‘Convey’
2019, 13’
Lina Albrikiene
Lina Albrikiene’s new installation ‘Convey’ is inspired by the Lithuanian novel ‘The White Shroud’ written by Antanas Škėma (1958). Artist interprets and decontextualizes it relating her first encounter with the novel at school with nowadays analysis, which could be still very much familiar with nowadays immigrant condition and experience.
The main character of the book works as an elevator operator. He is self destructed and disordered personality. The narration of the novel reminiscents of a fragmented puzzle. The main space of the subject matter is the machine – elevator, which seems to never stop. The main character feels as if he is locked in a cage, which constantly levitates between the God’s realm UP and the human existence DOWN. For the video filming Lina Albrikiene choses an unusual type of an old elevator called paternoster. It doesn’t have doors, it never stops. It runs as a conveyer - as a meat grinder machine. An ordinary elevator would break the linearity of the narration by stopping in any floor, but the paternoster type is consistent and linear.
Video work presents intimate images: differently positioned nude bodies in the elevator going up and down. The light and the movement of elevator into different sides poses the perception as if the bodies are dismantled. Here comes the remarkable reference to Goya painting “Saturn Devouring His Son”.
The third element of installation is sound. Artist ‘grabs’ the word “zoori”, which was often used in the novel. There is no meaning of this word except that the main character shouts “zoori” when the world suddenly is changing in his mind. Albrikiene impulsively plunges “zoori” into the voices of liturgical men choir.
Lina Albrikiene
biography
Lina Albrikiene was born in 1984 in Vilnius (Lithuania). She lives and works in Vilnius and Jurmala (Latvia). From 2002 - 2009 she studied photography and media art at the Art Academy of Vilnius. During her studies Albrikiene started working on the theme of memory, revealing her conceptual approach through video, installation and photography.
In 2011 Albrikiene was awarded by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture Grand Prize for the young artist debut and was announced as the Grand Prize Winner at the ‘Young European Creators’ biennial (Montrouge). Since 2006 she is a member of Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists Association and 2018 - 2019 she was a member on board.
Lina Albrikiene did residence programs funded by the federal states of Austrian: Land Steiermark residency program in Graz held by Forum Stadtpark (2019), ‘Air – Artist in Residence Kultur Kontakt Austria’ in Vienna (2017), ‘Air – Artist in Residence’ in Krems (2015). In 2012 residence program ‘JCE residence’ in Montrouge and etc.
In 2017, 2015 and 2014 artist received Individual Artist scholarship for her art projects from Lithuanian Council for Culture and in 2011 Individual Artist Prize from Ministry of Culture.
This summer Albrikiene is opening a solo show in Graz (Austria) at Forum Stadtpark. She had solo exhibitions in Lithuania and Mexico. Albrikiene was organizing and attending group exhibition in Vienna at Kunsthalle Exnergasse. In 2014 she participated in a group show at DISTRICT Kunst- und Kulturförderung in Berlin, in 2012 at La Fabrique in Montrouge, in 2015 at Stadmuseum St. Polten and etc.
Video "Convey" filmography:
2019 April - screening at Forum Stadtpark (Graz).
2019 January - March - at the group exhibition "Altered States" in Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna).
