The Renaissance building Scuola Grande della Misericordia houses the Lithuanian Pavilion at the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia in Venice, Italy. In this building, dating back to the 16th century and designed by the Venetian architect Jacopo Sansovina, the artist Žilvinas Kempinas presents his large-scale installation, TUBE.
TUBE (created at the Atelier Calder, Saché, France) can be described as a translucent tunnel of parallel lines, created with magnetic tape. Žilvinas Kempinas’ TUBE “resonates with the environment of the floating city and creates a space where vision and movement are linked by means of the body. TUBE addresses the physical and optical experiences of the viewer, and the passage of time, while creating the feeling of being inside and outside simultaneously. One can describe TUBE metaphorically or geometrically but to be appreciated it must be experienced directly. No image can convey the gradual accumulation of sensory experiences awaiting visitors who pass through the translucent tunnel of parallel lines. Kempinas changes the function of magnetic tape from an information carrier to a linear map of time and space.” (Excerpt from the press release).
Žilvinas Kempinas is known for his use of unspooled videotape as sculptural medium like in his work Flying Tape (2004), which levitated a room-size loop of videotape on the air currents from a circle of fans.
Žilvinas Kempinas was born in 1969 in Plungė, Lithuania. He lives and works in New York. His work was presented in solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2008); Le Grand Café, Saint-Nazaire, France (2008); Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (2007); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2006); P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2003); Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York (2004, 2006, 2007). In 2007 Žilvinas Kempinas was awarded the Calder Prize and was the resident artist at the Atelier Calder in Saché, France, from January to June of 2008.
TUBE has been commissioned by Laura Rutkutė, and curated by Laima Kreivytė, Galerija Vartai, Vilnius. The exhibition runs until November 22, 2009.
Žilvinas Kempinas: TUBE, Lithuanian Pavilion, Scuola Grande della Misericordia, Cannaregio, Venice / Italy. Opening reception, June 5, 2009.
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