jay rechsteiner

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The Thing Outside – a live presentation / lecture and/or an installation developed in Italy, Switzerland & UK 2015 & 2016   Background The Thing Outside was initially established as a live lecture on the discovery of a mysterious thing, a large patio umbrella and a table (without chairs) in a town called Soiano by Lake Garda, North Italy. During a five day investigation into the nature and the possible motives of that thing outside, I compiled three videos, one slide show and various Photoshop images. About half a year later when I was stationed in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, as part of The Red Van research project, I stumbled across a group of people who organized a street festival that aimed to bring together Italians and immigrants. As an outsider, i.e. not classified as an Italian nor an immigrant, I found myself outside the festival circle. It all morphed into a thing, something I did not know, something that frightened me. The only thing left for me to do, was to record he location, the people, the event. Back in the studio, it became obvious to me that there was an intense connection between the encounter with the thing outside in Soiano and the thing outside in Casellammare del Golfo.   photographs (each 150cm x 180cm) of the Thing Outside in Soiano and in Castellammare del Golfo, Italy
Project Phase 1 & 2 In order to structure The Thing Outside (experience/project) I have decided to seperate the encounters into phase 1 and 2.
Phase 1: August 2015, Soiano, Lombardia,Italy:		Phase 2: March 2016, Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy
Initially the idea for the Thing Outside was a live performance / lecture based on my encounter with two objects, namely a canopy and a table. We often encounter things we don't know, things we have heard of but never seen, things we don’t know exist, things that frighten us. Fear is one of the building blocks of human civilization & culture. It is a tool to 'organize' and 'cultivate' the way we lead our lives. The Thing Outside is a performance piece in the form of a live presentation/talk. It refers to the idea of readymades, turning non-art objects into art. The idea is nothing new. Marcel Duchamp famously turned ordinary manufactured objects into art by simply repositioning, joining or signing them. In the case of The Thing Outside however I am merely presenting a six-day observation of two objects (a canopy and a table) and an exhibition plan as a live lecture/presentation as opposed to the actual objects themselves and a physical exhibition (as shown in the photo montage). The action of observing (taking photos & filming) the two objects, putting together a presentation and finally presenting it as a live lecture turns the two objects into The Thing Outside which therefore becomes a theorized readymade sculpture in the form of a conceptual presentation/performance. I like the idea of the transformation and the reduction of a physical item into conceptual form. First there is an object/an item which then becomes art, a readymade by changing or adding something to it and lastly the readymade transforms into a theorized memory. Content of the lecture The lecture includes an introduction of how I came across the two objects, why it captured my interest and the entire process of observation. The lecture can be held live at a physical or virtual (online) space.   Research materials: video & images slow motion footage footage 01 - 03   documentation of photo- and videographic material 25 min 22 sec     8 photoshopped images (51cm x 42cm, 5cm foamex)		. I filmed and photographed a group of people who set up a small street festival behind a wall by a football stadium. The festival was to engage people with the issu of immigration. There was, however, no great interest within the people of Castellammare. . Photographic slide show of the festival in Castellammare
Presentations & outcomes To date I have presented The Thing Outside once from 8 - 15 April 2016 at the Cello Factory in London as part of a group show organized and curated by fellow artists Infinity Bunce and Sarah Jefferies. The presentation consisted of an installation and 3 framed collages. The actual installation of the work was in my opinion not successful as I did not manage to establish what I would call a 'good' & 'handsome' installation of the work, partly due to the architectural nature of the space. However, looking back at the installation, it was more of a process in order to go through my previously collected material and create 3 successful collages as shown below. If there is something like a final product of The Thing Outside, then I would say it is the three collages. However, as this project is process-based and by no means a complete project, the final product as such does not exist.   Collages #1, #2 & #3 developed in the UK, April 2016 framed 48cm x 60cm Asking price: GBP800 (unframed, framed GBP850)   The Thing Outside, collage #1 48cm x 60cm Asking price: GBP800 (unframed, framed GBP850) prints available on Saatchi Art: https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Collage-The-Thing-Outside-collage-1/315283/3296739/view   The Thing Outside, collage #2 48cm x 60cm Asking price: GBP800 (unframed, framed GBP850)   The Thing Outside, collage #3 48cm x 60cm Asking price: GBP800 (unframed, framed GBP850)     Installation at the Cello Factory. Click on image to read and see more...     Juxtaposition of video and photographic fotage (including sound recordings): left: phase 1 The Thing Outside in Soiano, Italy right: phase 2: The Thing Outside in Castellammare del Golfo, Italy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2015, Jay Rechsteiner. All Rights Reserved.