A Thousand Gestures
by Miriam Poletti
Thanks for the help and contribution from Aariya Talcherkar, Anji Lesourne, Bianca Durrant, Camilla Marinoni, Cassandra Paige, Cynthia Chou, Dae, Duaa Bilbeisi, Elisa Pardo Puch, Ella Brew, Florencia Galecio, Getsay, Hilal Shamsaldain, Jacqueline Huskisson, Jacopo Petenello, João Motta Guedes, Jo Watson, Josefina Vidal Díaz, Maddie Baker, Marte Conesa, Michal Častulik, Nicholas Ferguson, Nina Criswell, Raisa Desypri, Raquel Gonzalez Obregon, Shannon Castor, Sergei Kurek, Suzy Royal, Tiffany Adler, Tomas Kajurov, Valentine Bossert
Opening: during Open Studios, March 22nd | 6-9 pm
March 23rd | 3-9 pm
On display: 26.03.24-30.03.2024 | 3-7 pm
The project space of GlogauAIR hosts Miriam Poletti’s (not quite) solo exhibition ‘A Thousand Gestures’, which consists of a video of the same title and a series of soft sculptures. The exhibition is conceived as a place of interaction and contact, and was created in close collaboration with the artists in residence at GlogauAIR between January and March 2024.
Miriam Poletti’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in collaboration and connection. The soft sculptures, which lie on the floor of the exhibition space, invite visitors to stop for a hug and cuddle. The artists in residence acted as models for the photos and collaborated in making the forms of the sculptures. Through collective sewing sessions, Poletti makes the creation of the work a community event, questioning conventional notions of artwork authorship.
The exhibition wants to emphasise the importance of community engagement in the creation of a collective body. This body is a representation of how, as human beings, we are in a state of constant transformation and cannot be separated from the others that make up our social fabric. The playful aspect of the workshops with the artist and the interactive installation allows both participating artists and visitors to the exhibition to renegotiate the boundaries between themselves and others, to mend the distance that separates one from the other.
The video work follows the same concept of community creation, involving the artists in the online residency. Poletti captures the voices of the artists through intimate interviews, exploring the role of touch in both personal and professional contexts. Through this collective narrative, the video invites viewers to contemplate the profound impact of physical touch on our sense of self and interpersonal relationships.
The exhibition is a reminder of how important human closeness and physical contact are for existence and, at the same time, how we can support each other through body language and shared interaction. Anyone who wants to get together and cuddle a little is cordially invited to participate.
Miriam Poletti is a Berlin based artist working with photography, textile sculpture, video and creative writing. Their work explores notions of tenderness, fragility, and the symbiotic threads that bind us together, both individually and collectively. The work process itself serves as a methodology to create new models of social interaction: through collaborations and workshops, the artworks are the result of a collective effort. The artist questions the idea of authorship of the work, encouraging a sense of shared ownership.
Poletti’s main subject is the body, investigated in its slightest alterations. They explore its soft, weak, porous nature, easily moulded or even bruised by the proximity of others. The public is invited to interact physically and viscerally with the works, squeezing or gently touching them, leaving their own temporary imprint on them, consuming them, wearing them, making them their own. The skin becomes a site of possibility where the nature of the encounter is established through the performative process of touching.
Poletti’s work has been exhibited in galleries and cultural spaces nationally and internationally such as Myymälä2 (Helsinki), Kogo Gallery (Estonia), SomoS (Berlin) Careof (Milan), MO.CO. La Panacée (Montpellier), ACMI Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Melbourne). Their poems and fictional works have been published in collaboration with the independent publishing houses Freigeist Verlag, SOFT EIS Presse and SHIFT BOOKS.
On Tuesday 26 March, it will be possible to participate in a sewing circle with the artist to contribute to the exhibited works. The workshop will be held at the project space from 15:00. Participation is free of charge. As the number of participants is limited, a binding registration must be made in advance via our registration form by 23 March 2024.
Link to register:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/156v2zGjTCt1znG2k7EA_MeNYFO6G_JVufntX56hIjvY/edit?usp=drivesdk
