Art Research Communication

Vuk Ćosić: Out Of Character at Threshold artspace

Out of Character by Vuk Ćosić
The first solo exhibition in Scotland by this internationally recognised artist
Curated by Iliyana Nedkova
1 August – 1 November 2009
Open Monday to Saturday, 10am – 6pm or late on performance evenings. Admission always free
Threshold artspace , Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth PH1 5HZ, Scotland

Game Flags (2009)
A site-specific outdoors installation satirising the intersection of vintage computer games, colour field aesthetics and national symbolism. Commissioned as part of Players – an ongoing strand in the Horsecross collection exploring the relationship of contemporary art and gaming culture. Horsecross’ first commission of contemporary art for Perth city centre is sited on banner posts in the urban environment around the building which houses the Threshold artspace.

ASCII Wave (2009)
A multi-channel video installation as part of Ćosić’s ongoing project to translate culture from one obsolete format to another. Scenes from twenty classic films ranging from Workers Leaving the Lumière’s Factory Gates (1895) to The Matrix (1999) are converted into retro-futuristic moving images using ASCII code. Ćosić creates visual havoc by exposing ‘the ones and zeros’ of which popular cinema icons are made. Horsecross’ latest commission for Threshold Wave – an array of 22 flat, 40-inch screens dominating the artspace.

ASCII Unreal (2009)
A large-scale installation of Ćosić’s reworking of the seminal video game Unreal Tournament through streaming ASCII. Foregrounding text as the primary ingredient in the artist’s visual grammar, this work features extruded Cyrillic characters set adrift in darkened skies and unrecognizable letterforms shipwrecked in a sea of squiggly tildes. Acquired as part of Players for the Horsecross collection of contemporary art and showing at Threshold Stage as a large-scale wall projection.

History of Art for Airports and Toilets (2009)
An 8-channel video installation of Ćosić’s public signage poetics work. Compressing art history from Michelangelo’s La Pietà (1499) to Heath Bunting’s BorderXing Guide (2001–2011) the artist creates a new desktop iconography resonating with Brian Eno’s Music for Airports (1978). Acquired as part of Horsecross collection of contemporary art and showing at Threshold Flush – distributed flat screens in each of the public toilets.

The exhibition Out of Character is accompanied by a new issue of Read More – Horsecross journal of critical writing (ISSN 1755-0866 Online) to be published later in 2009. A newly commissioned essay will explore Ćosić’s new works in relation to his oeuvre to date. Free to download from www.horsecross.co.uk

A limited edition artist’s print is to be released as part of Collect + Support – Horsecross new initiative for collectable contemporary art. The Threshold artspace YouTube channel is home to a tribute documentary, Vuk Ćosić and ASCII net.art by GenaxC.

Out of Character is produced by the artist and Horsecross for Threshold artspace in partnership with 55degrees and ARC Projects. Supported by Henry Moore Foundation and the Scottish Arts Council New Work Fund.