Film still from Bridget Currie & Tamara Henderson’s Wax Accents, 2012
The exhibition Ashes of Roses and the Smell of Birch starts on the 6th of November 2014 with a gallery-sleepover/bar/reading&writing session lasting up until the waking hour.
The exhibition’s intimate setting – a bed as a stage curtained with selected film and sculpture – is imagined and built by Bridget Currie, Tamara Henderson and Eglė Kulbokaitė with extended aid from Anna Mikkola, Susan Ploetz, Willie Brisco and the audience to come.
The lettuce leaves and the snail-shell pattern of the bed resonate with the slowly moving slug that can be observed in one of the films. Munching on a dream. Ashes of Roses and the Smell of Birch combines lulling serenades, ekphrasis-type readings of sculpture, and the nuances of rose ashes. The show embraces variety of media into one immersive installation through the artists’ common interest in furniture, architecture and exhibition decor. The specially designed exhibition furniture, lighting and sound ofAshes of Roses and the Smell of Birch speaks of the fascination and preoccupation with visionary experiences and the dream world, which becomes a running theme throughout the installation and accompanying writing.
So what is it to actually experience a vision, a moment of supernatural appearance? What does it reveal to us and how do we transcribe it? What could it become? The exhibition plays on the idea of heightened perception and invites the viewer to contribute to the common dream and vision via a journal to be found on site. This collected material will become the beginning of a collaborative publication project, which will be released after the show and will expand on our understanding of the visionary world.
The exhibition is open between 7 November – 4 December between 10 am – 6 pm on Tuesday-Friday and 12 pm – 5 pm on Saturdays. The exhibition will be closed on 12-13 November.
There will be a free mini-van on the opening night to pick up those coming from town. Spaces are limited – please register by writing to dita@rupert.lt. The minivan will leave at 6:30 pm from St Peter and Paul’s Church in Antakalnis, and at 7 pm, 7:20 pm and 7:40 pm from Antakalnis Roundabout (the bus stop underneath the bridge).
