Artist: Nelmarie Du Preez
Exhibition title: Atmosphere for Anticipation
Curated by: Maria Villa
Venue: RIBOT, Milan, Italy
Date: November 28, 2018 – February 2, 2019
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and RIBOT
RIBOT is proud to present the first solo show in Italy by Nelmarie Du Preez (Pretoria – South Africa, 1985, lives and works in Pretoria). A selection of recent works that transport the onlooker into an alternative universe, one constellated with robotic devices that analyse and question the relationship between man and technology.
The title Atmosphere for Anticipation denotes the artist’s interest developed over her more recent studies on the concept of ‘prediction’, meant not so much as a supposition based of conjectures and clues, concerning what is to come, but as a genuine discipline that uses the future in its actual decision-making processes, implying an action and a movement. It’s from these specific research projects that Project 01: The Movement originates: the installation on the first floor of the gallery, conceived and staged especially for the show.
The work presents an outright reconstruction of a place of worship of the fu-ture, abandoned on Mars and brought to life by elements with a high symbolic value: the flag of a para-religious movement, celebratory totems, the relics de-ployed in the various rituals emerging from the orange sand, and a robotic hand with a human semblance placed symbolically in the centre of the scene tapping it’s fingers on ‘Mars’, which is in a state of emergency.
An estranging environment in which mantras sound out heralding evolution no-tionally constructed by a sect devoted to the worship of progress and conse-crated in the figure of a technological and innovative prophet. Inevitably refer-able to Elon Musk, this imaginary high priest is the emblem of those figures working in the field of technological development who incite a sort of venera-tion around them, activating a system of thought akin to that of religions and sects, involving a great number of people in the implementation of their ideas, to the point of conditioning expectations and, in some ways, determining the way in which we all spend money and resources.
The exhibition also features a number of previous pieces showing the evolution of Nelmarie Du Preez’s work, and which underline some of the peculiarities of her artistic language, above all the ability to construct genuine environments, capable of letting us experience – as well as imagine – a surreal and vaguely dystopic future, constantly poised between tragedy and comedy.
On the lower floor, Autonomous Times (2015) and, on a screen deliberately placed to the side of Project 01: The Movement, we find a selection of five videos belonging to the series Loops of Relation (2013) and A Continuation (2016). The former is an articulated work that once again transcends genres to combine performance, video and installation in order to analyse the dynamics at the basis of the symbiotic relationship between man and technology. On one hand, the work tells of the ideal life cycle of curious robotic machines: the ex-ploration of their autonomy, their submission to the human mind, their failure and repair. On the other hand, the selection of videos shows how ever since her earliest performances (to stab, to rely and to hit, 2013) produced in collabora-tion with GUI – a device designed and programmed by the artist herself and drawing inspiration from the actions of the duo Abramović-Ulay – Du Preez’s language and references go beyond the model, to the point of finding their own full imaginative autonomy, as may be seen in the videos to shoot and to collide (2016).
For Atmosphere for Anticipation, Nelmarie Du Preez has come up with a special project offering the essence of all her eclectic work: a small sculpture in epoxy clay equipped with robotic components, activated on contact with the human touch.
Nelmarie Du Preez (Pretoria, 1985) is a South African artist whose research draws on various lan-guages: performance, photography, video and computational art. In 2014 she was awarded a Master in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, where in 2013, she also completed a cycle of studies in Computational Arts. Solo shows of her work have been held at various public and private institutions, including: ad-ad projects, Hannover, 2018; Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, 2016; Room Gallery and Projects, Johannesburg, 2016 and Arebyte gallery, London, 2015. Her works have also been displayed at: Museum am Dom, Trier, 2018; New Media gallery, Vancouver, 2017; Transmediale Festival, Documenta 14, Kassel, 2017; the International Digital Arts Biennale, Arsenal, Montreal, 2016; London Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2015; Home Works 7, Ashk-wal Alwan, Beirut, 2015. She has taken part in various artists’ residence projects such as: Künstler-haus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems, 2018-19; Ampersand Foundation, New York, 2016; Arebyte Gallery, London, 2015. She has been awarded the following prizes: the Sasol New Signatures Award, South Africa, 2015; Absa l’atelier merit, South Africa, 2015; Bath Open Art 88Prize, 2015; Bad Behaviour Open Judges Prize, 2014; and the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Scholarship, 2012-14.
Nelmarie Du Preez, Atmosphere for Anticipation, 2018, installation view at RIBOT gallery, Milan
Nelmarie Du Preez, Atmosphere for Anticipation, 2018, installation view at RIBOT gallery, Milan
Nelmarie Du Preez, Impatient Anticipation, 2018, 3D printed Automaton with motor-control system, Plastic life-cast fingers, Plastic sphere, Emergency light. Dimensions: 45x45x70cm
Nelmarie Du Preez, The Future is Rocky I, 2018, epoxy clay, wooden robotic claw, Micro Servo Motor, Arduino Nano, copper, USB-cable, 23.5×17.5×10.5cm, special project in 6 ex
Nelmarie Du Preez, Prediction Cycle (Magic Triangle), 2018, Epoxy Clay, iPad 2, Turn-table, Motor-control system, Singlechannel video with sound. Duration: 05”06’. Dimensions 60x70x180cm
Nelmarie Du Preez, Future Fortunes, 2018, pigment print on Hahnemhule paper, 50 x 90 cm
Nelmarie Du Preez, Pillars of Anticipation, 2018, pigment print on Hahnemhule paper, 50 x 90 cm
Nelmarie Du Preez, The Founder’s Dilemma, 2018, pigment print on Hahnemhule paper, 50 x 90 cm
Nelmarie Du Preez, Special FX, 2015, pigment print on Hahnemhule paper, 56 x 34 cm
Nelmarie Du Preez, to rely from the series Loops of Relation, 2013, Single-channel video with sound
Nelmarie Du Preez, to collide from the series A Continuation, 2016, Singlechannel video with sound
Nelmarie Du Preez, to hit from the series Loops of Relation, 2013, Single-channel video with sound
Nelmarie Du Preez, to shoot from the series A Continuation, 2016, Dual-channel video with sound
Nelmarie Du Preez, to stab from the series Loops of Relation, 2013, Singlechannel video with sound
Nelmarie Du Preez, Atmosphere for Anticipation, 2018, installation view at RIBOT gallery, Milan
