Tag Archives: paolo bianchi

“Hadrian” at the Industrial Art Biennial

Lena_Lapschina_Hadrian_Labin

The 4th Industrial Art Biennial, curated by Paolo Bianchi and Christoph Doswald, is up and running, and so is my piece, a media installation of four video streams with sound. It’s called “Hadrian”, and it’s a road movie, and it’s “not about what happens on this journey, but what Hadrian experiences in his head” (writes Paolo Bianchi in the catalogue).

The project resonates with the biennial’s theme, “Landscapes of Desire”, which confronts the viewer with longings, hopes and dreams and is a space for thought and playfulness and a workshop for the future.

Hadrian, the main character, is ready to explore the meaning of life. He does not lack earthly luxury – nevertheless, one day he sets out in search of a better life. He makes an attempt to escape the previous version of his life. This demands all his strength.

Join Hadrian on his journey: “Landscapes of Desire” – 4th Industrial Art Biennial, Labin, Istria: 13 May – 30 June 2023 extended to 29 July 2023. At the Pijacal.

New batch of “17 Seconds Art” arrived!

For my solo show at Vykhod, the center for media art in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, I produced a new batch of “17 Sekunden Kunst” video pizzazz. These boxes were served fresh to attenders of the private view, who had the choice between “Making friends”, “Once around the block”, “Bowing takes practice”, “Artist in residence” (my trilogy on crazy artists in weird residencies), and more.

I’m adding here the curator’s statement on this series [original title: “17 Sekunden Kunst”], written by Paolo Bianchi on the occasion of the premiere of these films at Linz09:

When dizzying changes regularly put the vulnerability of people and citizens to the test, Lena Lapschina’s work is precisely in this gap between surprise and imposition. For years she has been taking video material at international venues of art.

Lena Lapschina creates short videos from her material, which she gives an aesthetic form under the title “17 Seconds Art”. By this exact limitation in time, the films produce the effect of decoupling from reality. Through the radical sequencing, the recordings on the other side achieve a compaction, which becomes a curious and impressive image microcosmos of the social environment. The shots seem like a witty puzzle game that oscillates in content and thematically from absurd to banal. This humor does not present itself supercilious and does not have better knowledge. It appears in the gap between the sensible and the senseless.

Lena Lapschina has chosen the short time span of 17 seconds, as it is worth it to stay tuned.

“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.