Friends of S.M.A.K. invited Ariane Loze to exhibit at De Vereniging.
Through her video-performances, Ariane Loze (°1988, Brussels) undertakes a methodical deconstruction of cinematic norms, stripping her films down to their most basic, structural inner workings. Her post-minimalist aesthetic brings together conceptual expression and home-made execution in a kind of degree zero of representation that is underpinned by an immediately recognizable narrative made up of static shots of a straightforward action or event: a dinner, a meeting, a chase, or a wander, for example. Ariane Loze produces her videos in a wholly autonomous fashion: not only does she take on the roles of director, screenwriter, editor, dresser, and sound and lighting technician, but also, with a few rare exceptions, plays all of the characters. In a striking echo of the simplicity of the films’ décors and the immobility of the camera, this economy of production shifts the emphasis towards the interpretation of each character, the incongruity of the situations in which they find themselves, and the derisive criticism that infuses their lines; together, these elements respond to and challenge prejudices, codes, and presumptions. Absurd slices of social life or allegories of inner, psychic experience, these microfictions play out in dystopian worlds that often appear deserted and where the protagonists work through states of crisis, interrogating and confiding in one another, or searching for a way out. In this way, Loze offers an incredulous look at the social, economic, and cultural hegemonies that order the contemporary world, diagnosing the vanity that permeates it to situate her audience at a remove from the action where they can experience a perspective that is at once critical and amused.
-Florian Gaité-
Friends of S.M.A.K. produced a limited edition together with the artist.
