NOW SHOWING // Un-Boxing
an (Arts) Territory Exchange (aTE) touring exhibition
Un-Boxing opened in mid-May 2021 in Cambridgeshire (England) with aTE founder, Gudrun Filipska. The works in the touring exhibition have come from across the globe, with the opening show including work by Marina Amaral, Hana Wilde, Laura Copsey, Martin Dixon, Sydney Lancaster, Vicki Piersig, Michelle Kohler, Diane Eagles, Andrew Howe, Kim V Goldsmith, Reb Green and her students at MICA, Georgina Reskala, Lizzy Sampson, Sarah le Quang Sang, Roelnant Meijer, Sarah Scaife, Alisa Oleva, Imi Maufe, Hannah Stageman, Anette Friedrich Johannessen, Carly Butler, Emily Van Lidth de Jeude, Caro Williams, Romina Cristi, Elisabeth Elegeert, Leonie Andrews, Sarah Basha, Jessica Longmore, Laurel Terleski, Sara Trillo, and Jessie Pangas.
Un-Boxing destinations include Anglesey (Wales), Suffolk (England), Versailles (France), Saint Croix de Mareuil (France), and Copenhagen (Denmark). The second stage of Un-Boxing will take a more experimental form, developing its own network of hosts around a series of anchor locations including The Maryland Institute College of Art, Pittsburgh (USA), Pennsylvania (USA), Pender Island (Canada), and Vancouver Island (Canada). You’ll find updates on the touring works on the Instagram account of Gudrun Filipska (aTE founder)
Images of postcards from Plas Bodfa, Anglesey Wales. Images: Julie Upmeyer
The brief provided to aTE by Andrew Howe (UK) and Kim V. Goldsmith (Australia) for a series of postcards was drawing on themes from the Mosses + Marshes collaboration, such as language, accessibility, hidden elements and imprints, whilst also playing with the ideas of ‘un-boxing’ suggested in the exhibition brief. Revealing what is not normally experienced in the landscape is a key part of the Mosses + Marshes project, whether that be sounds, layered histories, or night time experiences. QR code links to sounds further extend the sense of anticipation and revelation.
A limited-edition series of 12 Mosses + Marshes postcards were developed, including a mix of photographs, prints, rubbings, handmade papers, text and sound (using QR codes), presented in a customised box made of handmade papers by Andrew. The text piece, The Language of Loss was written by Kim for her postcards – inspired by the Marshes, each stanza was printed on a separate card (except the last one – which has only been published here). The work came from research into Wayilwan language, colonisation and settlement history, the threatened species who call the Marshes home and questions of how we value these landscapes.
The Language of Loss
Kim V. Goldsmith
Wammerawa
Willancorah
Quambone
Pillicawarrina
Billybingbone
Ancient place names. Lost.
Swallowed to be spat out as markers of ownership and journey.
Oxley
Sandy Camp
Neverdry
Bluelight
Roubaix
Carved up territories with plans of prosperity. Lost.
Hopes and dreams evaporate in a cycle of uncertainty.
Ardeotis australis
Rostratula australis
Botaurus poiciloptilus
Lepidium hyssopifolium
Maccullochella peelii peelii
Latin names for not-so-Latin species. Soon lost. Part of an ecosystem no longer of National Environmental Significance.
Traversing the centuries, the language of loss shapes the estate.
The regulation of commerce draws the line –
No perceived value. No place.
