1 July – 6 August 2017
Opening Friday 30 June, 6.30-8.30pm
Wednesday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm
In January 1915, I trudged on command, across the icy barrack square at Gera, in those days still dressed in blue and red.
My collar was five inches too big, the seat of my pants hung to my knees, and one of my shoes was an 8 and the other was a 7.
A crumpled forage cap sat on my head, and we were worked over thoroughly.
Our great hour was being worthily prepared.
Erwin Piscator (1929) The Political Theatre.
RE-MASTER, presents a body of new, related works by London based artist Seb Patane, that lie between the fields of art and music. All four works are in some way re-mixed, addressing notions of authorship through drawing other artists– Gustav Metzger, Pablo Bronstein and Black to Comm – into the creative process.
Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall is pleased to contribute to an international overview of the breadth of Patane’s practice by presenting RE–MASTER to coincide with a solo exhibition of two-dimensional works in the artists native Italy (hyperlink). The London exhibition includes a newly made version of the video Gustav Metzger as Erwin Piscator, Gera, January 1915, a re-mastering of the sound piece Abdomen, and a complete rework of Abdomen by German musician Black To Comm.
The London presentation also launches The Fog, a video by Patane’s music project Fog School, made in collaboration with artist Pablo Bronstein and film-maker Tim Knights and featuring dancer Rob Bridger.
In October 2013, whilst in residency at Wysing Arts Centre, Bourn, UK, Patane met with fellow resident artist Gustav Metzger. The meeting prompted Patane to invite the late Metzger to be recorded reading a short section of The Political Theatre (1929) by avant-garde German theatre director Erwin Piscator, a book which Patane was reading at the time. In this particular excerpt, Piscator describes the ill-fitting outfit he is forced to wear, minutes before setting off for World War I, a metaphor perhaps of his own reluctance to join the German army. The artist saw a playful, yet dramatic potential in the idea of Metzger almost impersonating Piscator’s words; the two politicized artists sharing German nationality and reputations for innovation, but leading lives separated by time and place. This short recording was the starting point for two works: Gustav Metzger as Erwin Piscator, Gera, January 1915, a short monochromatic video/sound work, and Abdomen, a longer audio montage. Extending the notion of re-mix, Patane then invited the acclaimed German experimental musician Mark Richter (Black to Comm) to re-work Abdomen on the basis of shared aesthetics. Press release and photos here