V&A Open Studios

Good Friday. It’s 06.27 PM. A large security guard stands in front of me. He switches on a tiny torch to do the bag search at the main entrance. I look at him restlessly; I don’t want to be late. We swap smiles and with a welcoming reception I walk in straight line under the main dome towards the shop. Above my head I contemplate once again the Chihuly’s enormous glass Chandelier. This evening it seems to be as gleaming as a meteorite about to collide and form new life. Although the museum is not very crowded today I can notice the hustle and bustle around me in a humorous nod to a pathetic fallacy. Oh! There they are! On the left hand side of the directory board and next to a big sign stating “Open Studios”[i]. Jamie and Yiyun [ii] the current V&A artists-in-residence are waiting for visitors to arrive.

Last week I had the opportunity to host an installation at gallery 46A in the Cast Courts made by Samsung Korean Digital Art Resident Yiyun Kang[iii]. This was a fantastic opportunity to explore, on the one hand, the role collection research can play on contemporary art commissions and, on the other hand, to share thoughts with colleagues and visitors about Yiyun’s projection mapping installation. A timeless immersion into new architectural forms, playing with her digital projections onto some of the monumental casts on display. This ephemeral experience of a well-known gallery space was refreshing and only uplifted by an other-worldly soundscape. Some days later Yiyun hosted her last Open Studios in the Learning Centre[iv].

Designed by Softroom, which also designed the V&A’s Members Room and the Jameel Gallery, the Learning Centre is currently close to the general public due to the construction of the Exhibition Road Entrance. Winner of a prestigious RIBA London award, the Centre was designed to accommodate informal and self-directed learning as well as formal education and is expected to reopen in 2017[v]. At present, only special events like the Open Studios offer the opportunity to get into the artists-in-residence workshops and to admire one of the greatest hidden treasures of the museum, the Henry Cole Wing[vi] Escher-esque grand staircase that gives access to the Learning Centre. It’s truly a piece of art rarely open to the public and architecturally, my new favourite part of the V&A/.

Yiyun started her presentation talking about her research with the museum collections and her past exhibitions both nationally and internationally. I wonder how the creative process of mapping material surfaces with video projection works: How does her work affect my optical approach to her immaterial imaginary? Where does digital artwork remain after having been displayed? Is this the only art form able to create a real event based on the uniqueness of an unrepeatable experience? I get lost in thought but I guess I am not the only one. Fortunately the artist is very pleased to answer questions and an informal conversation was held between Yiyun and the attendees.

Next door, Exhibition Road Digital Resident Jamie Jenkinson[vii] is ready to open his studio to the group. Both Yiyun and Jamie don’t look very nervous. They have done this several times already and they usually give public speeches lecturing at university or at private views for their exhibitions. Jamie is a video artist, although he prefers to call himself a maker. He explores different means to address his interest in the experimental production of the image. He is not that interested on the narratives as much as on the technical research of the objects. The studio is divided in two parts, a small room with a digital lab and computers and a second one reserved only for display with a light slope towards the end. He starts touring the group from one artwork to the other: installations, sculptures and video projections are exhibited along the room.

His non-approach to narratives gives free access to interpretation, empowering the public and releasing the artwork from aesthetic autonomy. His approach kind of reminds me Guy Debord’s slogan back right in the beginning of the golden age of Situationist discourse: “We will not lead; we will only detonate”[viii]. Some of his works are difficult to look at due to the challenging optical tricks he plays with. I am mesmerized by the relationship found between some of them and the metaphysical matter of time. Where do we place historical time when the artwork is in an endless movement? His work seems to be the time used by our thoughts and not the time of the text (where everything is fixed and exposed to interpretation), a time where everything changes and nothing stands still: a chaotic time without measure; perhaps it is the only time that creativity tolerates, the time of research.

Jamie and Yiyun were so wonderful that I can hardly process all the stimulation. Having the chance to meet and talk face to face with these two artists-in-residence is one of the most engaging experiences I ever had; a truly enriching conversation where the public creates through their active contribution of ideas, sharing their thoughts and connecting with each other around the content given by first-class emerging artists from all over the world.

Yiyun and Jamie just finished their residency this month but new artists[ix] are coming soon to contribute to the museum with their talent and with them, and new opportunities to attend new Open Studios will come up. If you don’t want to miss this incredible experience, check the notes below for further information and save the dates[x].

Notes on Further Information and Resources

[i] Museum Residency Programme: http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/m/museum-residency-programme/

[ii] Information on the last open studios of Yiyun Kang and Jamie Jenkinson:

https://shop.vam.ac.uk/whatson/index/view/id/892/event/Open-Studio–Jamie-Jenkinson—Exhibition-Road-Digital-Resident/dt/2016-03-21/free/1

https://shop.vam.ac.uk/whatson/index/view/id/891/event/Open-Studio–Yiyun-Kang—V-A-Samsung-Korean-Digital-Art-Resident/dt/2016-03-21/free/1

[iii] Samsung Korean Digital Art Resident: Yiyun Kang http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/samsung-korean-digital-art-resident-yiyun-kang/

[iv] Sackler Centre for arts education: design & build http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/sackler-centre-for-arts-education-design-and-build/

[v] About the Exhibition road buiding project: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/futureplan-exhibition-road-building-project/

[vi] Henry Cole Wing: http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/1375

[vii] Exhibition Road Digital Resident: Jamie Jenkinson http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/e/exhibition-road-digital-resident-jamie-jenkinson/

[viii] Guy Debord, slogan in ”On the Passage of a Few People Through a Rather Brief Moment in Time: The Situationist International, 1957-1972” – quoted in The New York Times, 27^th December 1989 http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/27/arts/review-art-a-show-of-the-anti-movement-movement.html?pagewanted=all

[ix] These are the profiles of the new artists-in-residence of the V&A: