“Climbing Invisible Structures: Ritualised Disciplinary Practices in Social Life. Part 4: Lillestrøm” is the fourth and the last exhibition 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 do residencies and to create works for four exhibitions in Vilnius, Nida, Žeimiai (Lithuania) and Lillestrøm (Norway). This exhibition presents works by all participating artists. The show will open on 10th February, 7pm, at the Akershus Art Centre (Storgata 4, Lillestrøm, Norway), located in the town of Lillestrøm 15 minutes away from Oslo (Norway) city center by train.
The expression “Climbing Invisible Structures” invokes something steep and hidden, something vertiginous and inaccessible. The idea of coping with such constructions, invites us, artists and participants, to reflect on the complex, multilayered and often imperceptible relationships that govern our lives and relationships. For what sort of social structures dictate things like career choice, way of life, or art productions? And can we be sure that our human relations, in fact, are not already organized according to pre-established power relationships, unstated rules and rituals? How can we know that what we take for granted, that which appears so natural, are actually social constructions and false consciousness?
The various works in this exhibition, each in a very distinct way, investigate different modes of existence, aspects of art production, and social life. They explore deep-rooted practices, conceptual systems, and rituals. They manipulate, disorganize, and disrupt fixed ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. Of course, the aim is not to establish new ones, but to puzzle, to make us wonder, and by the same token to raise questions about the legitimacy of existing conventions and established institutions.
The works in this exhibition point to a wide range of ritualised practices, connecting actions by people who lived a long time ago with contemporary rituals. Ranging from social and spiritual practices, which are familiar to everyone, to contemporary strategies framing the conditions of art production and management, they investigate, explore, question, disrupt, modify and fictionalise established beliefs, disciplines and daily habits, and outline directions for new ones.
The exhibition is open for visitors on Wednesdays to Sundays from noon to 5pm.
12th February, Sunday, 1-2pm: performative presentation by Robertas Narkus & guided tour with the curator Eglė Mikalajūnė
3rd March, Sunday, 1-2pm: artist-talk by Victoria Durnak and guided tour with the curator Samir M’kadmi
Artists: Mo Abd-Ulla, Eglė Budvytytė, Tanya Busse, Victoria Durnak, Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir, Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir, Saulius Leonavičius & Vida Strasevičiūtė, Robertas Narkus, Augustas Serapinas, Kristin Tårnesvik
Curators: Eglė Mikalajūnė and Samir M’kadmi
Architect: Rokas Kilčiauskas
Designer: Indrė Klimaitė
Organiser: Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts
Partners:
Akershus Art Centre, Lillestrøm, Norway
Nordic Artists’ Centre, Dale, Norway
Skaftfell – Center for Visual Art, East Iceland, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
Residency Centre YO YO, Žeimiai Manor Estate, Lithuania
Office for Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway
Augustas Serapinas, Climbing Structures, 2016. Installation view of Climbing Invisible Structures at Residency Centre YO YO, Žeimiai Manor Estate. Photo: Andrej Vasilenko.
Berglind Jona Hlynsdóttir, Balustrade. Part 2: Bake It, 2016. Installation view of Climbing Invisible Structures at Residency Centre YO YO, Žeimiai Manor Estate. Photo: Andrej Vasilenko.
Climbing Invisible Structures. Ritualized Disciplinary Practices in Social Life, exhibition view, Underground Water Reservoir, Vilnius, 2016. Photo: Andrej Vasilenko.
Saulius Leonavičius & Vida Strasevičiūtė, Fuck Language, 2016. Coat-tent. Installation view of Climbing Invisible Structures at Residency Centre YO YO, Žeimiai Manor Estate. Photo: Andrej Vasilenko.
Climbing Invisible Structures. Ritualized Disciplinary Practices in Social Life, exhibition view, Underground Water Reservoir, Vilnius, 2016. Photo: Andrej Vasilenko.
Vilnius Academy of Arts‘ project “Discipline today. Residency Exchange and Exhibitions”, project no. EEE-LT07-KM-01-K-01-035, benefits from a grant through the EEA Financial Mechanism and Lithuanian State programme LT07 “Promotion of Diversity in Culture and Arts within European Cultural Heritage”. The project is also financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
