BON VOYAGE
curated by Iliyana Nedkova
On view until 13 May 2008
Horsecross, Mill Street
Perth, PH1 5HZ, UK
This spring, Horsecross presents Bon Voyage, a major new exhibition which premieres five new commissions by Rob Kennedy, Silvana Macêdo, Christina McPhee, Lala Rascic and Mare Tralla, showing alongside twenty works from the Threshold artspace collection. Featured are twenty-five artists from ten countries who make journeys and echo the landscape tradition in art. They explore far-flung places and cultures – from Pitlochry to Patagonia – through film and video, performance, field recording, Internet transmission, photography and print. Their works offer an opportunity to go beyond the polarising debate over development and preservation of our landscaped environment – an offer to embrace change with stability, beauty with experience, thrill with empathy. Artists from the Threshold artspace collection featured include Alisa Andrasek, Fernando Arias, Susan Collins, Dalziel + Scullion, Su Grierson, Prema Murthy, Thomson & Craighead.
About the new commissions
Happy the Believers (The toing and froing of a solipsist) Rob Kennedy (b.1968 London)
A foray into the appropriated world of Grand Theft Auto where the gaming hero melds with the romantic Ruckenfigur on a seemingly endless quest. The hero saunters aimlessly through the hinterland of drab suburbs and wastelands, ignoring the provocations, and rules of this vicarious world.
Commissioned as part of Players – an ongoing strand in the Threshold artspace collection exploring the relationship of contemporary art and gaming culture. This work is a specially recreated version of the artist’s earlier installation Something is wrong here, something should be done about it.
Franca! Silvana Macêdo (b. 1966 Florianopolis)
An affectionate artist’s video compiled from live Internet transmissions of whale spotting off the Southern coast of Brazil – winter home to the endangered right whale species.
Commissioned as part of an ongoing strand in the Threshold artspace collection exploring the relationship of live Internet transmissions and contemporary art. Developed during the artist’s residency at Brazil’s National Centre for Right Whale Conservation.
La Conchita N=Amour Christina McPhee (b. 1954 Los Angeles)
A disarming documentary about the trauma-struck beach town of La Conchita, California. Slow camera pans and abstract animation open space for remembering and forgetting, linking these to the cyclical landslides of the urban shorelines on the Pacific Rim.
This new commission is the artist’s first public gallery exhibition in Scotland. The work is a special 22-channel video version of the artist’s earlier 8-channel installation under the same title premiered at Sara Tecchia Roma New York.
Untitled (Travel in a Box) Lala Rascic (b. 1977 Sarajevo)
The artist’s re-enactment of a story about a black slave boy who shipped himself to freedom in a box from Virginia to Philadelphia in 1849. A sombre yet gripping tale of escapism and despair held together by the utopian idea of arriving at a better place.
This major new commission is the artist’s first public gallery exhibition in Scotland. Developed while Horsecross artist-in-residence during the Edinburgh Art Festival 2007, and inspired by the children’s book Henry’s Freedom Box by E. Levine, illustrated by K. Nelson.
Wee Views Mare Tralla (b. 1967 Tallinn)
Acutely humorous account of the role public toilets play in art institutions. Engaging personal narrative drives a database of photographs taken from the privacy of toilet cubicles in galleries and museums around
the world.
Commissioned as part of an ongoing strand of works exhibited at the Threshold Flush area of eight flat screens tucked away in the Threshold artspace public toilets. Features a selection from a growing database of topical photographs from 1997 to the present day by Mare Tralla.
About Bon Voyage
Produced by Horsecross for Threshold artspace in partnership with 55degrees, ARC Projects, Edinburgh Art Festival, The University of Dundee, Dundee Contemporary Arts, and International Wildlife Coalition.
New commissions and residencies supported by Scottish Arts Council, Croatian Ministry of Culture and Estonian Cultural Endowment.
Accompanied by a special release of issues 4, 5 and 6 of Read More journal of critical writing ISSN 1755-0866 (Online) to be published by Horsecross in 2008. Specially designed, each issue features a newly commissioned essay about a selected work from the collection. New essays by Stuart Gurden, Lindsey Morse, November Paynter and Timothy Weeks.
About Threshold artspace and Horsecross
“Perth’s Threshold artspace shows no signs of watering down its bold remit in programming stunning and inspiring artwork” (Scotland on Sunday). Launched in September 2005 in Perth, UK Threshold artspace is home to Scotland’s only permanent collection of digital art with sixty works acquired in two years. The artspace features a number of project spaces available for artists’ interventions and guest-curatorial projects including a ‘canvas’ of 22 flat screens dominating the artspace for multi-channel video art installations. Bon Voyage is the latest in a series of acclaimed exhibitions including Body Language, Time, Fresh NY, Sparkle and Nord. Threshold artspace is open daily Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm. Performance evenings closes 11pm. Admission to all Threshold artspace exhibitions is free and open to the public.
Horsecross is a new agency delivering cultural activities in Threshold artspace, Perth Concert Hall, Perth Theatre and to all communities across the Perth and Kinross area of central Scotland. The Horsecross name comes from the local area. Threshold artspace and Perth Concert Hall sit on the site of the original Horsecross – Perth’s 17th century horse market. The name is synonymous with bustling regeneration activity in the heart of the city. Horsecross aims to put this part of central Scotland firmly on the cultural map both nationally and internationally.
For further details please contact Iliyana Nedkova, Horsecross Creative Director (New Media Art) tel: +44 (0)1738 477743 e-mail: inedkova@horsecross.co.uk
