Video salon

In a radio interview, artist Aksels Bruks from the collective GolfClayderman once remarked that in art he was only interested in friendship and love. He added that he wasn’t much into sorrow and sombre stuff. Although a statement like that coming from a contemporary artist could seem hopelessly naïve, it achieved exactly the opposite. It sounded convincing and true.

The terms ‘friendship’ and ‘love’ can also be applied to the practice of GolfClayderman. The originators of this collective, artists Aksels Bruks and Margrieta Griestiņa, lovingly revive and romanticise the aesthetics of daily life in their exhibitions, performances and multidisciplinary happenings, involving a large circle of contemporaries from different fields: other artists, teachers, rappers, musicians, DJs, florists, writers, philosophers, dancers, gymnasts etc. Instead of ironizing about the shallowness of consumer society, GolfClayderman good-heartedly embraces it in its happenings which often respond to manifestations in pop culture, reminding the viewers that pop culture and everyday experience can create a much stronger reaction than hermetically sealed, inaccessible and information-filled matter.

The collective is interested in recent history. Their references to 1980s fashion, characterised by the expressive costumes of performance collaborators and the musical setup for the happenings, are the most palpable examples. However, a further examination of GolfClayderman’s practice reveals an equally strong influence of the aesthetic language of the consumer culture from the 1990s and early 2000s. During this period, post-Soviet reality was largely shaped by attempts to advance towards the West. As Western consumer culture slowly encroached on the Eastern market and lifestyle in the 90s, new forms of pop culture, aesthetic and visual language emerged. Margrieta Griestiņa and Aksels Bruks redefine this recent aesthetic of the past.

The most common misinterpretation of GolfClayderman’s creative practice is the desire to label it as so-called ‘trash’ art. Instead, the collective’s output could be better described as a nostalgic rummaging in the bygone perceptions of glamour. It’s an attempt to get closer to post-Soviet society’s preoccupation with material prosperity and its strange notions about fashion, good taste and style, and the basics of daily life, all of which are re-interpreted by the artists with a light and warm sense of humour. The term ‘invisible field’, which is also the title of GolfClayderman’s first fashion show, elegantly describes this intention. Namely, GolfClayderman strives to capture the essence of what characterised the average eastern European. As seen in the market, on public transport and among the vast sea of inhabitants.

Curator: Tomass Pārups (LV)

Organizer: Riga Photography Biennial in cooperation with Gallery ALMA

Image: GolfClayderman. Video salon, silk screen printing (1/1), 2018