Kosta Tonev
contents:
The Judgment
1
Self-sufficient
Machine
3
Two Things That Need
to be Connected
5
Thesaurus series
7
Misunderstandings
9
Impersonate
11
Fountain & Bases
13
Backstage
15
An Object of Labor
16
Exi(s)t
17
Certificate series
18
The Judgment
2011, double-channel video*, 4
min 44 sec.
The video is based on the true story a police
roadblock, which has been illegally appropriated,
and transformed into a work of art. One day a
group of police people came to the gallery where
the object was displayed, and repossessed it.
On the first screen of the double-channel video
installation, the cleaning lady—the only witness of
this event—explains about it. On the second one,
a group of actors impersonate the characters of
her story.
*watch here: https://vimeo.com/72047740
1
2
opposite
Self-sufficient Machine
2009, video*, 7 min 32 sec.
right
Self-sufficient Machine
2009, 2 photographs, each
125x100 cm.
Self-sufficient
Machine
The video captures a vacuum cleaner that
is covered with dust. The artist uses the electrical
apparatus to collect the dust from its own surface.
It ends when he reaches the final part of the hose,
which cannot be cleaned.
3
*watch here:
https://vimeo.com/76060729
Two Things
That Need to
Be Connected
2010, installation: video* (10 min
10 sec), shoes, book.
5
The project is predicated on a conversation
with
Michelangelo
Pistoletto
around
the
relationship between a symbol created by him
and the decorative patterns of a particular pair
of shoes. The symbol represents his concept
of the Third Paradise, and relates to much
of his recent work.
It is comprised of two
smaller circles connected by a larger circle. As
Pistoletto explained in our conversation, the
symbol represents «two things that need to be
connected.» My work reflects his concept in a
different sense—I try to establish a connection
between his work on the one hand, and the pair
of shoes I had bought, on the other.
*watch here: https://vimeo.com/76062248
6
Theasaurus series
Each of these pieces is based on one
famous quotation. In all of them artists imply the
existence of comparability between two notions.
To prove the comparability of the notions I connect
both using threads of synonyms. For example, in
the work Repetition Adds Up to Reputation (after
Andy Warhol) I first trace out synonyms of the
word «repetition» and subsequently they keep
building on each other until the word «reputation»
is reached.
Kunst = Kapital (after Joseph Beuys)
2009, oil on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
Repetition Adds Up to Reputation
(after Andy Warhol)
2008, acrylic on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden
bases.
Realitity Is an Agreement
(after Louise Nevelson)
2011, oil on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
Die Titulierung «Künstler» ist eine
Beleidigung (The Name of “Artist” Is an Insult)
(after George Grosz & John Heartfield)
2009, oil on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
The Future Is Now (after Nam June Paik)
2009, oil on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
A Painting Is Not a Picture of an
Experience; It Is an Experience
(after Mark Rothko)
2010, oil on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
Misunderstandings
The Framer’s Contribution
Wrong Dimensions
Spray Stencils
Missing Stretcher
2010, oil on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
2011, oil on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
Misunderstandings
2010, oil and collage on canvas, 210x150 cm, wooden bases.
9
2012, oil and spray paint on canvas, 210x150 cm,
wooden bases.
2012, oil on canvas, 225x165 cm (approx.).
10
Impersonate
2013, adhesive chrome vinyl
on cork planks, wooden
construction, 130x490 cm.
11
A stage-like structure featuring a
list of all residents within a 100m radius
from the center for art and architecture
Stroom The Hague. Either by a deliberate
intervention or by accident, one of the
names is omitted from the list. A sitespecific installation in the entrance of
the art center.
12
Fountain & Bases
Magic Base
2010, c-print mounted on
aluminum, 80x80 cm.
This series bears references to various 20th
century artworks, most notably Piero Manzoni’s
«Living Sculptures» and «Magic Bases.» The
photographs capture the artist posing as a sculpture.
These actions were performed at various places
related to the system of production and distribution
of commodities depicting the artist as part of it.
Not Quite Magic Base
2010, c-print mounted on
aluminum, 80x80 cm.
Gasoline Fountain
2008, c-print mounted on aluminum, 80x80 cm.
13
14
An Object of Labor
2012, video*, 6 min 34 sec.
Backstage
2010, performance (with Anna
Moreno).
15
The forklift is usually in the storage
areas of supermarkets and factories,
hidden from the customers. Similarly,
the thinking process of an art project
is behind what the viewer eventually
sees. We recorded our conversation
around creating a work with the forklift,
and transformed it into a script. During
the performance we turned the forklift
into a stage, on which we renacted this
process.
In a transshipment area a worker
is pushing two hand trucks around, one
on top of the other. As he makes his way
through the maze-like structure, the hand
truck finds itself both in the position of a
bearer and in that of the content, which it
conveys. The object of his labor are the
very means, which enable it. The worker
ends up caught up in an endless loop.
*watch here: https://vimeo.com/76060729
16
Exi(s)t
A lecture-performance on the topics
of exclusion and existance outside the
political and natural body. Largely based
on Kafka’s Before the Law, it features
the characters of Napoleon Bonaparte
who introduced the first modern ID
system and Abraham Lincoln who
repeatedly encountered the illusion of his
doppelganger while their death masks
are being projected in the background. In
Western societies the death mask has a
history of signifying lineage, which was in
turn the basis for a person‘s idenification
in society.
17
Left: id11, Delft (NL), 2013
Above: ArtToday Association, Plovdiv (BG), 2014
2013—2014, performance.
Certificate series
2014, laser print on paper,
banknotes, each 30x21 cm.
A set of multiple page documents,
which act as formal agreements between
the artist and buyer. The purchase of
every certificate is legaly binding, which in
turn influences the modes of interaction
with, and status of the piece.
18
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Web
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Email
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