Imprinting. Debrecen Artists in Residence
2016. Nov. 19. - 2017. Jan. 15.
The 10th anniversary of the Debrecen Artists in Residence in the summer of 2016 explored the concept of imprinting with the help of invited artists. The subject (and the title of the exhibition) was borrowed from a phenomenon known in ethology and psychology, which is used to describe a learning and adaptation method that occurs at a critical period for a given species. By interpreting the concept of imprinting in a broader social science context, and in relation to art, he sought to answer the question of how artists ‘adapt’ or oppose the invasion of prefabricated images. In the course of the art workshop, she sought to develop and discuss strategies and practices that go against the automatisms of the image-maker and question/examine the system of automatism itself. He used originality as the conceptual antithesis of automatism, exploring the dangers in the age of ‘visual civilisation’ to artists’ ability to create original images and to interpret and structure the world through their work in original ways. The work in the studio revealed how strongly historical memory is present in the minds of artists, especially through personal stories, and how the strategies that unfold through their work can be used to mobilise collective memory and reveal its imprint in an honest and critical way.
The works of art created at the workshop were presented at two venues in Debrecen, the b24 Gallery and MODEM. The exhibition at the art centre was a show of – in a relatively classical sense – finished/closed, immanent works. With their varied use of media, the exhibited works investigated the concept of imprinting from a broad perspective and with self-reflection, constantly interplaying the possibilities and abstract meaning of the physical realisation of imprinting with original solutions. The works juxtaposed in the MODEM exhibition demonstrated through mature artistic practices the moral possibilities of remembering, forgetting, recalling, learning, adapting, adjusting, and in general, of survival and creation.
Curators: Csontó Lajos, Süli-Zakar Szabolcs, Uhl Gabriella
Artists: Csontó Lajos, Fátyol Viola, Faa Balázs, Gyenis Tibor, Imreh Sándor, Mayer Éva, Miklós Szilárd, Pettendi Szabó Péter, Roters Katharina, Süli_Zakar szabolcs, Szolnoki József, Vékony Dorottya, Zamoyski Janek