Output details

Gwilly Edmondez at the Archive for the Present (AfG), Vienna, November 7-10, 2012

My exhibition and residency at Vienna’s AfG (Archiv für die Gegenwart / Archive for the Present), 5–12 November 2012, represents my most comprehensive realisation (and integration) to date of converging multimedia disciplines pursued under my ‘Gwilly Edmondez’ persona. The idea of Gwilly Edmondez is of a solo artist who practices ‘performance’ in the broadest sense, as an improviser in concert, but also through drawing, collage, video, installation, photography, writing/poetic prose etc.

In an age where digital media have virtually erased the lines between expressive disciplines, Gwilly Edmondez seeks to illustrate that ‘successful’ art (art that interrupts, penetrates, illuminates) requires an incisive agency – technique and skill evolve and develop as a result of a fervent desire to reach beyond and shouldn’t come first (which is how we are generally taught to handle creativity). As a result, all performances prioritise a sense of direct communication in a manner that dialogues with established forms (where pop songs are as important as ‘noise’ music).

The twin Situationist concepts of dérive and détournement remain at the core of this multidisciplinary approach, operating in a way that allows incidental content to shape artworks and materials for performance. The improvising performer moves through a certain locale constantly recording, drawing, performing and absorbing psychogeographical content which is then presented through gigs, exhibitions, online video or CDs.

The schedule for the AfG residency comprised: a concert at the Rhiz venue (duo with Japanese guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi); a solo concert at the AfG gallery; and an exhibition plus integrated live performances. All materials were developed at a designated studio space that I was given for the whole week. The output comprises the entire interdisciplinary event, which is represented in as a series of slides in pdf format and a set of CDRs of musical performances given at the exhibition.