The Space Between
The Space Between
October 22 – November 28, 2010
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
Thessaloniki, Greece
The Space Between revolves around notions of distance, exchange and geography. In this time of globalization, when expedient knowledge transmission and the split second ability to connect to other cultures exists, we are continually experiencing the fragmentation of place, conversation, language, context and identity.
The Space Between magnifies this exchange of fragmentation by employing personal directives, correspondences, collaborative energy, cross-cultural conversation and accessibility to approach our immediate environment, our neighbors and our neighbors’ environments with a fresh point of view.
This past spring artists in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Chicago began a collaborative project titled Push the Envelope. Was it possible to effectively communicate and work together across oceans, utilizing the space of the Internet? Through video conferencing and the project’s website, the group discussed the personal impact and affect of relevant current issues within each country: the economic crisis, contemporary art practice within the respective countries, and personal geographies.
Eight artists from Push the Envelope join together now to respond to and reflect upon initial conversations. Each artist developed questions in response to previous conversations, both for themselves and for the audience, and used video technology to create work in response.
As though continuing the often-challenging attempt to communicate, questions and video responses are positioned back to back on monitors. The viewer herself connects the space between with vacillating movement: back and forth, from call to response, the here and there. Audio fills the room with questions that fracture not only the space, but previous conversations between the artists.
In turn, the exhibition provides an opportunity for the audience to communicate with the artists. Through the website, the audience can ask questions that the artists will then respond to visually on the site for the duration of the exhibit.