Foto: Jan Khür, Bobrikova & de Carmen. A SKETCH OF AN OPERA
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Martinka Bobrikova & Oscar de Carmen A SKETCH OF AN OPERA The project that Bobrikova & de Carmen proposed for the gallery reconsiders the power structures operating within the Art world, referring to the current dominant capitalistic system and its interrelation with the art scene. Through the piece, the artists question the morality and validity of the relationships between artists, dealers, auction houses, collectors, and affluent dabblers who aspire to be collectors or even investors in art. A Sketch of an Opera is a work in progress and its theme is one part of a larger research project, questioning…. This installation evolves from the desire to make apparent or expose the basic structure of the capitalist art world through composing a multimedia opera including 4 works. The work with the title ¨Questions and Notes” is intended to draw a sketch of what would be the Libreto of the opera. It consists of 17 folios where the artists create a plot questioning and interpreting 53 quotes from various allegorical authors to the world of art. The idea of the utopian prevails in the fact of proposing a work aimed at questioning the position of the artist in the Art world. Visualizing the work with the title ¨Death in life¨ the artists review and question the notoriety of the appropriation, the rhetoric of the incongruous and of the production of new art work for them, as well as a plea to the defense on the people exiled to not be a part of society through metaphor (the work is based on the collection of functional lighting material found in waste containers from the refurbishing of a buildings). In the works ¨How to create an unusual experience for a consumer's expectations” and ¨Sound architecture, prelude to a new social order¨, the artists develop the notion of “visualization without function” as a way to highlight questions related to consumption, appropriation, risk taking, and the creation of a new work. The artists work around the idea of an open interaction with the art world beyond the dialogue of what can be considered institutional or not, to see their artistic practice as a single space of coexistence and confluence. They believe that this context is emerging as one of the only exchanging environments to promote social transformation. This approach allows them to critically investigate our roots and social habits, questioning the mechanisms and contexts which creates powerful current systems of values. Their vision is to show an analysis of the synergy between the economic system and the drift of current biocenosis, aiming at the creation of new social ecosystems by intervening on the border between art and topical issues of contemporary life in order carry out a proposal between the transient and the utopian. BIO Bobrikova & de Carmen is a Oslo based artist duo working together since 2005. They both hold MFA from Nordic Sound Art programme and Malmo Art Academy, Sweden. They have participated in several residencies such as Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, HomeBase Saitama, KulturKontakt Austria in Vienna, Nida art Colony in Lithuania, Latent Spaces in Singapore or MeetFactory in Prague. Their works were presented in venues including and projects such as Ram Galleri, NO; Fotogalleriet- Oslo, NO; Agrikultura Triennial, SE; Odessa Biennale, AU; GreenlightDistrict Festival, Skien NO (2017); Saitama Triennial, JP; Nitra Gallery, SK; Akershus Kunstner-senter, Lillestrom, NO; Tranzit, Bratislava, SK (2016); 2nd Tbilisi Triennial, Tbilisi, GE; Prague Quadrennial, Prague, CZ; Babel Art Space in Trondheim, NO; Entrance Gallery in Prague, CZ (2015); Post-PopUp at CCA, Centre Contemporary Art Singapore, SG; Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, NO; ANX/ Atelier Nord in Oslo, NO; Skanes Konstforening, Malmo, SE; City Gallery Bratislava, SK (2014); Nitra Gallery, Nitra, SK; Karlin studio, Prague, CZ; Rake, Trondheim, NO (2013); Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, DK; KURANT, Trømso, NO (2012); Singuhr, Berlin, DE (2011); Center of Contemporary Art – Tbilisi, Tbilisi, GE; Roda Sten, Gothenburg, SE; City Museum, Gothenburg, SE; Space gallery, Bratislava, SK (2010). Since 2012 they run Nomad AIR, a Nomadic artist-in-residence program focuses on the notion of hospitality and the social relations between “host” and “guest” parasiting the infrastructure of other institutions. www.bobrikovadecarmen.org |