16th August to 8th September 2013
‘ex-ca-vate-site-one’
A group show curated by artist-curator IceTuxedo Ice Ismail Erbil that investigates the relationship between finished works and those found in the artists’ studios, thinking of this relationship as a type of excavation.
Revealing and concealing trajectories of thought and material-based decisions-making processes ‘ex-ca-vate-site-one’ blurs the boundaries between past and present, a type of archeological dig that disrupts ideas of presentation and display.
Re-visiting the studio in a gallery environment Erbil records and reconsiders curatorial relationships and questions the context of the gallery versus the studio revealing often hidden or unseen aspects of an artist’s practice. Displaying a sense of unearthed visions creates unorthodox site of interaction between artworks, the gallery space and the viewer.
A large structure in the centre of the gallery references Ray Staakman: Groot Draaiend Vierkant, 1965 and Marcel Duchamp’s spinning discs. This investigation extends from Erbil’s ideas of ‘digging’ for ceremonial visions, information and the performative dimension of the artist’s role, questioning the act of making and displaying artworks.
The viewer is left to their own devices to link up finished objects with studio objects disrupting their process of engaging with the exhibition and shifting their role into that of active agent in the context of the exhibition as an installation.
