‘Zones of Indistinction’, exhibition view. Photo: OGH
OGH began as a lifestyle brand which produced tools to aid in the (re/de)construction of a lifestyle, but for various reasons, this approach was almost immediately abandoned and OGH morphed into a lived project. The distinction between the two phases is subtle, but best described as the transition from representation to incarnation, or from the production of a subjectivity (lifestyle) to the living of a form-of-life. While a subjectivity is something which transcends and gives substance to a life, a form-of-life is generated only through the act of living.
‘Zones of Indistinction’ begins – to some extent – with the proposition that freedom is only conceivable and possible through self-imposed rule. The work emerged from the artists’ attempts to produce and embody (both collectively and as individuals) a set of rules in such a manner that our lives were no longer distinguishable from the rule(s) which gave them shape. The traces or residues of this lived project have been reframed by their inclusion in a fictional, quasi-monastic narrative at EAA Gallery. OGH, in this context, ceases to refer to the actual collective, and instead refers to the name of an invented, hermetic sect which seeks to increase its power (potentiality) through an ongoing askesis and rigid adherence to the Rule.
The impetus for this rigid adherence is not a masochistic desire for structure or constraint, but – somewhat paradoxically – liberation from an imposed order. The project has been influenced by ideas like Hakim Bey’s Temporary Autonomous Zone, folk-political programs of resistance, but also Greco-Roman and Neoplatonic Christian asceticism.
OGH is Paige Früchtnicht and Greg Ponchak.
Paige Früchtnicht (b. 1994) is an artist, writer and curator from Columbus, Ohio, USA, currently living in Amsterdam.
Greg Ponchak (b. 1991) is an artist, designer, and curator from Cleveland, Ohio, USA, currently living in Amsterdam. For the past three years, he has co-operatively run Skylab Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
‘Zones of Indistinction’ by OGH on view at EAA Gallery 10.03–01.04.2017
EKA Galerii is located in Vabaduse Väljak 6/8 (entrance through the inner courtyard of Tallinn Art Hall) and is open Tue–Sat, 12–18
‘Zones of Indistinction’, opening night. Photo: Marianna Gunja
‘Zones of Indistinction’, opening night. Photo: Marianna Gunja
‘Zones of Indistinction’, opening night. Photo: Marianna Gunja
‘Zones of Indistinction’, exhibition view. Photo: OGH
‘Zones of Indistinction’, exhibition view. Photo: OGH
‘Zones of Indistinction’, exhibition view. Photo: OGH
‘Zones of Indistinction’, exhibition view. Photo: OGH
‘Zones of Indistinction’, exhibition view. Photo: OGH
