Top Shows of 2009! part 4

Ulrich Vogl : Gipfelstürmer @ Kevin Kavanagh

Ulrich Vogl is a draftsman - a draftsman however, whose aim it is to project the art of drawing into other spheres. He deploys versatile techniques in order to emancipate the medium of drawing from its traditional boundaries. His focus of the past three years has been on “drawing & light”, working with shadows, reflections and movement, such as his reverse painting on glass.

Gipfelstürmer sees the artist as mountaineer (roughly translating to ‘one who masters a peak or goal’). At such imagined heights, nature’s influence becomes clearer, the views – of mountains, clouds and sea - more lucid.

Ulrich Vogl lives and works in Berlin. He has recently been an artist in residence at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, where he exhibited in the Process Room.

SHANA MOULTON : WHISPERING PINES @ BROADCAST GALLERY

I’ve been so exhausted lately. I’m tired following the mundane

routines and dull obligations of every day life. I’m jaded with the

order of things. I think I‘ve begun to develop wrist tendonitis. I

need to a break – I need to retire from the world and gain some

clarity.

Those cassettes you borrowed haven’t helped at all? You really should

commit to focusing on all that is wonderful within and around you. Take

special notice of all the blessings in your life – the sky, the trees, good

friends, good food, a compliment, a helping hand, or whatever riches are

put before you!

Nothing is working. Not the cassettes, not the books. Not even this

new dietary regime.

Then I advise you visit Whispering Pines. It’s a parti-colored, hypnotic

refuge from the reality you find so exhausting. It’s an enchanted haven of

naive consumption and insulated security. It’s the zone in which your

quest for deeper meaning and higher purpose can truly begin.

So happiness will find me in Whispering Pines?

Most certainly! Once you equip yourself with the appropriate totems, you

will be secure on your journey to self-improvement. Just take a look at

Cynthia – she already lives there. Like a mystical knight in armor, Cynthia

makes her surroundings serene with instruments of new faith.

Dreamcatchers illuminated indoor fountains, healing crystals and plasma

lamps transform her residence into a soothing environment that

resonates with the sound of nature while cocooning her from the outside

world.

Wow! But, wait... why does Cynthia need protection? There seem

to be no signs of threat in Whispering Pines. Like a fairy story, it

doesn’t connect to the fears of today: there‘s no climate change,

no terrorism, no financial crisis.

The fantastic universe Cynthia inhabits is almost no different from that in

which the rest of us live. But she’s learnt the valuable lesson that

happiness and contentment are an inside job. Thaumaturgy lies within

the trinkets upon her shelf. She punctuates her solitary days with enigma

and mystery, lulling herself with esoteric theories and rituals, and

considering in depth the possibility that she may possess the Second

Sight. The outside world is as dangerous for Cynthia as it is for you or I.

After all, that is where she lost her cat.

I understand. Cynthia loves animals. And a recreative

escape has got to include a bonding to nature. I mean,

don’t the elements have a healing effect of their own?

Yes they do, and Cynthia finds healing properties in the merging of

rudimentary forces of nature like water, earth, animal, body. Every day for

Cynthia brings a new process of metamorphosis. Sometimes she

becomes so enraptured by otherworldly energy she just has to dance! It’s

in these spells of entranced ecstasy that Cynthia gains insight into the

true nature of things.

I can see that there is much that is familiar to me in Cynthia’s

videotape but still, there are moments that make me uncomfortable.

Her world seems so unreal, like the thin-walled set for TV soap.

When she dances, Cynthia disintegrates into psychedelic colours –

even her interior decor possesses an independent life of its own.

Most confusing of all is the disconnection between what I see and

what I hear. It seems Cynthia’s world is deconstructed.

Right, but temporary disorientation is a small price to pay for a

transcendental experience that is itself imbued with the powers to heal

and enhance Mind, Body and Soul. In Whispering Pines you will

experience an epiphany that will show you how to recognize the Nirvana

behind every door. You will be immersed in the kaleidoscopic spectacle of

a Magic Eye realm with rhythms to revive you. You will be furnished with

all the tools needed to achieve contentment, including explanations of the

meanings of colors, and manuals for success and Palmistry. Charlatanry

does not exist in Whispering Pines, and the Age of Aquarius – now more

affordable than ever before – will bring you infinite intelligence and

change your life forever. Overcome your fears and move to a world where

there is only joyful visuality, and remember: SAY YES TO THE UNIVERSE

- LIFE IS HUGE!

Moore /Guenther/2009

Shana Moulton @ UBU