“It’s safe to say it all started in China in 2019.
Susana Wessling and Guido Nosari met there while in residency at the Shangyuan art museum. After the residency they went back to their respective countries (Lithuania and Italy) but made plans to meet again in Vilnius for this residency under theme “unbodies”.
It’s safe to say the other thing also started in China in 2019. It’s not really safe to say how it will all turn out in the end. It’s also not really safe for Guido to travel to Lithuania now.
Through painting, video and photography, through text or call, or video message, they will work to pull together pieces of this narrative that has now taken over so much of the world around but also this project in particular. They decided to keep the work going but to also move it towards understanding what kind of stories this particular crisis can tell. After all, the world might not end just yet.”
– Susana Wessling
“unbodies” is an art residency in Ideas Block by Susana Wessling and Guido Nosari. It was planned to take place in the gallery space between 7th – 26th of March 2020, with the exhibition opening on March 26th. However, unexpectedly COVID-19 has changed the residency completely. First of all Guido was not able to come as planned, due to the cancelled flights. Susana started working in our gallery, while Guido was working remotely from Italy. On the first week of this residency COVID-19 became a pandemic and within days Lithuania was already restricting all the cultural events and gatherings, and eventually starting a quarantine.
We closed our space and migrated all the activities home. On the day of the planned exhibition opening the country is still in quarantine for at least another 3 weeks (and most likely – longer). Therefore we decided to extend the time of the residency and see how the situation unravels.
Here you can see the story this time period has created in the minds of our artists in residence (it will be updated continuously).
Find out more about the artists:
Susana Wessling
Guido Nosari
Susana’s story
Day 1
First day of my #collaboration with Guido Nosari
Unfortunately due to the #coronavirus his flights got cancelled so now I’m working at @ideas_block and he is in doing the residency in #remotemode.
And so it begins and we have no other choice but to address this current world crisis in the work.
For today I’m exploring different hypothesis of contagious behaviours.
Day 2
Second day of my #artcollaboration with Guido Nosari at @ideas-block
Today I started to explore the idea of a node can be understood in this context, visually and through text. There is a component of visualisation and interpretation of details of the human body, initially from the theme of unbodies and now from the current #healthcrisis coming from the #coronavirus
For those tuning in just now, this current pandemic had the side effect of keeping Guido from coming to Vilnius and having to do this residency remotely
Day 3
today I focused on #smallormats and #abstractions, still very much #experimenting with new ideas
still very much one artist short of a duo in the space but finding ways to work with Guido Nosari
Day 4
un-things and un-beings and growing circuits
It’s the 4th day of my #residency at @ideas_block with @guidonosari and I’m still very much #exploring erratic ideas and following random threads to see where this whole #artproject can go. It’s been a bit odd having Guido in #remotemode due to the whole #coronavirus situation but we are finding ways to make it work.
Day 5
some more #paintings, some more #objects
I’m slowly settling in to a #language for this #artproject
The situation with Guido Nosari being in Italy because of the #coronavirus #outbreak while I’m working at @ideas_block is still far from ideal but we are finding ways to collaborate.
Day 6
today the first big #quarantine measures have been implemented in #vilnius so at this point I’m not even sure this project will continue until this situation calms down. It doesn’t seem likely that we will be able to open an #exhibition in two weeks.
Anyhow, the first week of my residency at @ideas_block with Guido Nosari is almost over. I’m definitely feeling some confusion in my work.
#keeponmakingart however possible but most importantly #staysafeeveryone
Day 7
… and today I take a breath.
This started with @guidonosari and I discussing a project together, then the whole #coronavirus narrative took over parts of our lives and eventually kept him in #milan and me in #vilnius. Yesterday the more extreme measures started and today I really began to feel overwhelmed.
We are in the long game now. While trying to slow this down as much as possible we are going into different forms of isolation without actually knowing until when that’s our new reality.
So today I’m taking a deep breath, tomorrow I’ll be back to painting.
Day 8
today I started to experiment with some new #mixedtechniques and still very much in the #experimentation phase of this project.
It’s all rather odd out there now. I’ve decided to join the #staythefuckhome as much as possible and continue my painting work here, while @guidonosari work is making its way here. In a way it’s curious that less than 2weeks from finishing this project I still don’t have a clue as to how it will all look like in the end
Day 9
and
#staythefuckhome day 2
It’s just an odd thing we are going through isn’t it?
Day 11
I’ve been #workingfromhome this week and for the foreseeable future. The odd thing is that I feel a lot less productive.
Right now Guido Nosari myself and the wonderful people at @ideas_block are not really sure what’s going to happen with this project, when will we show this work and in which format. For now I’ll #justkeeppainting I guess
Day 20
Today was the opening day of mine and @guidonosari #exhibition at @ideas_block
For reasons that we are all too familiar with by now that is not happening.
My work on this project has been turned on his head many times and seems to be moving towards something as bizarre as this crisis we are living
I guess I’ll continue on and see you on the other side when we break quarantine
Guido’s story
Initially, I would have had to go to Vilnius for a month to make an #artresidency with a final gallery #artexhibition. Due to the #coronavirus (but above all the canceled flights), I was unable to go, but we decided to do the show anyway, only that the topic became the pandemic itself: what remains of the body after the concept of infection?
Here I publish a series of #drawings, almost #scribbles, made by copying fast images that the media, television and internet, have proposed to me in my studio in these days.
These drawings, together with writings and videos, will be part of the exhibition that will take place at the end of #March in Vilnius, at the #ideasblocklt gallery.
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Also today I am publishing drawings that will be sent to Vilnius for my and Susana Wessling exhibition. They are drawings taken absent-mindedly from newspapers, the Internet, television, all the media that are talking about the “#pandemic” in these days. What remains of the #body, used by the virus and by communication?
