I Would Prefer Not To: A love story set in Google image, is the current exhibition at Prometeo Gallery by the artist group Alterazoni Video.  Based in different countries, their collective approach to making work is naturally made possible by the internet. Alterazoni Video are no strangers to the fine art that is searching Google Image and Youtube, however once they have finished blogging they do something with the material.

Images and videos are translated into sculpture, collage, film and even a music compilation of famous songs covered acoustically by amateurs on Youtube.

Alterazioni Video, I Would Prefer Not To. A Love Story Set on Google Images, installation view. Courtesy prometeogallery di Ida Pisani, Milan/Lucca. Ph. Donata Clovis.

Standing in the centre of the gallery, Another Guinness World Record is a set of bowling balls stacked eight high. The sculpture is a result of typing the words “bowling ball stacking” into Youtube, and discovering endless clips of attempts to break the world record for stacking bowling balls. Apparently the record is 10.

If You Can Read This Thank A Veteran, is a sculpture recreating a photo found on Google image of a soldier wearing full camouflage uniform, lying on a couch upholstered in floral print fabric of similar camouflage colours. From a distance it is difficult to distinguish between the soldier and the couch, as the camouflage uniform seems to blend in with the couch fabric.

Alterazioni Video, If You Can Read This Thank a Veteran, 2009, couch, digital print on fabric, resin, digital camouflage uniform, military boots, mannequin, 195 x 95 x 90 cm. Courtesy prometeogallery di Ida Pisani Milan/Lucca. Ph. Donata Clovis.

Whilst I was chatting to Prometeo Gallery’s Fabrizia Endrizzi about the exhibition, Alberto Caffarelli and Matteo Erenbourg of the group stopped by to fix one of their sculptures: a tree trunk in the shape of a pair of legs, pissing into a tyre, (Susanna, 2009). The sculpture has temporarily stopped pissing.

Friendly and articulate about their work, Matteo admitted that a group of men working together can at times get quite impolite, however the results of their exchanges produce objects that articulate a delightful and informative humour, exploring what we document online.

Prometeogallery
Via Giovanni Ventura, 3 
20134 Milano, Italy

www.alterazionivideo.com
www.prometeogallery.com

Exhibition open: tues – sat, 11am-1pm/ 3-7pm

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 am and is filed under 002, Milan 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.