ÉRASE gallery exhibition

ÉRASE Kristoffer Ardeña

11/12/08 - 24/01/09 Galería Oliva Arauna ww.olivarauna.com Calle Barquillos 29 28004 Madrid / Spain tel.: +34 91 435 18 08 fax: +34 91 576 87 19 galeria@olivarauna.com

ERASÉ Kristoffer Ardeña Ardeña investiga las complijidades de la memoria a través de una serie de proyectos de formatos multiples que mueve con fluidez entre la intervención pública, el performance, la instalación artística, la fotografía, el objeto, la escultora y el dibujo.

En Sweat Memories, explora la relación entre el cuerpo y la memoria utilizando el sudor de 100 personas.

Lejos de entrar en el acertijo de un discurso poscolonial, se despoja de su educación cultural y religiosa borrando un efigie de marmolina en Once There Was a Virgin and Her Kid dejandonos con una serie de dibujos de marmolina sobre papel de leja negra.

Ardeña escribe sobre cientos de servilletas, coleccionadas desde enero de 2008, la fecha, la hora, el tipo de comida, las personas que le hace compania y a veces las anecdotas relacionadas a cada encuentro.

Dinner Dates nos lleva a Bucharest, Paris, Madrid, Luxemburgo hasta que llegamos a la ciudad costera de Tacloban en Leyte, una isla filipina al borde del oceano pacifico donde la fragilidad de cada servilleta nos cuenta una historia de un momento fugaz en relación con la comida y los eventos que occuren en turno a ellos.

Viajamos a Dumaguete, la ciudad natal de Ardeña donde explora la relación entre lugar y memoria en varios videos. En Sugarland, se puede ver un mapa topográfico de Filipinas hecho de azucar lentamente deconstruido por unas hormigas. Pure Shores nos muestra el triste intento de Ardeña de escribir los 95 nombres de su compañeros del insituto sobre la orilla de la playa solo para quedar borrado por la ola del mar. En Take me Away From Here Boyd, un guitarista compone una canción en homenaje a la infancia de Ardeña. Homecoming celebra la eterna vuelta hacia la patria como un juego de niños. En vez de utilizar fuergos artificiales, como un niño, se fue a recoleccionar vainas de una hierba salvaje que se reventan cuando toma en contacto con el agua. En el video utiliza como escenario, una cascara de coco lleno de arena y pequeñas conchas y agua del mar. Por ultimo, en Unsung Lullaby, una canción infantil filipina se escribe en un incenso anti-mosquito del Lion-Tiger, una marca de toda la vida, literalmente disaparece y se convierte en cenizas.

Dumaguete Ashes, un video performance y una instalación que muestra el artista borrando el ultimo viaje a Filipinas dejando solo la goma que queda guardados en una urna funeraria.

En la exposición se puede ver también un avance de un proyecto que se llama Apariciones. Trata de objetos cotidianos (vidrio roto, hojas, desechos de todo tipo) que toma la forma de un mapa de las islas Filipinas. En la sala, debajo de la mesa se esconde un mapa de Filipinas hecha de chicle.

Una serie de 7 libros de artista –un cuanderno de bocetos, un diario y un cuaderno de notas hechos en su ultimo viaje a Filipinas, otros cuaderno de notas desde 2005 hasta el presente y una agenda anual del 2008- todos borrados, dejandonos con solo rastros de lo que estaba escrito o dibujado sobre su páginas.

Particularmente en esta exposición, explora maneras en presentar obras de arte –para tener aceso a los libros de artista, la gente tiene que pedirselos al personel de la galeria, asi formentando un dialogo y interacción, extendiendo a su vez la calidad intimista de cada libro. Otro aspecto de la muestra es como la series de fotos que acompaña cada proyecto no se enseña, sino se pueden producir en dialogo con la persona interesada en adquirirlas.

Ardeña nos muestra su capacidad de experimentar y moverse de una modalidad a otra y en este exposición, en vez de agotar una sola narrativa, simplemente nos presenta una introducción a algunos de los temas pertinente a su trayectoria artística.

ERASÉ Kristoffer Ardeña Ardeña explores the intricasies of memory through a series of multi-format projects that fluidly move between public intervention, performance, video, installation, photography, object, sculpture and drawing.

In Sweat Memories, he explores the relationship between the body and memory through the sweat of 100 people.

Far from getting into the conundrums of a post-colonial discourse, he sheds away his cultural and religious upbringing by erasing a marble effigy in Once There Was a Virgin and Her Kid leaving us with a series of 100 mable dust drawings on sandpaper.

Ardeña writes on hundreds of table napkins, collected since January 2008, the date, time, kind of food, the company he kept and sometimes the anecdotes related to each encounter. Dinner Dates takes us to Bucharest, Paris, Madrid, Luxembourg till we reach the coastal city of Tacloban in Leyte, a Philippine island that borders the Pacific Ocean where each fragile piece of tissue paper tells a story of a fleeting moment in relation to food and the events that occur in relation to it.

We then travel to Dumaguete, Ardena’s hometown, where he explores the relationship between place and memory in various videos. In Sugarland, you can see ants deconstructing a topographical sugar map of the Philippines. Pure Shores shows Ardeña’s attempt to write in vain the 95 nicknames of his highschool classmates along the sea shore only to be erased by the waves. In Take me Away from Here Boyd, a guitarist, composes a song as a tribute to Ardena’s childhood life. Another video, Homecoming, celebrates the eternal return to one’s homeland as a child’s play. Instead of using firecrackers, like a kid, he collected pods from wild weeds that burst when in contact with water. In the video, the scenario takes place in a coconut shell, that Ardeña picked up from the beach, filled with tiny shells and sea water. Lastly, we have Unsung Lullaby, a Filipino children’s song written on a Lion-Tiger brand anti-mosquito incense that literary turns into ashes.

Dumaguete Ashes, both a videoperformance piece and an installation, shows how the rubber scrappings left after earsing the pencil-written diary and sketchbooks from his latest trip to his homeland turns into ashes and placed for safekeeping in a funerary urrn.

In Aparitions, all kinds of cotidian materials are used to shape the map of the Philippines. In the exhibition space, a chewing gum shaped into the Philippine archipelago is stuck underneath one of the tables.

A series of 7 artist books -a diary, a sketchbook and a notebook made during his last trip to the Philippines,and a few other notebooks from 2005 to the present, and lastly a 2008 agenda- all erased leaving us only traces of what was once written or drawn.

Particularly, in this exhibit, he explores ways in presenting artworks –to have access to the artist books, the people have to interact with the gallery staff in order to see and feel them. Thus, extending the intimacy intrinsic to each book, through a sporadic encounter. Another aspect of the show is how photo series that accompany certain projects are not shown, but are produced in dialogue with the interested party involved.

Ardeña shows us his capacity to experiment from one medium to another and in this exhibit, instead of exasperating a single narrative, merely introduces us to some of the issues pertinent to his artistic trajectory.

Erased Dumaguete Diary 2008 21x13x0.45 cms.

2008

Erased Dumaguete Sketchbook 2008 21x13x0.45 cms.

2008

Dumaguete Ashes video performance 12:43 minutes The video shows the artist erasing the diary and sketchbook he made in Dumaguete.

The rubber peelings are placed in a funerary urn.

Edition of 5 / 2AP / 1EP 2008

Dumaguete Ashes (urn installation) funerary urn, flower, candle pencil-written diary and sketchbook were erased using rubber eraser and the peelings were placed inside the urn installation 2008

Erased Small Red Notebook 2005 21x16x1 cms.

2008

Erased Agenda 2008 23.5x17.3x2.4 cms.

2008

Erased Dumaguete Notebook 2008 21x13x0.45 cms.

2008

Erased Big Red Notebook 2007 30.5x21x1.25 cms.

2008

Erased Rome Notebook 2006 19x16.2x3.5 cms.

2008

Erased Small Notebook 2008 15.5x7x0.45 cms.

2008

Dinner Dates 2008 archive of approximately 400 table napkins contains the date, address, time, doodles, anecdotes and other pertinent information of the artist’s encounter in which the napkin was used installation 2008

Once There was a Virgin and a Kid Marble statue statue of the Virgin Mary erased using 100 sandpaper 32.5x12x10 cms.

2008

Once There was a Virgin and a Kid Series of 100 drawings mable on sandpaper paper 28x23 cms.

2008

Sweat Memories public intervention video documentation 15:15 minutes Edition of 5 / 2AP / 1EP a slide show of images in video format documenting the public intervention where 100 anonymous people in Dumaguete were asked to wipe their sweat using the towels 2008

Homecoming video performance 16:35 minutes dried pods of a wildflower become fireworks that burst inside a coconut shell filled with sea shells and salt water Edition of 5 / 2AP / 1EP 2008

Pure Shores video performance 22:56 minutes Arde単a writes all the nicknames of his high school classmates on the sand only to be erased by the waves Edition of 5 / 2AP / 1EP 2008

Sugarland video performance 2:26 minutes topographical map of the Philippines made out of sugar is slowly deconstructed.

Ants carry the sugar grain on their back and disappear into their ant hill Edition of 5 / 2AP / 1EP 2008

Take Me Away from Here video performance 4:59 minutes Boyd, composes a tribute song that talks of Ardeña’s childhood in Dumaguete called “Sweet Memories Take Me Away from Here” In the video we see him performing the song in his bedroom.

Edition of 5 / 2AP / 1EP 2008

Unsung Lullaby video performance 22:15 minutes A Filipino children’s song called “Bahay Kubo”, (a song that talks of an ideal Filipino nipa hut home surrounded by fruit trees and vegetables) is written on an anti-mosquito incense that is typically used in Filipino households.

The video shows how the lullaby slow converts into ashes.

Edition of 5 / 2AP / 1EP 2008

Apparitions chewing gum topographical map of the Philippine archipelago made of masticated chewing gum public intervention 2008