How readily our thoughts swarm upon a new object, lifting it a little way, as ants carry a blade of straw so feverishly, and then leave it…. If that mark was made by a nail, it can’t have been for a picture, it must have been for a miniature—the miniature of a lady with white powdered curls, powder-dusted cheeks, and lips like red carnations. A fraud of course, for the people who had this house before us would have chosen pictures in that way—an old picture for an old room. 

As this mark on the wall inspired Virginia Woolf to see how perception responds to matter and matter responds to perception, this month we too at Rupert are refocusing on how we exist in this palindrome of matter and perceiving: we walked and listened to (and in) resident Ruben Patino’s swampy sound pieces. We found a pagan fire on the peak as we figured out how group consciousness works. With ‘Marks of Drama’, a writing seminar led by Rupert resident Ioanna Gerakidi, we explored Eros and our inner desires, fears and self-restrictions through the para-linguistic qualities of our various self expressions. And we will carry on learning with each other and the things we are caught and wrapped up in, this time learning how to sew together pieces of clothing in a workshop led by our current resident, Guillaume Provost. At the same time we are beginning conversations on the recognition of various forms of (in)visible illness, ‘cripness’ and disabilities in Vilnius and beyond, initiated by resident Leah Clements and our dear team member Yates Norton.

The Rupert summer exhibition, Entangled Tales, is set to be opened in a few weeks, and will continue our conversation on ideas of new-materialism, feminist ethics of care and our intimate entanglement with the world. As artists, practitioners and, of course, Virginia Woolf in the text cited above, have all shown us that matter is not inert, passively awaiting our formation and control; matter responds to touch and we in turn respond to and are touched by it. Exploring this, Entangled Tales presents works by a wide selection of artists, both international and local: Rebecca Ackroyd, Stefania Batoeva, Julie Bena, Ragna Bley, Than Hussein Clark, Olivia Erlanger, Merike Estna, Daiga Grantina, Celia Hempton, Tamara Henderson, Ieva Kraule, Jenine Marsh, Daria Melnikova, Rūtenė Merkliopaitė, Mikołaj Moskal, Rosalind Nashashibi, Athena Papadopoulos, Zoë Paul, Daniel Rossi, Viktorija Rybakova, Anastasija Sosunova, Indrė Šerpytytė, Jala Wahid.

The month wraps (us) up with writer and critic Orit Gat paying us a visit. Her public talk ‘The Loneliness of Dele Alli’ is a consideration of images in the digital realm, how they circulate and how we look at them. It focuses on how we see the world through the prism of the history of art and how we, in turn, see ourselves in it.

If you happen to be around Vilnius this month, you’re more than welcome to join us for any and all of these events. If not, we will make sure to keep you in the loop via Instagram, Facebook and our website.

Warmly,
Rupert

Image: Entangled Tales, Isora + Lozuraityte Studio for Architecture

IN RESIDENCE

Guillaume Adjutor Provost

Guillaume Adjutor Provost holds a Ph.D. in the study and practice of the Arts from UQAM, Montreal. His research focuses on the concept of curatorial art, the use of curatorial approaches as creative practice. The research that will be developed at Rupert begins with the exploration of Claude Vivier’s musical legacy. The latter was a Québécois composer of contemporary music and, through his compositions, touched on issues related to homosexuality before he died tragically in 1983. The project comes from an interest in the transposition of immaterial languages to visual forms. The residency is kindly supported by the Canada Art Council.

IN RESIDENCE

Leah Clements

Leah Clements is an artist based in London. Her practice is concerned with emotional experiences, the relationship between the psychological and the physical, self-loss, self/other boundaries and collective identities. During her time at the residency at Rupert she will be working towards the first edit of a new film work titled collapse, which will use thermal imaging footage filmed at Guy’s Hospital Sleep Clinic alongside interviews with people who fall asleep at times of stress to think about the physical act of collapse as an articulation of personal and political un-coping.