> Co-Organizer: InterSpace in Sofia, Bulgaria
> Date: June 1st ~ August 30th 2007
> Venue: Café Vam, yri cafe, Cafe factory
> Curator's talk: October 22nd 2007 @ Total Museum of Contemporary Art
> Support: Art Council Korea, middle corea
> Introduction
What comes to my mind when I think of the new order in the world? The Globalization process, the dread of the terrorists attacks, the Money flow, the Global Market, the obtrusive ads, the mass-media influence, the TV obsession, the WWW, the mobile communications, the IT innovations... These are some of the features of our dynamic everyday life where must be fast, smart, and flexible in order to survive and prosper...
In this time artists no longer contemplate the surrounding world but take more active position as interpret and criticize it, and thusly show the phenomena that are part of our reality, for better or worse.
The selected works reveals some of these occurrences, like the over-information and consumption-oriented consciousness of people, and alienation and indifference to the things that happen around the world. The artists observe the social and cultural processes in our modern world and interpret its different aspects, which we usually do not see in our fast-paced and pragmatic everyday life, and which enable the viewer to see the surrounding world through the prism of artistic imagination.
In other word what do we offer you are some coffee for being always awake... with sugar –compliments of the artists - to sweeten the bitter taste of the modern life...
Galia Dimitrova, Curator of InterSpace
> Selected art works
I See - You See
video, 2002, 30 min, color, sound
This video is continuation of the previous Daniela Kostova work – I see. Using organized sight seeing tours in Sofia and New York the artist tries to understand more about the perception of the unknown. Such tours are always very attractive but give unreal image for the places. Comparing two totally different realties of those cities, which she explores as a 'tourist', the artist re-places the attention from the center to the periphery and vice versa. Playing with the video image she tries to trace the thread of the cross-purposes between what we see and that we understand.
Daniela Kostova
Born 1974 in Sofia
She is a media artist, based in New York, USA. She graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in 1998 and MFA in Electronic Arts, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA in 2005.
Among her solo exhibitions are CEC ArtsLink, New York, New York (2006), I See- You See, SPACES Gallery, SPACElab, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (2002), “Play back” in ATA Center, Sofia (2001) and “Frame”, Placentia Arte, Piacenza, Italy (1999) .
In 2000 She took Onufri - First Prize of the International Competition on Visual Arts, Tirana. Among the most important international shows she took part in are “Ostensiv” , curated by Paula Boettcher, Moscow/ Berlin, Viafarini, curated by Lino Baldini, Milan, Tirana Biennale 1, Tirana, “Looming up”, curated by Walter Sedl, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna.
http://dani.cult.bg
The Real Thing
video, 2000, 4:00 min, color, sound
The video is result of a performance, which main object is the advertisement as a self-advertisement that is realized in one of the best for those purpose locations in the world – New York City. Adelina's self- advertisement starts even with the traveling to the US, during which she wears clothes “patterned” with some well-known ads, as the name of the products are replaced with the artist's name. At JFK airport the Bulgarian artist is met from her colleague dressed like Miss America and presents to Adelina a glass box “collected” the thousands reflections of New York. The performance continues on Times Square where they have a dialog using only advertising slogans.
Adelina Popnedeleva
Born 1956 in Sofia
She graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in 1988. From 2005 she is making Ph. D. in National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia. She works in the area of installations, objects, performances and videoart.
She has solo exhibitions in Bulgaria, Switzerland (BBI festival BBI, curator Olivier Suter), France (East-West Festival, curator Irina Genova), Germany (Kunstlandsihaft 3)
And takes part in a lot group exhibitions in Bulgaria (curators Maria Vassileva, Galia Dimitrova, Misirkov/Bogdanov,USA, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, curators Regina Khidekel, Irina Danilova; Women of the World, a global Collection of Art, White Columns, NY, USA, curator Claudia DeMonte; The World's Women On-Line!, curator, Murial Magenta; Donumenta 2005, curator Regina Helwig-Shmid; Onufri , curator Suzana Kuka, Dare to be different, Albania, curator Eleni Laperi.
10 Minutes World Art
video, 2003, 10:00 min, color, sound
The video reviews issues related with the globalization in terms of the artistic context. The artist is looking through the Taschen's album The Art Today and asking the questions: Is there a global art? Which are the market principles the distribution of the art works and the migration of the artists are dependent on? Which powers effect the connection between center and periphery in process of globalization and how far we can think of globalization as an universal phenomenon as it has diverse dimensions in the different locations.
Kamen Stoyanov
Born 1977 in the town of Rousse.
He graduated Master of Arts at the National Arts Academy in Sofia in 2002 and Visual arts, art and cultural studies, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna in 2005.
He works mostly in the field of video and photography.
Solo exhibitions: Modality, Ata Center for contemporary art, Sofia (2004), WORK/S, Irida gallery, Sofia (with Vasilena Gankovska) (2003); and FINE, MAK-GALERIE,Vienna (with Vasilena Gankovska) (2002).
He has participated in many big group exhibitions among which: I can see clearly now, Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna (2005), Blood and Honey, Future is on the Balkan (2003), and Trandifications,,association for contemporary art,Graz (2001).
Whatever-Advert Laboratory
video, 2005, 8 pieces (from 1 to 3 min), total: 16 min, color, sound
Whatever-advert lab plays with the basic cliches of the TV commercials, with their repetitive messages: to-buy-products aim. Whatever-advert lab takes the format, some of the tools of the commercials and set them to work in different direction - instead of selling products they offer and share ideas. It is at the same time ironic toward all the TV addicted and quite positive to those who can take it as an anti-propaganda of the indispensable shopping.
The length of the videos also plays with the length of the TV commercials as well as it plays with the MTV pop-song videos' format, staying in between, thus being somehow uncomfortable. The video format stays just in the begging of the idea. The artists aim to use the idea for other types of media as radio, internet, poster, exhibition, longer documentary formats.
Boryana Pandova
Born 1979
She studies Still Photography at National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts. Before she studied Acting at the New Bulgarian University. She works in video art, still photography and visual performance. Takes part in interdisciplinary projects.
Todor Karastoyanov
Born 1974
He graduated from the National academy of Theatre and Film Art – Sofia.
Active musician (drums, electronics) since 1989. Member of different not-existing-any-more or reshaped bands: Lacrima Crisitie (R.I.P.), Animacionerite, Triteleta (R.I.P.), Nasekomix (R.I.P.).
Acts as himself under “tkrst” – concerts and dj sets in Sofia, Vienna, Leipzig, Graz. Music for theatre, short films, performances. “Whatever-advert Laboratory” is the most recent project started together with Boryana Pandova. Reviews on current theatre events in culture periodicals and websites.
