Second Impressions

KOMPLOT transforms into a site for fragmented fiction. Second Impressions, the second edition of a collaboration with KRONE COURONNE, a contemporary art space in Biel, Switzerland, invites Swiss-based artists Leolie Greet, Maya Hottarek and Gil Pellaton to exhibit in Brussels. Through exploring different ways of storytelling and questioning what is usually understood as a script—-consisting of a narrative with a beginning and an end—the exhibition takes on a non-linear form. Strewn with hidden clues and constructed with multiple layers, the works are anchored in the spaces where they unravel but are indeterminate in time or identity. For Greet, Hottarek and Pellaton, the manipulation and thwarting of everyday objects and images are methods for unfolding fragmented, fictional tales. Offering discussions on the idea of opaque narratives, this exhibition allows for multiple entry points for comprehension. Its normative detachment frees the audience from rigid frameworks of understanding. Here, rather than focusing on the narrative content itself, the emphasis shifts to the methods and materials used and the manner in which stories are told. An opaque reading of a work demands attentiveness from the viewer towards its mode of presentation. Diverging from right or wrong interpretations, the understanding of the pieces rests in the subjective perception of the audience—fragmented elements such as scissors, lamps, bags, chairs and screws, amongst others, incite self-projection and imagination. Reframing the ordinary into a scenario that is worth exploring, the artists create a dialogue between themselves and the location they inhabit. In The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin suggests that authors should focus on ordinary aspects of everyday life, where interactions and simple moments come together, rather than on the traditional heroic tales of conquest and violence. The carrier bag, which Le Guin highlights to be the first tool developed as opposed to the stone-tipped spear, allows for an alternative story to come to the foreground. The artists, with their distinct and singular practices, each bring with them their own carrier bags for Second Impressions. Fostering nuance and subtlety, the objects and images Greet, Hottarek, and Pellaton borrow from everyday life become catalysts for depicting inner metamorphoses and transformations, getting inspired from literature and fiction in a way that they can illustrate characters and individualities. First Impressions, which ran from 15 March to 20 April 2024 at KRONE COURONNE, was the result of a research trip in October 2023 by curator-directors Kristina Grigorjeva Camille Regli, who invited Brussels-based artists Christiane Blattmann, Ève Gabriel Chabanon, Wim De Pauw, Doris Hardeman, Paola Siri Renard, touche–touche to exhibit in Biel, Switzerland. Biel and Brussels share a similar spirit, whether through their bilingualism or industrial past, where strong cultural scenes have developed over the years. Already a partner in the first iteration, KOMPLOT travelled to Biel in April 2024 to continue this collaboration. Second Impressions is the outcome of the relations that were formed on this trip.