BANU BAR MIXT
12 december 2013 –
02 february 2014



Artists:
Banu Cennetoğlu, Napoleon Tiron

Download artists bios

Artist talk: Banu Cennetoğlu
(12 december, 18:00)





















Salonul de proiecte is pleased to invite you to an exhibition that brings together artists Banu Cennetoğlu and Napoleon Tiron. What is at stake in the exhibition is artistic research whose subject is a type of human practice that is quasi-ubiquitous, relatively frequent, but very little researched and analysed in the sphere of contemporary art. Accepting Salonul de proiecte’s invitation to create a new work for the occasion, Banu Cennetoğlu chose to travel throughout Romania collecting a “spirits library” – various types of home-distilled spirit made from different kinds of fruit – a library that will grow as the mapmaking and collection of samples extends to other geographical areas and regions. Home-distilled liquor, which in other economic contexts is limited by strict regulations, being regarded as primarily a clandestine activity, is produced on a large scale in Romania and is distributed mainly outside the official economic circuit. A phenomenon hard to control and almost impossible to prevent, revealing an incredible variety of names and methods of manufacture even within small geographical areas, home-distilled liquor is globally widespread. Banu Cennetoğlu’s cumulative project finds its first materialisation in the archive she set out to create during her journey around Romania. She intends to continue this endeavor, which is more than mere mapmaking or collection: it opens up an endlessly thought-provoking field for reflection on economic and social divisions, the contradictions inherent in the process of modernisation in urban and rural spaces, inter-human relations within communities, etc. The process of “sampling” and classifying items/products/situations not usually included within rigorous indexing systems is a peculiarity of Banu Cennetoğlu’s practice. She signals and indicates new possibilities for identification, collection and distribution of these items, which are as real as they are ineffable, precisely because

they elude current attention, and thereby she points to new modes of constructing knowledge and perceiving reality.

The discussion scheduled prior to the opening, between Banu Cennetoğlu, Marian Dumitru (who accompanied Cennetoğlu on her journey) and Napoleon Tiron, will provide additional explanations about how the project will unfold, focussing on the contextual elements that individualise the production of țuică (plum brandy) and its multiple derivatives throughout Romania. The archive that has been accumulated according to subjective criteria by Banu Cennetoğlu – who during her travels was guided by various cultural landmarks, which conditioned her route, but who at the same time left room for a degree of chance when it came to completing her task – is completed by an on-the-spot demonstration of the double distillation process which will be performed by Napoleon Tiron. Thus, within the exhibition space, the public will have the opportunity to taste a product specially created for the occasion and, above all, to take a closer look at this “magical” transformation – from fruit to “spirit” and then to the liquid that enters the human body – a transformation that is achieved via the “art of distillation”, to use the words of John French in a celebrated seventeenth-century treatise on the subject. Not only the distillation itself is meant to capture the attention in this context but also the way in which it will be performed – the artisanal installation employed in the process, built and put to use by Tiron himself – and how this type of practice resonates with his personality and mode of conceiving the artistic act.


Special thanks: Marian Dumitru, Katja Eliad, Maria Farcaș, Ioan Radu, Ștefan Tiron







https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_1_ Banu Bar Mixt_v2.jpg
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https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_5_ Banu Cennetoğlu - LIBRARY, 2013 instalație (rafturi din lemn, 115 băuturi alcoolice artizanale colectate în România între iunie – decembrie 2013 re-îmbuteliate în sticle de 100ml)_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_6_ Banu Cennetoğlu - LIBRARY, 2013 instalație (rafturi din lemn, 115 băuturi alcoolice artizanale colectate în România între iunie – decembrie 2013 re-îmbuteliate în sticle de 100ml)_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_7_ Banu Cennetoğlu - LIBRARY, 2013 instalație (rafturi din lemn, 115 băuturi alcoolice artizanale colectate în România între iunie – decembrie 2013 re-îmbuteliate în sticle de 100ml)_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_8_ Banu Cennetoğlu - LIBRARY, 2013 instalație (rafturi din lemn, 115 băuturi alcoolice artizanale colectate în România între iunie – decembrie 2013 re-îmbuteliate în sticle de 100ml)_v2.jpg
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https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_12_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BANUBARMIXT, 2013 installation (stainless steel sign, RGB led turning light bulbs).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_13_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BANUBARMIXT, 2013 installation (stainless steel sign, RGB led turning light bulbs).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_14_ Banu Bar Mixt_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_15_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_16_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_17_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_18_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_19_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_20_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_21_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_22_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_23_ Banu Bar Mixt_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_24_ Banu Cennetoğlu - BAR, 2013 installation (wood structure, assortment of 115 home-made spirits produced and collected in Romania between June 2013 and December 2013 displayed in their “original” recipients).jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_27_ Napoleon Tiron - Alambic, 2013_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_26_ Napoleon Tiron - Alambic, 2013_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_25_ Napoleon Tiron - Alambic, 2013_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_28_ Banu Bar Mixt_v2.jpg
https://salonuldeproiecte.ro/files/gimgs/th-33_29_ Banu Bar Mixt_v2.jpg