portable practicality, practial portability is a show by ethan hayes-chute and it pivots around an old epson ASCII printer.
the printer, sitting on a plinth in the middle of the room, has been programmed by ethan and is available to ‘play’ with – visitors getting their own little receipt for their time and joy. around the gallery are little collections of things made with or about the printer – original flavour gum, a collection of terry-pratchet-esque bottles/spices with printed labels and a noticeboard of early workings (above). perhaps because i’m a bit of a nerd (and haven’t been practicing my code AT ALL), i enjoyed looking at this one – seeing his tests for each line, working out how to best create the image he wanted through instruction.
and, i have to say, i really enjoyed the small video work in the corner *. it’s a process of him unravelling the printer roll from the manufacturers roll using a drill to re-roll them onto his own spool. apparently futile actions that carry personal meaning, frustration and some kind of resistance in their persistance. the drill and rolls atop the hand-made monitor box were a nice touch (although unnecessary IMO).
the video itself also reminded me a little of campbell patterson’s videos and michaela gleave’s 7-hour balloon performance. what can i say, i’m a sucker for ridiculous repetition.
the gallery itself, kinderhook & caracas, was also reassuring and exact.
that sounds so fey, but what i mean is that it was exactly the right size, attitude and layout that i was looking for last night.
it’s quite a typical small berlin gallery (white walls, wooden floors, fluoros, shopfont) and ideal for a show of this size and scope. it looks like they have some interesting shows and i’m intrigued by their relationship to publications (it reminds me of big fag press or half letter press).
and although there were many many intimidatingly cool peeps inside outside, it was a bit refreshing to not be in kreuzberg or neukölln, but to just see an exhibition.
*not shown. and no titles either. apologies for being so slack – i didn’t see a room list. if i go back and grab one, i promise to edit