Exhibition, Japan, Tokyo, 25 December 2015
Skills: Place to sleep, Photographer, Video cameraman, Journalist, Translator
Project description
Abusive Mushroom is a project with which I feel a deep-rooted resonance. I introduced it in order to counter the mainstream art trade, which portrays itself as the sole endorsement of talent. Sometimes, market forces dictate the value of a work of art, forcing talent to comply with commercial requirements.
For many years now, art galleries have not been selling paintings, they have been exhibiting artists' works. You only have to contact one to witness this first-hand. Anyone wanting to exhibit their work has to purchase space in a gallery, which will then roll out a bespoke event.
I often get the feeling that the event itself takes precedence over the work exhibited, as if a book’s cover was more important than its contents.
My project is a response to this system. It aims to emphasize that we, the artists, know the true value of art and should focus on art for art’s sake.
Abusive Mushroom is, therefore, my own personal journey designed at providing art spaces and events, free of commercial constraints. Since 2011, I have dedicated time and resources to a special form of exhibition: “la semina dei funghi” (literally, “the planting of mushrooms”).
I create works of art whose subject is a mushroom (a symbol that I have been drawing since my childhood) and I deliver them to urban areas around the world. I began by "dropping" my works in European capital cities and from 2013 went global.
The abandoned artwork comes with a letter designating the reader as the ‘Owner’ of the Mushroom and turning him/her into an ‘Accidental Collector’. I ask them to explain how they found the artwork on the www.abusivemushroom.com website, where I document every piece I drop.
A network of strong relationships has grown around this "artistic movement", as evidenced by the stories published on the website, which provide an ongoing testimony to how society interacts with art.
The Abusive Mushroom project will interact with the world for at least another 10 years, its aim being to create a stir and promote this form of non-violent protest.
The project has “scattered” 80 works of art worldwide and by the end of 2015, I hope to reach 100.
My friends and I from Abusive Mushroom, who are dotted around the world, have decided that the 100th mushroom should be a particularly intense piece of artwork and should be “dropped” in Tokyo.
To realize this ambition, we have developed a system of micro-patronage, using the concept of "compensation" to distribute art.
http://www.verkami.com/projects/10649-abusive-mushroom-free-art-project
Abusive Mushroom is a project with which I feel a deep-rooted resonance. I introduced it in order to counter the mainstream art trade, which portrays itself as the sole endorsement of talent. Sometimes, market forces dictate the value of a work of art, forcing talent to comply with commercial requirements.
For many years now, art galleries have not been selling paintings, they have been exhibiting artists' works. You only have to contact one to witness this first-hand. Anyone wanting to exhibit their work has to purchase space in a gallery, which will then roll out a bespoke event.
I often get the feeling that the event itself takes precedence over the work exhibited, as if a book’s cover was more important than its contents.
My project is a response to this system. It aims to emphasize that we, the artists, know the true value of art and should focus on art for art’s sake.
Abusive Mushroom is, therefore, my own personal journey designed at providing art spaces and events, free of commercial constraints. Since 2011, I have dedicated time and resources to a special form of exhibition: “la semina dei funghi” (literally, “the planting of mushrooms”).
I create works of art whose subject is a mushroom (a symbol that I have been drawing since my childhood) and I deliver them to urban areas around the world. I began by "dropping" my works in European capital cities and from 2013 went global.
The abandoned artwork comes with a letter designating the reader as the ‘Owner’ of the Mushroom and turning him/her into an ‘Accidental Collector’. I ask them to explain how they found the artwork on the www.abusivemushroom.com website, where I document every piece I drop.
A network of strong relationships has grown around this "artistic movement", as evidenced by the stories published on the website, which provide an ongoing testimony to how society interacts with art.
The Abusive Mushroom project will interact with the world for at least another 10 years, its aim being to create a stir and promote this form of non-violent protest.
The project has “scattered” 80 works of art worldwide and by the end of 2015, I hope to reach 100.
My friends and I from Abusive Mushroom, who are dotted around the world, have decided that the 100th mushroom should be a particularly intense piece of artwork and should be “dropped” in Tokyo.
To realize this ambition, we have developed a system of micro-patronage, using the concept of "compensation" to distribute art.
http://www.verkami.com/projects/10649-abusive-mushroom-free-art-project
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