[Group Exhibition] Use Silence & The Moving Plants

Group Exhibition｜Use Silence & The Moving Plants

Date : Saturday, 23rd – Sunday, 24th June, 2018
Open : 11:00 – 18:00
Venue : MAD City Gallery
Address : 6-8, Honcho, Matsudo-shi, Chiba
Admission : Free
Artists : Timo Lenzen, Sonja Borstner & Timo Lenzen, Sonja Borstner
Organized by : PARADISE AIR, MAD City
Supported by : Matsudo City, Agency for Cultural Affairs

“Use Silence”
by Timo Lenzen, Sonja Borstner

“Use Silence“ is a video-installation that has its focus on gestures and hand movements as a way of communicating. Everything tells a story through the language of its shape and posture, which can be understood without the use of spoken language. Whether tired hands that are moved by external pressure, or hands that are driven by an internal activeness – they can be heard like words. With an emphasis on unconscious body motions and specific gestures the work draws attention to the unspoken and the unsaid.

During their residency at Paradise Air in Matsudo, Japan, the German graphic designer and artist Timo Lenzen and the Austrian artist and theorist Sonja-Maria Borstner developed their video-installation based on a 3-weeks research in the periphery of Matsudo and Tokyo.

“The Moving Plants”
by UUendy Lau, Hinz Pak

The life of nature somehow never ends. It undergoes replicative stages of different forms and status of existence, looping from seeds, germination, growth, reproduction, pollination and back to spreading seeds. A distinctive, intriguing expression is witnessed during each phase of life. Defoliation, for instance, seems to be more visible and attached to us emotionally when falling off on the ground. We may consider it as the end of its being, or instead a preparation for another stage of being. The relationship between nature and human is thus an ongoing and ever-changing topic to be investigated from various perspectives, cultures and religions.

Inspired by the Bonsai and Miniature Culture in Japan, a kinetic installation juxtaposing the natural materials in Matsudo and the man-made creations from the artists and locals is shown and witnessed. The artwork is a communal project including the participation from Matsudo residents and the artists from Hong Kong to re-examine and re-discover the unnoticed side of nature through public engagement and interactive workshops.