Ryan Gander. Really Shiny Things That Don't Mean Anything

Ryan Gander 's “Really Shiny Things That Don’t Mean Anything” is the first installation in the series of artistic interferences in the urban space to be exhibited under the collective title “New place (Tribune)” (the project is a joint initiative of the Warsaw City Hall and the Museum of Modern Art). This year, we want to focus our attention on the Parade Square – on its historical baggage, its emptiness and the necessity of restoring its former appearance of a metropolitan centre. Ryan Gander , who is one of the most prominent artistic figures of his generation, created a sculptural installation composed of a nearly 3m dia sphere, which imitates a magnet attracting shiny metal-like objects. Thus, the artist does not only point to the necessity of providing this place with a new purpose in order to attract people's attention. He also hints on its future function as a Football Fans' Zone during the Euro 2012, which – according to the organisers - is supposed to be the meeting place for many different groups of people joined by the wish to enjoy an exiting football event. Ryan Gander 's lecture “Loose associations X” is an updated version of a mobile performance. It is based on the interaction between the artist, the images, and films presented on video, exploring the idea of loose associations and drawing an intriguing line of affinity between a number of seemingly unrelated topics, such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Inspector Morse, the Barbican Centre in London or the artist's own aunt Deva. Ryan Gander is a London-based artist, born in 1976 in Chester. His works combine the elements of architecture, language, typography, design and urban planning and constitute fine examples of conceptual art. His project “The Happy Prince” (2010) created for the New York Central Park was considered the most interesting public initiative of the last several years.

Artists: Ryan Gander