She’s gone off on another
tangent
creating a small, independent art ‘zine.
tangent is a bi-monthly publication produced with the intention of informing and amusing in bite-size chunks. Quick ‘n Dirty, Black ‘n White, each issue contains contributions by and features on artists as well as arts listings in the South London area and beyond. To get the skinny on how to submit writing and/or artwork check out the website or contact: Karen D’Amico via email: tangent.mail@mac.com
Stockists In London: Clapham Art Gallery ICA Bookshop Space Station 65 Studio Voltaire The Residence The Flea Pit Transition Gallery In Nottingham: Moot Gallery Further Afield: Eye Level Gallery, Halifax BC FluxFactory, New York Sticky, Melbourne Zeke’s Gallery, Montreal Events News etc., etc. available on the website:
www.tangent.org.uk tangent is a member of Indi&Ink, the independent publishing society all content © karen d’amico 2006 unless otherwise noted. all contributing artists’ work in the form of text and /or images is used by permission and is copyright by the artist. no stealing allowed; hey, make up your own ideas FFS! after all, we have.
inter-national
inside
(in no particular order)
[contributors] Ed Gray
The ‘Dear You’ Project anon of melbourne
Tatiana Macedo
Joe Schneider
Jin-me Yoon
www.catrionajeffries.com
Loren Bevan
www.lorenbeven.com
Stephen Harwood
Karen D’Amico
[review]
The FleaPit
[reflect]
Thoughts on a Grey Day
[inform]
Arts Listings
www.edgrayart.com
macedo.tatiana@gmail.com www.joeschneider.co.uk
www.stephenharwood.co.uk www.karendamico.com
www.myspace.com/tom_and_bob
www.karendamico.com
we are all inter-national The world, indeed, has become a small place. People from all walks of life, and for an assortment of reasons - both good and bad, are finding themselves flung all over the planet. This scattering, whether chosen or forced upon, has given way to an increasing sense of dislocation; the fragmented self is now a commonly shared experience. In addition to the forced migrant, there have always been a selection of people who have traversed the globe by choice. The fact remains, however, that it’s actually only very recently that large amounts of people are relocating to and enmeshing themselves within other countries and cultures as a common, everyday ingredient of their profession. My point is this: the effects of migration are permeating society in a variety of ways. With all this movement, paths are crossed, intersected, overlapped and connected. And while our increasingly networked world presents the notion that portability and interconnectedness are things that exist now and are easily available, the reality is not always so. An analogy would be like having a jigsaw puzzle with the main shape or image apparent but with a crucial piece missing. The puzzle can never be whole, complete. In terms of residing in this shifting space, the effect is curious, unsettling and subtle. Zones of recognition appear and subside, redistributing themselves across the geography of ‘here’ and ‘there’. We construct and maintain multiple identities, shifting between cultures, translating ourselves within and without as we go along, in an attempt to create parity, to complete the puzzle. The artists in this issue grapple with this notion of Inter-National, whether it’s from the vantage point of experience or that of observation. The contributions on the following pages are but a snapshot of what their work is about, so it’s worth checking out the links provided to get a fuller picture. - Karen D’Amico
Stains on a small Norwegian flag. Though often faded by time, some things can never be removed or erased. Personal histories, cultural histories, political and national events; they all continue to exist, indelibly marked in the fabric of memory.
Karen D’Amico Time Stains (2005); Digital photographic C-print on MDF; 22cm x 10cm x 1cm
TOURIST CLASS Six ways to piss off the local population and stand out like a sore thumb: When at a restaurant, expect - no, demand - food that you would usually get at home. When that doesn’t happen, complain loudly about it. Attempt to bargain over the cost of your groceries with the check out clerk at the local supermarket. Assume everyone speaks your language, and when they don’t, get all huffy with them about it. Comment about ‘how quaint’ everything is. Refer to people as ‘the natives’.
the flea pit www.myspace.com/tom_and_bob Located about 5 minutes from All Things Hoxton, The Flea Pit is a small, laid back exhibition space in the back of an organic eaterie. The space has been around for a while, having hosted exhibitions as well as performances, screenings, poetry and script readings, music and a knitting circle in the past. A quick web-search reveals some nice reviews of the atmosphere, the happenings and the food. The exhibition space has recently been taken over by Tom Wilmott and Bob London, two artist / arts professionals whose vision is to present good contemporary work by underexposed artists in a space that is unpretentious and friendly. I attended the PV for ‘Oh My Days’ their inaugural show in early May, featuring their own paintings and drawings and I quite enjoyed the experience - especially considering I didn’t know a soul there, and though I didn’t have a chance to sample the fare, the food as well as the organic beer and wine is rumoured to be pretty fab. Wilmott and London are now busy filling the diary for upcoming shows, which run for 4 weeks. The second show, featuring works on paper by RCA graduate Jonas Rsnson, runs through 25th June. Exhibition proposals are being accepted so if Saatchi hasn’t beaten a path to your studio yet and you have something good you want to get out there, contact Tom or Bob (website The Fleapit above) for further info.
49 Columbia Road London E2 7RG tube: Old Street bus: 55, 26, 48
- Karen D’Amico
Joe Schneider www.joeschneider.co.uk
GLOBAL TRAVELERS My work charts the process of moving, on a daily trajectory, towards the everyday. I aim to be open and spontaneous to the immediate topography of day-to-day experience and to follow the contours of place, encounter and circumstance. I try for a spontaneous response to the infinite local that is finally revealed as exotic. The familiar local becomes an oasis of fertile strangeness and distant otherness. The mundane activities of walking, shopping and working reveal a plethora of myths, stories and facts that fracture the surface of the city street. In PASSERSBY the ordinary and the everyday is reified in a conscious repression and sublimation of the pathological. The paintings are collages of imagination, drawings, photographs and memory. Any method is used to carry the small objectivities of observed experience back to the painting surface. Through a process of projection and emergence I try to draw out these objectivities. They become reconfigured, distorted, rescued from the false depths of dark inwardness, emerging from shapelessness. I aim for a fragile victory over darkness and emptiness. To hold at bay the nightmare figures of destruction, fear and doubt that crowd together at the peripheries of the hopeful moment. The painting’s shape is like a full-length mirror and a coffin-like box. It is a shape that allows for selfeffacement, projection, incarceration and entombment. A shape that suggests the passerby is saint or prisoner. They become fragile heroes in the battle against forces beyond their control, internal and external, that threaten to overwhelm them. Our
myriad relationships to the everyday are revealed in this figure of the passerby. Figures drawn persistently towards the parodic paradise of the shop and the ordinary heroism of the workplace by primal forces but also by globalised manipulations. They are pre-occupied and persistent hunter-gatherers with plastic bags. They are isolated, momentarily trapped, in the thin space of the painting. Entrapped and homogenized by the immediate necessities of everyday life. They are held in their own worlds, held in isolation by their shocks and fears or by their cultural differences. But they also form an uncertain crowd. They are global travelers arriving from and departing for different localities. They are moving on their myriad routes through the day towards a common destination. - Joe Schneider
Joe Schneider PASSERSBY (2005-6); Oil on Board, Each panel approx 160cm x 30.5cm. courtesy of the artist
Joe Schneider From PAGES FROM THE EVERYDAY (2004-ongoing); Pencil on Paper, approx 14cm x 14cm, courtesy of the artist
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Joe Schneider From BUS (2004); Pencil on Paper, 88 drawings, each drawing approx, 20cm x 14cm, courtesy of the artist
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Re-Location
in conversation with Loren Beven You are truly inter-national – you have lived and worked in a variety of places that quite a lot of people would term ‘exotic’, and you now find yourself in Katmandu. What impact has this move had on your art practice? I have had to re think how I literally make work as the materials and resources available here are so different. There is no AP Fitzpatrick equivalent, or even Atlantis, but on the other hand people are so skilled and the scope for working with silversmiths, metalworkers, carvers, embroideres etc is exciting. And I have had to reconsider my practice in the context of a different environment. Best / worst bit about the move? The best bit is the sense of adventure, of things new and exciting and unknown and the worst bit is leaving London. On your recent visit to London we talked a bit about the importance of engaging with the facilities and tools available where one is; in that context, what is the one thing that has enriched your work the most? Here people make so much with so little. For me this means always having to come back to thinking about the simplest way to approach a new work. Do you find that there is a common thread or collective interest of sorts that runs through the international contemporary art community? Interest are as wide and as varied as the locations. What is the biggest challenge and the biggest reward of working in an academic-arts environment, and specifically, in another country? The biggest challenge is managing the balance between time for your own work and spending time with students. The biggest reward is those students and staff whose work is inspiring, it’s the same where ever you are. Is language an issue and if so, how do you overcome that obstacle? I have always worked where people speak at least some English. Inside the studio I stick to English as it is the lingua franca of the art world (and many words aren’t in standard issue dictionaries!). Outside I always try to learn at least the basics. A smile always helps. Imagine yourself having to re-locate to another country at the drop of a hat (not that this is out of the ordinary for you!) What three items pertaining to your art practice would you absolutely have to bring with you? My three most current sketchbooks, they serve as some kind of continuity in a strange land. Any advice for artists doing international moves or residencies? Don’t underestimate the impact a change in environment makes - it affects more than your practice and it can take a while to find equilibrium. If the residency is short use the time to challenge the way you work and don’t necessarily expect to produce finished work. That often comes later. 12
dear you anonymous, melbourne
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asked & answered Jin-me Yoon www.catrionajeffries.com www.ssamziespace.com
when did you first know you wanted to be an artist?
not sure. from a very early age, i wanted ask questions about what i saw and observed around me. contemporary art with its interdisciplinary conceptual orientation was best suited for my curious disposition.
can you remember your first piece of work? no. probably was ephemeral.
smartest thing you ever did in terms of your art practice? pursue art making as a form of inquiry rather than a PhD.
worst mistake in terms of your art practice?
making rash statements as a younger artist such as “abolish studio practices”. wouldn’t call it a mistake though.
best / worst bit about being an artist?
best thing: can research and develop interests in absolutely everything.
any heroes or villains?
many brave artists who dared to follow their work rather than mere trends.
in an international context, do you think the notion of ‘other-ness’ is beneficial or detrimental? right now, detrimental as well as beneficial depending on if you threaten or confirm the status quo/ existing power structures. this is a rather general and simple way of stating things but it’s shorthand and describes the tendency for conformity and consensus in the international art scene.
where do you feel most at home?
difficult, complex question. home is my body. home is attachments to certain places, Westcoast of British Columbia, Seoul; and people, my partner, my children and good friends dispersed in many parts of the world.
What shows have you seen recently?
The Atlas Group, Walid Raad at the Kitchen, NYC; Bac, Yisu in Seoul, Korea (Samsung Gallery).
Any words of wisdom for emerging artists? go for a long term relationship with your work. have faith in this. your work will take you to places you can’t even conceive... 15
tatiana macedo macedo.tatiana@gmail.com
Sala Comum
“Sala Comum” 1 is a photographic series made during the course of a Photography based Artistic Programme at The Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. These are portraits of immigrants taken at an Immigrant’s association - the “Solidariedade Imigrante” 2 also here in Lisbon, where I currently live and work. This is an independent association, which stands (or shall I say “fights”) for the rights of the immigrants supporting them not only in their legalisation procedures but also promoting intercultural activities, discussions and debates. Mainly immigrants run it and its pillars are “participation and intervention”. As an association member, I had been going there regularly for more than a year, participating actively in their programmes. During these periods I learned a great deal about the problematic associated with the current flux of immigrants reaching Portugal every day3; their struggle to work, get their work or residential permit, learn the language, interact with the host as well as the immigrant communities, etc. Above all, I realized the need for more consistent and realistic integration policies. I was also fascinated by the great mix of people and cultures that I met there, which is truly unique, and the feeling of having the world (represented through cultural difference) inside one of these small rooms. This page: Tatiana Macedo, Sala Comum (Installation views) (2005); Photographic inkjet pints, 80 x 60, 90 x 70, courtesy of the artist
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Installation view: Tatiana Macedo, Sala Comum (2005); Photographic inkjet pints, 80x60, 90x70, courtesy of the artist
During the course of three months, I went there with the sole purpose of taking photographs, I would go to the waiting room and ask the people if they wouldn’t mind being photographed by me, explaining them the purposes of the project. Most of them said yes, others a big bold “no”. By doing this, I caught them in a particular moment, anxious because they were waiting to get help/information on their processes. If someone said yes, I would take him/her to another room in order to do a more intimate picture. All the photos were taken in the same room. The room then acts as a metaphor for the world and, in a crude manner, a certain segregation/separation exercised upon the person being photographed. Finally, the 4 years I lived n London as a working student gave me a personal perspective of what it is to be and feel like “a foreigner”. A selection of 12 portraits was shown at the Gulbenkian Foundation at the end of the Programme and they are now being used as the communication images of the Immigration Forum promoted by the Foundation in 2006/07. For this event I was also commissioned a public art piece consisting of an outdoor measuring 2m x 30m long, together with 2 other photographers, which will be shown from September 2006 to April 2007 in the Foundation’s gardens. At present I am looking to expand this project through a residency abroad, as well as looking for venues to show this project. 1
English translation “ Shared Room” English translation “ Immigrant Solidarity” The Portuguese have always been emmigrants, and many, mainly from the ex-colonies immigrated to Portugal, but only recently a great number of people from other parts of the world such as Brazil and Eastern Europe, come to Portugal looking for better life conditions. 2 3
- Tatiana Macedo
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Sala Comum Shared Room
Dzhangr Ombadikov – Russia
Ghulam Sarwar – Paquistan
Mohamad Iqbal - Paquistan
Julio Tavares - Cabo Verde
Marina Serputko - Ukraine
Harjit Singh - India
Ana Manuel – Angola
Milya Kikeeva - Russia
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All the photos were taken Vera Ciubotaru - Moldavia
Nadezda Mukranova - Russia
in the same room. The room then acts as a metaphor for the world and, in a crude manner, a certain
Valeria Muntian - Ukraine
Nicolai Ciubotaru - Moldavia
segregation/ separation exercised upon the person being photographed.
Lucia Elena - Brazil
Evgueni Vinokourov - Russia
Opposite and above: Tatiana Macedo, Sala Comum (2005); Photographic inkjet pints, 80x60, 90x70, courtesy of the artist
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Jin-me Yoon www.catrionajeffries.com www.ssamziespace.com Jin-me’s art practice has centred around notions of cultural identity, history and memory. Born in Korea and living in Canada, she incorporates photographs, objects and video images, intersecting, splicing, repositioning, and re presenting overlapping histories, constructed memories, identities and experiences. Unbidden (below and following pages) explores the resonance of and connection between past and present; how histories often hover around us like ghosts, phantom memories which, though they may never have been experienced firsthand, leave an indelible mark as their stories are told and re-told. The emotional scars of war, dislocation and fragmentation, experienced by one generation and internalised by the next, become part of an emotional and cultural fabric, reinforced through their recounting. - Karen D’Amico
Above and following two pages: Jin-me Yoon, Unbidden (2003); Single channel video installation, courtesy of the artist.
Having just completed a solo show at Ssamzie Space in Seoul, Korea Jin-me’s video installation, ‘Unbidden’ will be shown in December at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Further information can be found at www.cmcp.gallery.ca or by contacting the Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
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stephen harwood www.stephenharwood.co.uk
The idea of ‘InterNational’ suggested parallels between the contemporary East End and the ‘International Zone’ of Tangiers prior to 1956. Specifically, William Burroughs’ and Brion Gysin’s involvement (or more correctly escape) in that place. I’m interested in the idea of a ring-fenced territory where the rules seem to fall away and this project put me right back in the middle of my long-standing East End subject, which was put on the shelf slightly when I started painting about my own childhood a couple years ago.
Stephen Harwood, The First Loss (2004); Acrylic and charcoal on handmade paper, 100 x 72cm Following five pages: Stephen Harwood, Inter-national (2006); Mixed media on paper, 29.7 x 21cm images courtesy of the artist
- Stephen Harwood
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Karen D’Amico TraceMap (2005) Graphite and pewter on canvas; 30.5cm x 30.5cm
A city map, traced and redrawn several times. Obliterating the actual information contained using graphite and pewter powder is an attempt to re-trace and apprehend a heritage and locality that, though they exist, are somehow unattainable and inaccessible.
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Ed Gray www.edgrayart.com His paintings are keenly observed snapshots of the urban landscape, whatever the city. What I love about Ed’s work is the way he crams in an agglomeration of detail which somehow comes together and presents a painted story that, although relating to a specific locality, could actually be almost anywhere. From the carictural faciel expressions to the discarded wrapper, fag butts and pigeons pecking through trash on the street, it’s all there: humour, pathos, bustle, tragedy, boredom, love, violence, hopes and dreams, clutter and chaos. It’s that connection and inter-connection that Ed’s work portrays that really floats my boat. - Karen D’Amico
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Ed Gray, Berwick Street (2003); Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30”, courtesy of the artist and GXgallery
Ed Gray, Socraties Diner (2005); Acrylic on Canvas, 40 x 36� courtesy of the artist and GXgallery
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Loren Beven www.lorenbeven.com
In Nepal caste, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and politics continue to create profound divisions within its society. Inspired by The 100 Doors Project in Belgium 2004, the Siddhartha Art Gallery launched Khulla Dhoka (Open Door), a community art project that brought together artists, poets, musicians and people from different social backgrounds. As symbol of passage from one place to another, between different states, the door was chosen to initiate dialogue and break through barriers of mistrust and ignorance. Â Artists worked on old traditional Nepalese doors together with marginalised and disadvantaged people as well as Maoists, members of the security forces, political prisoners and, particularly, widows, battered women and teenage girls who had been sold to brothels in India, all of which hold particular stigma in Nepal.
KHULLA DHOKA Curated by Sangeeta Thapa NAFA Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal 17 May - June 2006 The project is supported by the British Council and the European Commission. - Loren Beven
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Where do you come from? I come from my childhood. -Antoine de Saint ExupĂŠry
Loren Beven, in collaboration with Lila Thapa and Damoder Gautam Where do you come from? (I come from my childhood) (2006); Mixed media,180 x 110 cm, courtesy of the artists
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Thoughts on a Grey Day Traces of the past merge with the present and help to shape our sense of identity; shared histories, common experiences, language and so on, combine to form a sense of who we are in the world. This is true for everyone, and perhaps there can never fully be an amalgamation for any of us. But I think the gaps are more acutely felt by those who have experienced living in a culture different from their own. In the 15 years I’ve lived in England there has been a gradual but significant shift in my outlook on the notion of ‘home’ as well as how I view my own identity. I have felt at times fragmented, tied to both ‘my life today and my life then’ and yet detached, removed, an observer in both as a subtle estrangement from the home of the past has occurred. Everyday nuances that were once second nature and familiar in my home culture have been forgotten and in their place new modes of functioning and relating to those around me have been adapted. The realization has slowly seeped through that while one has access to a shared history with friends and family as well as with one’s wider ‘home’ community, the link is forever ruptured, simply because the possibility of sharing subsequent, ongoing day-to-day experiences together is no longer available. The waters close in quickly and that everyday awareness that one once had begins to dissapate. There is still, and always will be, a deep sense of understanding and connection with my home country on some level, but it is now and will forever be framed differently. I have become two people and yet I am one and the same. - Karen D’Amico
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catch: Arts Publications
Anxiety Culture [an] magazine Arty Magazine Found Magazine Interlude Magazine Leisure Centre Publish and Be Damned Rant Magazine rifRAG Smoke: a london peculiar
Weblinks
Artangel Artinliverpool Artquest Arts Council England Art South Central Axis Artists Eyebeam Fallon & Rosoff Happy Famous Artists Kollabor8 Newsgrist Re-Title Rhizome Stunned Theory.Org Wooster Collective
Listings
galleries, weblinks, etc.
www.anxietyculture.com/ www.a-n.co.uk www.artymagazine.com www.foundmagazine.com www.interludemagazine.co.uk www.leisurecentre.org.uk www.publishandbedamned.org www.rant-magazine.com www.riffrag.org/ www.shink.dircon.co.uk/smoke.htm www.artangel.org.uk www.artinliverpool.com/blog www.artquest.org.uk www.artscouncil.org.uk/ www.artsouthcentral.org.uk www.axisartists.org.uk www.eyebeam.org www.fallonandrosof.com/artblog.html www.happyfamousartists.blogspot.com http://kollabor8.toegristle.com/ www.newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/weblogs/index.html www.re-title.com www.rhizome.org www.stunned.org www.theory.org www.woostercollective.com/
Galleries / Studios / Resources UK 198 Gallery (SE24) 2B1 Bearspace (SE8) Cafe’ Gallery Projects (SE16) Castlefield Gallery (M15) Cell Project Space (E2) Clapham Art Gallery (SW4) Gasworks (SE11) Hayward Gallery (SE1) inIVA (EC2) ICA (SW1) Levack (W1) Moot Gallery (Nottingham NG3) MOT (E8) Photographers Gallery (WC2) Photofusion (SW9) SevenSeven (E8) South London Gallery (SE5) Space Station 65 (SE22) Space Studios (E8) Spectacle (Birmingham B16) Stand Assembly (NG3) Standpoint (N1) Studio Voltaire (SW4) Surface Gallery (Nottingham NG1) Tate Modern (SE1) The Flea Pit (E1) The Residence(E9) The Wyer Gallery (SW11) Transition Gallery (E8) Transmission (Glasgow)
www.198gallery.co.uk www.2b1studio.co.uk www.thebear.tv/bearspace/ www.cafegalleryprojects.com www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk www.cell.org.uk www.claphamartgallery.com www.gasworks.org.uk www.hayward.org.uk www.iniva.org www.ica.org.uk www.levack.co.uk www.mootgallery.org www.motinternational.org www.photonet.org.uk www.photofusion.org www.sevenseven.org.uk/ www.southlondongallery.org www.spacestationsixtyfive.com www.spacestudios.org.uk www.spectacle-gallery.co.uk/ www.standassembly.org www.pauperspublications.com/gallery.html www.studiovoltaire.org www.surfacegallery.org/index.html www.tate.org.uk www.myspace.com/tom_and_bob www.residence-gallery.com www.thewyergallery.co.uk www.transitiongallery.co.uk www.transmissiongallery.org/
020 7978 8309 - 020 8691 2085 020 7237 1230 0161 832 8034 020 7241 3600 020 7720 0955 020 7582 6848 020 7921 0813 020 7729 9616 020 7930 3647 020 7539 1911 07786 257213 020 7923 9561 020 7831 1772 020 7738 5774 078 0816 6215 020 7703 6120 020 8693 5995 020 8525 4330 020 7729 5272 020 7622 1294 0115 934 8435 020 7887 8000 020 8986 8866 020 7223 8433 020 7254 0045 0141 552 4813
Further Afield Flux Factory (New York) Location 1 (New York) Printed Matter (New York) White Column (New York)
www.fluxfactory.org/ www.location1.org www.printedmatter.org www.whitecolumns.org
1 (718) 707 3362 1 (212) 334 3347 1 (212) 925 0325 1 (212) 924 4214
Platform Artists Group (Melbourne) Sticky (Melbourne) The Invisible Inc. (Sydney)
www.platform.org.au www.platform.org.au/sticky.html www.theinvisibleinc.org.au
+61 3 9654 8559 +61 3 9654 8559 -
Torpedo Artbooks (Oslo)
www.torpedobok.no/
+47 48231217
Eye Level Gallery (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Zeke’s Gallery (Montreal)
www.eyelevelgallery.ca www.zekesgallery.blogspot.com
1 (902) 425 6412 1 (514) 288-2233