Walk the Solar Carpet
Summary
The installation “Walk the Solar Carpet”, presented in Gallery Artarea, Tbilisi, Georgia was an elaboration of the situation specific artwork “The Metamorphosis of Power” produced by Posch and Johnson in Gori Georgia, for the Tbilisi Triennial 2018.
Supported by
Swedish Embassy in Georgia, Tbilisi Triennial organization, Gori City Development, Valand Academy University of Gothenburg and Wilhelm & Martina Lundgren Foundation.
Description of project
One of the curatorial methods of Wato Tseretelli as head curator for the Tbilisi Triennial, was to invite artists to make projects in smaller cities which lacked cultural centers or centers for contemporary art; and then to make the projects visible for the Triennial public centered in Tibilisi. The project of Leslie Johnson and Josefina Posch produced for the Tbilisi Triennial thus was also conceived around the question of how to use each situation and link them together.
The installation “Walk the Solar Carpet”, presented in gallery Artarea was an elaboration of the situation specific artwork “The Metamorphosis of Power” produced by Posch and Johnson in a former electric transformer building in Gori Georgia, the birthplace of Josef Stalin for the Tbilisi Triennial 2018. Following the overall curatorial concept the exhibition aimed to provide a window toward the Gori exhibition; to present the Gori exhibition to a wider public; as well as artistically elaborate on different nuances of the themes by using documentation as a point of departure.
The design and installation of the works in Gallery Artarea were integral to the meaning of the work as a whole. Inviting the public to “Walk the Solar Carpet” referred to a central concept of the Gori work—the renewal of the ancient silk route to the “solar route”, as Georgia is developing wind and solar energy porjects which will lead to renewed international trade. Using yellow filters, the lighting in part of the room also emphasized “solar”.
The yellow “solar carpet” ledd the public into the gallery toward a video looped on a flat screen on the wall. The video and photo documentation of the working process in Gori was the basis for the video which with added fantastical elements of sound and news program format, stretching the idea of “documentary”. The video in using the format of a news program about the renewal of power is able to make clear the dual meaning of the word power in referring to both the electric power as well as patriarchical political and social power.
On either side of the video monitor were drawings and prints of Posch and Johnson, also bearing some sub-textual references to renewal and trade. On the opposite end of the room two display cases housed research materials. These included documentation of applications for financing, anecdotes about events o the project, information about solar trajectories, methods for solar and wind power development, photographic documentation of experimentation with lighting and research into silk production and moths. The experimentation with lighting was in collaboration with engineers from Georgia Technical university who provided the wind and solar turbine for the Gori installation. The research was done in two separate trips to Tbilisi as well as in Sweden.
Type of work
Art installation including video, drawing, research documentation
Published in
Gallery Artarea, Tbilisi Georgia
Link to web site
https://www.facebook.com/events/2252795851610752/
https://akademinvaland.gu.se/english/news/e/?eventId=70136779943
http://cca.ge/node/175
http://www.lesliejohnson.info
http://www.josefinaposch.com
Date
2018-10-01Creator
Johnson, Leslie
Posch, Josefina
Keywords
Art
Triennial
exhibition
research
Publication type
artistic work