Kunsthall 3.14 is excited to present Eve Ariza´s installation Murmuri.

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The project presents the viewer with an all-embracing physical experience and an abundance of concepts on which to reflect.  On the one hand, the installation is immensely sensual, a space for contemplation, on the other hand the work is cerebral, commenting on the state of our world.

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At first glance, Ariza´s abstract installation seems concerned with forms and format, textures and colours. Yet as one immerses oneself, it’s apparent that the objects that comprise the installation operate as tools to discuss tradition, identity, migration, abundance and mass consumption.

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The work references something universally familiar: a simple ceramic bowl. Yet each bowl has had its base slit, rendering its original function useless. The overwhelming number of bowls, presented vertically, further reduces functionality and alters one’s normal perception of the simple object. Indeed, gazing at the work, it is difficult to focus on an individual ceramic bowl, and the notion of “the object” is challenged through the sheer volume of the objects presented.

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The abstraction of the objects is not a distraction from, but rather highlights, societal issues. In the same way the installation’s title – Murmuri - challenges language's constrictive associations, the piece’s abstraction challenges our expectations, and instead insists on the formulation of new and open definitions.

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The artist’s investigation explores the state of consciousness and shape of perception through the repetition of almost ten-thousand simple uniform objects. By exploring shape, colour and proximity the viewer’s experience is altered, the field of vision and perception become overwhelmed, triggering a kind of transcendental contemplation.

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Matter matters. Things (clay, bowls, walls) have their own agency. Things are already in the world, in dialogue with the world, forming and being formed by other things in the world. Indeed, according to Heidegger, things in relationship with other things is what makes up ‘the world’. No things; no ‘world’. Things don’t consciously have knowledge of the world but are interpreted according to their historic and present entanglements with the world. Things have a relationship to the world (of other things), and Murmuri is no exception. Whilst its countless self-contained objects relate to an ancient tradition of craft, it also presents its own meaning for interpretation.

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The integrity of the physical, individual, singular object – the ceramic bowl - can be seen as a symbol of human’s connection to the earth through materiality, and our connection to each other through our ancestral heritage and the pottery tradition. The bowl was one of the first original man-made shapes created for a specific purpose. The artist has cut and ruptured each hand-crafted object, yet each remains bound by its style, materiality and technique.

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The artistic output is monumental, both in terms of the scale of the installation, and the monotonous task of shaping and forming each object by hand. Eve spent six months on the potter´s wheel. The bowls are coarse and plain, grounding us both literally and metaphysically.

Ariza re-examines the history of pottery. The utilitarian essence of the bowl vanishes and with its new mouth-like slit it lets out a murmur. Operating like an echo chamber, the murmur of the objects unites us in resonating contemplation and confrontation, with the ever-present ebb and flow of people and their contrived interaction with each other.

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The rich and varied hues of the pottery allude to the world´s ethnicity.  The artist gives equal importance to each tone, from black to white and nuances in between.  The socio-political context of racial discrimination and migration are addressed using a democratic and classless medium.

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The pertinence of Murmuri cannot be understated in our consumer-focused world, where walls are constructed to divide and discriminate, to include and exclude, divide privilege from poverty. With the countless coloured objects reminiscent of an economic graph, strength in numbers can be truly felt.

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In Murmuri, Eve Ariza comments on current societal issues, combining an ancient medium with extraordinary sensual experience.

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Andorran artist Eve Ariza (b. 1973 in France), studied Fine Arts at École Supérieure dÁrt in Limoges, France. Her work is mainly devided between sculptural objects predominantly in ceramic, and activist happenings. Communication etchics is a continous artistic thread in all her works. Ariza represented the Principality of Andorra at the 57th edition of the Venice Bienial in 2017 with the monumental installation Murmuri, her most ambitious project to date now exhibiting at Kunsthall 3.14. Prior to this the work was on view at Galerie La Vitrine, in Limoges, France. Ariz has been exhibiting extensively abroad for close to 25 years.

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The art installation Murmuri is on loan from the Ministry of Culture of Andorran Government.

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[www.eveariza.com]

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Opening speech by Sofie Marhaug.

Sofie Marhaug (1990) is the leader of the party group of the Red party in Bergen City Council, and also a PhD fellow in comparative literature at the University of Bergen.

Link to the speech  >>>

 

- Bergens Tidende review (in Norwegian) >>>

 

- Link Studio2 P2. Review by Mona Pahle Bjerke:

[radio.nrk.no/serie/studio-2-p2/MKRD04003719/20-02-2019#t=26m9.8s]

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- Sofie Marhaug´s opening speech  published in Bøygen 3-4/19 ”Kapital” (www.boygen.net)

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Poem:

Murmuri is made up of murmurs, which both receive and emit.

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Murmuri is resonance.

Murmuri is anti-blah.

Murmuri is a wheel that turns, making the clay and the spirit dance.

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Murmuri is earth, water, air and fire.

Murmuri is concentric waves.

Murmuri is mouths that emit frequencies.

Murmuri is the ability to listen.

Murmuri is contemplation.

Murmuri is nature.

Murmuri is transformation.

Murmuri is life, like the universe: energy, vibration and frequency, and everything that vibrates is sound.

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Murmuri is music.

Murmuri is rhythm.

Murmuri uses a universal language.

Murmuri is rebellion.

Murmuri is love.

Murmuri is strength.

Murmuri does not need so many words (blah, blah).

The murmurs resound on their own.