Pointeso Art Scene

Somewhere in the industrial town of Indentine an email notification pings on the smart phone of collaborative applicant No.3245.

Sofia scanned the notification to applicants and noticed the word ‘successful’ preceded by the heart sinking ‘un.’

Dear Steffan and Sofia,

Many thanks for your proposal. We had a great deal of high quality interest in the Vaconsofia Offsite exhibition opportunity, which made our selection immensely challenging. Unfortunately, on this occasion your proposal was unsuccessful. We will provide individual feedback to a maximum of three artists so please get back in touch if you require this – our time is stretched here on The Parcway and the feedback may not be immediate.

Pegosa Space has a series of opportunities for artists throughout its programme, including more commissions for our exclusive Offsite projects. If you haven’t already, we’d endorse you joining our mailing list to keep up-to-date with them as they are made available.

Thanks again for your interest in this opportunity, and for the time you spent on your proposal – and the best of luck with your future endeavours.

Kind Regards

Esme

Esme Hallertone

Pegosa Space

An article in the cultural section of The Pointesian Times.

Jonathan Ridgeon reports.

A new craze among artists based in The Battery Row area of Pointeso is causing a minor stir at present; parody and appropriation is the name of the game.

Huyton Marrini spends countless hours hanging around Vaconsoft Parkway inventing partially fictional narratives by using his own experiences of the galleries, clubs, and observations in the cafe and executive quarters. He also combines this with web – based research by nicking what he sees as ‘hollow press releases from galleries and the banks of so – called artist opportunity websites.’

Erica McGregor from A45 Magazine: ‘It’s a well – worn path taken by many of those artists who feel a sense of isolation from the cultural centres and institutions that propel the multi – faceted discourses forward. Marrini and the like are in fact operating in cynical, nonsensical and introspective bubble, thus failing to add anything constructive to the sublime works that have been coming out of Pointeso for a number of years now.

I know that many of these appropriation artists haven’t done their homework…lots of cutting and pasting off the web and altering photographs just doesn’t cut it. It’s a lazy way of working which says more about their individual insecurities than any meaningful addition to the intelligent, discursive and rigorous canon of Pointesian artists who take the professional time and care to research their subject matter.  Simply pressing the ‘publish’ button on their blogs in the hope of saintly gallerist or curatorial intervention will single them out from the over-saturated proliferated pile of text and image.

It’s critical that in our current contemporary digital climate, editing is employed via the fine web – based tooth comb.’

We endeavoured to contact Marrini at his studio and quoted statements from the above interview via the intercom system. Refusing to answer the door he uttered the following words:

‘Parody schmarody and satire schmatire.’

An unkempt army styled unemployed bloke is sitting on a wall by the lakes on Pointeso Parkway. He’s conversing with his cleaner mother in law on her way to The Gertz Gallery.

Cleaner: ‘What are you doin’ hangin’ around here? You look like one of those film stars who hang around the posh gallery parties with your shades on…’

Son in law: ‘Jus’ sittin’ on the wall here and seein’ if I can spot any arseholes…but non about today.’

5 mins later.

He stretches his arms, yawning, dragging on his rolly whilst watching his pink uniformed mother in law starting her shift.

‘Yeah…no arseholes today…’ Yawn etc.

X drifts its way through the upmarket executive creative suite, located in the The Gertec Building, Vaconsoft Parkway.

X’s gaze focuses in on art executives cashing share options on the 14th floor of the Art Market Stock Network on the south side of the Parkway.

It’s Saturday afternoon. Three PM. The rows of curators and weekend executives are sitting side by side staring vacantly at the glowing screens of their mobile phones.

Sky outside is a lite bleu.

Waxy faced curators are all sub-twenty seven. The executives are pushing the other side of thirty.  The figures prevail in their motionless poses to an empty gallery of darkness…minds keyed into hyperstatistics stalling…collective consciousnesses syncing in unison.

X zooms in on a pre – approved message about to be sent by curator 16.

Press release no. 23.

“We are elated with the support shown and happy to welcome a range of blue chip investors to our register. Despite a challenging market for simulacrum and public relations, the response has been superlative and indicates robust demand in both Pointeso and in the wider networks for leading post relationale players.”

X transferred itself into the third gallery space at the Naze Vale Gallery, panning into a fragmented conversation between the jurors for the Parkway Art Prize and a curator from the exclusionary Parkway Space.

Juror 1…Female…mid-twenties…long black hair…existentialist styled spectacles…quirky eyelashes…cadmium red lipstick.

Juror 2…Male…mid-forties…shaved thinning light hair…heavily tanned…muscular build.

Curator…fairly nondescript…

Curator: ‘This is Helene Yarrow…another juror from The Parkway Open…’

Conversation here is somewhat muffled…background interference…echoes etc.

Juror 2: ‘Ah…I’m Thomas Henchwell…also one of the jurors…well…director…and her entourage…interestingly…trying to capitulate…the problem I had with his work was my question ‘but is there something underneath it yah?…hmmm..but what a real shaaame it couldn’t be more imaginative?’

Juror 1: ‘Yeah.’

Juror 2: ‘The significant post – relational essence looked a bit…well…they do…yah..yep…the arbitrariness of it…could have chosen any one of them.

Juror 1: Voice becomes muffled.

Juror 2: ‘Yah…yep…sure…sure…of course…one can dabble here and dabble there…there you go…(voices become muffled) yeeeah…oh really…ok…hmmm…no she’s part of the Pointeso School…yeah playfulness…creative hub…yah…description…well even the name Neo – opst relationalism is indeed a question for us all…’

The voices fade out as X moves on through to Gallery 5 and is confronted by a tessellated cube of gold rotating freely in the centre of the space.