runs two sides against themselves. Michael Portnoy is still singing a cover version of Cookie Monster’s song. The missing center of an egg by Raphael Julliard finishes the sentence with the hole instead of the whole. Full stop has never been fuller.
The show is curated by Raimundas Malasauskas
For any further information please contact:
gallery@unosunove.com