Curated by Free Association in collaboration with Uwe K. Günther (LFN, Leipzig)
CLOSING SHOW WITH A PERFORMANCE BY THE ARTIST COLLECTIVE FAMED 03/09/04 10am-6pm
6PM TILL LATE “PARTY INSIDE THE LADEN FÜR NICHTS”
DJ’s: GDI and MAPACHE from Leipzig
PLAZA SUITE, the exhibition at Union, is a reference to the 1971 film of the same title which was based on Neil Simon’s hit Broadway play. The film was an ensemble of three episodes set in Suite 719 of New York City's famed Plaza Hotel, each starring comic legend Walter Matthau. UNION is pleased to present a parallel suite 719 in the form of the flat-pack self-contained German gallery Laden Für Nichts, re-constructed by architect and media artist Alexander Pointinger, which will be residing within the London gallery for eight weeks.
Each week for a total of 8 weeks, two or more London / Leipzig artists will engage the relationships between the small space that they occupy relative to the wider context of the internal Union gallery architecture - the works of art are moved from one gallery to another; this movement highlights thus a blurring of the frontiers between underground and mainstream art.
For UNION the artists FAMED will present their latest performance:
Title: [YOUR NAME], 2004
Performance
Unique
Union Gallery, London 2004
[YOUR NAME] provides collectors with the possibility of exclusive inscription into the actual artwork of the artist collective Famed.
If a collector buys an artwork he or she acquires a performance made by Famed. The collector receives a script that explains the procedure of this performance. It includes the option for him to choose the date to realize the performance.
Up to the point of realisation of the performance the artwork is available to other collectors and it has the temporary title [YOUR NAME].
After the realisation of the performance the collector's name will be tattooed on a section of skin designated to each of the three members of the artist collective.
From that point the name of the collector becomes the title of the work. By doing this, the collector's name turns into an additional inscription into the artists' work.
Free Association is a UK based collective of artists, curators, writers and cultural practitioners engaged in widening cultural discourse with overseas partners through exhibitions and unique projects. There is no membership card, no fee and no office. Members simply require professional knowledge and enthusiasm. Participants are invited to join debate as each project dictates.
Free Association was formed in 2003 by Colin Ledwith, Jari Lager and Mark Titchner.
Laden Für Nichts was established in 1998, and operates as a platform for young artists from Leipzig. On site, experimental forms of self-presentation and artistic presentations can be tried out and tested. Furthermore, LFN can be described as a ´social sculpture’. It is a meeting point for the local art scene in Leipzig and a non profit-making space.