SOILED ARCHIVES in collaboration with ARIEL feminisms
SOILED ARCHIVES
Show curated by ARIEL feminisms
with Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė
August 24 - September 9 , 2023
Bladr is happy to announce our show in collaboration with ARIEL feminisms curatorial group, opening on Thursday the 24th of August, 5-8 pm.
The exhibition Soiled Archives presents the artistic and archival practice of duo Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė. Building on their long-term interest in the reading body, the exhibition seeks to unfold the online YGRG ARCHIVE, gathered in the digital Zine of Soil. By using feminist archiving methods, the artists engage with bringing tainted narratives from the fields of natural- and art history, language, and literature to a growing number of readers.
In an amalgamation of ecology with technology, Soiled Archives centers the video work GUSŁA (3F912AEDB415C443), 2020, showing images and organic forms mutating and metamorphosing into strange water and soil-like creatures. The video loops from a wall-hanged LED-projector showing image stills selected by an AI-image generator, prompted by Gawęda and Kulbokaitė. Morphing from a larva to pupa to a sprout-like, the video oscillates between sci-fi and folklore, creating a universe of fragmented narratives in sensuous and speculative worldbuilding.
The digital Zine of Soil acts as a fluid intermediate between the video work and the archive that are coexisting in the exhibition. Originally gathered by Dorota Gawęda and Egle Kulbokaitė in relation to their video piece Mouthless Part I (2020), Zine of Soil is a collection of excerpts from literary works, which thematically have inspired and influenced the artist duo. The collection weaves together quotations from recognised feminist theory with Eastern-European mythology and folklore into a nonlinear narrative, creating a sample of stories with no specific author getting (re)told, (re)read and (re)performed, and hereby mutating over time.
The large window in the exhibition space is covered with an ocher colored foil that enhances the digital dimension of the exhibition by creating an experience of looking through a computer generated filter. The warm August sun infuses the space with a moist grounded atmosphere. A soft earth-like carpet covers the floor with cautiously placed pillows, inviting you to experience the sensuousness of the space, all while the LED fan circulates the heavy late summer air. Besides bringing the spell of Gawęda and Kulbokaitė’s visual universe and performative archival work into the space, the exhibition presents books and texts from the Zine of Soil and YGRG ARCHIVE, arranged in stacks on the floor, inviting the viewer to explore, browse through, and delve into the literature. Like setting up a reading camp - making yourself comfortable on the soft ground, feeling the warmth and light from the sun through the coloured filter, and soaking in the natural morphing images of insect-like creatures - completely sinking into the soil.
As Gawęda and Kulbokaitė did in their late project YGRG (2013– 2021), this exhibition seeks to depict, examine, and contextualize the reading body, exploring the connection between text, body, environment, and technology – creating an understanding of reading as a form of embodied language and collective practice.
ARI. Readings #Soiled Archives
Sunday August 27. 2-4pm
Online and at BLADR
As part of the exhibition Soiled Archives a reading group are held. For ARI. Readings #Soiled Archives, Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė will present selected literature that in new ways introduce the audience to their practice.
The artists will guide the audience through the texts by communal reading and it is not necessary to read in advance.
The literature is available at the events and is included in ARIEL ARCHIVE, which is a physical and digital collection of literature developed in parallel with ARIEL's exhibition program.
Arts of Living on a damaged planet - Anna Tshing, Heather Swanson, Elaine Gan, Nils Buband
Dark ecology - Fred Morton
Soil not oil - Vandana Shiva
The texts are available at the exhibition as part of Zine of Soil, which can be accessed digitally through an image QR-code directing you to the file.
THANK YOU
The exhibition is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation and Rådet for Visuel Kunst.
Opening Thursday 24 August, 5-8 pm
Exhibition August 24 - September 9, 2023
Opening hours:
Thursday and Friday 4 - 6 pm
Saturday 13 - 4 pm
and by appointment.
Bladr Griffenfeldsgade 27 Nørrebro
Images by Malle Madsen