Past Residents
Past Resident2014: The Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Olaf Brzeski
Olaf Brzeski’s practice is rooted in surrealist visions, which he puts into life via film, three-dimensional sculptures and installations. His comments about his own works do not so much mirror his personal interpretation, but narrate fictional stories, illustrated in the artworks or, in fact, made believable through the existence of the latter. This is the way in which Brzeski generates new worlds and their inhabitants.
Olaf Brzeski, Dream - spontaneous combustion, 2008, Bone soot, polyurethane resin and ash, 70 4/5 x 59 x 37 2/5 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Olaf Brzeski, Untitled (from the little orphans series), 2009, Cast iron, chair, 35 1/2 x 23 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Olaf Brzeski, Out of love for a woman, 2012, Steel, bronze, oil, paint and wood, 118 1/8 x 118 1/8 x 177 1/8 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Olaf Brzeski, The fall of the man i don't like, 2012, Painted steel, 106 1/3 x 137 3/4 x 82 2/3 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Olaf Brzeski, Untitled (from the little orphans series), 2009, Cast iron, wood, glass and light, 82 2/3 x 35 1/2 x 51 1/5 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Past Resident2014: Carclew Youth Arts
Madison Bycroft
Through video, performance and sculpture, Madison Bycroft explores an animist way of being in the world, rethinking what it means to be a person and how we might understand, relate, and communicate with others. How does language, representation or the archive limit our perspective? How can we know differently within these systems? Bycroft’s video and performance works often present as short experiments in unlearning the self or traditional modes of being, and explore the practice of empathy and processes of becoming other. Through sculpture, she immerses herself within the world of objects and how they resonate with us and how they might become animated. Bycroft often works with forms that are strange and unrecognisable, and border on weird or unusual. In lieu of categorical and colonizing thought, Bycroft is interested in relational understanding, something which requires compassion: in Latin, a feeling with that extends to difference—to the animal and other persons—creating a sense of communion with the world.
Madison Bycroft (born 1987, Adelaide, South Australia) completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts with first class honors at the University of South Australia in 2012. She has exhibited in group and solo shows throughout Australia and recently in Canada, in public, commercial and artist run galleries, as well experimenting with non-traditional sites. She has a multi-media practice, including video, sculpture and performance. Bycroft is the recipient of the 2014 Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarships, awarded for one year of study overseas in the visual arts. Bycroft has been selected for safARI in 2014 – the fringe festival to the Sydney Biennale.
Madison Bycroft, Becoming Still, 2013, Single channel video, 7:30 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Madison Bycroft, Experiments of the savage, 2013, Performance. Courtesy of the artist.
Madison Bycroft, On Certainty, 2013, Mixed media and ceramics. Courtesy of the artist.
Madison Bycroft, Salute, 2012, Two channel video, 1:30 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Madison Bycroft, Ode to the vampire squid, 2013, Single channel video, 4 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Past Resident2013: Foundation for a Civil Society
Veli & Amos
Veli & Amos is a Slovenian-Swiss artist duo, based between Ljubljana and Zürich. Their work uses language, codes and the energy of graffiti and activism to draw attention to problems and borders of our present-day reality. They research public space, squats and demonstrations, where they adapt their knowledge into a site-specific art practice. With public art, art on the Internet or art inside the gallery, they deal with how to transform site.
Veli Silver (born 1983, Banja Luka) studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Ljubljana and the Faculty of Fine Arts, Porto. Amos Angeles (born 1986, Zurich) studied Architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich and finished his bachelor’s degree at the Zurich University of the Arts. Veli and Amos have been working as a duo since 2008. Their work has been shown at Museum of Contemporary, Ljubljana; Rotor Gallery, Graz; HVW8 Gallery, Los Angeles; P 74 Gallery, Ljubljana; Message salon, Zurich and W139, Amsterdam.
Veli & Amos, F is forever, 2013, Bands, string, paper, plastic, 471/4 × 313/16 in. (120.01 × 79.25 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Veli & Amos, Follow the Out Line, 2012, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
Veli & Amos, Who the fuck is Luka Princic, 2013, Performance. Courtesy of the artist.
Veli & Amos, Youtube, Let's Save the Whales International, Jew Box and Sheep, 2011, Mixed media, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
Veli & Amos, Signed by Mana Ous Bah, 2012, Street signs, lights, print, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
