MICRO GALLERIES ZINE - MAY 2020
HAND BY HAND
is a project by MICRO GALLERIES
MGZ: HAND BY HAND
ISSUE #4
April - May 2020
HAND BY HAND cover by TAQUEN (SPAIN)
Editor OLGA TREVISAN (ITALY)
Associate Editors HELENA ASHA KNOX (NEPAL) JANNEKE HOOGSTRAATEN (THE NETHERLANDS) JANNA SAMMON (USA) RHIANNON HOPLEY (AUSTRALIA)
The scattered rumbles at the beginning of the year 2020 quickly escalated worldwide into a resounding avalanche. Everyday we witness life events that a year ago we wouldn’t have believed. We have new questions, for new issues, and we need new ways to address them. COVID-19, has disrupted our interactions and forced us to decide which role we want to play in the reconstruction of a post-COVID world. Though torn apart from each other, and life as we recognised it, we are strangely connected as a global community. This community must ask itself: how are our actions affecting each other and what is our responsibility to this community? While we carve away the boulders blocking our path back to a short-term reality, we urge all to not let this catastrophe catapult us back into life as it was. A “normal” that exploited, excluded and strained the environment. This event is the strongest reminder imaginable that we are all linked as a community, and reliant on a healthy environment. It is an opportunity to forge and create a new and better idea of what our communities could be.
KAT ROMA GREER (HONG KONG)
MGZ called to the Micro Galleries International Artist Collective to interpret this moment, and send out their message or explorations. Get yourself inside the slow pace of a diary or the vibrant colours of an illustration, read through what it means to reinvent yourself and your career or find peace with your existing reality.
mgz@microgalleries.org
Get in contact with us for further information about the artists and their work, or follow and support them directly.
Artistic Director, Micro Galleries
WWW.MICROGALLERIES.ORG FACEBOOK @ MICROGALLERIES INSTAGRAM @ MICROGALLERIES TWITTER @ MICROGALLERIES VIMEO@ MICROGALLERIES YOUTUBE@ MICROGALLERIES
OLGA TREVISAN Editor
MEET MGZ has a spontaneous soul. It was founded to share snippets of art and thoughts of Micro Galleries International Artist Collective. It quickly became a way to feature actions and share conversations between creatives all over the world.
Besides meeting deadlines, discussing how to promote kick-ass creatives and getting the zine together, we also connect on a personal level! Janna’s dancing chickens, Helena’s non-binary chicken: Pepe, Olga’s post-quarantine sheep encounters, Rhiannon’s strategically lined-up cats, and Janneke’s pot plant attack - our team has become like a second, albeit distant, family.
For us, working on MGZ is a way to step out of our comfort zone and share experiences. It’s also an ongoing exploration: developing new skills, finding ways of collaborating across 4 different times zones, and the ongoing endeavour of how to get all these stories of people driving change, action and understanding into each and every issue!
THE TEAM It’s an amazing team to be a part of!
OLGA TREVISAN (ITALY)
MGZ 4
THE
HELENA ASHA KNOX (NEPAL)
HERE WE ARE, BEYOND THE SCREEN.
JANNEKE HOOGSTRAATEN (THE NETHERLANDS)
RHIANNON HOPLEY (AUSTRALIA)
JANNA SAMMON (USA)
TEAM
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DIARY: Taquen
CALL TO ACTION: Closer.doc
Claudia María Calderón Dianderas
Valeriana
SAY IT LOUD: Alan Olejniczak
MICRO SUPPORT: Puan Bantu Puan Project
DIARY: Mim Scalin
DIARY: Rhiannon Hopley
CONVERSATION: Dakarai Akil
CALL TO ACTION: #meagainstcorona
CONVERSATION: Elissa Eriksson
Stephanie Rond
Muratha Wilson
Brian Luque Marcos
Robin Ambramovic
DIARY: Janna Sammon
SAY IT LOUD: Ben Taranto Noah Scalin
INDEX
FEED THE ARTISTS
MGZ - DIARY
MGZ - DIARY
DÍA 23 DÍA 22 Ya no mola tanto echar cuentas tachar días hacer pan o leer al sol. El diario germinar semillas los libros o los cambios. Pero volverán otros días y serán mejores más libres más sanos.
Ayer ya me permití el lujo de ser pesimista. DÍA 29
Hoy me despierto en medio de una huelga cultural que me pilla por sorpresa, para la que no he encontrado respuesta. Me sobran razones para formar parte, pero tengo muchas más para seguir.
Contener. Contener el amor, la alegría, el odio. Contener el grito, las ganas. Contener la rabia, el miedo. Contener el abrazo.
Nos toca quedarnos en casa para dar solución a un problema global, después vendrán otros fuegos. Experimentar la individualidad alejada del egoísmo, para que pronto nos vuelva a importar si mañana sale el sol o sigue la lluvia y poder limpiarme las suelas en otra alfombra.
Como se contienen las flores antes de estallar. Contenerse, al menos, hasto mayo.
Esto no pretendía ser una opinión, simplemente era un diario que a veces se cuela de lleno en el presente y otras lo pasa por encima. (SPAIN)
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www.taquen.es
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MGZ - CALL TO ACTION
CALL TO ACTION
CLOSER.DOC ONLINE STORIES FOR CONNECTION
Raghad Rasras (JORDAN) Janneke Hoogstraaten (THE NETHERLANDS) Taquen (SPAIN)
closer.doc is the brainchild of Janneke (The Netherlands), Raghad (Jordan) and myself (Spain) and we got together as we all have that deep passion for bringing people across the globe a little closer. We believe that regardless our language, place of birth or culture, we’re more than ever connected with each other through the same feelings, sensations, doubts, dreams and desires of a world beyond today. We all have little clue about what the coming weeks and months will look like, and we desperately felt the urge to connect with strangers, express and share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with them anonymously! Janneke has put our ideas to words, Raghad poured her heart out (and wrote the first post) from her home in Amman and I take care of the visuals! As everyone is spending a lot of their phones these days, Instagram was an easy choice for us! closer.doc is for everyone, by everyone who likes to share their happy, sad, lonely, embarrassing, heartfelt thoughts, happenings and doings during isolation or in a post-COVID-19 world. We will share all their messages of not more than 200 words, so that whoever wants, can answer, scroll or share freely! And in case you wonder about that pigeon avatar, well, pigeons were great messengers long before technology was there! Sit back, dig deep and let your words flow. closer.doc
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LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
(COLOMBIA/INDONESIA)
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___valeriana
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MGZ 14
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N DIAND ERAS (PERÙ/IT ALY)
CLAUDIA
MARÍA C
ALDERÓ
The fear in these times comes from different things, to be sick, to lose someone, to be able to support ourselves and our families. We have thought a lot about catastrophes, we have represented it in many ways, however, we couldn’t imagine that we would go through the apocalypse of emotions. All these feelings appear in different ways, in my case the anxiety is felt directly in my body, on my skin. My work is the representation of how my body feels in the context of a virus, in the context of a fear that can only result in protecting us and valuing us more, because I hope that everything we feel today will serve us in the future.
Don’t touch your face! MGZ 16 hands Wash your
zhixto
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MGZ - SAY IT LOUD
MGZ - SAY IT LOUD
This was the year I had planned for – waited for. This was the year that would change the course of my career as a writer. Of course, it’s changed in ways I had not expected. For me, little has changed. Writing is lonely work and my life was already in quarantine long before this pandemic. Still, I keep wondering with dread when the fallout will eventually happen for me. I live between San Francisco and a small town near Mendocino Country on the Pacific coast of California. Three weeks ago, Mendocino had three confirmed cases of COVID-19 with zero deaths. Today, it reported four cases, and thankfully, still no deaths. My husband and I have been sheltering in place for over a month now and we’re determined to continue on working. We have fallen into a new normal, but some days are more focused than others. We’re trying to remain positive but uneased by the comfort of our lives, as we read about the horror that’s unfolding worldwide. Seems out of lost opportunities, new ones have already arisen, and I’m collaborating with three new artists on other projects. I look ahead with trepidation to the new normal with the hope we emerge in a better and kinder world. ALAN OLEJNICZAK (USA)
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MGZ - MICRO SUPPORT
MGZ - MICRO SUPPORT
PUAN BANTU PUAN PROJECT WOMEN HELP WOMEN (INDONESIA)
Puan Bantu Puan means women help women in Bahasa Indonesia. It is a project I initiated in March 26th, 2020 for my transgender friends at Sanggar Seroja (Lotus Studio). I encountered Sanggar Seroja just last January through Rikky, their production director, that happened to be one of my friends at Queer Language Club Jakarta during one of their gatherings. That day Rikky shared his worries on how some studio members have started facing challenges in making a living and paying rent due to the quarantine during this COVID-19 situation in Jakarta. Since most Sanggar Seroja members are making a living as street singers, sex workers or in beauty salons daily.
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And in Indonesia, because of their gender identity and expression, transgender people have extremely limited choices to work in order to support their daily lives. This includes their access to governmental support, some of them have not even a resident identity card for example. Not to mention that most of the jobs available are daily wage work instead of monthly or long periods of commitment. So it becomes even more difficult for them to make a living during this quarantine. Facing their situation I decided to start this project with the hope to support them financially.
For the Puan Bantu Puan project, I offer a commissioned piece to the public representing their portrait photo in postcard size. I charge each piece with a super affordable commissioned fee including the delivery after it is finished. 75% percent of the fee will be donated to my transgender friends at Sanggar Seroja. I opened the first batch order (five pieces) on my Twitter account on 26th of March then the second batch on Instagram on April 7th. Interestingly, not all of the people who contacted me for this project are interested in the collage portrait offer but they just want to donate. I have been really enjoying the challenge personally since each of the portraits comes with its own characteristic and I have been really trying to make each one of them special while exploring the variety of collage materials such as paper, wall paper and felt.
vantiani
So far I have finished six pieces and four are on the progress. Meanwhile, I keep talking to Rikky and share the updates on the condition and situation of the Sanggar Seroja members to the people who donate for this project. It was really wonderful and powerful at the same time to feel this solidarity from people and strangers I met online through their support for my friends, fellow artists and performers during this Covid-19 situation. I do this because transgender women are women and women’s rights are human rights. Ika Vantiani
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MGZ - CONVERSATION
Hi Elissa, Can you say a few words about your current job? I’m teaching art in a high school in Helsinki. During the COVID-19 pandemic I’ve been teaching two different classes for 16-18 years old students: One is focusing on media and visual communication and the other on community art and co-operation based art making. Both of the classes are optional in the curriculum: students choose them usually based on either their own interest in art making or because they need to reach certain amount of courses during their study year and they assume art classes to be more chill than other classes.
What is the response of the students to this new approach? Many students were saying that they felt overwhelmed by the amount of assignments different teachers were sending. Some even decided to unroll from the optional classes in order to better focus on the compulsory ones. Students with better skills on self-organizing seem to cope better but some struggle big time finding the self-discipline to get assignments done, even though the teachers try to keep up the working structure by organizing the video meetings according to the normal school timetables
How much has the distance learning affected your lessons and your relationship with the class? The school shifted to remote teaching on the 18th of The school shifted to remote teaching on the 18th of March. At the time I was teaching media and visual communication classes with the rhythm of three meetings each of 90 minutes per week. Luckily we were using mostly digital techniques and I didn’t need to think about making little tool packages for students to be able to work from home. Instead they were able to continue to work with their own computers and phones with free apps and open source programs (I know many of my colleagues had to organize art class material give outs and that might have been the case also for me if it had been some other course of the wide selection). In the beginning the biggest challenge for me was to learn the right balance between the amount of live video meetings and written instructions given only as messages. I started with the latter but that made me feel like I was totally losing the connection to the students. Then I started to have one-onone meetings to hear how their working process was going, and towards the end of the course we also had video meetings with the whole group. After Easter I started with the new group for a class focusing on community art. It felt really weird not being able to meet the group first in person (as with the previous group). Well, at least it’s easier to learn names since everybody has their names written on their video bubble in a video meeting.
What do you find is the biggest challenge? I used to walk around in the classroom while students were working on an assignment and it used to be an easy way to see how everybody is doing with their working process. I was able to give students feedback or little suggestions without making a big deal out of it. Now it’s much harder to follow the process; you either set up one-on-one-meetings to check individually with everyone or you ask them to hand in something that shows where they’re at. Either way it becomes more of a big deal.
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What surprised you the most? Teaching remotely seems to strengthen the personal communication with students. The hierarchical roles that build up inside the school buildings seem less effective and I feel that it’s easier to encounter with the student more on a “person-to-person” level. Some colleagues of mine have also told that they feel some students find it easier to ask questions and approach the teacher now that there’s no social pressure with the (sometimes quite loaded) classroom setting.
www.elissaeriksson.fi
Do you see a positive creative response to this crisis from the students in your classes? So far it seems that the corona situation and shifting to the remote school mode has been rather stressful for the students in my classes. In a longer run I believe it can also bring some positive elements to their creative process but right now it’s hard to name any.
CONVERSATION WITH
ELISSA ERIKSSON (FINLAND)
MGZ - DIARY
MGZ - DIARY
POEM DAY 2 Clearing the calendar Delete Delete Delete Each tap removing A dinner with friends A play A social group A class A film festival An appointment A potential memory Filling the blank spaces With distancing With anxiety With quiet And surprisingly With each tap Compassion For the pedicurist The hair stylist The teacher The local cafe The homeless And surprisingly Gratitude For my life.
(USA)
Mayela is originally from Nicaragua. She’s an architect. We now live in the same city in Virginia. We met when she began dating a friend of ours. We are also part of a social group of hispanohablantes. She volunteered to translate my poems since she’s been isolated at home and wanted something to keep Her mind occupied.
Uwe Is living in the north of Germany. We met many years ago in Paris while we were there on an artists’ residency. His wife is an artist and he is a retired School Principal. We’ve been corresponding via the postal service and email and I asked if he’d be interested in translating a couple poems. Since they’re home in isolation, he said yes.
15.03.2020
It makes me very happy to have friends interested in translating my poems. It’s not an easy thing to do and I think they’ve both done a wonderful job. For me, writing poetry has come about because of Covid19 isolation. I haven’t been interested in doing any collages during this time, and the poetry just started coming out. it’s been a surprise.
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mimgolub
Kahlsschlag Im Kalender Streichen Streichen Streichen
GEDICHT TAG 2
MIM SCALIN
Jede Notiz streichen Ein Essen mit Freunden Ein Spiel Die Gleichgesinnten Den Unterricht Ein Film-Festival Eine Verabredung Eine wichtige Erinnerung ...die leeren Räume füllen Mit Trennung Sorge Schweigen Mit jeder Zeile beginnt ein Mitgefühl für den Pfleger den Friseur den Lehrer das Stammcafé den Obdachlosen Und unverhofft lebt auf Dankbarkeit für mein Leben. MGZ 25
POEM DAY 3
POEM DAY 13
Hand washing
A Very Exciting Day
I had my hands soaped I was singing my 20 second song A memory jumped into my head Me, driving down the interstate Listening to a cassette tape
I’m an extrovert But I must be a bi-vert I’ve taken to isolation easily My inner introvert exposed
Thich Nhat Hahn’s soothing voice How do I remember it? Something about every red traffic light is a moment to be present Every time you wash your hands Be present Or something like that
My virtual social life Exhausted by it Spanish class Book club Feeling out of practice Feeling something Odd
And in that memory I took a moment With my soapy hands Washing carefully 20 seconds
When the plague ends, And it will When I go out into the world again, And I will I might need to look for My inner extrovert
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Lavarse las manos
Un Día Muy Emocionante
Tenía las manos enjabonados Mientras cantaba mi canción de 20 segundos Y de momentos me acorde del día que manejaba por la Interestatal Escuchando de un cassette con La voz suave de Thich Nhat Hahn ¿Como lo recuerdo? El decía que estar frente a cada semáforo rojo Era un momento para estar en el presente Siempre que tu laves las manos Estés en el presente O algo así
Soy extrovertida Pero también bi-valente He llegado finalmente al aislamiento Y he expuesto mi ser introvertido
Con ese recuerdo me tome un momento Con las manos enjabonadas Lavándomelas cuidadosamente por 20 segundos Vivi el momento
26.03.2020
POEMA DÍA 13
16.03.2020
POEMA DÍA 3
Being present
Mi vida social virtual Me ha agotado Clases de español Club de lectura Sintiéndome fuera de la rutina Sintiéndome algo Rara Cuándo termine esta plaga Y así será Cuándo me re-integre al mundo Y lo haré Talvez tendré que re-encontrar Mi interior extrovertido
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(USA)
“Heroes are Among Us”
MGZ 28
My oldest brother is a Nurse Practitioner in the Army. He and his unit set up emergency hospitals for both the army and civilians. When I was told where he would be deployed to next, I cried for a full day learning of the location. Not only fearful for him, but his daughter (my niece), our mother and our family - how will we carry the weight in our hearts? After time for clarity, I realized my brother has been choosing jobs and careers his whole life that are about helping other people. This is what he is called to do, and I must support that and be proud of him. In honor of him - and also in doing what I am called to do - I made a huge message for our front yard using my mom and nieces hands. But this message isn’t just for him; it’s for all the first responders, scientists, delivery service staff, grocery and drug store employees, the plumbers, post office people, educators, non-profits, small businesses and all of their loved ones. I’ve left room on the hearts for anyone who wants me to add initials to it. Communicate however you would like with me, as long as it is from your home. And if you know a Rond... then you know we love a good comical ending - so I leave you with this... The most texted message from my brother Chris this month: “I love you. Now go wash your hands!”
www.stephanierond.com
STEPHANIE ROND
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WILSON MURATHA (KENYA)
“You’re blessed if you wake up with another chance to make it right, another chance to force the world to be a little light.”
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__muratha__
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MGZ - DIARY
RHIANNON HOPLEY (AUSTRALIA)
www.rhiannonhopley.com
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BRIAN LUQUE MARCOS (SPAIN)
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brianxit0
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CONVERSATION WITH
DAKARAI AKIL (USA)
Hi Dakarai, You had a lot of activities and events planned before the whole COVID-19 hit and they all had to be cancelled. Yep, pretty much everything I had lined up this year is cancelled. I had stuff lined up from early March all the way until June and then I was gonna, you know, probably pick up some more stuff from there.
if people will still be interested in doing this, like just at home instead of coming out in-person all the time. I feel like once this is over, I’ll get back to doing in person collage workshops, but I’m wondering if people will be interested in doing them at home as well. And then maybe even I could do my videos, upload them or something like that.
What kind of things did you have planned? Art book fairs, commissioned mural projects for events that were happening and then some other like, corporate gigs, that I was going to be doing for other events, but everything got cancelled. That would have helped me out financially because my full time job, though it’s art related, it only pays for my rent. The other stuff was going to pay for living.
I know that like your work to be completely for the interpretation of the viewer, but you definitely have a strong political and socio-economic narrative to your work. I was wondering, have you been doing anything in response to COVID-19 and the politicizing of the USA government’s response (or lack of response), and have you felt anything come out through your work? No, no, I haven’t actually. Even if there are strong political things and stuff like that, it’s not like 100% intentional, you know, I mean, like, I think, kind of, for me. When I’m creating, I don’t have a theme in mind, I kind of let the image create itself. I piece things together based on shape, color, form and theme. Then if there are certain things that kind of relate to each other, I’ll just put them in a collage together and they’ll tell their own story and like it’s alluding to something but I’m not putting intention behind. It really is up to the viewer to figure out what that is for themselves. I just I don’t like to tell people meaning behind something because I don’t want to invalidate their perception of any of my pieces because it’s like whatever they feel from it is what I want you know like you might be able to see something in my work that I didn’t even see and then you tell me something about it. I don’t like to get in the way of that. Right now I haven’t made anything in response to this mostly because as far as materials, I’ve got all of my materials and most of my stuff at my studio which is closed right now so I had to request to be let back into the building recently to get my stuff. I’ve only been able to, up until last week, since then have been working almost every day on pieces.
So how have you been translating some of your work for online platforms? I’ve had to recuperate and figure out what it is that I can do during this time. For example a class where you can kind of tell people how I create magazines and having a collage workshop has been pretty smooth as far as doing it over Zoom, that really hasn’t been a problem at all. It’s actually a little bit more comfortable and less pressure because essentially, I’m by myself, but I’m talking to people over the computer. What about your books? I had those all prepared for the Zine Fest and Art Book fairs I was going to be doing but since everything got cancelled I’m just sitting on it right now, because I was expecting to sell all of those in a couple of events. But now I’m just kind of relying on online sales and they’re pretty much non-existent for that. People aren’t buying art books right now.
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Do you feel you taken a situation that’s completely out of your control and flexed into using it and continuing to create? Is a positive thing in some ways - for example, is it provoking you to rethink the direction in which you want your activities and your practice to go? I would say it’s been pretty positive especially just because during this time people understand that artists and small businesses have been badly hurt. So people are more willing to support financially. For example the collage workshop I did recently, I got more donations than I ever did. I didn’t charge an entry fee to the collage workshop, but I made so much in donations. People really appreciated me taking time out to do that, so that’s been cool. I would say the only negative thing and, it’s only just because I’m just trying to find something to say, but the only negative thing is that I am really new to Zoom. So I don’t know all the things that I can use to help me with these workshops. So it’s kind of been hard trying to learn Zoom while actually using it. I think it’s something that I can continue to do even after. I wonder
So that was another issue that you had to deal with immediately. I didn’t have access to more than half of my materials until like, last week. I was working with what I had at home which wasn’t much because I don’t like to work at home. It’s too big of a distraction to create at home. So everybody wants me to have a studio where I go when I’m done and not have a couch or a bed to be lazy and relax. Have you then seen a difference in the community, the art community, then the way that you guys started to engage with each other because of this isolation? I think really because we all understand how vital our craft is to us, how important it is and just how hard it is to keep up with that right now. But, it’s hard to connect when everyone’s stuck at home. I will say that I’ve been seeing a lot of adapting to the current circumstances. People just find new ways to create and connect with each other. Like how me and my friend have definitely been doing that.
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MGZ - CONVERSATION
Do you have any hopes for yourself with this new future or of a new future that you’re envisioning? I do. I mean, I believe in the ability to adapt. It’s going to be hard. It’s hard right now. But I do feel like things will definitely come out for the better once this is over, hopefully it’s over soon. I think people will be so anxious to get out and about and do things that business will be booming for most people hopefully, I really hope so. And I think with all this downtime that we have, a lot of people like myself are getting prepared for when that time comes.
to dying from this. It is very intense, I’m not going to lie. I don’t feel like I’m properly trained for this. They put me through training, but it really feels like it is mostly for them to cover their own ass if anything happens. You’re really experiencing the affects of COVID-19 for some, first hand. Is your artwork a relief and outlet for you? My craft brings me a whole other level of peace that I haven’t experienced before.
In what way? I’ve been looking new ways of marketing, or looking at new ways to create. There’s been more opportunities popping up for artists, like funds and stuff like that for taking care of us. At least it’s looking that way for me. And I mean, I really would like to go back to school. It’s idea that just popped in my head. I’m just so bored with what’s been going on. I need to get into something and I think into school for art. I went to art school before, I went right after high school and I really didn’t appreciate it as much as I would appreciate it right now as a 30 year old. Well, it sounds like your mindset is in a pretty good place for all that’s going on. Is that just who you are as a person or do you feel like the community has helped with that? I’m definitely not always like that but I am in a stage of my life right now where I’m recognizing that it is normal for me to not look on the bright side or not see the positivity in anything. It’s ironic it’s happening at this time. I have been getting a lot of support from the community and I’m feeling more connected and supported. It’s looking like things are starting to pay off and I feel like it’ll get better once this is over. Do the connections feel more genuine right now? Yeah, I would say so. I think none of us saw anything like this coming and now the things that we love and said that we would do, we have all the time in the world to do it now, so people are jumping on it. I’ve been very focused on my craft and very focused on getting myself situated more as an artist and as a citizen. What else have you been doing during this period? I originally was the arts program assistant for a housing organization in Skid Row. We provide a free art studio for the homeless down here in Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, but since all this started the art department has been closed. Since the art department has been closed they have us working directly in the shelters. So I’m not even really doing anything like my job title. I’ve been taking people’s temperature at the door. From today thought it looks like I’m going to be bringing people food to their rooms, because now they are not in the shelters anymore. California has been putting people that were originally in shelters into hotels. It’s to help with social distancing for people that have pre-existing conditions and who would be more susceptible MGZ 38
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FuckYallMagazine : Issue 002 FYM is a zine project created as a platform for artists to create without the pressure of having to please anyone but themselves. Taking the approach of what would you create if no one would ever see it but you? That’s the nicest way to say “fuck y’all, this is for us.” - Ack Wyler
Currency Exchange Collaboration Zine We Live In Purgatory | Change My Mind - Art Book Released in February’ 2019, this book features collages made between 2016 - early 2019 and collages made of conversations between myself and friends & respected creatives over modern modes of communication such as FB comments, text messages, emails, etc. about my theory that we live in a world similar to purgatory. I interpret it as “A place where heaven and hell exists in the same reality simultaneously”. All collages made by hand.
Currency Exchange is a collaborative project between myself and Bay Area artist Coco Spenser. This project features hand made collages using different forms of currency that were shared with each other through the mail and two studio visits.
www.dakaraiart.com
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ROBIN ABRAMOVIC (AUSTRIA)
“Feldhase 2.0” (2020) by Robin Abramovic X Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer´s “Feldhase” from 1502, is one of the most iconic German Renaissance artworks. The original is displayed only two times per year at the Albertina Museum in Vienna. The mixture of the current Zeitgeist and such an important work is inevitable. Especially at a time like Easter, when families should come together, but are prevented from doing so by masks and movement restrictions. The artist’s criticism is expressed in an ironic manner with the use of Dürer´s “Feldhase” as the Easter Bunny, but aims directly at the vulnerability of a modernized society and the consequences of globalism. “Feldhase 2.0” 3771x4123, pixels on display (2020) Limited Edition, 1 of 1
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www.robinabramovic.com
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MGZ - DIARY
JANNA SAMMON (USA)
CHICKEN JAMS: Music has been a constant in my life. It’s not unusual for me to attribute the lyrics of a song to something I would see or do. One morning I decided to film my chickens and put music to their actions. It made me laugh so much that I haven’t seen any reason to stop.
Day 8:
Day 12:
Dressed up a bit to go to the feed store.
Hair up. Apron on. It’s baking day!
FREE MOTION CHARACTERS: During those first weeks of isolation it was hard to get a grasp on what our daily lives were going to look like in this new reality. Free motion sewing was something I had been wanting to learn and incorporate into my creative work. The evening after sewing my first character I joined the 100 day project and now, meeting a new character each morning has become part of my new norm.
www.jannasammon.com
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Day 20:
Day 22:
I’ve never been comfortable in front of the camera. I wonder if it’s easier to do while wearing a fun costume and taking on a new persona.
They created a delicate balance that always managed to include matching outfits. MGZ 45
MGZ - CALL TO ACTION
MGZ - CALL TO ACTION
http://www.ryanwijaya.com MGZ 46
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MGZ - SAY IT LOUD
MGZ - SAY IT LOUD
Hello Olga, Ok I’m sitting down to this - Mondays are a good day for this kind of thing. My thoughts on this - now that I’ve gotten over the anxiety of how to pay rent, bills and eat for the next few months - are that this situation is not so different from my usual yearly check in as an artist, at the beginning of each year. What will I do this year? What will I do more of? less of? Where will I focus my energy and money (once earned)? Where will my work come from and when? Where do I start looking and positively projecting that work? .....loads more.... This time round in 2020 we are just presented with a tougher challenge as humans and artists which of course varies from human to human living in the various parts of the world we all do. Some people have had their worlds turned upside down turning their usual struggles into...now with added struggles! Some pause, some face multiple challenges, some shift their lives and businesses to adapt and try new things, for some it might not be that different to how they continue to struggle or thrive. And everything else in between with assisting family, friends and neighbours through this. I know activism has slowed somewhat allowing big business and the uber-rich to continue and accelerate their evil work.
Self-portrait “Diver in Distress” BEN TARANTO (AUSTRALIA)
Adaptation and adjustment has been big for all of us right?! Early on once I saw that lockdown / self isolation was going to be a way to beat this thing - I shifted into regular exercise mode (yoga and long walks) and then jumped on re-learning to edit. For a long time (6- 7+ years it has been - lost knowledge and a lost skill to my art practice as I used to incorporate moving images into my installations or show them independently in galleries and public spaces). The last time I was doing this was 2013 when I did a residency in Majorca, Spain and collected a whole lot of underwater moving images which coincided with me first stumbling across Kat and MGs. I submitted Blue Hole, 2013 (named after a favourite dive site of mine in Egypt) to the Denpasar exhibition (then again in 2015 in Graz). In 2013 had shown a number of moving images across Melbourne, gained some energised momentum and continued that by submitting for Denpasar, Bali. Residencies are an amazing way to generate a series of work ready for rapid and sequential exhibition (momentum!). The footage I am using to edit with now - old stock UW videos from as far back as 2002! - is not so much art but a blissful memory journey and a bit of escapism during this time. Reconnecting with the moving image as a medium to use within my work will be valuable in 2020/2021 when we are back on track (and I have re-established the workshop I lost at the beginning of 2019. Disruption upon disruption, but we push on! I joined XR in 2019 so that very quickly filled the art practice time vacancy slot). Ben MGZ 48
www.bentaranto.com
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NOAH SCALIN (USA)
www.noahscalin.com
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FEED THE ARTISTS Have you loved a piece of work from one of our artists throughout the zine? Follow, support and reach out to purchase their work, help FEED OUR ARTISTS. Contact us or find them on social media. We’ve featured a few artists on the following pages, discover artworks, prints, creations, products and services from these MG Artists. mgz@microgalleries.org
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AVAILABLE ARTWORK BY CUTNOTSLICES MGZ 54
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“Overload Overthingking” Overload Overthingking “Overload “Overload Overthingking” Overthingking”
“Overload “Overload Overthingking” Overthingking”
100 cm xx 100 cm 100 cm 100 cm 100 cm x 100 cm Aerosol on canvas Aerosol on canvas Aerosol on canvas Aerosol on canvas 2019 2019 2019 2019
100 100 cm cm xx 100 100 cm cm Aerosol on canvas Aerosol on canvas 2019 2019
100 cm x 100 cm
“Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste 1/4(series) (series) “Taste of of Feelings” Feelings” 1/4 1/4 (series) (series) “Taste Taste of of Feelings” Feelings, 1/4 150 cm xx 95 cm 150 cmxx95 95 cm 150 150 cm 95 cm 150 cm cm x 95 cm cm 150 cm x 95 cm Digital print on canvas Digital print on Digital print on canvas Digital print oncanvas canvas Digital print on canvas Digital print on canvas 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019
“Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste Feelings” 1/4 (series) Taste of , 1/4 “Taste of Feelings Feelings” 1/4(series) (series) “Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) 150cm cmxx95 95 cm cm 150 150 cm xx 95 cm 150 cm 95 cm Digitalprint printon oncanvas canvas Digital Digital print on canvas Digital print on canvas 2019 2019 2019 2019
150 150 cm cm xx 95 95 cm cm Digital print on Digital print on canvas canvas 2019 2019
“Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste 1/4(series) (series) Taste of of Feelings” Feelings, 1/4 “Taste of of Feelings” Feelings” 1/4 1/4 (series) (series) “Taste 150 cm xx 95 cm 150 cm 95 cm 150 cm x 95 cmcanvas Digital print on Digital print on canvas Digital print on canvas 2019 2019 2019
150 cmxx95 95 cm 150 150 cm cm x 95 cm cm Digitalprint printon oncanvas canvas Digital Digital print on canvas 2019 2019 2019
“Taste of 1/4 (series) “Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste of Feelings” Feelings” 1/4 (series) “Taste Feelings”1/4 1/4(series) (series) “Taste of Feelings” 1/4 (series) Taste of Feelings, 150 150cm cmx 95 cm cm 150 cm xxx95 95 cm 150 cm 95 cm Digital Digitalprint printon oncanvas canvas Digital print on canvas Digital print on canvas 2019 2019 2019 2019 MGZ 56
150 150 cm cm xx 95 95 cm cm Digital print on Digital print on canvas canvas 2019 2019 MGZ 57
CUTNOTSLICES (INDONESIA)
In my childhood, I was very cared for, which made me sensitive towards everything around me. In fact, I would suddenly start crying when I encounter something intensely. I thought this trait would disappear with getting older, however, everything has remained the same. I grew up in a devoted Muslim family that forced me to be a Muslim. Funny enough, I have been applying the teachings of Islam often (un)consciously up to this point. As a child, I was very happy to listen to the stories of the prophet. For some reason these stories warm up my chest. It turns out that this culture of storytelling has become a general practice of Indonesian parents whilst educating their children: fictional or non fictional stories about history,
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personal difficulties and successes, patriotism or religion. Maybe the longing for my childhood memories has sparked my interest in storytelling - I love listening to short and long intimate stories - full of good and bad experiences with social and human values - from people that I’ve just met from all walks of life. Stories about experiences I have not encountered so far. I tend to forget stories and memories about happenings quickly and this is why I created cutnotslices - a personal visual documentation of feelings, events or experiences of major memorable happenings or stories of others that touched me.
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AVAILABLE ARTWORK
JANNA SAMMON
Discover some of Janna’s free-motion characters and colorful creatures available as prints, guaranteed to brighten your home. www.etsy.com/shop/JannaSammon
(USA)
“A few years ago, I discovered that I live very close to a wonderfully fantastical world of my imagination. It’s just beyond the edge of the woods, a slight bend to the left, then a little to the right, and nowhere near the deepest, dark depths of the woods. It’s a place of life and laughter and vivid colors. Many unique creatures inhabit this area of the woods and slowly, one by one, through my artwork, I am meeting them & getting a glimpse into their world.” Janna Sammon
RHIANNON HOPLEY (AUSTRALIA)
LIMITED EDITION PHOTOGRAPHS Find a Limited Edition print in Rhiannon’s recently launched online store to add to your collection. With a selection of works from her photographic series’ including; Discovering Locations and palimpsest: palim(p)set - a landscape of memory. All photogaphs available in an edition of 3 + 2AP www.rhiannonhopley.com/available-work
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SERVICES & COMISSIONS BY RYAN WIJAYA (INDONESIA)
SKETCH ME! - Sketch anything you like (your portrait, your dog, your fave celeb etc..) - Watercolors on paper - Will send you the high-res file for print - Donation via PayPal
Black & White sketch: $10 USD Colored sketch: $15 USD Send your request to: ryan@ryanwijaya.com with subject: Sketch me! - (your name)
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Do you have old photos in a family album that you wish to see recovered like a newly taken photograph? You can have them recovered from dent, peel off, dust and dirt etc. Bring in the details on faces and even see them in color! Many people do this so they can see their great grand parents looked like. I have all my families old photos restored! This photograph is of my mum with one of my aunties. The only photo of her when she was young.
PHOTO RESTORATION - Secure family memory in digital files - Print and reproduce clean, sharp photos - Donation via PayPal - Working time, minimum 3 days - For best results, send a high quality scanned photo
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Service fee starting from $100 USD (Depending on complexity) Send your request to: ryan@ryanwijaya.com with subject: Restore my photo - (your name)
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COLOURING BOOK BY UNCLE JOY (INDONESIA)
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100 DRAWING CHALLENGE = 100 CHARATERS 100 drawings in 14 days. It started as a project for myself but when I posted on Instagram, my friends joined. You can draw anything you like, people, plants, chairs anything around you. I decided to draw characters.. and I finished 100 characters in 6 days. This challenge has helped to build discipline, stay creative, gain more skills, and kill time. And the best thing is, I now I have 100 characters to add to my portfolio.
DIGITAL COLORING BOOK AVAILABLE I turned my 100 characters into a coloring book, for families and their kids It’s a strange and challenging time, and the coloring book is a great to spend they can spend time together, coloring one character a day, means 100 days of coloring together. I hope my coloring book will help, as a creative distraction from all these electronic devices 10 characters are available for free, in the hope parents and kids spend time together coloring these characters. The digital coloring book with all 100 characters it’s for sale as a donation. Recommended donation $6 USD.
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ROLLING CALLOUT! We want to know what you haven’t read about that needs discussing. Help us expand our understanding of the creative world and enlighten us with a subject that needs exploring, an artist that needs more visibility, a social/political/environmental concept that needs to be heard, or just point us towards cool people doing cool stuff. We believe each issue is an opportunity to create something unique that is actually relevant for you guys – so hop to it! mgz@microgalleries.org CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT!