AGGTELEK
Works
4 Poor Monologues
Travel Notes
Poéticas del Objeto
The Speaker
A Sort of Song
Fast & Low & Cheap & Silly
The Autopsy of Form
Slash Theatre of My Mundo
Di Chengben Opera
When Necessity Becomes the Norm
Installation Tale
Ass-Dialectics
4 Poor Monologues
In 1982 approximately 1,200 small-scale wire-frame sculptures were found on the street outside a transient home in Philadel-phia, USA. Nothing is known about the artist’s identity or motives. The anonymous artist who created these works is assu-med to have had access to tools required to bend some of the heavy-gauge wire visible in the sculptures and it is hypothe-sized that the sculptures were abando-ned after their creator’s death. Based on the demographics of the neighborhood in which these works were found it is assumed that the artist might have been African-American.
Nearly all the works consist of tightly wound wire around objects including plastic, packaging, nuts, bolts, newspaper/ magazine cutouts, electrical parts, batte-ries, coins and other items. Some bundles used rubber bands or tape to bind the objects together. Based on limited pos-sible research, the collection has been dated to around 1970-1975. The collected works were given by the art student who found them to Fleisher-Ollman Gallery in Philadelphia which, since then, operates as the guardian of these works.
Aggtelek, Gema Perales and Xandro Valles, pay homage to these works by creating a setting within the gallery that integrates the works of Philadelphia Wireman as part of a stage-like set consisting of various no-value materials; random fragments, partia-lly recycled from previous exhibitions, and various performative objects.
Performance / Installation Variable dimensions 2013
Though the display itself requires an activation through the four monologues written by the artists. These monologues, enacted during the opening, operate somewhere in-between improvisational theater and enacted audience participa-tion, give a variety of different visions/ proposals for the exhibition as it could have been developed but in fact wasn’t. The exhibition is written as a kind of ‘shopping list of impossibility’ to realize an ultimate exhibition format, leaving ho-meless a bunch of unrealised ideas. Agg-telek <> Philadelphia Wireman becomes an economic drama based on the history of art and contemporary artistic reality.
Travel Notes Series
Travel Notes is a series of paintings created from the research of Tumblr images. By alterating their configuration, the idea is to give them a new
conceptual destination. Each one has their own authenticity certificate
which, as a writting-collage and waybill, draw a specific travel itinerary.
A 3D painting where the artists expect the collector or the spectator
experiment the conceptuality of the work, both by living in the idea and theatricalizing the action of representation as well as becoming performers
of the artwork. These series want to emphasize the life of the painting, because the goal is to venture into its concept (trip) and to experience it. Painting
100 x 70 cm 2013
Poéticas del Objeto
In a revisitation that alludes to relic ex-hibitions, curiosity showcases or anthro-pology museums, this surface is host to objects inspired by the authors’ subjective social ideas about today’s world. Each one comes from and is related to a social response idea, mood or attitude. Media, consumption, design, art history and, in general, capitalist policy debris come to-gether in a joint narration via the informa-tion labels of each product.
For the opening, a live text action was held; an expanded product of the insta-llation which was named “Un poema en cinco días laborables que no lo son” and was performed as a Spoken Word piece by the outstanding young Spanish writer Eloy Fernández-Porta.
Sculpture / Installation Variable Dimensions 2012
The Speaker
Room installation centered around a 72-minute
atmospheric novel played on speakers; room consists of one pink wallpapered wall, one brown colored wall, yellow ceiling lights, custom-made pillows using tropical patterns and select oil on canvas paintings of various sizes.
Exile Gallery. Berlin. 2012
“...this process is really cool...” “...elevator wooden-construction...” “...with african-tropical decoration...” “...waiting room...saloon...” “...paintings, the voice...” “...atmospheric novel...” “...like the never-ending...” “...happy conceptual work...” “...DONT PANIC!!...” http://vimeo.com/36534725
Trailer
Painting / Installation Variable Dimensions 2012A Sort of Song
The idea of this experimental show was to break the bounda-ries between artists and cura-tors. We proposed to make an exhibition completely clueless to the curator, who was forced to collaborate with two other ones. They three had to com-pose the exhibition, its meaning and path.
The main curator placed the works as he thought they must be displayed; the second one wrote a text about the relation of the word Aggtelek with some objects; the third one felt ma-nipulated because he couldn’t understand the meaning of the show. He then forced the artists to wear mascot heads at the opening, making them feel as his puppets.
Who was curating and who creating?
Installation
variable dimensions 2011
Fast & Low & Cheap & Silly
Photo/Painting/Sculpturevariable dimensions 2010
Chez Neon, Lyon
Fast and low conceptualism is an art move-ment where ideas are more important than the object. Ideas must prevail over its formal aspects and in many cases the idea is the art piece, even though this one can be silly or has nothing to do with the represented object. Most of the works of this movement have disappeared or have been or will be destroyed, both because of their economi-cal issues, as because of their storage and transportation.
Fast and Low conceptualism is inspired by everything and nothing. It explains things but sometimes it doesn’t know what to say. It likes cheapness, stupidity, low-cost life, “google” pictures, “banlieue” thoughts, shanzai and fast thinking. It is anti-intellec-tual, but it gets benefits from intellectualism. It wants to become an art reference but it gets bored with art. It likes very much beer and the mental state of a hangover. It loves money but it doesn’t know how to get it. And definitely, it hates the mechanisms of the art world.
“Maintenant je puis dire que l’art est une sottise” (Rimbaud)
The Autopsy of Form
Performance20 minutes 2010
Performance played at the opening of “2ème Biennal de Rennes” Couvent des Jacobins, Rennes. France. 2010
This is an essay about form written in a performance.
Taking the subject of the “new forms that will come”, the text is read by an orator activating the players to make specific movements or constructions, giving new ideas or possibilities of creation.
Below a brief extract of the text: The origin of this essay about form written as a performance is to criticize the form, seeking to give new creative principles, and I’ve decided to do it in this way:
In a performance, where the word “form” is implicit in the word.
A performance that turns back to its ori-gins: to insult, to bother, to provoke. Not lot of people can say they have seen a performance which was not boring. An essay, as Montaigne said, is a judge-ment, an experiment. Each single expe-rience must have hypothesis, and the hypothesis has something fictitious. The etymology of “fiction” comes from “fingere”, participle of “fictum”, which means to mold, to give form..
Slash Theatre of My Mundo
Sculpture/Video/Photo/Collage variable dimensions2010
Luis Adelantado Gallery. Valencia, Spain
Slash Theatre of My Mundo is a series of works that run from the Big Bang to an unknown future
Taking the concept of “the first princi-ple of the creative act” the story of this project runs from the Big Bang until the Middle Ages. Rethinking creation through history, the evolution of forms are presented in a personal way, using Greek or Asian mythology, contempo-rary references or vanguardian ideas. The two main characters are both the ones of aggtelek collective. They walk through time and space, seeking to find the “absolute sculpture” as the philoso-phic stone of creation.
dí chéngben opera
Performance/Installation/Sculpture 30 minutes
2010
Performance played at Antigua Casa Haiku. Barcelona 2011
From own references to poetic words, an eclectic opera in 3 acts. Not suitable for soft hearts.
This performance used an ear-lier installation, to give it a new significance using words and actors and overcoming past concepts of the same work.
A miniature sculpture retrospecti-ve sorrounded by a collection of videos. Making everything possi-ble with the least posipossi-ble amount of resources.
When Necessity Becomes The Norm
Sculpture/VideoVariable Dimensions 2009
Installation Tale
Sculpture & 3 selected videos Instuto Cervantes. Brussels 2009A visual tale divided in three rooms. Taking up some videos about sculptural processes of construction and demolition, the space was divided in 3 forms: figurative, minimal and conceptual.
Ensayos Escultóricos
Starting off with an aesthetics of accumulation combined with cle-aning processes, this project is developed structuring cycles of life and death, construction and demolition, making of a multidiscipli-nary corpus an expanded projection of contaminated mechanisms. Mechanisms insofar as this work does not distinguish between processes and products, but rather presents itself as a continuum. Thus, contaminated beyond the development of pieces in certain hardwares, this project has not parcels to differentiate disciplines, but rather a space that unfolds so that they all adjoin, fuse, interact and superimpose or, as someone said before, explode.
1er Ensayo Escultórico Video – colour – sound 00:14:55 2008 2º Ensayo Escultórico Video-colour-sound 00:08:21 2008
Ass-Dialectics
This work is an auto-reinterpreta-tion of the series “Ensayos Escul-tóricos”, where new models of creation are developed through self references. The result is a video where we start to wonder about the value of the authorship, of creation and the created and specially about the sculptural con-cept through eclectic references and auto-mockery.
For the exhibition “Ass Dialectics” we presented a display of derived pieces of the videotaped pro-cess. The exhibition space ended up totally transformed in a dark labyrinth.
Video/Sculpture/Installation Jozsa Gallery. Brussels. 2009
ABOUT
Aggtelek is the artistic project of Gema Perales (1982) and Xandro Valles (1978). They live in Brussels and Barcelona
CV
SOLO SHOWS
2013
4 Poor Monologues. Exile. Berlin. Germany
Poéticas del Objeto. Shau Ort. Shaufenster. Zürich. CH
we/poo/r.glitch=oilDownloads.jpg. Galeria Jose Robles. Madrid. ES 2012
The Speaker. Exile. Berlin. Germany
Inkjet & Soundtrack. Skl Gallery. Palma. Spain 2011
Plat du Jour. Homesession. Barcelona. Spain Incident no. 40. Incident Report. Hudson. NY. USA
Impossibilities. Extreme Survivals in Art. Espai Guinovart. Agramunt. Spain A Sort of Song. L’Autonomie. Brussels. Belgium
2010
Fast and Low and Cheap and Silly. Chez Neon. Lyon. France Dí chéngběn Opera. Antigua Casa Haiku. Barcelona. Spain Slash Theatre of My Mundo. SKL Gallery. Palma. Spain Sapce Riders. Hilary Crisp Gallery. London. UK
Slash Theatre of My Mundo. Part 1. Luis Adelantado Valencia. Valencia. Spain
Ass-Dialectics + 2 Porno Malevich’s. Galeria Magda Bellotti. Espacio Algeciras. Madrid. Spain
2009
When necessity becomes the norm (A poor retrospective). LABOR. Budapest. Hungary Installation Tale. Instituto Cervantes. Brussels. Belgium
Ass-Dialectics. Jozsa Gallery. Brussels. Belgium El video del mes. Matadero. Madrid. Spain 2008
1er Ensayo Escultórico. Galeria Espacio Líquido. Gijón. Spain
Lightfall Post-Collage. Centre Cultural la Mercè. Burriana, Castellón. Spain AGGTELEK, Subzone1. Galerie Adler. Frankfurt am Main. Germany Boxplot. Perrforming ARCO 08. Madrid. Spain
2007
Performing the Scenography. Jozsa Gallery. Brussels. Belgium
Performing the Sculpture & Sculpturing the Performance. Luis Adelantado Valencia. Spain Cartoonformance. Individual Explum. Puerto Lumbreras. Murcia. Spain
GROUP SHOWS (selection)
2013
FAQ: Factotum. Fundació Tàpies. Barcelona. ES Les Murs du Temps. Cyan Gallery. Barcelona. ES
Comunitats Artístiques del Poblenou. Can Felipa. Barcelona. ES SummerFete. Ceri Hand Gallery. Londres. UK
Beelden op het Vrijthof. Maastricht. NL
Comunidades Artisticas del Poblenou. Can Felipa. Barcelona. ES Liste. With Martin Kohout. Exile Gallery. Basel. CH
Festival Oodaaq. Rennes. FR
Me, Myself And I. Fundación Centenera. Sala La Lonja. Madrid. ES Emerging Artists Award. BeersLambert Gallery. London. UK 2012
Artissima. Exile. Torino. Italy
12 Mostra Internacional Gas Natural Fenosa. MACUF. A Coruña. Spain Spaces:Demolition. Centrul Civic. Chisinau. Moldavia
Critical Botox In times of 2.0 feudalism. Pavilion Unicredit. Bucharest. Romania Simultan Festival 8. The beggining of the End. Timisoara. Romania
claResil 2012 mg. Curated by Alex Brahim. La Capella. Barcelona. Spain Indisciplines! Performance with Pere Faura. Mercat de les Flors. Barcelona. Spain The Immutables. DAFO. Lleida. Spain
Spaces: Demolition. Videoscreening. Chisinau. Moldova
Ciutat. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Bellaterra, Barcelona. Spain 2011
PDF Sculptures. Window Auckland. Auckland. New Zeland Other Possible Titles. Grizzly Grizzly. Philadelphia. PA. USA
Summercamp III. There is so much beauty it can make you cry. Exile. Berlin. Germany Saltar la página. De Velázquez a Canogar. Museo ABC. Madrid. Spain
Art is a Combat Sport. Curated by Jean-Marc Huitorel. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Calais. France Premis Ciutat de Palma. Casal Solleric. Palma de Mallorca. Spain
2010
BIAM 2010. Museu del Monstià. Amposta. Spain
Partition 2.0/Fake. Modem, Center of Modern and Contemporary Art. Debrecen. Hungary
2ème Biennial de Rennes. Ce qui vient. Curated by Raphael Jeune. Couvent des Jacobins. Rennes. France Santurce es Ley. Curated by DaWire (Carla Acevedo). Santurce. Puerto Rico
Festival Agitato. Le Triangle. Rennes. France Mientras sea Posible. Casa América. Madrid. Spain
Premis Ciutat de Palma. Casal Solleric. Palma de Mallorca. Spain 2009
Remote viewing: New Video Art. Curated by Paul Young. Pacific Design Center. Los Angeles. USA Inaugural Exhibition. Luis Adelantado Mexico. Mexico City
46 Certamen Internacional Artes Plásticas de Pollença. Museu de Pollença. Mallorca. SP Crosstalk Festival. Budapest. Hungary
Solo al Buio. Mercati di Traiano. Rome. Italy
Diez +: Arte Contemporáneo Español de la Colección ABC. Instituto Cervantes. New York. USA El video del mes: marzo 2009. Matadero. Madrid. Spain
Processes2: True Image. VideoSpace. Budapest. Hungria Now. Transformation Spaces. Casa del Lago. Mexico DF. Mexico LP’09. Festival de Dansa … o no. CCCB. Barcelona. Spain
2008
Fràgil. Musée Le Carré-Bonnat. Bayonne. France
V Certamen de Pintura de Castellón. Museo de Bellas Artes. Castellón. Spain Zomerzone. Museum Het Domein. Sittard. Holland
Ajenos. Cavallerizza Palazzo Sambucca. Palermo. Italy Video Europa. Off Loop Festival. Espai Ubu. Barcelona. Spain 2007
VICE. Luis Adelantado Miami. Miami. USA
La Noche en Blanco. Centro Cultural Conde Duque. Madrid. Spain Nightcomers Project. X Biennial of Istanbul. Istanbul. Turkey
VI Concurso de Artes Plásticas del Gobierno de Cantabria. Santander. Spain Muestra de Artes Visuales INJUVE. Círculo de Bellas Artes. Madrid. Spain
Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick. Condesa DF. Mexico DF. México XII Premi D’Arts Visuals Ciutat de Burriana. Burriana. Castellón. Spain
El ojo que ves. Premio Internacional de Fotografía Contemporánea Pilar Citoler. Córdoba. Spain
AWARDS & GRANTS
2012
Beers.Lambert Award for Emerging Art. London. UK 2009
1st Runners-up prize. ABC Art Prize. Madrid. Spain 2008
1st award. 5th International Painting Prize from Castellón County Council. Spain VII Grants Al Norte. Gijón. Asturias. SP
2007
1st award. VI Concurso de Artes Plásticas del Gobierno de Cantabria. Santander. SP 1st award. Muestra de Artes Visuales INJUVE. Círculo de Bellas Artes. Madrid. SP 1st award. XII Premi D’Arts Visuals Ciutat de Burriana. Burriana. Castellón. SP 2006
1st award. I Concurso de Creación Artística de la Fundación José García Jiménez. Murcia. SP Award. EXPLUM 06. Puerto Lumbreras. Murcia. SP
AGGTELEK aggtelek.net +34 647 069 277 aggtelek@mail.com aggtelek.duo@facebook.com