(curated + designed by john kannenberg)

http://www.stasisfield.com/space/still-life/index.html

What is a still-life? Can a still-life move? Can it talk? Is a still-life only composed of tangible objects? Why should 21st century artists create art derived from still-life?

(…) The added dimension of sound to the once purely visual still-life acts as the starting point for a present-day re-evaluation of the “still-life problem” (similar to the “shot in the arm” awarded to still-life by Picasso, Braque and Gris’s cubist investigations). For as current art genres themselves seem to continually fracture and blur boundaries as time goes on, many artists working today have difficulty categorizing their works and methods within parameters relevant as recently as twenty years ago. Painters are now also sculptors, musicians are now also video artists, graphic designers are now also sound artists, computer programmers are now also animators. As art seeks to function within a society obsessed with the rapid dispersal of information, so artists must seek multiple methods with which to make their messages heard.

The artists included in this exhibition and its accompanying compilation CD were each presented with the following guidelines:

1. Construct a still-life.
2. Create a visual artwork which documents the still-life.
3. Record the sound that the still-life made.
4. Create an audio composition derived from the sound of the still-life.

This seemingly specific set of rules has been interpreted in a variety of unique ways by the artists involved. What you see here is a fascinating glimpse into the working processes, methodologies and preoccupations of a cross-section of current artists from across the globe. Those whose audio compositions are included on the compilation CD have provided their visual documentation as well as their original, untreated still-life field recordings for display in the exhibition, while the artists exclusive to the exhibition provide source material and their final pieces. The artist statements included here act as a verbal record of the decisions made as the artists chose their source material and crafted their final works. (…)