2019 – georgia sagri

2019

TIME IS THIRSTY

at Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (30/10/19 - 26/1/20)

The 1990s: Think raves, when sportswear hits high fashion and unisex styles became popular, when political activism grew in the wake of the global AIDS crisis, and the end of the Cold War signaled the reorganization of the world, think of the reunification of Germany, and how the mass-production and use of mobile phones came into being, as well as the prevalent spread of the Internet. Yet the nineties also appear to mark a point in history where the time horizon curves and the future and the past seem set in some kind of loop. From then on, there is seemingly nothing culturally significant that hasn’t existed before, albeit in slightly different guises.

Time Is Thirsty is a journey through time and space in the form of an exhibition: A complex ensemble of contemporary artworks and artefacts from the early 90s – more precisely from 1992, the founding year of the Kunsthalle Wien. The exhibition presents an immersive time-space in which the boundaries between the decades become unstable: Whether we are dealing with a relic from the 90s, a present-day phenomenon, what we encounter remains uncertain. Something that may perhaps be almost thirty years old, can be sewn almost seamlessly with the fabric of today.

Time Is Thirsty offers an expansive installation of art, language, smell and sound, artefacts and everyday objects, in which the timelines shift and the current past, as well as the speculative future, seem to merge into one another: a repertoire of gestures and emotions which can resonate physically and mentally as an MDMAdeleine to be swallowed. A kaleidoscope of signs between which one can lose oneself.

Curator: Luca Lo Pinto Artists: Xavier Aballí, Lutz Bacher, Nick Bastis, Cara Benedetto, Anna-Sophie Berger, Maurizio Cattelan, Claude Closky, DIE DAMEN, Jason Dodge, Robert Flack, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Adam Gordon, i ready made appartengono a tutti ®, Ann Veronica Janssens, Pierre Joseph, On Kawara, La Blonde, Dorothea Lasky, Eva Marisaldi, Franco Mazzucchelli, Matthew McCaslin, Elisabeth Mercier, Eileen Myles, Fabio Quaranta, Peter Rehberg, Willem de Rooij, Georgia Sagri, Julia Scher, Heji Shin, Mladen Stilinović́, Sissel Tolaas, Gavin Turk, Vipra, Chris Wilder

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TIME IS THIRSTY , installation view, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna 2019-2020

Diaphragm

at Central Fine, Miami, Florida (23/9-30/10/19)

In the past i was observing peoples’ movements and behaviors, as well as listening to their different voices during strictly performance-based workshops, assemblies, and meetings. During the preparation for dynamis [1], i had the chance to work intensively with more than 200 people: i realized that the voice manifests the body’s interiority. By breathing, singing, or talking, the voice moves inside the body, touches the interior organs, and in a way colors them through vibration.Now, i am trying to move away from the current ‘beginning-end’ calendar of consuming events and projects to develop a routine, which in the past i would only execute on my own. A self-training process builds up into a shared practice/treatment. The greek word ίαση (pron. Iasi) refers to the time and process by which a body changes through illness. There is no such thing as recuperation and a healthy, normal state. There is a stage that allows the person to recognize, explore, and learn from their pain. There is a way to navigate the pain by learning from it.Some bodies, which means some voices, are under shock and there is a need to form steps for recovery. By altering the tune of the voice, the body starts to vibrate differently, and some of the organs in pain will start to feel better. Through voice training i follow and observe each participant to tune differently and support them to experience another interiority of their body. By that tuning they become stronger and physically better. The diaphragm is not really an organ but a muscle; it lies between the upper and lower part of the body and situates the balance amongst what is inside and outside the spine. It sets the balance and distributes the air, thus it tunes the voice throughout the whole body. Every breath is a tone to the interior and exterior of life. While taking care of the breath, the voice starts to sound as it is formed, and the whole world starts to vibrate differently. - Georgia Sagri

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Diaphragm, installation view, ©Georgia Sagri

Works

Diaphragm