Research Catalog

Title

Vartan Avakian : all that is seen and unseen / with an essay by Merve Bedir ; editors, Daniela Leykam, Dr. Nicola Müllerschön, Christoph Tannert.

Author

Avakian, Vartan, 1977-

Publication

Dortmund : Verlag Kettler, c2018.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Bedir, Merve.
• Künstlerhaus Bethanien.
• Leykam, Daniela.
• Müllerschön, Nicola.
• Tannert, Christoph, 1955-

Description

64 pages : illustrations (chiefly color); 25 cm

Summary

The works of Vartan Avakian (born in Byblos, Lebanon, in 1977) cut across different genres, ranging from video clips, installations and sculptures to photography and other media. He often works with natural materials which he transforms, preserving the history of these materials while turning them into novel objects. For his series entitled 'Collapsing Clouds of Gas and Dust', for instance, Avakian used dust particles collected at historical landmarks to create glittering crystals. In his work 'A Very Short History of Tall Men', he portrays leaders of failed coups d'état as little golden figurines. Although these figurines are in some way modelled on traditional monuments, they refuse to fulfil their representative function and instead become symbols of the protagonists' failure. This kind of ambivalence is characteristic of Avakian's entire oeuvre, making us acutely aware of the significance of history, culture and memory. Exhibition: Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany (25.5.-17.6.2018).

Alternative Title

All that is seen and unseen

Subject

• Avakian, Vartan, 1977- > Exhibitions

Note

• Catalog of an exhibition held at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany, May 24-June 17, 2018.

ISBN

• 9783862066902
• 3862066908

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries