Can a party, a marathon and an alternative school be squeezed in a small paper bag? Here comes Apparatus 22’s Positive Tension (curating kit): a brown bag with several hundreds of the probably biggest confetti ever produced plus a set of both serious and hilarious instructions. All these lay the prerequisite for the party “Positive Tension (On Curating)”, a celebration with a twist since the eye candy color confetti are inscribed with over one hundred questions about curating. More precisely, there are 130 questions of various kinds – from fundamental to not-good-for-school irreverent, from analytical to intuitive, from abstract to very precise – on countless topics (including myths, taboos and rules) about curating and relations with audience, artists, institutions, legacies, ethics, new modes of working in arts, future etc. turning the work | party into a marathon of critical thinking. Ready for party? Ready for marathon?
Apparatus 22 is a trans-disciplinary art collective founded in January 2011 by current members Erika Olea, Maria Farcas, Dragos Olea together with Ioana Nemes (1979 – 2011) in Bucharest, Romania. Since 2015, they are working between Bucharest, Brussels and anywhere there is love for their practice or potential for research.They see themselves as a collective of dreamers, researchers, poetic activists and (failed) futurologists interested in exploring the intricate relationships between economy, politics, gender studies, social movements, religion and fashion in order to understand contemporary society. Selected exhibitions: La Biennale di Venezia 2013, MUMOK, Vienna (AT), BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (BE), Museion, Bolzano (IT), Kunsthalle Wien (AT), Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (BE), Brukenthal Museum Contemporary Art Gallery, Sibiu (RO), Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart (DE), Contemporary Art Museum (MNAC), Bucharest (RO), KunstMuseum Linz (AT), La Triennale di Milano (IT), Loft – Servais Family Collection, Brussels (BE), TRAFO Gallery, Budapest (HU), Futura, Prague (CZ), Ujazdowski Castle – Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (PL), Salonul de Proiecte, Bucharest (RO), Onomatopee Eindhoven (NL), TIME MACHINE BIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART, D-0 ARK UNDERGROUND, Konji (BIH), Osage Foundation (Hong Kong), Closer Art Centre, Kiev (UA), CIAP, Hasselt (BE), GALLLERIAPIU (Bologna, IT), Suprainfinit Gallery (Bucharest, RO), Lateral ArtSpace (Cluj, RO). Performances at MAK, Vienna (AT), Steirischer Herbst, Graz (AT), Stedelijk Museum with De Appel CP Amsterdam, (NL), Kunsthal Gent (BE), Yarat Academy, Baku (AZ), Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart (DE), Drodesera Festival, Dro (IT), Villa Empain, Brussels (BE), SMAK Gent, (BE), etc.
