NOWs: Räumen IV by Nina Schuiki

17 November 2016 / Nows

Nina Schuiki: Räumen IV, 2016

On the occasion of the publication release of the project Schlafzimmer, curated by Julia Thiemann and published by Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, 2016.

Upon the invitation of Julia Thiemann to propose a work within her sleeping and working room hosted by the Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral curatorial fellowship, the presentation of Nina Schuiki’s work shifted into a private space. The extended dialogue between them shaped the outcome of this project.

Excerpts from the accompanying text by Julia Thiemann:

“After several dialogues and exchanges about the living and working situation on-site, Nina Schuiki created an instruction piece that temporarily changed the room without introducing a foreign object. Referring completely to everyday objects and phenomena, Schuiki composed a situation condensing the experience of time and space.

She concentrated on the small sleeping and working area, the desk and the bed in front of the windows with a view, then separated the larger working area with its sloping roof by requesting the closing of an existing cotton curtain. In this reduced space a water heating element was to be positioned and continuously let to boil two litres of water so that water steam would fill the space little by little, clouding the view.

(…)

After a period the windows condensed completely, the view was eliminated and attention to the surrounding exterior shifted towards the inside of the room. In a kind of mist, the interior landscape became focused, and the function of the windows was temporarily negated to achieve an intensified situation of privacy and isolation.This choreography was appended with an instruction that I as a curator and inhabitant of this space should sit at the work table and read specifically chosen books* from the neighbouring library room while the process of evaporation took place. Together, the work addresses an everyday situation, reflecting and revealing its introspection. The processual transition between two physical processes occurs simultaneously to that between two psychological states, and the fluidity between each is made perceptible.

(…)

Walter Benjamin spoke of a “Wolkenwandelbarkeit der Dinge”——the changeable perception of things——which can metaphorically as well as literally be applied to the work. However, Nina Schuiki aesthetic gestures also always remain as concrete actions in time and space, rooted in the visible cause and effect principle of the here and now. The remarkable enchantment in the encounter of the created situational perception lies exactly in the simple yet precise gesture that can unfold with tremendous impact. With her minimal, aesthetic interventions into given situations and conditions, Nina Schuiki attempts an astonishingly tangible de-materialization of art that surprises us by this very paradox.”

*The exact books were chosen based upon details shared during the course of correspondence between Julia Thiemann and Nina Schuiki: Art and Anarchy by Edgar Wind; Untitled, 1996 (tomorrow is another day) by Rirkrit Tiravanija; Techniques of the Observer by Jonathan Crary.

The exhibition series Schlafzimmer-Ausstellung contained solo presentations by Matthias Conrady (Thermohygrograph, 2016), Heiko Wommelsdorf (Teedrogen, 2016) and Nina Schuiki (Räumen IV, 2016), each of which has been documented in the Schlafzimmer publication.

NOWs: Everything Is Not Lost by Nina Schuiki

19 November - 17 December 2016 / Nows ⟶

NOWs: Everything Is Not Lost Nina Schuiki For Everything Is Not Lost, Nina Schuiki collected discarded and abandoned wood from various sites in Austria, Germany, and China, turning the original function of a window frame or piece of furniture into hundreds of wooden beads. These beads are threaded into a looped chain that spans the height of the space, creating an expanded scale that references the earliest function of such beads as a measurement of time. Time here occurs as a form of counting one by one and the passing of time itself. Through the material transformation, objects lose their original reference and find themselves as ongoing markers in an allegory on the notions of mourning and melancholy. Benjamin traces this allegory towards profound knowledge and understanding as an inconsistent timespace negotiating between then and now. Nina Schuiki: Everything Is Not Lost, 2015. Beads made from wood re-purposed from found objects (window frame, stool, table, walking stick, column, bench, tree branch), 12.88 metres length Nina Schuiki, still from the accompanying video "Everything Is Not Lost", 28 min, colour, sound, 2016 Currently on view within the exhibition |_|, at the Forum Stadtpark, Graz 19.11. bis 17.12.2016 “What is important: the unsayable, the white space between the words, while these words themselves we always insert as side-issues, which as such are not the central part of what we mean. Our core concern remains unwritten, and that means, quite literally, that you write around it.” – Max Frisch, Diary 1946-49 Artists: Dimitra Charamandas, Yolanda Domínguez, Emil Gruber, Christian Haake, Gerhard Lojen, Hermann Glettler, Søren Berner / Christian Falsnaes / Martin Fraenkel, Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs, Nina Schuiki, Markus Wilfling Curated by Andreas Heller und zweintopf www.forumstadtpark.at NOWs: Everything Is Not Lost Nina Schuiki For Everything Is Not Lost, Nina Schuiki collected discarded and abandoned wood from various sites in Austria, Germany, and China, turning the original function of a window frame or piece of furniture into hundreds of wooden beads. These beads are threaded into a looped chain that spans the height of the space, creating an expanded scale that references the earliest function of such beads as a measurement of time. Time here occurs as a form of counting one by one and the passing of time itself. Through the material transformation, objects lose their original reference and find themselves as ongoing markers in an allegory on the notions of mourning and melancholy. Benjamin traces this allegory towards profound knowledge and understanding as an inconsistent timespace negotiating between then and now. Nina Schuiki: Everything Is Not Lost, 2015. Beads made from wood re-purposed from found objects (window frame, stool, table, walking stick, column, bench, tree branch), 12.88 metres length Nina Schuiki, still from the accompanying video "Everything Is Not Lost", 28 min, colour, sound, 2016 Currently on view within the exhibition |_|, at the Forum Stadtpark, Graz 19.11. bis 17.12.2016 “What is important: the unsayable, the white space between the words, while these words themselves we always insert as side-issues, which as such are not the central part of what we mean. Our core concern remains unwritten, and that means, quite literally, that you write around it.” – Max Frisch, Diary 1946-49 Artists: Dimitra Charamandas, Yolanda Domínguez, Emil Gruber, Christian Haake, Gerhard Lojen, Hermann Glettler, Søren Berner / Christian Falsnaes / Martin Fraenkel, Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs, Nina Schuiki, Markus Wilfling Curated by Andreas Heller und zweintopf www.forumstadtpark.at

NOWs: Anne Duk Hee Jordan – Sacred Food

15 November - 01 January 2016 / Nows ⟶

NOWs: Anne Duk Hee Jordan: Kartoffeln, 2013 Food is an existential and fundamental basic need that must be satisfied. Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’, a theory proposed by the psychologist in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” elaborates further: physiological needs are the physical requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body cannot function properly and will ultimately fail. Physiological needs are thought to be the most important; they should be met first. Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Staple food is an economic and a sociopolitical good: in this way, food undergoes a cultural change. Food preparation techniques are based on cultural knowledge developed over thousands of years, which also lead to specific eating habits. Anne Duk Hee Jordan makes the following comparison: “Long ago humans discovered the Eastern Islands, they populated it and grubbed up the forest surface, among other reasons also to place the large famous statues on. Some time later they finished the raw materials to survive, because the available space was very limited. There were military conflicts between the individual villages and only the strongest one survived. But even the stronger once were dying at the end, because also they found nothing more to eat. They started to actually eat each other. Since they did not have boats (they also could not build any, as no more trees were there) they could not flee. They became extinct.” – Text by Pauline Doutreluingne Anne Duk Hee Jordan’s photographs are on display in the exhibition: SACRED FOOD: A visual and culinary exploration on food and spirituality Featuring works of Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Sarmishta Pantham, Tito Casal, Alexis Raskin, Antônio Sérgio Moreira and a Table of Sacred Foods by Entretempo’s Collective. › In many religions, in different ages and in different cultures, food has been prepared, eaten or offered for ceremonies and celebrations. Buddhist and Hindus believe that our memories and emotions connected to food are so strong that even after we die, our spirit still remembers this. That is the reason why the beloved food of the person who died is offered at her or his altar. In the Brazilian-African religion food is prepared for special rituals to honour divinities and Gods, and in Tibetan monasteries monks prepare food while singing mantras, to benefit all sentient beings. But also in our everyday life food has often a spiritual meaning. Through special recipes and rituals, we establish connections with the spiritual world. Where do these recipes come from? How and when are the rituals performed, and by who? “Sacred Food: Nourishment For Body & Soul” looks at these and other questions in order to find out how food and spirituality are connected. Exhibition SACRED FOOD | 15.11.16 – 01.01.17 Opening 15.11.16 – 7 PM Entretempo Kitchen Gallery NOWs: Anne Duk Hee Jordan: Kartoffeln, 2013 Food is an existential and fundamental basic need that must be satisfied. Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’, a theory proposed by the psychologist in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” elaborates further: physiological needs are the physical requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body cannot function properly and will ultimately fail. Physiological needs are thought to be the most important; they should be met first. Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Staple food is an economic and a sociopolitical good: in this way, food undergoes a cultural change. Food preparation techniques are based on cultural knowledge developed over thousands of years, which also lead to specific eating habits. Anne Duk Hee Jordan makes the following comparison: “Long ago humans discovered the Eastern Islands, they populated it and grubbed up the forest surface, among other reasons also to place the large famous statues on. Some time later they finished the raw materials to survive, because the available space was very limited. There were military conflicts between the individual villages and only the strongest one survived. But even the stronger once were dying at the end, because also they found nothing more to eat. They started to actually eat each other. Since they did not have boats (they also could not build any, as no more trees were there) they could not flee. They became extinct.” – Text by Pauline Doutreluingne Anne Duk Hee Jordan’s photographs are on display in the exhibition: SACRED FOOD: A visual and culinary exploration on food and spirituality Featuring works of Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Sarmishta Pantham, Tito Casal, Alexis Raskin, Antônio Sérgio Moreira and a Table of Sacred Foods by Entretempo’s Collective. › In many religions, in different ages and in different cultures, food has been prepared, eaten or offered for ceremonies and celebrations. Buddhist and Hindus believe that our memories and emotions connected to food are so strong that even after we die, our spirit still remembers this. That is the reason why the beloved food of the person who died is offered at her or his altar. In the Brazilian-African religion food is prepared for special rituals to honour divinities and Gods, and in Tibetan monasteries monks prepare food while singing mantras, to benefit all sentient beings. But also in our everyday life food has often a spiritual meaning. Through special recipes and rituals, we establish connections with the spiritual world. Where do these recipes come from? How and when are the rituals performed, and by who? “Sacred Food: Nourishment For Body & Soul” looks at these and other questions in order to find out how food and spirituality are connected. Exhibition SACRED FOOD | 15.11.16 – 01.01.17 Opening 15.11.16 – 7 PM Entretempo Kitchen Gallery

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