Asma, Kinke Kooi, Siggi Sekira, Zhou Siwei, Viktor Timofeev
Blasted Heath
14.02.–05.04. 2020 A.M.180 Gallery, Prague

Artists: Asma, Kinke Kooi, Siggi Sekira, Viktor Timofeev, Zhou Siwei

Curator: Monika Čejková

Photos: Jakub Hájek, František Hanousek

Media: Tzvetnik, Ofluxo, AQNB, Daily Lazy, Blok Magazine, KubaParis

𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙽𝚊𝚑𝚞𝚖’𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚒𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙽𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚏𝚊𝚐𝚎; 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚊𝚗’𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙰𝚖𝚖𝚒 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚘𝚛.

– 𝙷. 𝙿. 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚝, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙾𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝟷𝟿𝟸𝟽

This exhibition by artists Asma, Kinke Kooi, Siggi Sekira, Zhou Siwei and Viktor Timofeev, is loosely inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s 1927 book “The Colour Out of Space”, in which “Blasted Heath” is a place above Arkham, a fictional town located in New England that appears in a number of Lovecraft’s texts. This is where the story of the destruction of a family farm, caused by the crash of a meteorite shrouded with unearthly powers, takes place.

Through the artworks on show, the exhibition works with the de-hierarchization of the interpretation of Lovecraft’s novel. At the same time, it examines how Lovecraft gives voice to contemporary fears of physical and psychological infection. The model for the selection of works and artists is largely inspired by the period from the book known as the “strange days”. Signaling impending danger, the period is characterized by a transformation of the local vegetation, which reaches abnormal heights, exudes bizarre odors and takes on atypical shades of colour. This radiant psychedelic phenomenon is reflected in some of the exhibited artworks (Asma, Kinke Kooi, Zhou Siwei); in the case of Siggi Sekira or Viktor Timofeev, they also address forms of dark mystical destruction, one of the book’s themes.

Additionally, the exhibition has a soundtrack by Aestum (soundcloud.com/aestum), presenting original electronic music tracks dedicated to all five exhibiting artists and at same in keeping with Lovecraft’s tonality and the original curatorial concept. In this way, each one also has its own anthem.