[oberlist] Vlad Basarab Exhibition announcment

[Vlad Basarab]

The Archaeology ofMemory: Books of the Earth


 
         In conjunction with the Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau, The National Art Museum ofMoldova hosts the exhibition The Archaeology of Memory: Books of theEarth by artist Vlad Basarab in in the period March 25 - April 17, 2016. Theopening reception will be Friday, March 25 at 3:00 pm in the Pushkin exhibitionhall.

Vlad Basarab is aRomanian-American artist, whose works are defined by ceramics, multi-media,performance and video. In 1995, Basarab graduated from the University of AlaskaAnchorage with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in ceramics and in 2013, fromWest Virginia University in Morgantown with a Masters of Fine Arts degree inelectronic media.  

Obsessed with the past and influencedby the impact of the Communist period on Romanian intellectuals, Vlad Basarab initiatedin 2013 the series of works/ artistic projects The Archaeology of Memory at West Virginia University and in 2015 at Pittsburgh Center for theArts and Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. 

 The Archaeology of Memory: Books of the Earth, a large installation of ceramics, photography andvideo, is composed of 3 sets of works:  Booksof Fire (books made of low-fire and high-fire ceramicsand clay), Books of Mold (books madeout of unfired clay with mold, water finish and epoxy resin) and The Archaeology ofMemory (video, photography andinstallation). 

Basarab’s choice ofworking primarily with clay in his projects is mostly due to the artist’sbelief that “clay represents the element that, on a metaphorical level, embodiesthe most dynamic qualities of life and nature through the transformations itundergoes, similar to the spiritual evolution of human beings.”

The process of creating the books for the exhibition wasin itself a titanic undertaking, from choosing the right clay and digging itfrom hard to reach locations, to mixing it with other materials such asrecycled paper pulp made by the artist as well as nylon fibers, to making thenumerous books, page by page. Vlad Basarab’s books are intentionally leftunwritten, some sort of instruments of memory, emptied of information or maybethat await to be filled with information by the imagination of the visitingpublic. 

Upon a lecture ofthe forms, one will be amazed by Books ofFire, the most extensive installation of the exhibition (actually anexhibition in itself), containing over 200 books made out of ceramics, laidside by side (forming some sort of pavement) on a layer of clay a fewcentimeters thick. The large dimensions and the contrast sought by the artistbetween the terracotta books and the layer of clay, at first wet, and laterthroughout the show more and more cracked, give this installation a strikingpower and monumental aspect.

Vlad Basarabexplains in his artist statement the concept that lies at the foundation ofthis exhibition: “My role as an artist is to dig through layers of history likean archaeologist in the attempt to recover the loss of collective memory. Thepast plays an important role in my creative process. (...) Memory is present ineverything: in us, in matter, in the natural andin the man made environment. The process of forgetting is inevitable,especially in the contemporary times when people are concerned with the new. (…)The books from the Archaeology of MemorySeries are symbolically left unwritten to suggest the absence, forgettingand to inspire the viewer to imagine what they may contain. Books are symbols,instruments of memory. From the beginning of history, there has been a strongconnection between words and clay, as early forms of writing were on claytablets. I have chosen to reference books because they are historic symbols ofknowledge and collective memory.” 

The art of ceramicstends to usually be associated with minor or decorative arts. It is the meritof Vlad Basarab to succeed by grouping together books of ceramics (objects/sculptures with intrinsic aesthetic values) to create an oeuvre of greatstrength, a land-art type installation in a museum. 

Watching the artistduring his creative act (the making of the installation was like a performancein its own right), one can truly understand the words of Constantin Brancusi:“Create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave.”

The second installationpresented in the exhibition, Books ofMold, completes on a conceptual level the first one, while it aestheticallydifferentiates itself from it. It presents itself as a table in a laboratory onwhich 8 books modeled from unfired clay are laid upon. In this case, the artistwisely conserved a fungal attack, mold that involuntarily took over his bookswhile they were drying in his studio. The aesthetic aspect given by the imageof the books partially covered in mold, and later coated in epoxy resin (asynthetic, artificial and contemporary material) perfectly serves the artist inexpressing his idea – the attempt to conserve the past and collective memory. 

         Both works, Books of Fire and Booksof Mold are completed by the projection of avideo of the Archaeology of Memory Series.The video (of 7:42) shows a book made out of clay gradually breaking down bythe action of dripping water. One can access the links to the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyuEdiqeFSk 

The author maintains that thedeconstructive aspect produced by the water eroding the clay, through the constantand repetitive rhythm of the dripping, makes reference to the idea ofinformation and memory loss (personal, collective or of a culture). The woodentable holding the remainder of an eroded clay book of one of the videos waspresented as physical proof, strengthening the message of the moving image. 

         IngeGavătreads Vlad Basarab very well affirming that he „is an artist who always finds anew form to vest the same idea, to make it more compelling, to instill it in uspermanently, to help us understand why memory as remembrance of history issynonimous with safe keeping, with the advancement of the human condition.”

         Inother words, Vlad Basarab succeeds to succesfully explore the borders ofcontemporary ceramic art, arriving with his creation to the realm of conceptualart, with great strength and with a profound methaphisical message. 


 
                                                                                                     IoanPaul Colta (Coordinator of the exhibition thatwas hosted at the Museum of Art in Arad, February-March 2016)         


 
 Vlad Basarab
Visual artist
www.basarab-art.com
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