EXPO ‘Kosmos Kino’ – Galli Theater, Munich (DE) – 13-16 Mars 2014
SCHMUCK 2014 – Munich – 12-18 Mars 2014
Galli Theater München : « Kosmos Kino »
Vernissage: 13 March 2014, from 17:30 to 21:00
Most Welcome!
Two charachters at play ; two stories laid out and entwined by artists Vivi Touloumidi, Beatrice Brovia & Nicolas Cheng, each exploring the jewelry medium in the expanded field.
Vivi Touloumidi — Beatrice Brovia – Nicolas Cheng
Vivi Touloumidi - What will kosmos say ?2013 – 2014 : installation of approx. 100+ brooches – carved & textured by the artist – volcanic pumice stones, steel – various sizes (average dimensions: 7 x 8 x 11 in cm)
Vivi Touloumidi - What will kosmos say ?
Vivi Touloumidi – What will kosmos say ?
« The current social/political struggles emphasize the need to rethink and rebuild ways of operating within the society. Only with the participation of the individuals and their active interaction can eventually occur a change within the collective. This work talks about the position of jewellery in times like these.
kosmos = the world = jewellery = the people
Kosmos has diverse definitions beyond the profound that relates to notions of the universe or the world.
In the Greek language (κόσμος) it has the meaning of order, harmony or beauty.
In old Greek it stands also for jewellery and in neo-Greek usually means “the people”.
By reloading these meanings to the question, its impact changes.
It can evolve to “What will people say?” or “What will jewellery say?”
The title implies several interpretations and sets a bridge between adornment, self-exposure and engagement in the public domain.
The brooches are made out of volcanic pumice rocks. Pumice stones are super-heated, highly pressurized rocks, violently ejected from a volcano millions of years ago. In 2013 the artist took a special permission to visit the quarry on the island Yali/Greece, where she collected the rocks one by one.
She sculpted and textured the surface of the stones by hand and then hollowed out and assembled them according to their unique measurements and proportions.
The most widely spread function of this mineral is the beautification and cleaning of the human body. This custom denotes the notion of “catharsis”. Depending on context, catharsis (κάθαρση) can have a literal connotation, as well as a metaphorical one. The latter can mean “the purification or purgation of the emotions” primarily through art, as used by Aristotle in the Poetics.
The brooches look up to that notion of catharsis. But catharsis is most of all a condition. Not a given answer.
It’s a process. A process based on the idea that social and cultural reform can occur through individual acts of resistance.
This work is inspired by the notion of the smaller parts working independently, but also together, in order to reinforc e a change within the whole. Same as in the essence of the kosmos, where the dependence of the whole upon the miniscule is undeniable.
Can jewellery contribute to the social changes?
Jewellery is a powerful medium, because it demands involvement and through this circular function it holds andtransmits a statement. Therefore jewellery is an active broadcaster within the public realm.
Jewellery as a tool.
Creating a new kosmos by being this new kosmos in practice. Making this choice everyday is essential.
Thinking of jewellery not as an add-on, but as a put out.
An invitation to negotiate reality.
2013 / Vivi Touloumidi
Galli Theater München
Amalienpassage, Türkenstraße 86
80799 München
Opening hours: 13, 14, 15, 16 March 2014, from 12 to 19:00
12-19 Uhr, Do 17.30-20 Uhr
More info: www.vivitouloumidi.com ; www.conversationpiece.com
