Flussgeist, Waiting (2007)
Curated by Pau Waelder
Participating artists:
Mauro Ceolin / IT, Andrea Renzini / IT, Paz Alcoverro / Mallorca, Clara Boj y Diego Díaz / SP, Enric Font / Barcelona, Maria Glyka /GR, Katie Paterson / GB, Bill Thompson / USA, Gregory Chatonsky / CA, Peter Ruehle / G, Nic Hess / SW, Haïdée Henry / FR.
“Be water, my friend” said Bruce Lee in an interview, back in 1971. And, although his words are now part of a BMW ad, this is still a wise advice, particularly for the times we live in. We are immersed in a continuous flow, a flow of information, of events, of images and messages that constantly invade our senses. Everything evolves so quickly that we frequently feel overwhelmed: even if we do our best to be aware of the latest trends, to update our knowledge and stay connected, we cannot keep with the flow. In this state of constant change, established concepts shatter and monolithic structures are slowly but inevitably eroded by a reality that is never the same. The only thing one can do now is “be water”, adapt and evolve, assume that we both step and do not step in the same rivers, but furthermore that we are part of what makes the river flow.
Flow also designates a mental state in which the person is fully involved in the activity he or she is doing. For an artist, this is the particular moment in which inspiration strikes, the idea becomes clear and one cannot stop until the work takes form. Paradoxically, in most cases to create means to fix what has been flowing through one’s mind, and the materials that were once fluid become solid as they integrate the finished artwork. In the digital realm, works retain most of their fluidity, as they feed from ever changing data generated by viewers or website users. But, whether digital or analogue, contemporary artworks move seamlessly from one discipline to another and present us with more questions than certainties.
From drawing and painting to interactive installations and augmented reality displays, the works included in this exhibition present different aspects of the concept of “flow”. Whether by exploring the aesthetic possibilities of representing fluids, by contemplating the flow of data in information networks, experiencing the fluidity of sound, time or space, the flow of life itself and that of the processes that take place in our environment, they form a rich landscape of contemporary creation that mirrors a reality which is anything but stable.
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