The Speaker

AGGTELEK
Works
4 Poor Monologues
Travel Notes
Poéticas del Objeto
The Speaker
A Sort of Song
Fast & Low & Cheap & Silly
The Autopsy of Form
Slash Theatre of My Mundo
Di Chengben Opera
When Necessity Becomes the Norm
Installation Tale
Ass-Dialectics
Bio & Info
4 Poor Monologues
Performance / Installation
Variable dimensions
2013
In 1982 approximately 1,200 small-scale
wire-frame sculptures were found on the
street outside a transient home in Philadelphia, USA. Nothing is known about the
artist’s identity or motives. The anonymous
artist who created these works is assumed to have had access to tools required
to bend some of the heavy-gauge wire
visible in the sculptures and it is hypothesized that the sculptures were abandoned after their creator’s death. Based on
the demographics of the neighborhood
in which these works were found it is
assumed that the artist might have been
African-American.
Nearly all the works consist of tightly
wound wire around objects including
plastic, packaging, nuts, bolts, newspaper/
magazine cutouts, electrical parts, batteries, coins and other items. Some bundles
used rubber bands or tape to bind the
objects together. Based on limited possible research, the collection has been
dated to around 1970-1975. The collected
works were given by the art student who
found them to Fleisher-Ollman Gallery in
Philadelphia which, since then, operates
as the guardian of these works.
Aggtelek, Gema Perales and Xandro Valles,
pay homage to these works by creating
a setting within the gallery that integrates
the works of Philadelphia Wireman as part
of a stage-like set consisting of various novalue materials; random fragments, partially recycled from previous exhibitions, and
various performative objects.
Though the display itself requires an
activation through the four monologues
written by the artists. These monologues,
enacted during the opening, operate
somewhere in-between improvisational
theater and enacted audience participation, give a variety of different visions/
proposals for the exhibition as it could
have been developed but in fact wasn’t.
The exhibition is written as a kind of
‘shopping list of impossibility’ to realize
an ultimate exhibition format, leaving homeless a bunch of unrealised ideas. Aggtelek <> Philadelphia Wireman becomes
an economic drama based on the history
of art and contemporary artistic reality.
Travel Notes Series
Painting
100 x 70 cm
2013
Travel Notes is a series of paintings
created from the research of Tumblr
images. By alterating their configuration,
the idea is to give them a new
conceptual destination. Each one has
their own authenticity certificate
which, as a writting-collage and waybill,
draw a specific travel itinerary.
A 3D painting where the artists expect
the collector or the spectator
experiment the conceptuality of
the work, both by living in the idea and
theatricalizing the action of representation
as well as becoming performers
of the artwork. These series want to
emphasize the life of the painting,
because the goal is to venture into
its concept (trip) and to experience it.
Poéticas del Objeto
Sculpture / Installation
Variable Dimensions
2012
In a revisitation that alludes to relic exhibitions, curiosity showcases or anthropology museums, this surface is host to
objects inspired by the authors’ subjective
social ideas about today’s world. Each
one comes from and is related to a social
response idea, mood or attitude. Media,
consumption, design, art history and, in
general, capitalist policy debris come together in a joint narration via the information labels of each product.
For the opening, a live text action was
held; an expanded product of the installation which was named “Un poema en
cinco días laborables que no lo son” and
was performed as a Spoken Word piece
by the outstanding young Spanish writer
Eloy Fernández-Porta.
The Speaker
Painting / Installation
Variable Dimensions
2012
Room installation centered around a 72-minute
atmospheric novel played on speakers; room consists of one
pink wallpapered wall, one brown colored wall, yellow ceiling
lights, custom-made pillows using tropical patterns and select
oil on canvas paintings of various sizes.
Exile Gallery. Berlin. 2012
“...................this process is really cool................................”
“.......elevator wooden-construction.....................................”
“............................with african-tropical decoration..............”
“...............waiting room............saloon.................................”
“..............................................paintings, the voice..............”
“..........atmospheric novel....................................................”
Trailer
“................like the never-ending..........................................”
“................................happy conceptual work......................”
“.................................DONT PANIC!!.....................................”
http://vimeo.com/36534725
A Sort of Song
Installation
variable dimensions
2011
L’Autonomie. Brussels
The idea of this experimental
show was to break the boundaries between artists and curators. We proposed to make an
exhibition completely clueless
to the curator, who was forced
to collaborate with two other
ones. They three had to compose the exhibition, its meaning
and path.
The main curator placed the
works as he thought they must
be displayed; the second one
wrote a text about the relation
of the word Aggtelek with some
objects; the third one felt manipulated because he couldn’t
understand the meaning of the
show. He then forced the artists
to wear mascot heads at the
opening, making them feel as
his puppets.
Who was curating and who
creating?
Fast & Low & Cheap & Silly
Photo/Painting/Sculpture
variable dimensions
2010
Chez Neon, Lyon
Fast and low conceptualism is an art movement where ideas are more important than
the object. Ideas must prevail over its formal
aspects and in many cases the idea is the
art piece, even though this one can be silly
or has nothing to do with the represented
object. Most of the works of this movement
have disappeared or have been or will be
destroyed, both because of their economical issues, as because of their storage and
transportation.
Fast and Low conceptualism is inspired by
everything and nothing. It explains things
but sometimes it doesn’t know what to say.
It likes cheapness, stupidity, low-cost life,
“google” pictures, “banlieue” thoughts,
shanzai and fast thinking. It is anti-intellectual, but it gets benefits from intellectualism.
It wants to become an art reference but it
gets bored with art. It likes very much beer
and the mental state of a hangover. It loves
money but it doesn’t know how to get it.
And definitely, it hates the mechanisms of
the art world.
“Maintenant je puis dire que l’art est une
sottise” (Rimbaud)
The Autopsy of Form
Performance
20 minutes
2010
Performance played at the opening
of “2ème Biennal de Rennes”
Couvent des Jacobins, Rennes.
France. 2010
This is an essay about form written in a
performance.
Taking the subject of the “new forms that
will come”, the text is read by an orator
activating the players to make specific
movements or constructions, giving new
ideas or possibilities of creation.
Below a brief extract of the text:
The origin of this essay about form
written as a performance is to criticize
the form, seeking to give new creative
principles, and I’ve decided to do it in
this way:
In a performance, where the word
“form” is implicit in the word.
A performance that turns back to its origins: to insult, to bother, to provoke.
Not lot of people can say they have seen
a performance which was not boring.
An essay, as Montaigne said, is a judgement, an experiment. Each single experience must have hypothesis, and the
hypothesis has something fictitious.
The etymology of “fiction” comes from
“fingere”, participle of “fictum”, which
means to mold, to give form..
Slash Theatre of My Mundo
Sculpture/Video/Photo/Collage
variable dimensions
2010
Luis Adelantado Gallery. Valencia, Spain
Slash Theatre of My Mundo is a series
of works that run from the Big Bang to
an unknown future
Taking the concept of “the first principle of the creative act” the story of this
project runs from the Big Bang until
the Middle Ages. Rethinking creation
through history, the evolution of forms
are presented in a personal way, using
Greek or Asian mythology, contemporary references or vanguardian ideas.
The two main characters are both the
ones of aggtelek collective. They walk
through time and space, seeking to find
the “absolute sculpture” as the philosophic stone of creation.
dí chéngben opera
Performance/Installation/Sculpture
30 minutes
2010
Performance played at Antigua
Casa Haiku. Barcelona 2011
From own references to poetic
words, an eclectic opera in
3 acts. Not suitable for soft
hearts.
This performance used an earlier installation, to give it a new
significance using words and
actors and overcoming past
concepts of the same work.
When Necessity Becomes The Norm
Sculpture/Video
Variable Dimensions
2009
LABOR Gallery. Budapest. 2009
A miniature sculpture retrospective sorrounded by a collection of
videos. Making everything possible with the least posible amount
of resources.
Installation Tale
Sculpture & 3 selected videos
Instuto Cervantes. Brussels 2009
A visual tale divided in three
rooms. Taking up some videos
about sculptural processes of
construction and demolition,
the space was divided in 3
forms: figurative, minimal and
conceptual.
1er Ensayo Escultórico
Video – colour – sound
00:14:55
2008
Ensayos Escultóricos
Starting off with an aesthetics of accumulation combined with cleaning processes, this project is developed structuring cycles of life
and death, construction and demolition, making of a multidisciplinary corpus an expanded projection of contaminated mechanisms.
Mechanisms insofar as this work does not distinguish between
processes and products, but rather presents itself as a continuum.
Thus, contaminated beyond the development of pieces in certain
hardwares, this project has not parcels to differentiate disciplines,
but rather a space that unfolds so that they all adjoin, fuse, interact
and superimpose or, as someone said before, explode.
2º Ensayo Escultórico
Video-colour-sound
00:08:21
2008
Ass-Dialectics
Video/Sculpture/Installation
Jozsa Gallery. Brussels. 2009
This work is an auto-reinterpretation of the series “Ensayos Escultóricos”, where new models of
creation are developed through
self references. The result is a
video where we start to wonder
about the value of the authorship,
of creation and the created and
specially about the sculptural concept through eclectic references
and auto-mockery.
For the exhibition “Ass Dialectics”
we presented a display of derived
pieces of the videotaped process. The exhibition space ended
up totally transformed in a dark
labyrinth.
ABOUT
Aggtelek is the artistic project of Gema Perales (1982) and Xandro Valles (1978).
They live in Brussels and Barcelona
CV
SOLO SHOWS
2013
4 Poor Monologues. Exile. Berlin. Germany
Poéticas del Objeto. Shau Ort. Shaufenster. Zürich. CH
we/poo/r.glitch=oilDownloads.jpg. Galeria Jose Robles. Madrid. ES
2012
The Speaker. Exile. Berlin. Germany
Inkjet & Soundtrack. Skl Gallery. Palma. Spain
2011
Plat du Jour. Homesession. Barcelona. Spain
Incident no. 40. Incident Report. Hudson. NY. USA
Impossibilities. Extreme Survivals in Art. Espai Guinovart. Agramunt. Spain
A Sort of Song. L’Autonomie. Brussels. Belgium
2010
Fast and Low and Cheap and Silly. Chez Neon. Lyon. France
Dí chéngběn Opera. Antigua Casa Haiku. Barcelona. Spain
Slash Theatre of My Mundo. SKL Gallery. Palma. Spain
Sapce Riders. Hilary Crisp Gallery. London. UK
Slash Theatre of My Mundo. Part 1. Luis Adelantado Valencia. Valencia. Spain
Ass-Dialectics + 2 Porno Malevich’s. Galeria Magda Bellotti. Espacio Algeciras. Madrid.
Spain
2009
When necessity becomes the norm (A poor retrospective). LABOR. Budapest. Hungary
Installation Tale. Instituto Cervantes. Brussels. Belgium
Ass-Dialectics. Jozsa Gallery. Brussels. Belgium
El video del mes. Matadero. Madrid. Spain
2008
1er Ensayo Escultórico. Galeria Espacio Líquido. Gijón. Spain
Lightfall Post-Collage. Centre Cultural la Mercè. Burriana, Castellón. Spain
AGGTELEK, Subzone1. Galerie Adler. Frankfurt am Main. Germany
Boxplot. Perrforming ARCO 08. Madrid. Spain
2007
Performing the Scenography. Jozsa Gallery. Brussels. Belgium
Performing the Sculpture & Sculpturing the Performance. Luis Adelantado Valencia. Spain
Cartoonformance. Individual Explum. Puerto Lumbreras. Murcia. Spain
GROUP SHOWS (selection)
2013
FAQ: Factotum. Fundació Tàpies. Barcelona. ES
Les Murs du Temps. Cyan Gallery. Barcelona. ES
Comunitats Artístiques del Poblenou. Can Felipa. Barcelona. ES
SummerFete. Ceri Hand Gallery. Londres. UK
Beelden op het Vrijthof. Maastricht. NL
Comunidades Artisticas del Poblenou. Can Felipa. Barcelona. ES
Liste. With Martin Kohout. Exile Gallery. Basel. CH
Festival Oodaaq. Rennes. FR
Me, Myself And I. Fundación Centenera. Sala La Lonja. Madrid. ES
Emerging Artists Award. BeersLambert Gallery. London. UK
2012
Artissima. Exile. Torino. Italy
12 Mostra Internacional Gas Natural Fenosa. MACUF. A Coruña. Spain
Spaces:Demolition. Centrul Civic. Chisinau. Moldavia
Critical Botox In times of 2.0 feudalism. Pavilion Unicredit. Bucharest. Romania
Simultan Festival 8. The beggining of the End. Timisoara. Romania
claResil 2012 mg. Curated by Alex Brahim. La Capella. Barcelona. Spain
Indisciplines! Performance with Pere Faura. Mercat de les Flors. Barcelona. Spain
The Immutables. DAFO. Lleida. Spain
Spaces: Demolition. Videoscreening. Chisinau. Moldova
Ciutat. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Bellaterra, Barcelona. Spain
2011
PDF Sculptures. Window Auckland. Auckland. New Zeland
Other Possible Titles. Grizzly Grizzly. Philadelphia. PA. USA
Summercamp III. There is so much beauty it can make you cry. Exile. Berlin. Germany
Saltar la página. De Velázquez a Canogar. Museo ABC. Madrid. Spain
Art is a Combat Sport. Curated by Jean-Marc Huitorel. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Calais. France
Premis Ciutat de Palma. Casal Solleric. Palma de Mallorca. Spain
2010
BIAM 2010. Museu del Monstià. Amposta. Spain
Partition 2.0/Fake. Modem, Center of Modern and Contemporary Art. Debrecen. Hungary
2ème Biennial de Rennes. Ce qui vient. Curated by Raphael Jeune. Couvent des Jacobins. Rennes. France
Santurce es Ley. Curated by DaWire (Carla Acevedo). Santurce. Puerto Rico
Festival Agitato. Le Triangle. Rennes. France
Mientras sea Posible. Casa América. Madrid. Spain
Premis Ciutat de Palma. Casal Solleric. Palma de Mallorca. Spain
2009
Remote viewing: New Video Art. Curated by Paul Young. Pacific Design Center. Los Angeles. USA
Inaugural Exhibition. Luis Adelantado Mexico. Mexico City
46 Certamen Internacional Artes Plásticas de Pollença. Museu de Pollença. Mallorca. SP
Crosstalk Festival. Budapest. Hungary
Solo al Buio. Mercati di Traiano. Rome. Italy
Diez +: Arte Contemporáneo Español de la Colección ABC. Instituto Cervantes. New York. USA
El video del mes: marzo 2009. Matadero. Madrid. Spain
Processes2: True Image. VideoSpace. Budapest. Hungria
Now. Transformation Spaces. Casa del Lago. Mexico DF. Mexico
LP’09. Festival de Dansa … o no. CCCB. Barcelona. Spain
2008
Fràgil. Musée Le Carré-Bonnat. Bayonne. France
V Certamen de Pintura de Castellón. Museo de Bellas Artes. Castellón. Spain
Zomerzone. Museum Het Domein. Sittard. Holland
Ajenos. Cavallerizza Palazzo Sambucca. Palermo. Italy
Video Europa. Off Loop Festival. Espai Ubu. Barcelona. Spain
2007
VICE. Luis Adelantado Miami. Miami. USA
La Noche en Blanco. Centro Cultural Conde Duque. Madrid. Spain
Nightcomers Project. X Biennial of Istanbul. Istanbul. Turkey
VI Concurso de Artes Plásticas del Gobierno de Cantabria. Santander. Spain
Muestra de Artes Visuales INJUVE. Círculo de Bellas Artes. Madrid. Spain
Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick. Condesa DF. Mexico DF. México
XII Premi D’Arts Visuals Ciutat de Burriana. Burriana. Castellón. Spain
El ojo que ves. Premio Internacional de Fotografía Contemporánea Pilar Citoler. Córdoba. Spain
AWARDS & GRANTS
2012
Beers.Lambert Award for Emerging Art. London. UK
2009
1st Runners-up prize. ABC Art Prize. Madrid. Spain
2008
1st award. 5th International Painting Prize from Castellón County Council. Spain
VII Grants Al Norte. Gijón. Asturias. SP
2007
1st award. VI Concurso de Artes Plásticas del Gobierno de Cantabria. Santander. SP
1st award. Muestra de Artes Visuales INJUVE. Círculo de Bellas Artes. Madrid. SP
1st award. XII Premi D’Arts Visuals Ciutat de Burriana. Burriana. Castellón. SP
2006
1st award. I Concurso de Creación Artística de la Fundación José García Jiménez. Murcia. SP
Award. EXPLUM 06. Puerto Lumbreras. Murcia. SP
AGGTELEK
aggtelek.net
+34 647 069 277
[email protected]
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