Artspeak
Heather and Ivan Morison
Heather Morison (1973, Desborough, UK) and Ivan Morison (Istanbul, Turkey in 1974) work collaboratively and make art as an active engagement with materials, histories, sites and processes. Their practice incorporates activities as diverse as gardening, kite flying, skywriting and science fiction. The Morisons have made site-specific projects internationally including the establishment of an arboretum in a remote village in Wales. Their work has been exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, including Tate Britain, the Barbican and the 52nd Venice Biennale. Heather and Ivan Morison are based in Brighton, UK and Arthog, North West Wales and are represented in Canada by Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto.
Exhibitions
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JASON DODGE, HADLEY + MAXWELL, ALLISON HRABLUIK, AARON FLINT JAMISON, SAM LEWITT, HEATHER AND IVAN MORISON, AVIGAIL MOSS, PAMELA ROSENKRANZ, DEXTER SINISTER, MATT SHERIDAN SMITH, OSCAR TUAZON
April 9–May 28, 2011
Presenting the work of eleven artists and collaborators, this exhibition refuses to deliver. It offers artworks sent via national postal systems addressed to the gallery as “Poste Restante”. Typically relied upon by travelers and lovers, “Poste Restante” is a request for a post office to hold a letter or package until picked up by its recipient. The works are exhibited as received, in unopened envelopes or parcels, accompanied by any paperwork generated during transit, including customs forms, bills of lading, and pro forma invoices. Delivery is deferred as the packages wait, held by the gallery for a recipient whose identity is unknown.
Objects are shaped by various encounters with systems of commerce, information, publicity and transportation. Stubbornly resistant to dematerialization, the art object remains local, specific and visible only in certain spaces, while operating in far-flung networks, both physical and immaterial. Guarantors of the exhibition as an exhibition, the art objects in Poste Restante serve as ground for exchanges of immaterial services, writings, and conversations. Through the suspension of delivery we remove the object-in-itself from scrutiny and see in clearer relief the systems the object both calls to life and circulates within.
The exhibition will travel to further destinations, including both commercial galleries and non-profit spaces, marking out a geographical network of communication and interests analogous to those of the participating artists and organizations. Parallel events, including talks, performances, and publications, will accompany the exhibition at each location.
Curated by Eric Fredericksen