Thursday 22 May 2014

Assimilated Spaces

On the 30th of May, us artists at the Xarolla Windmill shall be opening our first exhibition for this year.

The works to be shown during “Assimilated Spaces” are a result of direct observation of tangible spaces. Much of the work on display is based on the reactions and relations present, or absent, within the context of space.

“Assimilated Spaces” aims to explore the intersection between real and imaginative spaces, and how these are interpreted by the participant artists. The process by which the works were created was an exercise in analysing surrounding and imaginative environments.  The work attempts to reassess and re-qualify our relation to everyday space, most of which are often looked over.



Drawings by Andrea Zerafa and paintings by Ryan Falzon are presenting an assimilation of tangible spaces, created in a personal and expressive manner.  Zerafa would be exhibiting a series of small ink and wash drawings which were all done on site, in this case at the University of Malta.  These drawings portrait an interaction between the area within a classroom and students; it is about capturing a fleeing moment.  Falzon’s works are on a similar wavelength, where urban spaces are going to be presented on a parallel level with activities that can only be executed within a built environment.  Collage and painting are the main techniques used here, combined together to create colourful but somehow discomforting works, mostly due to the undercurrent themes found within the works, themes such as the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, the Vietnam war, traffic accidents and chronic solitude, among others.

Detail from "Pig Platz ist Uber Hip", one of my works to be shown during Assimilated Spaces
Sabrina Calleja Jackson is presenting two works, executed in oil on canvas.  The space explored here is more on a personal level, space that is visualized through soap bubbles. These bubbles represent ephemeral happiness, a happiness floating within the boundaries of the canvas.  The works are done in an elegant, clean manner, where the light background and overblown bubbles clearly demands the attention of the viewer.

 The works by Gabriel Buttigieg consists of five profiles of the same model, done in conte crayons.  The model is existing within a confined space, with the boundaries between the subject and background being blurred due to the rough working manner of the artist.  The fragility and elegance of the design push further this idea.  Sarah Maria Scicluna‘s works were created out of exploration of space in relation to the shapes in use, mainly being concerned with composition and how it can be displayed. She will be presenting four pieces executed in silk screen technique.  Her works, just like those from Calleja Jackson, are clean and minimal, existing on a plain surface.


This event is done in collaboration with Zurrieq Local Council.

Visit the Facebook Event Page by clicking here for updates regarding the event.

Friday 9 May 2014

Getting a car (extract)

Prior to exhibiting the paintings during the next exhibition on the 30th May 2014 at Xarolla Windmill, Zurrieq, I shall be publishing extracts I wrote back in 2011.  Entitled "Time for Wreckage", this was a series of loose writings centered around a doomed, sexist, male figure who is existing in a bleak postmodern city.

I love feeling unhealthy.  Stiff lungs.  Hurt burns.  Stomach problems.  Short sharp pains in the kidneys, the kind that makes you feel alive.  I wish I can go on a diet of Pet Shop Boys and a daily dose of good E’s.  Not the shitty ones they are making today.  The old pink ones the size of the holy wafer, the ones that used to kill an average of 6 party people during a rave .

After quenching my thirst with gallons of cheap artificial mass produced orange juice I start walking towards the scrap yard on the outskirts of the industrial area.

I enter the scrap yard.  No one on site.  I walk around tons and tons of plastic, and finally I spot a metal container turned office.

“Hey, I’m looking for an old car.  A fuel consuming car.”

“Furthest down, right section.”

“Thanks”

I walk towards the  tons of rust on the right section, and start inspecting the remains of a car which has traces of yellow paint on it.

“Thinking of reviving that bastard?” asks a hobo with dreads, who lives in the yard.  “Go green man, go green.”

Go fuck yourself.

I head back to the office, and arrange to get the car for free.  Transport included. 

Now it stands in front of my flat.  A 1972 Morris Marina.  BMC engine.  I covered the car, did a “For Restoration” sign and left it there.  I got no knowledge whatsoever about cars and their engines.

As I was walking in, I saw a cat eating out of a discarded nappy.  It was so very disgusting.