Tag Archives: nyc

“17 Sekunden Kunst” to be screened in NYC

For those who happen to be in New York on March 5: My “17 Sekunden Kunst” (“17 Seconds Of Art”) series is part of The Art Film Festival at the Hunter College!

Swiss curator, critic and art historian Paolo Bianchi, who commissioned the series a while ago for Upper Austria’s OK Centrum, wrote about the piece in the catalogue: “For years, Lena Lapschina has been filming everyday situations while traveling, which oscillate from the absurd to the banal. She uses this to make short videos that present in only 17 seconds art. The films all are dealing with art, but most of all with the perception of art. In the video ‘Once around the block’ a man leaves a party in Vienna City to get some fresh air, takes off his clothes, runs once around the block and puts his clothes calmly back on. A quicker answer to the question ‘What is art?’ is hardly imaginable.”

“17 Sekunden Kunst” for some years had tagged itself an “ongoing series” and comprises two dozens or so stand-alone films and mini-series. At Park Avenue, I’m going to show five pieces: 1. “Artist in residence”: Lena Lapschina’s artist trilogy. 2. “Once around the block” (original title: “Einmal um den Häuserblock”): Vienna, the city of actionism, revisited. 3. “Making friends”: About creation and subjective awareness of a friend. 4. “Bowing takes practice” (original title: “Verbeugungsübung”): Facing the authorities should be well practised. 5. “Eugen’s Appartment”: A mini-soap in 7 episodes.

The Art Film Festival: Saturday, March 5, 2016, 1:00-8:00 PM, Ida K. Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College, 695 Park Ave, New York, NY 10065. “17 Sekunden Kunst” is scheduled at 5:30, followed by a brief Q&A session.

“17 Sekunden Kunst” by Lena Lapschina is available as a limited pizza box edition.

The choice between Yes and No

2015 started with a totally fresh work, and it started in New York City. Here’s the leaflet:

“Lena Lapschina presents ‘Yes/No,’ an installation for Open Source Gallery.
In Lapschina’s work, communication is key. Lapschina is well-known for her systematic and methodical investigation into social issues through the exploration of malfunctions and opposing factors. She explores not only the outcomes of choices, but what opportunities are being missed by having to choose. ‘Yes/No’ is a spatial installation of two light objects produced from neon. Illuminated against a stark background and obscured by the particles emitted from a fog machine, two choices are clear with little in between but a limbo: ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’
Visitors are welcomed into a space where they may move freely between dualities without reaching a decision. However, while the viewer is free to choose, one may not have the choices of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ simultaneously. On one side there is the affirmative of ‘Yes,’ but by simply turning around, it now becomes ‘No.’ In ‘Yes/No,’ opposing ideas do not clash, but still remain on opposite sides of the coin.”