Beyond Repetition
Buinho Art Residency
Messejana, August 2022
GISEL CARRICONDE AZEVEDO (BRASIL)
GRETCHEN HASSE (UNITED STATES)
MAKIKO HARRIS (JAPAN / UNITED STATES)
MATHIS DARRIET (FRANCE, COLLABORATING ARTIST)
PHIL JONES (ENGLAND)
Beyond Repetition is the culminating exhibition of the August 2022 Buinho artist
residency. It features work by Gisel Carriconde Azevedo, Gretchen Hasse, Makiko
Harris, Mathis Darriet, and Phil Jones. The residency artists all independently
gravitated toward the theme of repetition, inspired by the town of Messejana itself,
the surrounding landscape, and newly acquired skills on the machines at Buinho.
The little white houses in Messejana, with their repetition of colors and architecture,
dominated the visual world of the artists’ daily lives during their month long residency.
One of the pieces in the exhibition is a literal homage to those little houses.
The nature around and within Messejana also figures prominently in this show.
Natural structure is all about repetition, from schools of fish to forests of trees,
patterns of leaves to spores of mushrooms. As humans we are also connected to our
own repetitive nature, and to our repetitive habits; but we have a consciousness,
which gives us the opportunity to go beyond this repetition. It allows us to reflect and
be intentional about how we choose to live, instead of blindly following the repetition
of our biology.
During this month-long residency, the artists were trained on machines that made
repetition possible. The technology used to create the works in the show include a
laser cutter, 3D printer, Arduino, digital video and photography.
How do the artists go Beyond Repetition if the works of art themselves are products
of machines able to reproduce flawlessly and exactly? You can read the reflections of
each artist in their personal statements.
MAKIKO HARRIS:
Our biology is all about repetition, however, as humans we are called to move beyond
repetition. The world demands to know who are you? where are you from? what do you do? A clear and static identity is an armor that protects us from the real questions that no one ever asks, and a prison where we become limited in our expression. Through installation and multimedia works, I explore how we might move beyond these fixed senses of identity, into a more expansive state of being. Because this work is about how my own identity and body encounter the world, the concept isn’t complete until I wear the work.
Photos by Mathis Darriet