2022 art recap: reimagining the future of arts
by Vatsala SethiDec 31, 2022
by Shraddha NairPublished on : Dec 01, 2020
As a 90s born millennial, I grew up, like many other kids, devouring cartoon content which streamed on our televisions (a concept before internet streaming was invented) on channels like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. In particular, there was a show called The Jetsons. It was created first in the 1960s but the premise was set in a futuristic setting with robots, flying cars, holograms and other advanced technology. To me the series idealised the concept of being everywhere at once through technology, being able to accomplish numerous tasks with minimal effort. The robot housekeeper and even the furniture had multiple functions. It was an introduction to the idea of multitasking, something which seeped into our everyday habits with the help of technology. However, the more complex our circuit boards became, the more short-fused our capacities grew. Today in 2020 we find ourselves reaching out towards practices which help us do less and focus on being mindful of the “now”. From yoga to tai chi, age old practices of being present are becoming more popular than ever. So, maybe multitasking wasn’t the answer after all?
Zimoun (also known as Studio Zimoun) is a self-taught artist from Bern, Switzerland, who embodies a meditative mood, which roots you firmly in the present.
Zimoun creates audiovisual installations unlike any other. His sounds are not pre-recorded and his visuals do not appear as arrangements of pixels on a screen. Rather, they are fully rooted in the here and now. The installations use movement and acoustics of a space to create site-specific works. Zimoun’s practice takes us back to a time before digital formats, before even analog formats, into a space of pure existence as he succinctly describes: “In my installation work what you hear is what you see, and what you see is what you hear”.
Zimoun places equal emphasis on the visual aesthetic and the auditory stimulus in his process of creation. The Swiss artist leans towards commonplace industrial materials, what he refers to as “honest materials”, an artistic choice which furthers his minimalist visual. “I am interested in simple, raw, unspectacular, and pure materials,” he says and elaborates, “the (material) choices are based on visual, haptic, functional and auditive criteria”.
Ultimately, Zimoun’s work is an experience which is industrial but sleek, seemingly chaotic but quietly minimal and a world apart from our normative ideas of audiovisual art. Currently, Zimoun is showcasing a group exhibition in Spain, and has a few lined up next year in Canada, France, Belgium and Switzerland. In the past, he has exhibited at several spaces internationally such as Nam June Paik Art Center in Seoul, Ringling Museum of Art in Florida, Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) Santiago de Chile and many more.
by Dilpreet Bhullar Mar 20, 2023
Modern Love (or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies) at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens complicates the binaries of private and public with the onset of the digital world.
by Rahul Kumar, Samta Nadeem Mar 18, 2023
The reopened Manchester Museum's new South Asian Gallery, will mark the UK's first permanent space dedicated to the lived experience of the South Asian diaspora.
by Dilpreet Bhullar Mar 16, 2023
Düsseldorf-based photographer Andreas Gefeller's camera functions as a tool to visually narrate a story around the realities and deceptions of urban spaces.
by Rosalyn D`Mello Mar 11, 2023
Curator Emanuele Guidi’s final exhibition at ar/ge kunst pays homage to a little known yet pivotal African American art critic settled in South Tyrol.
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