A RATHER unconventional exhibition was installed in a former greenhouse complex owned by the Veterinary University in Košice during September, created by two young artists from Spain and Britain, Esther Manas and Arash Moori. At first sight, the work resembled just a thick layer of fog through which cages, boards or randomly littered old items could be seen. It emerged gradually during the pair’s one-month stay in September 2011 and was called, aptly, September in the Ozone Hotel.
Manas and Moori created it after being inspired by an old Czechoslovak movie "The End of August in the Ozone Hotel" which was banned from cinemas during communism. The film shows a vision of the world after a nuclear disaster, a vision picked up by the young artists who stayed in this eastern Slovak metropolis.
“When creating, they used locally-specific art. Their works are somewhere on the border between art and science and always include architectonic elements of the locality,” Juliana Sokolová of the Art Faculty of the Technical University of Košice (TUKE) told the TASR newswire.
The works of Manas and Moori typically contain cinematic references. The authors said that as their works are always closely connected with the space where they are, September in the Ozone Hotel reflected their stay in Košice in many direct and indirect ways, from its use of materials and things which they had found in the city’s streets to the issues it addressed.
The two artists have been collaborating for several years. The artwork-installation continued into a sunlit room, with a screen made of old, yellowish blinds. The room contained a circular construction with the ‘street treasures’ the artists had found. The older generation could be reminded of its own youth by an antiquated suitcase, globe or board. The room was full of sounds and buzzes, and lit by blue neon light.
The exhibition opened on September 16 and lasted only until October 2. It was part of Košice AIR (Artists in Residence), which is itself part of the wider Košice 2013 – European Capital of Culture project.
