Today i went to FACT in Liverpool to see some of the artists showing there for the Biennial (Festival of Contemporary Art). This year there are 22 venues holding around 42 artists ranging in disciplines, mediums and practices. The venues are ranging from polished gallery spaces to abandoned and unused buildings, public spaces and museums.
The artist that really stood out for me at FACT was Krzysztof Wodiczko. Wodiczko is an artist renowned for his large-scale slide and video projections on architectural facades and monuments. He works around the themes of war, trauma, memory, conflict and communication in the public sphere. His practice combines art and technology to highlight marginal social communities and add legitimacy to cultural issues that are often given little design attention.
As i entered the dark rectangular room where the work was, i saw several projections in shape of windows lining the walls. As soon as i was looking through the "windows" i felt i wasn't in a gallery anymore. I felt that i was in a different space, on the other side of the window where the video was recorded. It felt as though i was looking at people through foggy windows trying to make out what they are talking about and what they are doing.
The projections were easy to watch and understand. It wasn't one of them videos where you really strain to watch and grasp the meaning of it. This piece was simple yet effective, really balanced out well. It is interactive and that is very important for me to see in an artwork. Some kind of engagement with the audience.
I could make out that each projection was a different window from a different place. Through one window i could see workers cleaning the windows and singing songs in foreign language. Through another window i could see two gentlemen discussing their problems about naturalization in the country they live now. I could make out a busy place with people passing by in the rain with their umbrellas up and a woman with a child discussing her problems with a friend. The more i saw and the more i heard (but mostly read the subtitles as a lot of it was in different languages), i felt as though i was eavesdropping on them as i was not visible from the other side of the window. The scenes felt private and personal.
It did not feel to me that i was in a gallery, in a white cube. I felt like i was elsewhere looking into somebody else's life and i was a guest to listen in into the everyday conversations. This work was interactive and atmospheric. I loved feeling a sense of a different place and space. The only boundary between me and those people were windows.
Krzysztof Wodiczko talking about the piece: Link to video
I have watched a short video of the artist talking about this work and i really like how by using the sense of a different space and the subject, he is making us question whether we are strangers or are we the guests.
This piece of work really made me question how in my own work i can bring a sense of a different space and interaction into the plain gallery.
~ Ev
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