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3 decembrie 2009 – 7 februarie 2010

WAKEFIELD MEADOWS

Deschidere oficiala: 3 decembrie, 2009, orele 19.00

Curator: Anca Mihulet
Theoretical Input: Olivia Mihaltianu

Participanti: Adrian Alecu (DE/RO)/ Olivia Mihaltianu (RO)/ >projektgruppe< (DE) / SOSka (UA)/ Adrien Tirtiaux (AU/BE) 

WAKEFIELD MEADOWS este un mediu de viata artificial, care a fost generat de experientele reale ale curatorului si ale artistilor, creat in spatiul Pavilion UniCredit. WAKEFIELD MEADOWS exploreaza conventiile sociale si sistemele de viata contemporane, artificiale si supra-saturate, prinse in obsesia turbinei istorice, incapabile sa mearga mai departe – clisee ale vietii zilnice, familia de mijloc capitalista si undergorund-ul social, super-structurile consumeriste, traiectoria informatiilor secretizate si piata de arta invaziva. 
Unul dintre punctele de la care a pornit dezbaterea curatoriala a fost cazul lui Wakefield, ‘personajul universal‘ din povestirea cu acelasi titlu a lui Nathaniel Hawthorne. Intr-o zi, Wakefield si-a parasit casa si sotia, revenind dupa 20 de ani ca si cum nimic nu s-ar fi intamplat, continuand sa isi traiasca viata ca si pana atunci. Morala povestirii: ‘In mijlocul confuziei aparente din lumea noastra misterioasa, indivizii sunt atat de usor de atasat unui sistem, si sistemele unul altuia, apoi intregului, incat, in momentul in care un individ paseste pentru o clipa in afara sistemului, se expune riscului de a-si pierde locul pentru totdeauna.’ (fragment preluat din ‘Wakefield’ de Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Artistii prezenti in expozitie si-au apropiat conditia umana a lui Wakefield, individul dislocat, dupa intoarcerea sa, in cel de-al 20-lea an si s-au infiltrat in medii aparent etanse, devenind parte functionala a acelor medii, problematizandu-si in acest timp indentitatea si locul. 
O expozitie in colaborare cu Galeria de Arta Contemporana a Muzeului National Brukenthal, Sibiu.

Publicatie: 64 pagini, 15 x 21 cm, a/n, engleza/romana, 5 Euro/15 RON. Texte de Andrei Codrescu, Aurora Szentagotai & Daniel David, Anca Mihulet.

Image: Adrien Tirtiaux, Wakefield in Charleroi, research photography for “WAKEFIELD MEADOWS”, 2009. Courtesy the artist.

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December 3, 2009 – February 7, 2010

WAKEFIELD MEADOWS

Opening: December 3, 2009, 19.00 hours

Curator: Anca Mihulet

Theoretical Input: Olivia Mihaltianu

Participants: Adrian Alecu (DE/RO)/ Olivia Mihaltianu (RO)/ >projektgruppe< (DE) / SOSka (UA)/ Adrien Tirtiaux (AU/BE) 

WAKEFIELD MEADOWS is an artificial living environment that was generated by the real life experiences of the curator and of the artists, created inside the space of Pavilion UniCredit. WAKEFIELD MEADOWS explores the inside of some of today’s oversaturated and artificial living systems and social conventions, caught in an obsessive historical turbine and unable to move forward – every-day life clichés, the middle class capitalist family and the social underground, the consumerist super-structures, the trajectory of classified information and the invasive art market. 
One of the starting points of the curatorial debate was the case of Wakefield, the ‘universal character’ from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story with the same title. One day, Wakefield left his house and his wife and then returned after 20 years as if nothing had happened, carrying on with his normal existence. The moral of the story: ‘Amid the seeming confusion of our mysterious world, individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system, and systems to one another, and to a whole, that, by stepping aside for a moment, a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place forever.’ (excerpt from ‘Wakefield’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
The artists featured in the exhibition appropriated the human condition of Wakefield, the misplaced individual, after his return, in the 20th year and infiltrated in apparent sealed environments, becoming insiders, questioning their identity and their place. 
An exhibition in cooperation with the Contemporary Art Gallery of Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu.

Publication: 64 pages, 15 x 21 cm, b/w, english/romanian, 5 Euro/15 RON. Texts by: Andrei Codrescu, Aurora Szentagotai & Daniel David, Anca Mihulet.

Image: Adrien Tirtiaux, Wakefield in Charleroi, research photography for ‘WAKEFIELD MEADOWS’, 2009. Courtesy the artist.