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In the coming months, we will be collaborating with Farm Art in Bellingwolde, Groningen, the Netherlands, to present a series of flat works made by artists formerly in residence at this beautiful spot in the flatlands of the northern Dutch countryside. 

Farm Art offers short residencies in a rural location. For more information and an open call, visit kunstpuntgroningen.nl/en/for-artists/open-calls

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Quest Map

2023

Digital print on paper

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When we were looking at the various photos of the place and the cube itself, a feeling came over us like it was something distant and not even related to our own real world. It all looked like some kind of location in a game and the cube looked like some kind of quest artefact. Based on this feeling, we decided to make this work, copying the exact position of this gallery near Tsarino on Google Maps in a Heroes of Might and Magic video game map editor.
 

alexandrsokolov.art

Wood Grouse Letter

2023

Lino print

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Wood Grouse Letter is a minimalistic lino print on paper. It is part of my artistic research, in which I am looking for new ways to incorporate animals in visual art. I work on a forest plot where I observe animals and try to find compassionate ways of relating to them. Letter's walker, a big black bird, lives in the same yard with me. You can't always see it, but it makes tracks on the ground to announce that people are on its territory. The wood grouse is a soul bird that protects children, takes a dead little one to the underworld or turns them into a bird. Sometimes witches also borrow its wings for their journeys. An ancient inhabitant of forests and myths, its habitat is in danger of becoming too small in southern Finland.

 

www.outimaija.com

I never leave home without control (II)

2023

Silkscreen-printed cotton textile, stuffing

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For some years I have been working with graphically simplified symbols for stoves, electrical sockets, washing machines, ovens and door handles. You can think of them as everyday objects but together with the titles they also refer to a life with OCD. I chose to make this sculpture soft and innocent as a contrast to the anxiety. But also to trivialise how absurd it is to pull out all the electric plugs and check the stove a thousand times before leaving home; there's humour in that which I like. It is as if one were a kind of Sisyphus trapped in their own home.

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mariatoll.com

Vacuna—On Cow Affairs—Pascual I 

2022

Digital prints on vellum paper, string

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In Spanish, the word vacuna relates to both 'cow’ and ‘vaccine’, dating back to the invention of modern vaccines via cow smallpox infection in lactating women. For the export of vaccines from New Spain (currently known as Mexico) to the Asian colonies in the early 19th century, the Spanish rulers used 22 Mexican children as living containers of the virus. The title of this work alludes to one of them: Pascual.

Pascual, made of cow X-rays, was conceived in a world horrified by an illness coming from East Asia and the possibility of bioterrorism. In a time with no vaccines, families were being separated. The journey of this piece was planned as an act of memory to make sense of how we build narratives around health in a hyper-connected more-than-human world and to greet the cows in Southern Bulgaria.

The piece travelled the seven seas before being exhibited in Tsarino. Produced in México, it went to the US, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Bahrain, Netherlands and finally Bulgaria. Its journey is reminiscent of the Manila Galleon, the transpacific ship that transported people and goods — and human vaccines — between the Spanish colonies.

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instagram.com/towbautista

Paper Isle  

2023

Archival paper, vinyl lettering

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The multidisciplinary project CONTOUR (2015-present) is a collaboration between artists Ted Oonk (NL) and Su Jung (KR). The project consists of an archive containing written correspondence and other text, photography, audio and video. The starting point of the project CONTOUR was to explore the artists' opposing views on the symbolic and physical meanings of ‘an island’. Oonk has a romantic and utopian image of the island whereas Jung emphasises its dark and isolated side. The archive shows both sides but mainly experiments with the island as an insignificant or forgotten 'thing' rather than the typical, usually collective utopian ideas.

Paper Isle (2023) is an installation based on the archive of CONTOUR. The glass of the showcase features sentences in vinyl letters from the artists' correspondence about the island, translated into four languages (Bulgarian, English, Dutch and Korean). In the middle of the gallery, a rigid stack of paper contains the complete archive collected by both artists. Within the glass exhibition space, the stack of paper forms an island in itself.

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tedoonk.nl

jungsu.net

Campfire  

2016/2022

Recycled tent fabrics

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The Campfire is lightweight, foldable, unbreakable and resistant to sun, cold and rain. It seems to be the perfect equipment for a trip into nature. Hiking and camping is associated with a romantic image of nature. Likewise, a campfire at dusk in a wild landscape is one of the most sensual experiences. At the same time, the Campfire as a piece of tourist equipment is a symbol of the economic relationship between man and nature.

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 www.andreaboening.de

Striped Mind  

2022

Recycled plastic, transparent coloured foil, solar lamps

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Transparent strips of coloured foil, illuminated by solar-powered lamps, enhance the contrast of colours and shapes between nature and geometry. Their intensity, vibrancy and saturation depend on the strength of the sun, creating an intersection between nature and unexpected forms. A space defined in such a way is full of relatively active components, many of which communicate with each other, interacting at certain intervals and in real-time. It is an unexpected experience, different every time to delight passersby.

Dear passersby, I wish you a magical moment in this place.

(In)constant Observer   

2022

Site-specific installation

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As the location of Razklon is substantially unreachable, this site-specific installation attempts to make it more accessible for the viewers. However, here the majority of the viewers are not capable of seeing the exhibited object per se, but are offered the static environment surrounding it. As an idea the installation is comparable to the innocent-appearing, zither music playing weather channels in central European mountain regions, but in today’s social context it aims to decipher beyond. The installation deviates from tradition by switching the position of the art object; from the main subject of documentation into a tool of surveillance, therefore also changing the meaning of the gallery space.

Trail cameras are often used for entertainment, but on the foundational level they are created for surveillance and usually set up in a discreet manner. As the gallery space is camoed, it is no longer a space within the outdoor space, but it becomes the art object itself. The glass walls no longer function as borders/limits and a certain aura is lost; now we return to the beginning to some extent, as the only things left are context and memories.

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jonnevaisanen.com

leevitoija.com

101 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria

2022

Stamp, ink pad, postcards, wooden box, aludibond sign, wood from Tsarino

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The renowned initiative '100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria' is a national movement established in 1966 to promote tourism among Bulgaria's most significant cultural, historical and natural landmarks during a time when Bulgarians were not allowed to travel freely. Travellers are encouraged to visit selected attractions throughout Bulgaria and have their membership booklets stamped. Depending on the number of stamps collected, participants may receive bronze, silver or gold badges. The original list of these monuments included several communist landmarks, which were replaced by a new list after 1989 (removing sites such as the now-disgraced Buzludzha Memorial House). The monuments are now selected by a variety of organisations and institutions, among them 'The Union of Bulgarian Motorists' and 'The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church'. 

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Bianca Pedrina introduces Razklon Gallery as the 101st tourist site, guarded by a grumpy cat from Plovdiv who greets the brave travellers who have made it to this remote art gallery. A custom-designed stamp and postcard can be collected here as a reward. 

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Special thanks to Johanna Pichlbauer and Vasilena Gankovska.

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biancapedrina.com

Our tongues, on the landscape. Our language.

2021–2022

Fabric, pigments, colour-print on PVC

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Our tongues, on the landscape. Our language. is an installation of painted fabrics hung on all four sides of the gallery. The fabrics have been through a series of gestures: rubbing, scrubbing and scraping pigments on their surface while using the rhythm of the sea, its waves and changing coastline.

The paintings have either been left raw or were sewn together to create yet another composition, proposing a way to frame the landscape that surrounds the gallery space. The installation's translucent surfaces invite the viewer to look at the surroundings of the Razklon Gallery through colourful gestures that were made in another place. Hence, both locations meet in simply one action. The foldable painted surfaces let other surfaces appear from in between. Multiple compositions may be made, become undone, and remade again by the movement of the body and eyes of the viewer.

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A text printed on PVC is situated on the bottom of the showcase, visible through the translucent paintings. It attempts to translate the colours of these paintings into words and voices, inviting the landscape to speak, or rather to imagine what the voices of place are trying to say.

oliviafuneslastra.com

Fiesta del Sol

2020–2022

Photographic print on PVC, disco ball, solar panel, electromotor

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A disco ball spins over the famous photograph of the Earth known as the Blue Marble, driven by a solar-powered motor. Fiesta del Sol was conceived to alleviate the lack of dancing, especially during the first stage of the pandemic. Indeed, in a very symbolic way: the sun ritualistically activates a disco ball every time it appears. As a result, the disco ball hovers over planet earth as if it were a vast alien mothership, which could well be saving the world ⁠— with a dance.

juliolugon.com

Shining Ram

2021

Found skull, gold leaf, velvet fabric, cotton wool, plywood

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The work consists of a found ram's skull and gold leaf processed with the gilding technique for a polished high gloss effect. A square base that measures 45 by 45 by 7cm high is made of wood beams and a foam pad coated with black velvet. It is used as a cushion for the gilded skull.

Conceptually, the work aims to lend weight to animal life and its cycles and pay tribute to nature's unsung heroes. In addition, the work aspires to function as a memorial within the animal community. It serves as a monument in commemoration of the dead ram. The gold coating of the skull symbolizes immortality.

This work pursues to shift the axis of awareness away and beyond the monopoly of an anthropocentric standpoint. It seeks to stimulate further discussion on animal life in itself, devoid of any notions of human exploitation. As Bruno Latour said, learning new ways to inhabit the Earth is our biggest challenge.

michaliskaraiskos.com

Roshambo

2021

Copper, string, rock, scissors, paper

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A small rock, a sheet of paper and a pair of scissors orbit around each other in a standoff, never resolving the power struggle of who wins and who loses in this game. The paper always covers the rock; the scissors always cut the paper; the rock always breaks the scissors. Rock-Paper-Scissors is a universal hand game used for settling disputes or making unbiased choices. It can be a practical tool when coming to a fork in the road, like the one where Razklon gallery is situated.

Paper, rock, scissors. Like a list of first words, the subjects Imber employs are archetypal symbols one can associate within an instant. Roshambo is a metaphor for the uncertainty of whose hand holds the power. One must assume a position without knowing their rival’s stance. From assumption to conviction and back to suspicion. For the artist, this game-of-chance feels especially poignant in today’s political climate, where lies can prevail over truth, beliefs over reason and who rises to power can seem random.

einatimber.com

A doorway, entrance or gate

2021

Photographic prints on duraclear

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When looking through these translucent photographic prints, you are able to be at several places at once. Here, you see a lava rock formation that forms a natural gateway in Dimmuborgir, Iceland. Here, you see the entrance of a cave in Pak Ou, Laos. And here, you see the hills in southern Bulgaria. Depending on your position, perspective, light and weather conditions, these landscapes can merge. Thus, this installation creates an imaginary voyage and a potential portal to travel through.

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sannekabalt.com

Something in the sky

2021

Hypothermia blankets, cello tape, string, pinewood, ratchet straps, gallery, performer

The bright blue sky illuminates the golden landscape of Bulgaria. As something glides across it, a closer look shows a cube with a silhouette of white noise on top of it, a televisual signal. A crash land is about to commence as I surf the Razklon across the sky. The landing system has malfunctioned. What's that? In the distance, there seems to be some sort of primitive wind direction, navigation system, a windsock. I'll use it to direct the Razklon to a landing pad or flat ground. Ok I'm on target for the landing but travelling fast, I'll need to eject in 3... 2... 1... puff flap. The silhouette has separated from the cube and a gold parachute carries the white noise through the sky gently. Zip-ripp the parachute has split. I'm falling fast. I'll have to get ready for a hard landing. The chute flaps rigorously, the white noise plummeting towards the ground zip-twang-poffff-whack the chute gets caught wiping the silhouette back into some rocks, after a moment's dizziness the silhouette cuts itself free and darts off into the woods. In the sky another parachute opens, the falling speed of the cube slows dramatically, it floats and gently drops onto a stone landing pad clunk-ting it makes contact with the sound of stone hitting glass reverberating through the Razklon as it lands safely.

leemcdonald.co.uk

Windsock

2021

Domestic textiles, salvaged oak beams, metal

A windsock is a conical textile tube that resembles a giant sock. Windsocks can be used as a basic guide to wind direction and speed. This windsock erected at Razklon is hand-stitched using three domestic fabrics, two of which were found in Tsarino. The pole holding the windsock is made from two oak beams salvaged from one of the abandoned houses in the village of Tsarino.

Razklon means fork, in this case literally a fork in the road. It is the meeting place of three roads used by vehicles, pedestrians and animals. For the time that this windsock hangs at Razklon, people will know from which direction the wind is blowing without holding a wet finger in the air.

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lisasmithson.nl

Briquette Well

2021

Newspaper and water

Shaun’s project PLOT takes its starting point from the plotlanders, a radical DIY community that resided in Basildon, UK, the artists birth town. Many plotlanders were displaced when the area was designated as a New Town in 1949, with some remnants remaining in the form of bricks embedded in the ground.

Shaun has been producing paper briquettes as a point of entry and allegory to discuss this past community. For the Razklon Gallery, the briquettes have been formed cylindrically, reminiscent of a water well. For plotlanders, water wells were an ample supply of water and, furthermore, in Tsarino, roadside wells and taps have a deep rooted meaning in local culture. Individuals are encouraged to build them in dedication to family members and they also become meeting points, mirroring the location of the gallery at a crossroads between three villages. 

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At the end of the exhibition, the briquette well will be set alight for warmth facilitating group conversation and congregation. 

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shauncbadham.com

Guide

2021

Mixed Bulgarian and New Zealand stones from three locations

Sinite Kameni / Kısık kaya

Blackhead / Te Wai o Tinarau

Signal Hill / Te Pahure-o-te-Rangi-Pohika 

Guide is a temporary marker, tethering the vitrine to the road to Tsarino. Its remote location is a distinctive feature of the Razklon Gallery, isolated and entirely unique. In contemplating this, place and objects from the land felt particularly poignant. This work is a cairn, a rock structure assembled by hand that traditionally holds many uses, from track marker to burial mound. Guide has been created out of a mix of stones from Ōtepoti/Dunedin, New Zealand, and locally sourced rocks from the area around the Razklon gallery space. 

Through collaboratively creating the work and bringing together the two locations, the piece celebrates the remote nature of both the gallery and New Zealand. Cairns are constructed and altered, often inviting contributions from passers-by. Guide reflects this principle in both construction and impermanence as an exhibition — a poetic gesture marking the vitrine for the summer.

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instagram.com/taarnscott

virtualresidency.p-10.ru/author/scott-taarn

Държиш Хитра Вода (You Hold Smart Water)

2021

Aquarium, water, red cabbage, smartwater bottles, words, pressure

It is decidedly so — The                                                                 Waters are always making private messages. Never asking. Meeting us according to our densities. 

                                                                   Where are we when the language arrives. 

How can translation reform a mouth and not taste like a poem? 

                                                                                                        We are dispersing, beetling over our brows, tucking into you with weight, with means!

                                                                                                        A buoyant message - a different barge. 

                                                                                                        Surely a legible arrangement is evidence of you and water’s inference. Work on each other.

                                                                                                        Who are you when the language arrives? 

                                                                                                        Wave to me in a cube with handmade edges  — I’ll be the one facing up 

                                                                                                        You may rely on it.

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Maya Simkin website

Titus Wonsey instagram

Wicked Weather Forecast

2020

Lithography, fake snow

'The weather forecast you mention in your report must be for three or seven days. Do not forecast conditions for months because long-term forecasts are less accurate and therefore, less reliable. When writing a weather forecast, you need to state the general conditions such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, stormy, cloudy, low and high temperature and warnings like tornadoes, flooding, etc. The style of the weather forecast must be to the point; no fillers are required. You must choose your words and phrases correctly & arrange them in a way that the information looks precise and accurate.'1

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Hi, I am your local weather girl now. Let's look at the weather! I promise I won't use any filler words. The weather is cool, isn't it? It will be like this, around the same temperature. Then it will be a bit different. Then it will be more different than it is now. Oh, and there's more crazy weather coming this week. It might. So I've heard. And then, there's a new week coming with totally different weather. Or with kind of the same weather. Or with slightly different weather. Who knows. I would like to wish you a very pleasant day (regardless of the weather). Goodbye! Stay tuned!​

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1. https://www.writeawriting.com/how-to-write/weather-report

dorilazar.com

Laplace's Demon
Hypothesis I (Painting in a Jar)

2014
Oil, egg tempera and gesso in glass jar

In 2014, I made a work (oil and egg tempera on 2 x 2 m board) that just didn’t, well, work. I decided to scrape off the material and put it into a jar. The result: Hypothesis I (Painting In A Jar). It is what the label says – a painting in a jar. It is in stasis, a hypothesis, for anyone to take out and reassemble, possibly improve it – or leave it forever in its current state. It is materialised potential. A shorthand version of its former self, emptied of its vectors.

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I had had it in storage for a while, but it shifted towards active memory again a few months ago when I was reading about Determinism and the Many-Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. My understanding was limited, but the degree to which the Many-Worlds interpretation seemed to facilitate a more robust degree of determinism (at least in my visual intuition) gelled with me. If provided with all the vectors of the work (now in a jar), someone could re-create the original (although the process would be more intriguing than the result). Perfect information would be the key to unlocking the current stasis.

www.richardzeiss.com

The Golden Sign to Tsarino

2021

Emergency blankets, tape

The road to the Tsarino Foundation should shine like gold. That is what Victoria Marchenkova, known for her hybrid paintings, installations, and abstract sculptures made of glass, light and metal, demonstrates with this site-specific installation. The cubed golden texture is designed to attract curious travellers and to be a solution for orientation on the road. As every new path taken in art is an exciting turn, we need bright signs on our way to be sure that we are going right.

As an artist, Victoria Marchenkova is deeply involved in the theme of gold. Several of her artworks starting from 2015 more or less directly appeal to this. She defines her interest: “My artistic theme is being on ruins of glamour and a contemporary definition of iconic — I work a lot with shine and illumination.”

Marchenkova’s shining structure corresponds to the natural landscape surrounding the foundation and looks especially well on sunny days. A good sign, for a good start!

https://victoriamarchenkova.com

The personification of non-existence

2021

Lead, mineral wool, aluminium, rope, flexible rope, wax, ferromagnetic steel, valve, plexiglass, nylon cord

What is silence? Is it the sound of not-happening, a stop in air movement? When does it take place? The personification of non-existence is an attempt to widen people's perspective on how to approach others, the different and intangible. Sealed from the outside world, the multilayered box acts as a sanctuary. It does not allow one to either intrude or interfere. The empty vacuum constructed inside the sanctuary creates the possibility for silence to occur and appear. The sanctuary distances the phenomenon of silence from us, the listeners.

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​Eavesdropped silence does not exist. The nature of listening is an act that generates noise when the listener absorbs sound. Hence, silence cannot be where others are. Silence is emptiness, or: non-existence. 

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Asa Palenga is a conceptual artist with a background in philosophy, interested in new aesthetics and new ethics. In his investigations, he often aims at the artist and participant duo. He is intrigued by a wider understanding of who can be an art audience or creator.

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asapalenga.wixsite.com/asapalenga
With support of Instytut Adama Mickiewicza

Days After Sight

2020

Wood, sanded dichroic glass, metal, string

The reddish, float-like construction Days After Sight presented in the glass cube of the Razklon Gallery goes beyond our natural comprehension when it comes to solid surfaces. The dichroic glass of the discs connected to a wooden construction has a special micro-coating, allowing colours and transparency to shift depending on light conditions and point of view. Passing by, Days After Sight may seem a Fata Morgana in how it destabilises what we expect, what we can hold on to and what we see at that moment. 

Navigation and the search for balance continuously shift my art practice. The dichroic glass discs mirror this perfectly, sandblasted with a drawing suggesting a change of view. Depicting an abstracted window, it references the connection of the inside/intimate and the outside/public. Doubled and reversed, the dichroic glass disc windows have become constantly changing rotors shifting the perspective: antithesis becomes thesis, inside becomes outside, personal becomes universal.

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charlottemumm.com

Untitled

2020

Indian ink on rice paper

I wrote a Dutch haiku in January 2020 and translated it into Japanese. A haiku is a short Japanese verse consisting of three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. I calligraphed the Japanese text with ink and brush; it reads from the top right to the bottom left. Because the seasons are traditionally the subject of haiku, the images evoked are often universal. I feel this haiku, written on a Dutch winter's day, fits in particularly well with the winter landscape around Tsarino. Despite bare branches and puddles of rain — in the Netherlands, Bulgaria or Japan — the blue winter sky holds the promise of a new spring.

みずたまりに             mizutamari ni
くろい枝の反射や      kuroi eda no hansya ya 
あおい空                    aoizora

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След проливен дъжд,
клони се отразяват
във ясно небе.

After the rainstorm,
black branches reflect themselves
in a clear blue sky.

Sanctuary

2019 - 2020

Fungi, lichens, acrylic, pastel and charcoal on wood-inhabiting

fungi paper

The installation Sanctuary by Kristina Zimbakova (Macedonia) comprises four symbolic and figurative mixed media paintings on paper from wood-inhabiting fungi handmade by the artist. The works on display Crucified Cliff, Yoked Tree, Sanctuary and Night has Donned Her Mantle of Black were created in 2019 and 2020. Fungi and lichens are the major media, applied for drawing figures or creating a mosaic, besides acrylic, pastel and charcoal. The fungi, some of them rare or endemic, have been obtained during personal forays in the Macedonian mountains, in collaboration with bio-scientists. Zimbakova’s art practice is transdisciplinary, blending visual art with natural science and poetry. Her opus is primarily lyrical but via prudent use of fungi specimens in an art context, she also aspires to raise awareness for the conservation of these fascinating but often overlooked organisms.

kriszimb.weebly.com

Setsuna 刹那

2020

Tracing paper, black marker

In Buddhism, the Sanskrit word ‘ksana’ represents a tiny unit of time eluding our conscious awareness while within it, a lot happens. In each ksana of approximately 0.013 seconds, the ‘born, live, die’ cycle loops in human consciousness.

Setsuna 刹那 (Japanese for ‘ksana’) is an installation transforming individual drawings into a three-dimensional object. The drawings made on translucent paper show straight lines representing a time axis. Crumpled into a ball and folded open again, the paper shows a physical memory of the crumpling. Straight lines are reborn from curves. 

The process of crumpling and straightening the paper is repeated until the showcase is completely filled up, allowing for the visual interweaving of individual drawings. The interlacing of lines represents the complex events in life happening during each setsuna. The clear glass of the showcase symbolises the perceptive human mind containing the accumulation of time, experience, knowledge, history and emotions.

ayumiadachi.wordpress.com

Stop.Drop.Roll

2020

Inkjet photographic prints

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The command 'Stop, Drop, Roll' is a device of fire safety to self-extinguish when the body is in flames. It connotes a necessary and urgent change of course through a series of abrupt actions.

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Influenced by such safety devices, this work seeks to address the human experience when altered by the hands of others, and aims to question the social safety mechanisms we use to ensure our personal welfare. Often learned in childhood, we memorize a set of cultural and shared cues that promise success. Yet, despite the daily, at times devotional, practice of them, they fail us. 

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The first diptych of the vitrine depicts a hand reaching for a flame followed by trails of smoke in the adjoining image, suggesting a sudden transition by an unidentifiable other. The interior view of the vitrine shows a figure on its side with contorted arms and feet barely grounded, signifying a state of uncertainty.

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stephaniepaine.com

Cheapest trophy from the local trophy shop

2012 - 2020

Gilded plastic — purchased object

I bought the trophy in 2012 from a trophy shop in the neighbourhood where I live in Sofia, and asked a friend to make the sign on it. Since then it has stayed in my studio. It is dedicated to all who like to see and put art into national categories and contexts, and all the competitions and competitors in and out of art.

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minaminov.com