every year when i pick a photograph for the year´s last journal entry i try to come up with a picture of a happy and even improtant moment from the year. well, this year was coined by at least three trips to luxembourg. the one above is the one from june and a short but relaxed stay in wiltz. our journey also made us go through clervaux, see picture above. clervaux is remarkable for me for two reasons: first of all it is the city of photography. they have a big museum of photography (which we did not attent) and serial photo works are installed outside all over the city. also, claervaux lies in a valley surrounded by a wooded crest making all the noises echo even louder. it was strange, even when it looked very quiet, the city and even the natural places were very noisy. sound and vision did not seem to fit together. (i´ll shoud use this idea for a video installation...)

maybe this is a symbol for many aspects of my year, of things not fitting togerther but working out anyway, about extremes i have to chose from and finally finding that it does not make sense.
my year was coined by issues of (lost) friendship, of profits in making art and questioning the own life and its alternatives. i know i can put a lot of pressure on myself by trying to reach the optimal extreme, and maybe i have learned once again that there ist not only black and white, maybe grey (and a lot more in between) maybe even black and white. i often feel i have to make decisions noone else expects from me. and yes, it is the same in the art world as it is in my private life, things appear paralelly, the issues are the same everywhere.

when you make art you consider yourself as a creative person. for me it is strange, i can create works and even whole shows exploring a certain isssue without much effort but i am completele helpless when it try to create solutions for some issues in life. leaving a save playground is never easy.

it has been a strange year offering some extremes for me, thank god i´m am not alone in it. i´m thankful for the guys around sharing the same hopes and fears. and yes, after all this complaining and questioning i can say it was helpful getting a little closer to decisions and solutions. big thoughts lead to small steps, i did not get too far this year, but a little closer anyway. i guess it is still the right direction.



last year i said i wanted to make less, and i guess i have managed it. the summer was quite quiet, somehow the end ouf the year was stressful and it still is, there are annual showas running and coming up making me pretty busy. but they ususally are quite gut and successful.
talking about profit: you know, making photo, video and sound does not make you a beststeller, but there is what i call secondary utilisation: making work on commision, making lectures and teaching, so there is enogh mony in it and there was for me. but when i talk about profit i do not only mean money. i recieved a price with AESTATE this year making me thankful and happy. and without any pathos, finding and making friends is the best profit i can think of.


it has been a busy year for AESTATE even when we did not even play live. we had dj sets, award ceremonies, installations, sounddtrack work, releaseing digtally and physically, well, i do not know what is next, but it just goes on and on. a pretty cool playground.


michaela and me made 'chaos is a colour system' for the khaus quartier in herne. a great fun thing for everyone, we did not consider it as high art, more as a fun project delivering a lot of fun to people, maybe that is an important aspect when i comes to making art. michaela´s solo work will hopfully be shown soon.


matthias danberg and me managed to bring up his 'order chapter 3' movie to different shows escorted by exclusively edited music by AESTATE. also we did two promotional videos together and will hopefully work on music for the upcoming stuff, and we will hopefully do a common lecture in march in a big museum. more to come watch out!


wolfgang van triel and me have fixed a date for our common show 'stadt der anderen', hopefully we will show it in a gallery in summer.


the next show to be opened will be the annual group show in the kunstmuseum mülheim. above you see me during the installing last year, we will install in the middle of january and open on january 31. preparing it it i pretty stressful recently, i hope it turmnes out to be a great show.


still, i´m thankful and happy to exhibit on the museum of my birthtown gelsenkirchen. a great show worth visiting. get the catalogue!

well, let´s be happy in doing what we are doing, healthy and relaxed, seeya in 2015!


sven piayda
# H O W D E E P I S Y O U R L O V E
galerie tellerrand, gelsenkirchen
2015-11-01 — 2016-01-31 (extended)
opening 2015-11-01, 8 pm

laudatio by michael em walter
features interview with michael em walter and sven piayda

galerie-tellerrand.de


sven piayda | videotape/spool
JAHRESSCHAU GELSENKIRCHENER
KÜNSTLERINNEN UND KÜNSTLER
kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen, gelsenkirchen
2015-12-13 — 2016-02-07
opening 2015-12-13, 11.30am

greeting by leane schäfer, director kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen
greeting by frank baranowski, major of gelsenkirchen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, director ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen
horster straße 5-7
45897 gelsenkirchen

open tue to sun, 11am to 6pm
please note, the museum will be closed from
december 24 until january 1st.

kunstmuseum-gelsenkirchen.de






questions? complaints?
click here

you might remember my entry back in 2014 about the joy of finding a birthday present in a vinyl record (2014-07-28 'show/time' storyboards and further spoilers | entry by sven). indeed, it is a quite narcissistic and educative idea to pick your own favorite record as a gift to be someone else’s favorite record. the feedback was quite good making me feel that my choice was right, even good enough to repeat the strategy this year (2015-07-27 annual gifts, new recordings and bad aliens | entry by sven), once gain a right choice...

this year, quite unexpected, I have received some record gifts in return, even on vinyl. well, even when I like to give music to others i feel strange in receiving it. you´ll get something you don´t kwow anything about, getting aware that you will afford time and concentration to follow the (did I call it ‘narcissistic and educative’) idea of your friends. it is always tricky to give music as a gift if you take it seriously, people even believe that it is very tricky to find something appropriate for me. to cut a long story short: I got ‘what?’ by bodi bill and shlohmo´s ‘bad vibes’ and without spoiling to much I guess they will have made it in my upcoming heavy rotation list in january. so, i´m still open-minded and interested in new stuff and even more when it is out on vinyl, keep it coming, you music nerds out there! by the way, would you like to join my heavy rotation list? drop your five albums plus one favorite song via email, put in whatever you like, song and albums do not have to be released this year, just come up with the most frequently played music of your last year. pretty simple, isn´t it?



back to physical: zany music and AESTATE have put out ‘greatest hits’ as physical version on CD waiting to be shipped (please be patient). we hope to put out more stuff with beautiful artwork on compact disc next year, cross your fingers!


flashback: above you see a selfie of dj kent granyon and myself during our guest dj set at the 20th birthday party of the anyway. granyon aka chris is tired of dj sets, I am tired of live shows, we are recently concentrating on finishing new music to be put out.
and we will come back live when there is a right time and venue.


more AESTATE related activity: creating ‘chaos is a colour system’ with michaela best as work on commission was a great experience. now the work is demounted and, as you see, the leftovers look a lot like contemporary art: minimal and meaningless. I guess we´re a lot better in doing the complete opposite!


AESTATE 'GREATEST HITS'
album as free mp3 download bundle

aestate-online.com


sven piayda
# H O W D E E P I S Y O U R L O V E
galerie tellerrand, gelsenkirchen
2015-11-01 — 2015-12-31
opening 2015-11-01, 8 pm

laudatio by michael em walter
features interview with michael em walter and sven piayda

galerie-tellerrand.de


sven piayda | videotape/spool
JAHRESSCHAU GELSENKIRCHENER
KÜNSTLERINNEN UND KÜNSTLER
kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen, gelsenkirchen
2015-12-13 — 2016-02-07
opening 2015-12-13, 11.30am

greeting by leane schäfer, director kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen
greeting by frank baranowski, major of gelsenkirchen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, director ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen
horster straße 5-7
45897 gelsenkirchen

open tue to sun, 11am to 6pm
please note, the museum will be closed from
december 24 until january 1st.

kunstmuseum-gelsenkirchen.de






questions? complaints?
click here

after a year going by when I tried to do less and more focused stuff concerning art I feel once again quite unsatisfied and depressed. knowing that certain collaborations are about to end I was ‘interacting’ with a bunch of gallerists for different reasons and many of them appeared pretty questionable so far.
when you make contact you often work like a fisher, placing baits and nets waiting for big ones to hook up and draw them into your boat. getting hungry makes you think about absent fishes: are they too stupid or too clever to avoid your offers? or are there no fishes anyway? the only thing you know for sure are many fishers all around, you get aware of the concept of overfishing…
if you are looking for representation there is always the underlying topic of not being good enough or not being commercial enough to fit the market (whatever that may mean). also, whenever I tried to buy something, simple pricing questions appeared too complex to answer without talking back to the artist and discuss possibilities (or led to simply ignoring requests).
the relationship between seller, represented and buyer is a strange one, but you can cut a long story short: the artist produces art, the gallerist sells it to the collector. in this set-up there is no ‘but’, the selling success of a certain product has no relation to the product´s quality, only to the seller´s strategy. often the product is blamed to cause low profits, but this argumentation is simply false. there seem to be no valid ways to measure the quality of a piece, while economic success can be related very straight to the strategy.
but wouldn´t it make more sense to find a common way instead if finding a scapegoat? many gallerists are bad sellers anyway who found their place in the art world as seller (not as artists, curators, collectors, critics, writers…), who might also fail in making people buy stuff they would need to live a lot more. a seller sells stuff, but anyway, what is the reason to decide on selling art?

I feel that the classic system of galleries is out-dated. the whole system is based upon believe: the believe of the need for so many gallerists and artists and the believe to transform the value of an artwork into a pirce. I remember radiohead offering the ‘in rainbows’ album without any label via their own website or damien hirst placing his new work directly into auctions without delivering to representing galleries. both examples are driven by the web 2.0 mentality of cutting out the middleman. indeed, a very modern way to do things on your own but also not fair, because it were the middlemen who made these guys ‘popular’ enough that media will serve as free advertising companies supporting their simplified selling methods. nowadays there are enough artists around, there is no need to build up superstars anymore when you can blow out new talents all the time. most of the artists I have talked to in the last years are not happy with their representing galleries, all seem to offer chances but do not sell, pretend to represent but do not place them in museums or fairs. why all this mourning about money? what´s the deal and the aim of this alliance and isn´t it possible to work on it as partners after defining common ambitions? I am working on new or at least alternative ways to make money, next to selling stuff, also with blogging, lectures, cultural projects and indirect profits. also I am fixing a concept called ‘wishingetting’ and a new type of gallery (let’s see how far we´ll take it).

all this talking about money is boring anyway, I did not come here for money, there are easier ways to make money, even legal ones. and there is no money, anyway. the scales fell from my eyes once again when america´s best known (most important?) art critic jerry saltz reviled that he was broke and that there was nearly no one making profit: ‘I have a very very small savings account. So, we all need to remember that except for like 1% of 1% of 1% of everyone in the art world, almost no one in the art world makes money.’ and he also nails why we all cannot take our hands from the scene that doesn´t seem to make sense from an economic point of view: ‘I love the art world. I love that the art world is an ALL-volunteer Army. And always will be. We didn't come here for money. We came here for something-else.’ (quoted from news.artnet.com/people/jerry-saltz-is-really-poor-358976)

when you accept the fact that there is no gold raining down on you, you have to define what this ‘something-else’ might be. this is more simple: doing something meaningful, producing something mirroring yourself in the world, spend time with people who share your passion, interact and discover that you succeed in collaboration, discuss art as meta level for the complete issue of the world, train yourself staying open-minded, support mates and make friends.
if you cannot find what ‘profit’ means to you, you´re broke.



hype and hangover: only one and a half years after opening (see upper picture) the ikosaeder gallery closes again (see lower picture). after making some good exhibitions in 2014 it was clear at the end of the year that the project is about to end soon. a little later oscar decided to avoid talking to me for reasons unknown. the end of this gallery is disappointing as well as the failing of interpersonal relations. even a failing experiment has a message and you have verified what was to divine long before. all my visiting of oscar´s own and curated shows, buying his art, making and joining for exhibitions, joining for performances, writing about the project, advertising on facebook, making people visit the gallery, delivering documentary photographs and teaser videos, making collectors buy at the gallery instead of trying to sell behind his back, talking and trying to settle (even very personal) issues seem to have been a total waste of time, money and efford.


sven piayda
# H O W D E E P I S Y O U R L O V E
galerie tellerrand, gelsenkirchen
2015-11-01 — 2015-12-31
opening 2015-11-01, 8 pm

laudatio by michael em walter
features interview with michael em walter and sven piayda

galerie-tellerrand.de


michaela best + AESTATE
chaos is a colour system
KHAUS QUARTIER, herne
2015-09-11 — 2015-12-05 (extended)
full opening 2015-10-17, 6 pm

KHAUS QUARTIER
hauptstraße 272|274
44649 herne

khaus.eu
aestate-online.com


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

greeting by apostolos tsalastras, cultural department oberhausen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, direktor ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

facebook event

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

last weekend the contemporary art ruhr opened the innovative art fair in the halls of zollverein and the sanaa building. as having become a reliable visitor of the whole process, it was clear for me to have a look at the development trying to extract the trend, message or ‘truth’ given for the scene recently. as I have accepted the fact that fairs are made to sell and therefore profit is the highest aim of the whole enterprise I can visit fairs without being disappointed too much. not only because of the strict focus on profit but on the quality and type of works presented. the CAR truly has a heart for people like me offering space for newcomers, open for innovation, making connections without focusing on simple sale in the first place. this fair feels like an oil drilling station with a playground and there seems to be a connection to one another, actually a tension that makes this fair differ a lot from other fairs nearby.

actually it was pretty obvious which hall presented which section. the first hall contained different galleries from germany. without trying to be unfair there seemed to be a common spirit, many presented works tried to be decorative, sometimes mixed up with a sublime or obvious rebellion, but mostly being not even decorative. i was wondering what would strike me in the high amount of quantity, fairs usually generate eye candy to be imposed and remarkable different from all the work represented, the screaming one seems to be missing…


painting still seems to be the most profitable discipline it only seems to tolerate sculpture next to it. it feels strange the i was mostly attracted by sculptures this time. jo kley´s bull at galerie hoffmann appears so classic and logic, a perfect shape in eternal material, actually a convincing statement of power.


the newcomer space offered a lot more in discipline: great photography, multiples and one again sculpture. sarah bartmann´s mash-up uprights are rough and teasing delivering a fragile and unique recycling beauty. to sum it up, conceptionally great but not commercial. anyway, selling is the gallerists´ task, right?



the corean section is a reliable force concerning quality. they appear always accurate in drawing and painting, even in more conceptional works like well-illuminated war machinery. the corean scene is always worth being discovered and followed. let´s see what they have next year…




the sanaa building had more galleries to offer and some strikes: mechthild ehmann´s sculptures made me fall in love instantly, the abstract shape and the polished surface appear to be perfect, the materials pure and soft, even when you know they are pretty massive and solid. marble, glass and copper articulated shapes truly seem to avoid any message, nevertheless you would not dare to ask for it, as the pure being seems to all that is in need here. in comparison to the average pricing of the fair, these works appear pretty expensive, but I guess this could be the bound of profit and innovation, art and commerce. (represented by art-isotope / galerie schröber)


katharina paukovic showed some marble sculptures looking like classic antique adding a sublime humour or deeper meaning. I cannot tell what is the core of these works, but galerie klose has placed a great position here.


the sanaa building also holds a cinema for screening video. as you see, even during constant screening the response was very low. video still appears to be uncommercial, which is a man-made believe. people buy hollywood movies on dvd, so why not art? it is definitely easier to install a painting for decorative reasons, but who says it is impossible with video? the market is a strange system that operates with the believe of request and also the believe of values in offered goods. an art fair only mirrors the general economic process leaving out all the basic needs focusing on extra needs. in the end, it is always the believe of what is good and even more, the fear that it could be not good. great art is hard to sell…

after all these years there is always a new discovery to be found, not in single work, more in general. the CAR will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year, I hope to be there, looking for new trends, messages and ‘truths’. hope to see you there!


sven piayda
# H O W D E E P I S Y O U R L O V E
galerie tellerrand, gelsenkirchen
2015-11-01 — 2015-12-31
opening 2015-11-01, 8 pm

laudatio by michael em walter
features interview with michael em walter and sven piayda

galerie-tellerrand.de


michaela best + AESTATE
chaos is a colour system
KHAUS QUARTIER, herne
2015-09-11 — 2015-11-28
full opening 2015-10-17, 6 pm

KHAUS QUARTIER
hauptstraße 272|274
44649 herne

khaus.eu
aestate-online.com


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

greeting by apostolos tsalastras, cultural department oberhausen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, direktor ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

facebook event

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

you might remember me reporting about staying in wiltz and my disappointment stepping by for a visit of the mudam in july, see 2015-06-16 the magic of becoming | entry by sven. back then, the museum´s exhibition rooms were closed entirely for installing an upcoming group show spreading over the whole house. checking title and names it was clear that there was the need to return: my experience has proven that big shows at mudam are not only entertaining and inspiring, they are actually more than that, giving you new directions, sometimes even putting you on a new track. here, art isn’t about the colours on the surface, the values of big names, here, art is merging everything thinkable portioned for an open-minded human being. this is what art is all about, i guess.

the title ‘eppur si muove’ meaning ‘and yet it turns’ ‘focuses on the many links that exist between the fields of the visual arts and technology, as well as the decisive influence that the history of the sciences and technology has exercised on contemporary artists.’ as quoted from the mudam website.

getting there and getting in was strange enough, knowing that we will have to deal with issues of time and circumstance later in an artistic point of view, the journey to the kirchberg plateau was even strange: knowing it was going to be a three-hour-ride the navigation system prophesied four hours at the start making us wonder if the timing of the day hasn´t already gone astray. actually, we made it in three hours (where did this extra hour come from?) which did not make us stay for long in the museum. having experienced the first rooms, an alarm started ringing making me wonder if i have triggered it while the attendant was escorting us outside. fortunately it was just a fire alarm that made everyone leave the house (see above). even more fortunately it was just a fake fire alarm.

well, i really want to share my impressions with you, but it is too much: the quantity and quality of scientific devices and artworks is to high to talk about single ones (sometimes you cannot even tell what is what), i´ll try anyway, but this is just about one percent of what you can discover here. when you enter it you may be a little bit disappointed because you can get the impression that this is more a show on the history of science, less on contemporary art, but the more you go through the show you will find out that it is more the other way around and that these things fit perfectly together trying to capture the phenomena of measuring, time, movement, well more or less of everything that is teasing about physics helping to understand and push the world forward.

this way of curating is pure magic: indeed, i do not get or like everything but they know how to give you something you know with something new, from a didactic point of view the perfect way to present new content. it was great to see more works by laurent montaron after having discovered his body of work during ‘out-of-sync’ and now discover further works. and it was pure irritation for myself that i understand and like wade guyton´s ‘painting’ in the context of presentation escorted by brillainat texts on the wall while having turned it down completely after discovering his work during his solo show at the quadrat, bottrop. don´t get me wrong, i´m not impressed by big cities and afraid of the province, but i´ve really learned that the same work is something completely different in the context it appears in. the mudam presented guyton´s work dealing with the issue of production not as an phenomenon of colour. this is what a postmodern painter´s position may be all about.


attila csörgo´s automatic geometric puppet theatre transforms a dodecahedron into a tetrahedron, a cube and an octahedron. it is like an illusionist´s trick: while the fragile and improvised looking construction appears completely transparent you cannot really understand what is going on.


laurent montaron´s photograph of a planetarium also opens different layers of perception, interpretation and conclusion: at first it seems to be just a picture of stars on a black night sky, just by moving in front of the photograph you can adumbrate the silhouette of the projector making all these shining dots.


wim delvoye is a genius indeed. organized and productive like koons or hirst, based upon black humour of a weird walt disney. his work makes you laugh and shiver, i still remember his solo show at the museum kunstpalast featuring many works a long a big cloaca machine, a ten meter workflow monster producing the most simple output thinkable: shit. local restaurants even offered a menu for feeding the hungry robot being busy doing a poo. as there are different versions of cloaca around, it is only consequent to create a travel version. isn´t it great to produce shit wherever you are?



a future that has not been: the 18 kilometer test track of a monorail for a hovering train remains as a relic of an experiment which has economically failed. the monorail remains because of high costs for removal obviously useless for every kind of vehicles. every kind of? raphaël zarka and vincent lamouroux have created the pentacylce, a strange device made for the monorail. somehow, it looks like an uncomfortable status symbol.


students from the university of luxembourg present a futuristic model set-up for upcoming robotic contributions in a museum. small androids are about to interact with human visitors and will guide them aided by a camara carrying drone into and through the museum. the presentation shows them interacting, performing tai-chi, soccer and a sports guessing game interacting with visitors. strange enough, they are cute and impressive, the small robots appear like a mixture of c-3po and our cat.


cyborgs: sterlac´s third hand, well here it is. sterlac appears like his own self-made frankenstein´s monster, being consequent in his research and tests without preventing the own body from damage. he is still impressive and scary at the same time, to be honest his experiments have already made its way into applied medicine.


more robots: conrad shawcross has created an awesome contemporary sculpture: ‘trophy‘ is an installation of an industrial robot arm investigating wooden antlers. while the technologic sculpture reflects painting the slow and curious movement of the robot pulls you into deep observation, really calming you down and following this last piece of the great show. i could watch it for hours like a technologically guided meditation. the robots are coming anyway and they appear human less by their appearance but by their actions. maybe it is the same with human beings?


not to forget the title giving installation of the pendulum by foucault in the big hall.a long pendulum indeed, able to proof a spinning movement of this planet. (that should not be new for you)

pictures above are
views of the exhibition eppur si muove, mudam luxembourg 09/07/2015 - 17/01/2016




making selfies at the mudam toilets has become a strange tradition, actually since visiting it for the first time in 2011. this year made me do a hat trick: me in january, june and october. why? well, this is me at the place i want to be. and it looks cool, of course.


and another great shot of me, thinking of caspar david friedrich capturing all the aspiration for this beautiful view from the kirchberg. thanks to michaela for this classic shot.

find out yourself, strongly recommended:
EPPUR SI MUOVE
ART AND TECHNOLOGY, A SHARED SPHERE
09/07/2015 - 17/01/2016
mudam.lu


michaela best + AESTATE
chaos is a colour system
KHAUS QUARTIER, herne
2015-09-11 — 2015-11-28
full opening 2015-10-17, 6 pm

KHAUS QUARTIER
hauptstraße 272|274
44649 herne

khaus.eu
aestate-online.com


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

greeting by apostolos tsalastras, cultural department oberhausen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, direktor ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

facebook event

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

once again I feel it was a longtime since I reported or discussed a certain topic here, recently the days are busy and ineffective. what I want to pass on today is not the typical frustration, although I am quite frustrated recently. actually I want to share a certain experience concerning my perception in a certain situation among others. even when I usually complain about the art scene, this time it has nothing to do with it, but even worse, it could be. the events in certain scenes and societies appear parabolic, one mirroring the other.

I am working on analyzing and teaching the principles for proper teaching for years now, I take these things serious and also find myself on meetings and conferences with colleagues from the region. doing this for longer now, I have found myself as more and more insecure in this group and even getting nervous talking to them. I have realized this phenomenon as my personal problem at first but things are not this flat and a phenomenon appearing in a certain context must be connected to this context. being an old cat in the scene already, why are things getting labile instead of getting more stable?

I have noticed that I do not have any connection the group even when I consider myself as easy to get in contact with. I have noticed that I am working with people who are avoiding contact, do not greet or even stand eye contact. maybe there is an underlying insecurity in all of them but that would be to easy and may be just one part of it. these people also have developed a certain way to present themselves during meetings and conferences: being competent, knowing what to do at any time, being professionals, in group situations even egoistic and with a lack of humor. you might get scared facing so much self-confidence, even if you feel that there is a false front. I was wondering if insecurity is once again mistaken for arrogance, but what if it is the other way around?

experts are suspicious to me. this idea first hit my when I read an interview with dieter meier telling that he has already made a business card for his baby son placing the word ‘expert’ below his name. he said it was funny being an expert in a world of experts while the term has already lost a deeper meaning. well, indeed, an expert might be someone who knows best about one thing. you could also assume that he only knows about one thing, but not much about others which makes him a nerd. questioning the relevance of depth of his expertness would make him an idiot. the problem about being an expert is the idea about yourself to know best, if you do so you might turn down other opinions or idea, in short: to question your knowledge. so there is no real dialogue (often endless monologues) and therefore no development, just a frozen ‘truth’. maybe the expert isn´t that well-informed as he pretends and thinks, maybe the image of knowing best is everything you can rely on. that is not very much to have self-confidence.
(update 2015-10-03: i have to correct the dieter meier quote. actually he used the term specialist, and you can look up the interview snippet from the galore magazine over here. even if he uses an other term, the idea of a meaningless word having reversed its connotation is also representet by the 'expert' term. please apologise my sloppy way of quoting. by the way, check out dieter meier´s blog!)

I have once again read about the dunning–kruger effect. I have hit that term a few times before but now it have realized it having relevance for my own life. in short, the dunning–kruger effect says that even less skilled people have a higher self-confidence by a lack of knowledge (and it may also works the other way around). indeed, the more you know and you have in mind, the less simple are the truths and directions. and now I am even more skeptical about people pretending to know best, knowing that their world might be a little simpler because consisting of less elements which are easier to handle.

please do not get me wrong, I do not see myself as better or more intelligent as others, but I was just trying to find a reason why I feel bad among people who know what to do, especially when flat ideas are presented as a genius’ output. I wonder if this might make me feel more comfortable among self-confident experts again.

to make it even more strange I can tell you now that I am preparing my own expert´s lecture: matthias danberg and me have been working on an idea for a discussion on digital art for months now, recently it seems that it will probably come up next year. and no, we do not consider us as experts but we want to deconstruct the myth of new media and post internet art. hopefully we will find out together, what digital art is able to, but there is no fixed answer on postmodern questions, maybe a forecast of what may remain after the hype.


time off: we made it to join ‘bredevoort shittert’ again, a biennial ritual we have in september. this year´s to topic was ‘musicals’, actually something that would make us stay away. fortunately, the dutch do not take it to serous so you could join next to ‘sister act’ and ‘the phantom of the opera’ also ‘arielle’ and ‘titanic’. wait, ‘titanic’ isn´t a musical, is it? we had strange fun thinking about writing our own: [singing] ‘we are sinking! splish! splash! we are sinking! slop! slop!’ a sinking ship with people drowning isn´t a perfect place to sing stupid songs, I guess. anyway, one of the residents who has build the ‘rock of ages’ diorama featuring a rock stage and a giant les paul guitar asked me if I liked it and gave some info on the whole process. the residents usually start to work on the decoration in may usually on one or two days at the weekends getting only some reward for the material from sponsors. well, there is a lot of craziness in it and the will to create a funny weekend for tourists and themselves…


some more strage stuff: this summer we´ve managede to get to the belgina coast and this trip was also inspired by a travel report on tv in 2012 when we got to know about 'de lustige velodroom'. well, finally seeing it was pretty disappointing. i do not know what we have expected, but it was smaller than in our imagination and surrounded by all these cfes asn bars on the beach. i took this one picture that was it. well, my expectation was not to complex: falling drunken off a bike that isn´t made for driving anyway, yeah that could have been funny, but the small circuit in all the traffic around was not attractive at all...


i have visited carsten roth from the kunstverein bochumer kulturrat again, we are still happy with the 'show/time', my solo show he curated for the kunstverein and we have talked about making another show together. not only with me, more a double solo show with another artist, something that will be new for the kulturrat. well, we are pretty good in bringing in innovations to the place together, like starting artist talks and doing double solo shows. well, nothing before 2017, but things may turn out over time and you will find out here first.


yet another snippet from the studio: i´m am busy recently, there is not that much output as before but still enough to do a big portfolio update in october. more is on its way.


update 2015-10-03: this is a snapshot from yesterday morning, driving by the garden center everyday made me realize the spooky pumpkin headed scarecrows with lowing faces in the dawn next to the street. that really gets me in the mood for october. well, i just wanted to share this, decoartion is taken seriously here. i´m impressed and promise to buy plants here next time.


michaela best + AESTATE
chaos is a colour system
KHAUS QUARTIER, herne
2015-09-11 — 2015-11-28
full opening 2015-10-17, 6 pm

KHAUS QUARTIER
hauptstraße 272|274
44649 herne

khaus.eu
aestate-online.com


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

greeting by apostolos tsalastras, cultural department oberhausen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, direktor ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

facebook event

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

the days are busy recently. i feel like my favourite hobby has become sleeping, well, it already was, now the free and awake times are even more precious. even when i was enjoying to not exhibit in summer and being thankful for a break from the art scene thing, the events are coming back.
above you see me at the 'kunststoffe' show opening two weeks ago, i am very proud to have one of my works in a museum again. the opening was great and sunny, meeting some friends again...

however, a lot of production is recently based upon video - or even screen based stuff. you know, there is an online exhibition coming up, dealing with stuff fitting in the flat works behind the screen. also the video pieces seem to be requested recently. 'kite' at ludwiggalerie of course but also two very cool video related things will also come up this year:


it was detlef kelbassa from kelbassas panoptikum who once again planted an idea into my mind. when corinna and he came around in summer for checking out the recent beer collection and to exchange simon pegg movies, he fixed 'audrey', our adopted piece from the extraschicht (see 2015-06-23 adopting an alien plant labyrinth leftover | entry by sven), and told me about the plans to show their extraschicht movie alongside with further short movies in a cinema. he invited michaela and me to contribute making me imediately think about how to turn installative pieces into in a cinema usable narrations. well, let me spoil you a bit: michaela is believed to contribute 'once' our soup-bubble-in-the-autumn-woods-fantasy and i hope to finish something called 'never is a long time' based upon the tableaux dealing with wishing, searching, believing and understanding. i´m cutting and composing my scenes, editing baroque music fading into space humming, compressing images into something wondering if you get it or not...

well i do not have a screening date, but if you are interested let me know, this will be a very exclusive festival, probably semi-public, so make sure you do not miss it. i wonder if i shold do a dvd release?


michaela and AESTATE are recently showing 'colour is a chaos system' at 'chaos in farbe' at the khaus quartier in herne. on friday the work in progress period has sarted, the full opening is scheduled for october 17 featuring works by all participating artists. we are happy to have finished first of all, so you can join our multicolour-vectorized room even now. and yes, you are allowed to take pictures, and yes: please use flash.
we do not feel like doing the high end art here, but we have created a work on comission bringing some joy to the visitors. it is good to do some things different from what i ususally do. you can explain it and it makes sense as usually, but this time it is something to have fun with.
all info see below.


i am very honored to show 'videotape/spool' at the kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen in december. more on opening date and running time soon. what i want to tell now is that i´m really happy about it. the kunstmuseum gelsenkirchen is probably not the best known or coolest museum in the world, but it is the museum of my birth city and has played a big role in my art education. i remember spending sunday afternoons in the museum with my parents and exploring the kinetic pices. still, their kinetic clooection is pretty unique as far as i can see, and it is still inspiring and a place of frequent returns.
but back to my contribution: 'videotape' is a piece originally from 2012, but it is extended with an new part called 'spool' from 2015. now the pice is even more multi-layered: the upcoming and vanishing of a certain medium as presented in from science-fiction movies known aesthetics of monoliths, asteroid fields and galaxies...
more soon!


michaela best + AESTATE
chaos is a colour system
KHAUS QUARTIER, herne
2015-09-11 — 2015-11-28
full opening 2015-10-17, 6 pm

KHAUS QUARTIER
hauptstraße 272|274
44649 herne

khaus.eu
aestate-online.com


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

greeting by apostolos tsalastras, cultural department oberhausen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, direktor ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

facebook event

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

once again I can rant about the fact and my personal aim to do less art and focus on other things. well, as you might have realized this year offered definitely less shows than the years before. anyway, I have been busy in making contact and making applications for group shows, see above.
the next group show is coming up on august 30 at ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen, which is a great place and big honor for me. next to it was facing many phenomena of dead ends in communication with curators and galerists again, witnessing situations of ignorance, disorganization and simply giving up. that really makes you feel like you are younger again, trying to get in but also feeling that there is no way in… but there are also positive events where you would not expect them, requests from smaller show rooms and off-spaces.
well, it is all for the thrill of it. wait, really?

when I started to do the art thing seriously I was often disappointed, sometimes even offended, when applications for group shows or prizes had been rejected. also It has really freaked me out when the actually picked me to contribute. later rejections did not even do something with my mood, leaving me cool while focusing on the next thing. now it feels a little bit upside down, I feel bad because of al this ignorance and disorganization while installing a work for a show appears as big afford. I was wondering if there still was a thrill. artist may ask themselves if they are doing it for money, fame, sex, ego boost or a phenomenal amount of too much time and power. in case of getting it clear for myself would probably make it easier to define what I do, maybe a mixture of it, maybe nothing of it. in times of growing academies and a growing number of artists the pieces appears numerous and redundant, the question why the art system works the way it does appears as even more exciting as art itself…



some impressions from the studio: I was setting up the monitor and player for the ‘kunststoffe’ group show. ‘kite’ works perfectly and was discussed quite controversially saying this is one of my best pieces and also to be an odd one. well, find out yourself at the show and don’t forget to get the catalogue from the studio for free!


all you have to do is to drop a line addressed to studio[at]svenpiayda.com telling your postal address and your favorite work by sven piayda. in case of more than three participants, receivers are chosen by the lot. you can write until saturday, august 22, 12am.



more thrilling thoughts: after long thinking about an if to go on I have decided to go on with record of tides as a solo project. you know I have discovered the 2004 release again (and we did a successful 2014 digital re-release) and I am still fascinated by its naïve and brittle beauty. as I was sure I could not bring this sound back I have started to work on tracks again after returning from a short trip to the see in february 2014. I wanted to report here but somehow it did not happen. above you see some pictures I have taken being alone in the dunes at dusk. I mean really alone and really dark. truly inspiring. and yes, the next record of tides album will take time. I think it is okay to have a follow-up album 15 years after the debut…

recordoftides.aestate-online.com


are you ready to party? kent granyon and me will return as guest djs for the 20th birthday party of the anyway at september 5, 2015. it is going to be cozy and wild, don´t miss it!

facebook event

ANYWAY program schedule
ANYWAY website

aestate-online.com


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

greeting by apostolos tsalastras, cultural department oberhausen
introduction by dr. christine vogt, direktor ludwiggalerie
sven piayda is expected to be present

facebook event

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

I remember reading about the odapark about one year ago when one of my digital ‘friends’ on facebook reported about their visit. I hit the like button without knowing what it actually was but I thought I should have an eye on it. last summer we actually wanted to visit the park but the navigation system brought us somewhere but not to the park, this enterprise ended as disaster with bad mood. now, about a year later, giving it a second try with a new navigation system on a sunny saturday afternoon ended successful, we have finally found it, somewhere in the small village of venray.

the park appears public and open for everyone full of beautiful nature and sculptures. entering from the parking area two penguins welcome you at the gate being already the perfect overture for the solo exhibition the park recently shows. the garden gnome sized red penguins look quite realistic (except for he colour, of course) but are both equipped with a bottle on their back, seemingly fixed on them with a belt. these (on first look) funny looking sculptures are the heralds of a range of beings as featured in william sweetlove´s solo show ‘waterwars’. next to the penguins, dogs, frogs, even a life-sized crocodile and many further beings appear arranged in a colourful march looking for water, all equipped with a bottle on their back, sometimes even with sneakers.

the whole set-up features an interesting contradictive tension: while the sculptures look naturalistic, cute and funny you dream of placing them in your own garden. below this superficial fun of colourful and modified animals you have an terrific topic of these days: the attempt to privatize common goods, in this case even the most common and nessesary one. while the title also reminds me of movie titles like ‘waterworld’ or ‘star wars’, the issue of making profit based upon privatizing common goods to simply take them away from the locals who need them and sell them third parties to make profit. well, obviously this is the perfect way to steal something that belongs to everyone. sweetlove´s backpackers appear as nomads and refugees, in need to find the river head. actually it is impressive how such a topic is bound into the humorous set up of his funny fauna replicas.


next to this deep impact of current issues you should not forget about the humor and fun it delivers: the red oversized piggy forced me to do a selfie together, I felt like princess mononoke staring into this giant red plug socket…


the pavilion in the middle offers next to the café and shop two small exhibition spaces presenting sweetlove´s parades under flying bread or even climbing up the walls. unfortunately I did not do pictures inside because I was not sure how to handle the copyright issue here. well, you will have to check it out yourself…


some more info on the show, some impressions of installing and installation.


the park with its 19 hectares of woods, sand, swings and sculptures is one of the smaller sculpture parks i have discovered in the last months but nevertheless worth to be visited and discovered. what really bounds all the pieces together is the strong sense for humor, you can have a good time laughing out loud if you lie to. did you ever break in on a polar bear doing a poo? erik habets´ ‘scheissbär’ seemed to be very absorbed in making his business…
this is a great place for relaxing, laughing and thinking. who said art cannot be funny and educative at the same time? recommended!


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

usually I try to do posts trying to bring everything together, to find parallels in art and life and try to make things transparent. this time there are some things I have to report and fix here without discovering any deeper meaning.

last year I reported about the pleasure of finding a gift for a friend with a record player and interest for post rock and electronica so we decided on turner´s ‘disappearing brother’. now, a year later there is another birthday (and) party and the idea of getting a record as gift was well appreciated again. the options were endless, and after being brave in picking a quite underground and less known record we wanted to make it save. to be honest, there are only a few records that appear commercially successful and having ling lasting artistic sustain. there are only a few. you might remember MGMT´s debut album being a commercial hit while being appreciated by actually everyone I have asked at that time. unfortunately the band could not keep their big success and must have lost many fans with their second album. to cut a long story short, this time we decided on daft punk´s ‘random access memories’, a great album among all their previous releases. this one is even well known for its high-end production and great sound, probably a must-have on vinyl…


you know, I have to do things again and again, me last year with the turner record and me yesterday with a ‘random access memories’ vinyl. Let´s see what we do next year… by the wy, I guess we have hit the right choice once again.


next to buying music and playing (mostly) tracks by other artists I was active myself again. about a month ago I recorded some guitar tracks for AESTATE and last week I have finally joined a session we have been planning for months now. it is too soon to tell more, but it is going to sound very atmospheric and noisy, actually very close to what is en vogue among studied electronic artists. we made a complete live session using synth, piano, guitar and laptops. there is a project name but I cannot tell it now, I hope for a tiny digital release probably in autumn.


in the last post I have reported about witnessing a strange light phenomenon in the late evening of july 18. as is got some informations and confirmations via facebook I was also adviced to contact the deutsches zentrum für luft- und raumfahrt.this contact was very positive and very soon I was informed that it was very likely that we have seen something called iridium flare meaning a reflection based upon unique relation of the sun and a satellite. I do not know if this is it actually but it is definitely closest to it. to be honest, it is scary to see something in the sky you do not understand. I do not think that aliens have something to do with it but you never know.

the search for life on other planets is getting interesting again even when we should be careful in contacting aliens with hidden purposes. so based upon the light phenomenon I was very much in research and dialogue concerning the possibility of alien life, the fermi paradox and the strong possibility of meeting bad aliens. when you think about the history of our own planet, technically higher developed discoverers usually ended up in exploiting the natives. moral standards may vanish in the presence of profit, this principle may be the same everywhere in the universe.


and yes, we are busy: digital lectures, web projects new shows and film screenings... i hope to have some big news soon again...


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

even when i dislike to travel too much and too far i found myself in many different hotels this year already. i have reported about the belgian museums (there are even more museums to visit, think of BOZAR for example) and traveling around and so there was the chance to check into different hotels. first of all, i will not come up with certain names here, i am not aiming to advertise or to bash a certain place. but it was actually funny, traveling around and staying at different places makes you realize certain differences, to one another and to the place you call home.

following the cliché every woman drams of a walk-in wardrobe, well, the piece i have found in de panne was probably the most minimal offer to this wish. please note, the wardrobe i am in (see above) is one piece with a cut-out bottom, so you are surrounded by it if you find the right way in…


finding and checking into a hotel very near to the coast appears luxurious, but there is always a downside. first, you may have problems to park your car (or if you do you might get your car impounded like it happened to me) secondly there is no advantage in staying near the sea because you do not see it anyway. the coast is skyscraper-lined and you are lucky to see the gap between where you assume the sea. it feels somehow surrealistic but you do not find what i search for when it comes to visiting the sea.


the funny thing about the hotel complex is the fact that it looks a little outmoded. there must have been a time in the eighties when there was a run on the coast, now some buildings seem to be relicts of another time. also, the architectures appear strange, like being transformed several times to create new spaces to follow new needs. the hallway without windows and wavy wallpapers gives you shivers trying to reach your hotel door.


a room with a toilet. well, that was pretty strange and even awkward. the toilet was placed in a one by one meter room, only separated by a glass door. well, you have to be very familiar with your room mates if you want to use it. or maybe you like being watched by doing a poo, but without telling too much about my preferences: i don´t. and i don’t want to watch somebody. the only thing helping you here is being disciplined and to handle it like a grown-up. more or less, of course.


this device in a high-class hotel near brugge became our best friend. the vending machine offered everything you might need in a hotel, next to water, cola and crisps even condoms, toothpaste and beer. but the best about it was it´s triggering for gambling! feeding it with a 5-euro-note gave you high chances to receive the change in coins without substracting the price after delivering the good. well, sometimes it worked sometimes not, and in the end it was more the fascination for gambling that made us buy a lot of things from it, not the need for orange juice. thank you, my robotic friend, let´s do it again from time to time…


some off topic: in the evening of july 18 around midnight me among other garden party guests witnessed something strange in the night sky. something like an orange fissure appeared being pretty big and then fading away. this phenomenon was also confirmed by some people via facebook, so i guess it was really there. it did not look like a comet, satellite or red sprite phenomenon, no polar light or plane. everyone witnessing it has confirmed it to be pretty different from everything else to be witnessed at the night sky. i have already contacted the deutsches zentrum für luft- und raumfahrt, i hope for some answers. above you see my digitally created image of the phenomenon trying to capture the colour, size and position. i hope to come up some answers soon.


about one year ago the kunstverein bochumer kulturrat opened my solo show ‘show/time’. facebook reminded my today by coming up with an old posting. once again, i would like to say thank you for joining and it like to remind you of the fantastic speech by curator cartsen roth and of all the numerous installation and opening views. enjoy, more soon, hopefully!


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

reading this headline myself makes me wonder if this was on my schedule, actually things happened a incidentally. as i was focusing to go to south england this summer, we finally only managed some hotel hopping in begium along the coast. this procedure brought phenomena and cognition but hat will be enough for another entry.

i have frequently returned to the M HKA in antwerp and reported about it, actually this museum came up with great shows also showing david claerbout which is always an argument to join the show. whenever i am in antwerp i usually check the exhibition schedule and usually go in. well, this is more than a recommendation, this is a place you should not miss.


this summer we also returned to gent for a visit of the SMAK. well, even the second visit didn´t correct the first disappointing impression from (i guess) 2010 when the claerbout video room did not work at all. to keep it fair i have to mention the great architecture and the extremely friendly and helpful staff. also the logo combination on the wall made me realize which museums are still on schedule. so when you are in gent, check out the busy historic district and balls & glory in case of getting hungry.


some days before we had checked in to oostende surprisingly and incidentally near to the Mu.ZEE, a large museum for contemporary art placed into a former warehouse. so this place offered a very much space in a confusing architecture. anyway, a great discovery and recommendation and place to spend much time for discovery. this summer the museum offered (together with SMAK) a large lili dujourie solo show. even after seeing both parts of this large retrospective i remain skeptical but i am impressed by early eighties video works which could have been inspiration for what i search for when it comes to motion picture.


the most impressive discovery of this summer and the last one of the four museums of contemporary art is the MIDDELHEIMMUSEUM. actually, the museum is a sculpture park, free to enter and more to discover that we did. it is surprising how much is shown in the park, how big it is and how it makes you want to stay on a sunny summer day. it somehow reminds me of essen´s gruga and the hoge veluwe near arnheim. a perfect place to discover sculptures of about ten decades and to calm down and relax. maybe sculptures are actually able to stop time like photography does in an illusionary way. the photo freezes a single moment copied onto a two-dimensional space, the sculpture seems to be there forever.


the park had some surprises. when i went through it a big purple metallic ball appeared. it was reminding me a lot of my own work, of strange objects being placed into free spaces and of course of wolfgang van triel´s advice to transfer my photo works into reality and create three-dimensional objects ito real places like i do in a digital way. well, i guess this idea is needless now, someone was earlier and even more consequent: above you see me next to corey mccorkle´s ‘yayoi’. and i cannot help myself, doesn´t it look like i have placed myself into one of my own cgi photo works?


‘firmament 3’ by antony gormley was another work reminding my of my own work. you might remember ‘network’ (2011). gomley´s work inspired people to step onto it keeping the custodian busy or make wedding pictures in front of it.



perfectly parked? no, not really. the bent boat is the iconic ‘misconceivable’ by erwin wurm the other one consists of a pen and a car pretending to be an unstable construction. wurm is always a guarantor for great humor.


‘orbino’ by luc deleu gave me big déjà vu to matthias rick´s ‘opernbauhütte’ and his fascination for overhanging parts in experimental architecture. (even when it´s made of containers). ‘orbino’ did not feel comfortable from the inside, make the overhang swing up and down after every step while you can see the ground through the gaps.


the modelhaeuser by timm ulrichs look like toy houses on the picture, well they even did in real life but a lot larger than the photo might make you believe.


even when it is summer i am quite busy on working on stuff, a complex video piece like ‘antenna’ dealing with random combinations of sequences to generate an endless non-looped video of an iconic picture i have in my head for years… also the are ideas for shows, combining pieces to shift to more complex conclusions is always a challenge.


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

once again it is time to focus your attention on a great exhibition worth visiting. ‘green city’ at ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen is worth to me mentioned because of different reasons: certain artists and the venue itself are in need to be in your focus:

the exhibition features around 70 international and also local artists dealing with the phenomenon of nature within cities, as well as the conflicts and chances, sometimes poetic and sometimes analytic. this is your opportunity to see van triel´s pieces on the wall (see picture above). you can read about my fascination of his approach in my older entries and i´m proud to announce that we are still working on a common project together. also you should not miss klaus dauven and his works made of (erased) patina. it is fascination to see a piece which is actually consisting of coincidence and dirt while being turned into a picture and – even more – a touching piece of art by just taking away material just like a sculptor. a new discovery is definitely miriam hüning showing photographs of – let´s say – rearranged pictures in an analogue way, well, it is great to see where you can go if you leave out common digital tools.


at least you should get in touch with the ludwiggalerie in general and be well prepared for the follow-up show entitled ‘kunststoffe’ featuring my ‘kite’ video installation. after this longer pause of exhibiting it is exchiting again and i do not want you to mis it..


also have a virtual look into the show, curator nina dunkmann leads through the exhibition. video by olaf w.k. isselhorst.


some more stuff you have already missed but which was great: i could only join the parksounds for one evening but there is nothing better than listening to aphex twin at dusk. ‘vordhosbn‘ is in need to be played loud, that was a magic moment! i really want to deejay and play live again…


the 'weissen nächte' came up with chromekraut international playing their best set so far.


it took two approaches but i have finally managed to see ‘gott’ by woody allen as performed by the ensemble of the theater an der ruhr. what can i say? fantastic play and performance. we need to do it again!


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

the last weekend was strongly coined by the ‘extraschicht’ in the ruhr area, a festival placed at different venues presenting music, art and performance. actually, i am not really a fan of it because i could never really find out what it is all about and all this art and performance usually is not about art, it is light entertainment without any deeper meaning. usually people just eat and drink while waiting for the fireworks…

because of acute boredom we decided to spnd some time at the müga venue, because our friends of kelbassas panoptikum (detlef kelbassa and corinna kuhn) installed a labyrinth of their work. you might know that we are big fans of their work, simply because it is very complex and unique, and because they are nice guys anyway. i have reported about their work and special installations at 2011-08-19 head in the bells, 2012-04-05 EGGXPO feature: a night at kelbassas panoptikum and 2014-08-04 head in the bells ...revisited.

the labyrinth was filled with numerous works, photographs, multiples and sculptures. i´m a big fan of the alienesque life forms being something between animal and plant, vivid and strange. i have considered several times buying a piece without being able to decide for a single one or being brave enough to place it in the garden. the labyrinth also featured the nameless plant sculpture as pictured above: over six feet tall the piece appears attractive and scary making a big impression during the extraschicht show. well, the piece has found it´s way into our collection (by michaela´s spontaneous positive reaction to an incredible offer) and is now placed in our living room. it looked quite big outside, it looks even more big inside of a room, reminding me a lot of ‘audrey II’ form the ‘little shop of horrors’, giving me some scary seconds while turning off the lights at night. so, the collection is growing. we´ll need to do a show with it one day…



here are some impressions of kelbassa´s labyrinth inclusive the film screening being a part of it.



and here is a funny first day snapshot of ‘audrey’ and me, corinna promised me that the plant is a vegetarian, well, let´s hope so…


don’t forget: the white nights are back: june 25 – 28 in the raffelbergpark in mülheim an der ruhr. let me know if you want to join! also: parksounds at stadtgarten essen, june 22 – 26, 8 pm. are you there? let me know!


i have brought some new equipment to the studio, i hope to be productive and work on some new sound and video stuff. also we are recently picking and editing work for the portfolio, the update is about to come up, please be patient. soon, very soon!
i have also updated the 'culture mine' site, which you can access via /CAMP. and some networking today. and some hanging around admiring the rain...


sven piayda | kite
K U N S T S T O F F E
ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
2015-08-30 — 2015-11-29
opening 2015-08-30, 3 pm

ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen
konrad-adenauer-allee 46
46049 oberhausen

ludwiggalerie.de






questions? complaints?
click here

fortunately i had the chance to finally return to luxembourg again. you might remember me reporting having spent the first day of this year in the mudam. now, about six and a half months later we went back, not especially to visit the museum but to definitely step by.

this visit was a little bit disappointing without leaving me disappointed. you know, this is definitely one of the best houses for contemporary art aand a place for frequent returns, so a visit is obligatory. this time there was nothing to see, i have missed the david altmejd show and entered the museum in the gap between the shows. the house is preparing a large group show called ‘EPPUR SI MUOVE’ featuring many artists i do not want to miss. as the upcoming show is about to take place in every exhibition space available, there was nothing to see. it was pretty strange to walk around between wooden boxes from one shutoff to the other, staring at cut timber and empty rooms…

all this progress of installing evokes a certain magic of becoming. there is a certain excitement of planning things and imagine them before they become reality. you try to imagine how things might turn out, how they look like on a wall or how they fill a room, and of course you think about the audience or visitors experiencing it. you think about what it makes with them, how they react and what they say. will they like it? or will it change their day, mood, attitude or life?

the longer the process of becoming, of shaping an idea, is, the more you will find out how good it actually is: i often feel that certain projects lose edge after a while of pushing them, others grow and get into shape. making ‘show/time’ took two years (and some sleepless nights) to become what it was, my next big show is also in the process of becoming. and yes, there is magic in it, a belief of being able to communicate and take people into the rabbit hole, making them think in a way they did not do before. and yes, there is also the chance to fail completely without anyone telling you. It is exiting, isn´t it?

by the way, i took the opportunity to make a classic mudam cloakroom self-portrait again, something similar to what i did in january, here i have even hit infinity… well, if they do not show pictures, you have to do them yourself…


a snapshot of me admiring the building site of installation. michaela said that this also could be the greatest conceptual show presenting much art which you cannot see. Well, things are only what you call them, the idea of presenting the ordinary as something special appears seducing, especially for artists. anyway, this museum is honest, no doubt, we will have to return when there is something to see…


the mudam café is worth a visit itself anyway and probably the reason why the museum is open for visitors even without having a show to offer. the café is a point of frequent returns, and the perfect place to think about the exhibition you have just seen. or to just have a coffee and to be glad to be back.


even if this hanging around in hotels and museums appears to be quite relaxed, i am recently very busy in producing new work, making safety copies and commission works, arranging work for the 2016 ‘culture mine’ show, doing badly paid database work and lot of teaching related organizing stuff which has actually nothing to do with teaching. a hundred tiny building sites in need to be not forgotten with each of them pretending to be most important. being relaxed is probably the only way to get all of the work done…


also: the white nights are back: june 25 – 28 in the raffelbergpark in mülheim an der ruhr. maybe my chance to have a cocktail outside in the illuminated park and to finally see woody allen´s ‘god’, after escaping from the rain during the play in 2011. also chromekraut will perform again and they seem to be a guarantee for bad weather, if you make statistics based upon previous years…
by the way, we are planning a new AESTATE dj set. maybe also a live gig. but let´s keep this quiet, first of all…






questions? complaints?
click here

it´s been a month again, i forgot what i wrote about, actually some lament about making decisions, right? well, doubt is luxury, no doubt about that, so i have made some decisions, well, it is easier when you are forced to do it. i´m preparing to get a new car, well, a decision on spending much money instead of wasting a lot of money. the fact of getting rid of the old and try something new appears as principle for life sometimes. the older you get the more you will find yourself in variations of situations you have already been in. and sometimes experience is a profit not to do the same mistake over and over again: repetition does not lead to various results…
my old ford fusion served me for 11 years, i thought about how fast they rushed by and what happened. so, this is a randomly chosen point for a new decade, let´s see what it comes up with.

there is more looking back: a week ago i have finally received some more pictures from the opening of ‘show/time’ at kunstverein bochumer kulturrat. above you see me next to my gallerist simone czech facing wolfgang van triel. we have added just five more pictures to the large documentation over at the 2014 exhibitions section, just scroll down!


another new opening picture, ‘kite’ in the basement´s double projection. this piece is scheduled to come up in the group exhibition at ludwiggalerie schloss oberhausen entitled ‘kunststoffe’ and will opened on august 30.



and some views into the future: have found some excitement in doing what i do again, i have already posted some rendering snapshots on facebook, well here are two once again, having led to great results. i hope to present some updates in the portfolio in about a month, the 2015 section still appears quite small.

deeper views into the future are available in the /CAMP: next to the draft for ‘culture mine’ and a web version of ‘kite’ you will be able to watch a classic 60 minute AESTATE audiovisual live performance. well, multi-angle views at one time, be excited, this is going to be even more exiting than ‘live at audiodigitale 2008’! get into the /CAMP, if you are qualified!






questions? complaints?
click here

there is a lot going on these days in my head. as i have reduced the shows and also al little bit the production i am now coming back, looking forward and making plans. actually, some events made me think about larger questions again (and more questions do not generate more answers). well, i have been advised that a more positive tone in the journal does also look good instead of the creeping depression underlying within the last months.
in the last weeks a lot of stuff happened and it also leads back to the whole year. on satuarday the ikosaeder gallery will celebrate it´s first birthday, above you see me in the audience during a performance (being in the audience is feeling pretty good these days). i remember the euphoria and the full gallery rooms last year, all these hopes and plans, and the believe in what was going to come. now, one year later reality has taken over, i feel blessed for having participated in a lot of stuff but i can never be happy. i don´t know, if i consider the last year as success or not, actually it depends on my daily mood. anyway, i realize that one year has passed by. did I get what i wanted?



well, the ikosaeder anniversary is something about looking back, analyzing the span of a year. actually there is another project going on that hat put a date into my future which has already passed by: doing an artist talk for `show/time’ made me receive an offer to do a show for the dorsten based kunstverein virtuell visuell. the kunstverein moved into an machine house of a former coal-mine, i took a first sneak peek from the outside in february, last saturday i stood in front of it approaching it´s open doors. well, this is still pre-project time, and there is still a lot of time span in it, i guess. first results may be expected in 2016, let us be patient.
so will i get what i want? a personal retrospective may be a waste of time, but it is painful, so what am i trying to find out?



a snapshot from tuesday morning, a rainbow segment on a cloudy but not rainy morning in may. the dark grey skies behind gloomy green leaves on the trees created my favourite surrealistic wheather atmosphere, some spectral colours in the sky make it even more strange and unique. i simply thought i like to share this beautiful experience with you. and i have to combine it with my snap of the super cell from the last pentecost storm: isn´t it strange how the same thing can appear so different?
and how something beautiful can turn into something horrible and threatening? well, also the other was around.
let´s call it potential, that´s pretty positive in my terms.


the title of this entry is hitting perfectly what i want to say or feel about the phenomena i witness recently. before you call it plagiarism i will tell you where i have taken it from: ‘leaving a moment (you’ve been waiting for)’ is a clock counting onwards from the 2012 assumed doomsday date. i have discovered this piece by doreen kiesling during the rundgang at kunstakademie düsseldorf in 2013. actually a great discovery and a concept that kept in mind triggering all the phenomena of anticipation, passing time, disappointment and forgetting.
so, what is the moment you are waiting for recently?


sven piayda | a day at the city (one minute edit)
ONE MINUTE FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL AARNAU
stadtmuseum schlössli, aarnau, switzerland
2015-05-08 — 2015-08-10
more information to be announced

oneminute.ch






questions? complaints?
click here

this year´s art cologne came up with some great surprises. as i have been retuning disappointed and sometimes even quite depressed, this year appeared to be a little better. to be honest: my press card saved some money i would have spent otherwise and anyway, so i may have looked a little bit friendlier on certain things. maybe this could be one reason, but there is definitely more.

in the last years i did not see a direction or trend, a lot of stuff appeared unskilled, ugly and willing to be cool, trying to be an eyecatchers without any deeper meaning. in 2015 the art cologne was spread over three floors without seeming to show more quantity: contemporary galleries in the middle, new positions on top and classic modern and post war in the basement. i have realized my very own view on things, known names and works retuning every year, sometimes nice ideas in strike my view but i am bound to digital media, reflexive discourse and unusual stuff. painting is in some theoretical views the queen of arts, so it doesn’t have to fight for a position anymore, it is enough in itself. this concept seems so work, a painting, no matter what it may show or look like, is never in question and always able to be sold.
whenever i see stuff that differs from a fixed setup of methods i am fully interested, unfortunately not more able to buy.



it is always great to see tim berresheim´s works at the fair, always easy to identify and fascinating all the way. here the gallery had shown to pieces at state of the art of what is possible with current computer soft- and hardware recently, generative imagery at the technical limit of production. being represented by rainhard hauff in stuttgart now, the gallery staff was very open-minded and interested in discussing the work and getting feedback even without using every sentence to make a sale. even when the price range is wide on a fair the gallery offered appropriate prices.


ren ri seems to have a studio full of numerous but non-human assistants: his works have been created by bees. it is obvious that is his input that the beeswax hexagons are forming shapes of states, even without understanding the process. a bee´s state forming a state seems logical, poetic, critic and beautiful at the same time. as i see bees playing an upcoming major role in my life i was struck by these works personally, of course.



the future gallery puts high hopes into it´s name already. the gallery appears to be quite young but shows two interesting artists jon rafman and spiros hadjidjanos dealing with digitally created works. the production process remains mostly enigmatic to most visitors questioning and adoring it. even as the productions appear not to be so complex, the works have media and art historic reflexive elements and play with the options of generative 3d-design and the possibility to a add a third dimension to an image to turn it into a sculpture. the future probably cannot be found in the technology but In what it can transform the vocabulary of postmodernism.
digitally produced art will become more important in the future anyway, it comes up with a very own aesthetics far way from ductus but an unique look representing this generation of producers. and it is this what will remain after the hype of the ‘post internet art’ bubble is over…


the kunsthochschule für medien köln has become an annual highlight over the last years. this year i was not that much impressed as last year but i was fascinated by ale bachlechner´s ‘saturn return’ dealing with personal relationship experience re-enacted in strange costumes somewhere in mexico. even when i usually do not like video art getting to close to cinematic narration, this one was strange enough to wander between the poles. unfortunately the sound was very silent but escorted by loud humming so it was hard to follow the narration. but even with this technical problems the work appeared unique and is remembered like a strange dream.



when i was leaving already i made another surprising discovery: a gallery space was placed into the foyer hall showing fantastic work by gyula varnai: a tape running through two tape machines playing the words ‘one’ and ‘two’ while forming a ‘three’ via construction on the wall. also a wooden frame appeard like a boring graphic piece until realizing it´s movement as four sweep hands have been build into the cube graphic making it spin and change perspective all the time. i left deeply impressed after not having expected it anymore…


and this is me running over the fair looking busy and deep thinking about the matter. honestly, this time everything was a little bit more decent but willing to come up with new or simply classic stuff. this fair offered good works and prices and after years i am excited to return next year!


sven piayda | a day at the city (one minute edit)
ONE MINUTE FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL AARNAU
stadtmuseum schlössli, aarnau, switzerland
2015-05-08 — 2015-08-10
more information to be announced

oneminute.ch






questions? complaints?
click here

last time i have told you about the snaphot of a sketch on an unnamed collector´s wall, now i have received an update presenting three of my works as sketches. well, that really made my day.

you might remember, the idea was born for the last year´s group show at ikosaeder gallery, the idea to offer smaller works for small prices, see picture above. actually, not a groundbreaking but noteworthy effect.
well, as the gallery is about to celebrate it´s first anniversary in may (there will be some features coming up on svennet), i took a look on some installation views of different sketches and some full tableaus on different collector walls from last years:
and here they are. may be you would like to add yours?







well, this time it really looks like a photo blog. more words soon.


coming up, hopefully, some of my views of the cart cologne. i do not expect much this time and i hope for happy surprises...
i´ll let you know!


sven piayda | a day at the city (one minute edit)
ONE MINUTE FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL AARNAU
stadtmuseum schlössli, aarnau, switzerland
2015-05-08 — 2015-08-10
more information to be announced

oneminute.ch






questions? complaints?
click here

you know that there is always a lot going on. these days my very own actions are quite limited and reduced, for different reasons. on the one hand it is some incident of not having fixed a certain show, on the other a big questioning of what i am doing with my art.
well, i have to answer how to go on in a way that is appropriate and meaningful for me. i guess there will be some decisions made in may, i will report the opportunities and decisions as soon as possible. well, i don´t know if quitting compleatly is an option, but maybe things have to transform. recently i do not know how, we will need to make things exciting again.
the cruse ship needs to become an explorer again. well, something like that.

next to the big questins of how to go on with meaningful projects my art related activities have brought some benefit:

the art cologne art fair has blessed me with a press card for my blogging activities here on the journal as well as on the bestmade blog. let´s see if this can become inspiring: i remember myself returning depressed from art fairs, complaining about missing inspiration and the reign of profit. this time i feel like a sovereign visitor, i know which abyss i have to expect and i even do not have to pay for it, so the surprise can only be a positive one, right?
hm, i will let you know. for the meantime: artcologne.de


i have recieved this picture of one of my works called 'big dumb face' as sketch version in a private collection. looks like it was placed next to a martin naber work, so it is in good company.
making sketches is a new discovery for me: small works at low pices can halp to get in touch with you and place a piece of my art in your room. to be honest, it has also a commercial aspect, but still this is not enough to make profit if you look at the other productions going on paralelly. it is just a little something that enables you to collect my work and me to offer stuff that looks good at your home wall.
well, i hope this is a good way of keeping it going. a lot more 'sketches' are waiting for you, and more are coming up!


this is an older mobile phone snap shot i was sent in 2012. i have given away one of the sketches as tiny thank you for promoting and doing press work for 'the promise of absence'. the evidence of 'ring' having it made up to the wall returned to me.
that feels pretty good. it is so easy to share good feelings, isn´t it?


this is an icon for myself i have to come up with every time. i won´t tell what it is. but hey, here we are going to make some decisions for the future. are you excited?


sven piayda | a day at the city (one minute edit)
ONE MINUTE FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL AARNAU
stadtmuseum schlössli, aarnau, switzerland
2015-05-08 — 2015-08-10
more information to be announced

oneminute.ch






questions? complaints?
click here

that´s a kind of funny: i told to reduce a little bit, and do not blog that much and surprisingly a month is over. to be honest, i did a lot art stuff anyway, it is hard to do nothing or to fill the new empty slots with 'reasonable' things. actually, i did not find any advantage in doing less of what pushes me through the day.

but anyway, the idea of focussing some other things in my life was not wrong. you know, as an artist and also as someone teaching i am proud of trying to find the right questions instead of presenting flat answers pretending to know what to do. or even worse: to tell other people what to do. this approach appears intelligent, but there is a downside: being the questioner becomes useless after a while, because you need answers, decisions, visions and directions to move actually. remaining with the open questions only means to not move, pretending the potential to go into all directions, actually remaining at the same point. you see, the concept only works for a certain time. after a while you need to find some answers, i guess that is what growing up is all about...

connected to this issues i have also reported my views on different phenomena concerning the art scene, the missing scene and my own zenith. you might remember my solo show 'show/time' at kunstverein bochumer kulturrat curated by carsten roth:


actually, a great show, fanstastic response, i was happy with everything around it, i could do what i wanted to and i was coming up with a show i would like to see myself.
and here is the downside again: what if this is the maximum i can reach as an artist, if it does not move foreward?

you know i also like to do small shows, group shows and i even like to show stuff in bistros and pubs, it is surprisingly great sometimes...
and i always like to go back to places i have already shown stuff, there is nothing wrong with returning...
on the other hand i am glad if bigger projects come in and hopefully i am offered to challenge myself again...


well, this is just a teaser, but this could be the place for one of my upcoming larger projects. i cannot tell more now, we will decide on our common future in may, but i have already some things in mind and fixed somewhere.
cross your fingers, this is going to be big and a worthy follow-up to 'show/time'. more soon, hopefully...


matthias danberg and me are also working on stuff. after contributing music to one of his movies we are now working on a lecture together, it will take a month until it is going to happen, but this is it, you are doing a thousand things at a time.
also we still work on our common audiovisual performance project.
to be announced, one day...


wolfgang van triel and i am recently focussing on a common project we have started two years ago. above you see us next to one awarded piece of a larger series of common works we would like to show together. we do not need to hurry, but there is always the danger to get lost on the way...
we are taking things serious now, you should have an eye on us!


still on: NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM at galerie143, dortmund. we will do something for the rundgang neue kolonie west on 2015-03-21from 12 to 6 pm. recently i cannot tell what we are going to do, maybe some kind of artist talk or something, i will let you know as soon as i know.


actually i wanted to report about a new video piece, but technology has it´s very own ghosts and the piece cracked up, so i have to do it again...
what i can show you is a snippet of 'a day at the city' a 24 minute video loop. a one minute jump cut version is supposed to be shown on a film festival in may, more to be announced soon.
even if i was busy again, there are no fixed shows on schedule after NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM at galerie143, dortmund.
so make sure you will see that one!


sven piayda
NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM
galerie143, dortmund
2015-02-07 — 2015-03-29
opening 2015-02-07, 6 pm
fri 4 - 6 pm
sat 3 am - 6 pm

rundgang neue kolonie west 2015-03-21, 12 to 6 pm
closing 2015-03-29, 12 to 3 pm.

facebook event

galerie143
simone czech kunsthistorikerin (M.A.)
rheinische straße 143
44147 dortmund
germany

+49 (0) 163 7847743

galerie143.de
info[at]galerie143.de






questions? complaints?
click here

well, it was time to title a journal entry based upon a quote which was spinning through my head. i guess it was jeff wall answering how he is approaching a certain idea to turn it into a photograph. his answer is simple and surprising: not doing it in the first place.

i was to the 'rundgang' of the kunstakademie düsseldorf again and this quote came to my mind. the walk through the rooms delivers some great, much boring and even horrible stuff. ususally art fairs and open ateliers have cause some light depressions based upon the missing sense to be found in the work, the missing need, the fame, money or quality. when you go through these showroom situations severel times you know what to expect aund you know the fall-off to come. this time it is more complex: all these works cannot be sold, of course, they can even not be enjoyed or appreciated. it is too much alerady.

please do not get my wrong, this is not about complaining about other peoples output, it is simply mirroring my own output: i am working and generating, taking pictures or animating stuff and i have become so effective and diligent that i have lost the original intention on the way. do we need an intention anyway?

to be honest, i feel like a cannonball losing the kinetic energy, falling down like a sack full of sand wondering what it has be pointing at originally...

i have thought about doing less, to produce less, to network less, to enjoy shows without thinking about my next one. well, to be honest, that is hard work for me. the empty spot is in need to be filled anyway, so what will i do with this additional time, space and power?
what would you do?

starting with not doing it is a hard lesson to learn, i feel that i´m not that good at it — among many others. we could spare us a lot of boring stuff and could find brilliant ideas instead...


okay, here is some fun stuff, a day off after a lot of stressful work and free time for deep thoughts: a visit to the burger´s zoo in arnheim, netherlands was great. in winter the zoo is not that much frequented, so they put animal-shaped lamps into the zoo, my perfect opportunity to fake some zebra whisperer pictures!


still on: NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM at galerie143, dortmund. we will do something for the rundgang neue kolonie west on 2015-03-21 from 12 to 6 pm.


sven piayda
NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM
galerie143, dortmund
2015-02-07 — 2015-03-29
opening 2015-02-07, 6 pm
fri 4 - 6 pm
sat 3 am - 6 pm

rundgang neue kolonie west 2015-03-21, 12 to 6 pm
closing 2015-03-29, 12 to 3 pm.

facebook event

galerie143
simone czech kunsthistorikerin (M.A.)
rheinische straße 143
44147 dortmund
germany

+49 (0) 163 7847743

galerie143.de
info[at]galerie143.de






questions? complaints?
click here

this year is offering a lot even in its beginning. there seems to be no pause or gap between the years as usually, i find myself in openings and closings i am involved in, also in those i am just interested in.
above you see a snapshot of the opening of matthias danberg´s 'ORDER' show at kunstraum unten (bochum). it was great to see this outstanding video work projected over the walls, feeling soaked into it. also i´m glad to be a tiny part of it, delivering some sound.



last sunday the 'jahresausstellung' at kunstmuseum mülheim ended and attracted many visitors again. the last guided tour with anja bauer m.a. was great but also stressful due some louder and uninterested participants. (see updated installation views in the exhibitions section.)
once again it feels good, to have reached the museum, feeling appreciated for what i can come up with, being expected to show more. and also being involved in questions what the future may hold or should deliver to keep the audience interested.

i was wondering a little bit sometimes. even when you show contemporary art (using contemporary production methods) the biggest part of the audience appears to be senoirs. there is nothing wrong with it but who else could be expected?

i was wondering how we can have so many academies and universities producing generations of young artists but do not find them in museums, galleries or show rooms. why are the people who have chosen this profession because of belief and passion (not becuase of profit issues) not part of the audience willing to watch and learn?

well, of course, you may find students and friends in the protagonist´s peer groups, the gang is escorting the colleague having a show, a strange alliance often held together by scene behavior, not by true interest.
also (and i do not see myself as an exception) artists show up to check out if it is possible to exhibit works at the current venue.
many reasons to appear at a show or it´s opening appear to be coined by issues of strategy, group dynamics or simply too much time. this might be the reason why you will often miss collectors, simply culturally interested people or just curious neighbors.
everyone appears to have a role in this set-up, artists, gallerists, bloggers, friends following duties or strategies.

there must be a reason why we do not find people saying: 'i am interested in art and culture in general, i am here today because my brain wants to go where i has not gone before...' or 'i do not understand it, maybe i do not even like it and i am not stupid anyway.'

the question popping up in my mind sometimes is if you are (generally) part of a closed system which is just pretending to communicate openly wider truths but is actually ruminating it´s own requirements.

well, i guess without turning to populism or blockbuster aesthetics, we need to keep in mind (or bring it back) what our audience may expect from us. if the target group ends with the gallery, a wider audience will keep out of reach.



once again, the credits of matthias danberg´s 'ORDER' cycle. i am glad to be a small part of it. we hope to create more good stuff together. the press says 'Über drei Kapitel spannt sich der Bogen seiner Erzählung. Beginnend mit vier gleichzeitig laufenden Architekturvisualisierungen, fortgeführt in drei Bildfeldern, die sich zwischen klassischer Landschaft, Science Fiktion und mythischer Erzählung bewegt, mündet der Film in einem Finale, das nicht nur mit seiner doppelten Spannbreite neue Formate sucht. Dieses dritte Kapitel markiert mit der musikalischen Unterstützung von AESTATEs Sven Piayda eine neue Qualität in der Vertonung des Werkes von Matthias Danberg'
current soundtrack download over at aestate-online.com



as you have read before i was able to experience new year´s eve in luxembourg. having a perfect view from the hotel i did these four snapshots, the upper ones on december 31, the lower ones on the morning of january first. the mudam actually is recently topping its own forecasts concerning visitor numbers. in fact, they are operating with a big budged, but net to that, you can learn a lot from it.
they have managed to be cool, next to being friendly, interested, interactive, entertaining, professional and well curated. things you cannot buy for money...


sven piayda
NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM
galerie143, dortmund
2015-02-07 — 2015-03-29
opening 2015-02-07, 6 pm
fri 4 - 6 pm
sat 12 am - 3 pm

galerie143
simone czech kunsthistorikerin (M.A.)
rheinische straße 143
44147 dortmund
germany

+49 (0) 163 7847743

galerie143.de
info[at]galerie143.de


sven piayda | band of twelve / ikosaeder drops / adam and eve
GROUP SHOW
ikosaeder galerie, essen
2014-12-12 — 2015-02-13
opening 2014-12-12, 7 pm

opening hours
thu 6 - 9 pm, sat 11 am - 4 pm
(and on request)

ikosaeder galerie
kahrstraße 54
45128 essen

+49 (0) 176 72612101
dialog[at]ikos-galerie.de

www.ikos-galerie.de

questions? complaints?
click here

as the ‘jahresausstellung’ at kunstmuseum mülheim is about to be the last week on display, i would like to share one of my new discoveries from the current show. as the cycle of annually exhibited artists is believed to be quite old, there is always a friendly focus on the ‘youngsters’. natalija usakova is – next to myself – one the few younger ones, both of us did not expect to be announced as new blood in our thirties anymore…
however, the discussion often leads into the track of believing that only the new stuff can be cool while the old is outdated anyway. i would not believe it, quality does not depend on the artist´s age or the execution date of a certain piece. even adjectives like ‘cool’ or ‘out of fashion’ do not hit the point. with all these context in mind it was natalija´s unique contribution to the show that left an impression and made me want to see more.

natalija´s work appears realistic showing a classic choice of motifs. you will find mainly portraits next to some landscapes and still life in the her portfolio. maybe caused by her origin i imagine to see some eastern european school of figurative painting in it next to some evoking echos of modernist painting. but this is simply my very own dropping of archetypes that come to my mind, not giving any idea of the quality or lining out the specialty of her work.

the pices that really strike me are the ones reflecting their own way of being, of course, somehow i see parallel approaches like in my own body of work: the perfectly painted portrait seems to be destroyed by some aleatoric brush strikes after being finished, like they try to erase something. maybe the portrait was not good enough? well, that won´t be the case, only when the brush is visible you can realize the painting as a painting. natalija uses this special way of deconstruction to illustrate a certain phenomenon: while looking at people we cannot see them the way they are, you only see segments. society´s standards, prejudice and ideology control your perception, in painting symbolized by some innocent but brutally executed strikes.


‘hidden treasure’ (2014) can be seen recently at the kunstmuseum mülheim. being fascinated by black and white painting anyway, this piece has – in spite of it’s quite small size – an amazing gravity, leaving you with more questions than answers concerning technique and meaning.


‘at the parting of the ways’ (2013) in colours but nevertheless dramatic. even here, the great skills are generating transparence: all beauty is artificial construction. have a look on natalija´s portfolio over at natalijausakova.jimdo.com or instagram.com/natalija.ushakova.


when you visit the kunstmuseum mülheim to discover natalija´s work don´t forget to check out my pieces in the same room. ‘one by one’ and ‘ground swell’ are also be on the show ending january 18.
see below for full info on current shows.


sven piayda
NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM
galerie143, dortmund
2015-02-07 — 2015-03-29
opening 2015-02-07, 6 pm
fri 4 - 6 pm
sat 12 am - 3 pm

galerie143
simone czech kunsthistorikerin (M.A.)
rheinische straße 143
44147 dortmund
germany

+49 (0) 163 7847743

galerie143.de
info[at]galerie143.de


sven piayda | steam process
OFFENE GALERIE
galerie143, dortmund
2014-11-21 — 2015-01-17
opening 2014-11-21, 6 pm
fri 4 - 6 pm
sat 12 am - 3 pm

galerie143
simone czech kunsthistorikerin (M.A.)
rheinische straße 143
44147 dortmund
germany

+49 (0) 163 7847743

galerie143.de
info[at]galerie143.de

sven piayda | ground swell / one by one
JAHRESAUSSTELLUNG MÜLHEIMER KÜNSTLERINNEN UND KÜNSTLER
kunstmuseum mülheim an der ruhr
2014-12-07 — 2015-01-18
opening 2014-12-06, 6 pm
piayda is expected to be preset

salutation by dagmar mühlenfeld, mayor
introduction by dr. beate reese

tue-sun 11 am - 6 pm
free entry on wednesdays, 2 - 6 pm
tickets 4 euro (discounted 2 euro)

www.kunstmuseum-mh.de


sven piayda | band of twelve / ikosaeder drops / adam and eve
GROUP SHOW
ikosaeder galerie, essen
2014-12-12 — 2015-02-13
opening 2014-12-12, 7 pm

opening hours
thu 6 - 9 pm, sat 11 am - 4 pm
(and on request)

ikosaeder galerie
kahrstraße 54
45128 essen

+49 (0) 176 72612101
dialog[at]ikos-galerie.de

www.ikos-galerie.de

questions? complaints?
click here

so this is just a little hello and the promise to be busy already. actually, more busy than i wanted to be. well, the new year is starting with my solo show at galerie143 and i have to produce still a lot for it and the matthias danberg show at kunstraum unten showing videos featuring music by AESTATE.

so before i´m giving you some context thoghts on what i´m doing i´d like to show one of the last pictures from 2014 and some first pictures of 2015. the picture above is a webcam created picture pointing on the interim brigde next to the pont adolphe in luxembourg city, which is currently closed under maintenance. when we went to luxembourg in 2013 to celebrate my birthday, we had the idea to make a webcam-selfie — but i did not have a smartphone at that time...
now i´m up to date and we returned to luxembourg for the turn of the year and i needed to try what i was thinking about for months...
well, here we are, on december 31, 2014, 14.55h, me starring at the phone, of course, downloading the picture from the web.

luxembourg is a beatiful state and city and always worth a visit. to celebrate new year´s eve here was nice and calm, watching the fireworks in the clausen from above. fortunately it lead to a surprisingly active first day of the year.


a good view to start the year and the day. my place at the hotel´s breakfast table offered a perfect view on the beautiful mudam museum surrounded by white fog. and the best about is was: it opend on january 1st, 2015. when you do not have a hangover, this is the best option you can think of.


the museum recently shows about five different shows paralelly, most impressive for me were the david altmejd sculptures in the big hall, a solo show is scheduled and will need my return. actually, the best scultural works i´ve seen in years. an there you have it: a classic cloak room selfie at the mudam toilets capturing the infinity around.

this is more than an advice:
check out the site and visit this museum.
mudam.lu


sven piayda
NEW PICTURES FROM OUTER RIM
galerie143, dortmund
2015-02-07 — 2015-03-29
opening 2015-02-07, 6 pm
fri - sat, 4 -6 pm

galerie143
simone czech kunsthistorikerin (M.A.)
rheinische straße 143
44147 dortmund
germany

+49 (0) 163 7847743

galerie143.de
info[at]galerie143.de


sven piayda | steam process
OFFENE GALERIE
galerie143, dortmund
2014-11-21 — 2015-01-17
opening 2014-11-21, 6 pm
fri - sat, 4 -6 pm

galerie143
simone czech kunsthistorikerin (M.A.)
rheinische straße 143
44147 dortmund
germany

+49 (0) 163 7847743

galerie143.de
info[at]galerie143.de

sven piayda | ground swell / one by one
JAHRESAUSSTELLUNG MÜLHEIMER KÜNSTLERINNEN UND KÜNSTLER
kunstmuseum mülheim an der ruhr
2014-12-07 — 2015-01-18
opening 2014-12-06, 6 pm
piayda is expected to be preset

salutation by dagmar mühlenfeld, mayor
introduction by dr. beate reese

tue-sun 11 am - 6 pm
free entry on wednesdays, 2 - 6 pm
tickets 4 euro (discounted 2 euro)

www.kunstmuseum-mh.de


sven piayda | band of twelve / ikosaeder drops / adam and eve
GROUP SHOW
ikosaeder galerie, essen
2014-12-12 — 2015-02-13
opening 2014-12-12, 7 pm

opening hours
thu 6 - 9 pm, sat 11 am - 4 pm
(and on request)

ikosaeder galerie
kahrstraße 54
45128 essen

+49 (0) 176 72612101
dialog[at]ikos-galerie.de

www.ikos-galerie.de

questions? complaints?
click here