Gossips at Nir Altman

Gossip never sleeps. The silent mechanisms of gossip, now considered an important social skill, is the driving force behind this exhibition. It’s something I’ve been thinking about forever. I’m also currently thinking about how Bruno’s soft watch can tell secrets, ticking backwards, or perhaps it is able to keep them instead. Just like the small flashing screens in Arash’s buildings. When do we start to stop telling stories and start telling facts? Gossip should and can be very useful, a framework, the subversive form that allows someone or something to resist, exist, believe, forget and change. Sam did it in his recent book, People Person, and now does it with his paintings. Everyone should read Sam’s book. I love it. The works in Gossips connect through a sensibility, something specific and disconnected, similar to the mood boards offered up in Angelique’s paintings and the snapshots of friends, people and things found in Keith’s furs. We should talk about visual gossip a lot more. Makeshift knowledge, always historically overlooked, is an attitude. You know it when you see it. Alexandra’s flower embody this, and more, always on the verge of screaming out. Everything has a dark side, as you’ll see in Colin’s video. Keep this all to yourself.