Variable Discourse – Absenteeism A Conversation Between Claire Breukel And Magnus Sigurdarson
Dimensions Variable
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 At 6:00 Pm
171 NE 38th Street
Design District
Miami, Florida 33137
dimensionsvariable.net
Please join us for a conversation between Claire Breukel and Magnus Sigurdarson at Dimensions Variable. They will be discussing some of the ideas behind Sigurdarson’s Absenteesim currently on view at DV, as well as the artist’s practice.
Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation. Traditionally, it has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer; it was seen as a management problem, and framed in economic or quasi-economic terms. More recent scholarship seeks to understand absenteeism as an indicator of psychological, medical, or social adjustment to work.
In his exhibition, Sigurdarson is approaching the exhibition space as a blank entity; furthermore, he is framing the space, covering it with structures that are regarded as support for the very basis of art expression. He has collected the frames over a long time and they have been waiting to be given a purpose. Some are reclaimed, found or made by hand, but they will all be altered to fit the dimensions of the room.
He is allowing his practice to be determined by the demands of the space and shifting his attention to the structures that support “the work.†By doing so, he’s making a choice to explore the disconnect between his work and the self that exists independent of the work. This process has brought him to the realization that the absence of his work is the work, thus embracing the idea of absenteeism as a new state of working.
Magnus Sigurdarson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1966 and currently livesand works in Miami, Florida. He attended The Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, Reykjavik, Iceland (1992, BFA in Mixed Media) and Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (1997, MFA). He is a Fulbright Scholarship Recipient with multiple grants and awards on his Resume. His work are included in the collections of Debra and Dennis Scholl, Miami Beach; Alberto Chebebar, Miami Beach; Collezione La Gaia, Busca, Italy, MDD – Museum Dhondt – Dhaenes, Gent, Belgium; The Icelandic National Gallery, Reykjavik; The Reykjavik Municipal Museum, Reykjavik; The Related Group, Miami and The Private Collection of Emmanuel Javogue, Miami. Magnus Sigurdarson is represented by the Dorsch Gallery, Miami.
Claire Breukel is an independent curator and arts writer interested in contemporary art that falls outside of conventional modes of exhibition. Her previous work experience includes working as Curator for Sportlifestyle company PUMA as well as Director of Locust Projects. She is currently a Creative consultant for the Miami DDA and lives and works between Miami and NY where she will be attending Hunter college this fall.
