The idea of “climbing invisible structures” invokes not only something hidden, but also something vertiginous and inaccessible. It invites “us” (artists and audiences as participants) to engage and reflect on the complex and multi-layered relationships between the references and meanings that pervade most of our disciplinary practices and social life. Although reflection is itself an intimate hidden process that involves careful thinking and consideration, it is, as the Latin root of the word reflex suggests, the thought “bent back” on itself.
This image corresponds with the common analogy between thought and light. It conveys the notion that we absorb and reflect thoughts and ideas similar to the way materials and celestial bodies absorb and reflect light. However, reflection implies both action and reaction, and it should not be interpreted only as a mental process. Exposition to other people’s thoughts, to others’ lights and rituals, is an all-embracing experience, intellectually, emotionally and physically. In this sense, engaging with works of art means engaging with past and present disciplines and rituals.
The exhibition is being held in Žeimiai manor estate which was built in the 18th century and has been rebuilt several times since then. The manor is home to ŽemAt art collective and the YO YO Artists‘ Residency Centre. The correlation between the exhibition and the venue compels us to interrogate more closely the rituals inherent in the art world: in Žeimiai, contrary to the common logic of exposition, the exhibition finds itself within a gigantic art work – Aikas Žado Living Museum ant its Aikas Žado laboratory 2016 which are set up in the manor.
The conservation and restoration of the Žeimiai manor is conducted via a strategy unique within the Lithuanian context, according to which all of the estate’s historical layers, from the earliest to the most contemporary, are given equal value. Aikas Žado Living Museum was established in the manor in line with this strategy. The Museum is a continuous art work encompassing not only the whole area of the estate but also its visitors and tourists. Thus, having been presented in the white cube of VAA Nida Art Colony, the exhibition “Climbing Invisible Structures” now finds itself in a totally different space – a location in which each and every detail pulsates with complex history and creative activity, and requires special attention.
Some works presented in this exhibition were created while the artists were in residency at YO YO Centre and were inspired by the manor’s present and history. Some of the artists engaged in a dialogue with the space and re-interpreted works created for the earlier exhibitions of the project. Other artworks, meanwhile, revealed themselves in new ways simply by placing them in relevant spots within this multilayered environment. Installed within this gigantic art work, the exhibition itself has acquired a new complexion. Its structure has inevitably merged with the structure of the Living Museum, with the result that the two have become indistinguishably entwined into a single whole for a month.
Open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 12 PM to 6 PM. Exhibition may also be visited by appointment: +370 628 14808 (Eglė), +370 610 02855 (Domas). For more info, please, write to info@nidacolony.lt
Organised by: Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts
Venue: Residency Centre YO YO, Žeimiai Manor Estate, „Aikas Žado“ laboratory (Draugystės St 28, Jonava district, Lithuania)
Date: 30th July – 28th August 2016
Artists: Eglė Budvytytė, Victoria Durnak, Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir, Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir, Saulius Leonavičius & Vida Strasevičiūtė, Robertas Narkus, Augustas Serapinas, Kristin Tårnesvik
Curators: Eglė Mikalajūnė and Samir M’kadmi
Photography: Andrej Vasilenko
This exhibition is part of a two-year-long residency and exhibition project involving six institutions in three different countries: Iceland, Lithuania and Norway. Ten artists have been invited to create works for four exhibitions in Vilnius, Nida, Žeimiai (Lithuania) and Lillestrøm (Norway). This exhibition presents eight artists. It is the third exhibition of the project and the last to be held in Lithuania.
This Vilnius Academy of Arts‘ project “Discipline Today. Residency Exchange and Exhibition” project EEE-LT07-KM-01-K-01-035 is supported by a grant through the EEA Financial Mechanism and Lithuanian State Programme LT07 “Promotion of Diversity in Culture and Arts within European Cultural Heritage”, project is also supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir, Five Drawings, 2016
Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir, Five Drawings, 2016
Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir, Five Drawings, 2016
Robertas Narkus, Atlantic Biennale, 2016
Robertas Narkus, Atlantic Biennale. Decks, 2016
Robertas Narkus, Atlantic Biennale. Eurostar, 2016
Eglė Budvytytė, Skateboard Prayer, or Head Below the Heart, 2016
Eglė Budvytytė, Skateboard Prayer, or Head Below the Heart, 2016
Eglė Budvytytė, Skateboard Prayer, or Head Below the Heart, performance, 2016
Eglė Budvytytė, Skateboard Prayer, or Head Below the Heart, performance, 2016
Eglė Budvytytė, Skateboard Prayer, or Head Below the Heart, performance, 2016
Saulius Leonavičius & Vida Strasevičiūtė, Fuck Language, 2016
Saulius Leonavičius & Vida Strasevičiūtė, Fuck Language, 2016
Augustas Serapinas, Climbing Structures, 2016
Augustas Serapinas, Climbing Structures, 2016
Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir, Balustrade. Part 2: Bake It, 2016
Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir, Balustrade. Part 2: Bake It, 2016
Victoria Durnak, Ex-Boyfriend Jewellery, 2016 and Eglė Ambrasaitė, Lankesa. Part of “Aikas Žado” laboratory, 2014-now
Victoria Durnak, Ex-Boyfriend Jewellery, 2016 and Eglė Ambrasaitė, Lankesa. Part of “Aikas Žado” laboratory, 2014-now
Kristin Tårnesvik, Popular hours of death. Memories kept in various liquid solutions, Stones sometimes fall from sky and Maker and material, 2016
Kristin Tårnesvik, Popular hours of death. Stones sometimes fall from sky, 2016
Kristin Tårnesvik, Popular hours of death. Memories kept in various liquid solutions, 2016
Kristin Tårnesvik, Popular hours of death. Circle of abyss, 2016
Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir in collaboration with the band Dora (Gatis Zakis and Jānis Šipkēvics), Stitching and Mending, 2016
Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir in collaboration with the band Dora (Gatis Zakis and Jānis Šipkēvics), Stitching and Mending, 2016
Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir in collaboration with the band Dora (Gatis Zakis and Jānis Šipkēvics), Stitching and Mending, 2016
Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir in collaboration with the band Dora (Gatis Zakis and Jānis Šipkēvics), Stitching and Mending, 2016
