RUSSIAN DOLL

She was quite round, with two red rosy cheeks and a sweet little mouth. Her hair was golden, tied into a plait, and made her bright blue eyes stare out with a dumb intensity. Dressed in the traditional peasant garb of her ancestors, she was the perfect little Russian doll, and what's more, she had five sisters each slightly smaller than the previous. The idea dawned that if you were to cut each in half and remove their insides that they might very well fit inside one another.

MOT were interested to see if the 'Russian Doll' principle could be applied to curating an exhibition. Galleries house or accommodate work. MOT acts as a vessel for its own curatorial projects, which again accommodate artists. If this process was then extended so that an artist's work might, physically or conceptually, accommodate or be accommodated by that of another's then MOT would have itself a RUSSIAN DOLL.

MOT will act as the outer layer of RUSSIAN DOLL and has invited Peter Suchin to write a critique of the project and of the artists involved. This will be shown within the gallery but may also exist outside the space. Liam Gillick will be giving us framing terms for the rest of the work based on his understanding of what the artists do. The other artists providing a layer for RUSSIAN DOLL are; Giorgio Sadotti, Elizabeth Price and Martin Creed. Each has been chosen because their practice extends beyond mere object making, each having an interest in the post production of their work and thus allowing it to become more receptive to the notion of accommodation. All the artists within Russian DOLL also engage with the concept of exhibition, either in relating to the gallery in which their work is on show and directly feeding that back into the work as in the case of Elizabeth Price or by taking control of exhibition conditions, as with Liam Gillick. Like Gillick many key works by both, Giorgio Sadotti and Martin Creed operate on a relational model, relying on the interaction of both viewer and space, to complete the work. All these artists are of a similar generation and their paths have crossed many times, including previous collaborations and all came to prominence during the nineties, when notions of Postproduction and Relational Aesthetics were starting to be discussed and put into practice.

With Russian Doll, MOT aims to be both reflective and inclusive, trying to encompass all the elements of production, embracing criticism as part of the process, rather than reaction, including artists that question many different levels of engagement and encapsulating them within one exhibition. This may be a tall order and the parts may not fit, but the collaborative process of mutual accommodation will fashion a new form with which to relate.

So slam down another vodka, clench those butt cheeks, drop to your haunches and lets see you kick it like the Cossacks did.

RUSSIAN DOLL
Kurator: Chris Hammond

mit Martin Creed, Liam Gillick, Elizabeth Price, Giorgio Sadotti, Peter Suchin