Andrew Berardini, LA-based writer and critic, is the last respondent invited by Plug In ICA to produce a new work in consideration of Nature Falls, a serial exhibition of digital works by Nicolas Sassoon on our monitor wall.

As part of our public programs in conjunction with Sassoon’s exhibition, we invited artists and writers, Alex Snukal, Alex Quicho, Tiziana La Melia, Jinhan Ko and Andrew Berardini, to respond individually to one of the five animations presented consecutively over the summer. The responses have been varied from video and sound to poetic texts, using humour, history and personal experiences to create unique and unexpected interpretations of Sassoon’s graphic animations. Each is presented online: http://nicolassassoon.com/NATURE_FALLS.html.

Andrew Berardini in contemplating Liquid Gold, a digital animation created specifically for Nature Falls by Sassoon, poetically maps the formation of gold, the historical momentum that propelled its development forward with the desire to consume its lustrous surface. He entangles stories and myths, creating fragmented paths of necessity and engines of plot that read like waking dreams, which are in fact histories of settlement, struggle, greed and colonization.

His words act as reminders to distinguish between the things that lend color to life and the pale, translucent memories to which color is lent. In this way, his response resembles the essential motion of Sassoon’s animation – moving relentlessly, onwards pushing towards achievement until it begins to buckle, bend and then finally warp so completely that it meets itself. Voracity replaces satisfaction as the reward for success.

The accumulative responses are framed together online: http://nicolassassoon.com/NATURE_FALLS.html

Berardini’s dream-like response concludes the exhibition Nature Falls a selection of Nicolas Sassoon’s work that represents the natural environment from the landscape to meteorological occurrences. The artist often uses nature as his subject matter, capturing the movement of the ocean as it hits the shore or the rain falling on a window, through a layering of distinct pixelated colours. Each saturated square retains its individual shape but it is amassed to create a graphic digital pattern that replicates the movement of organic forms. Just as the flow of a waterfall can mesmerize, Sassoon’s animations form hypnotic fields. Through the window, and in Sassoon’s case, the computer screen, he sets himself and the viewer outside into a plane of movement and colour.

BIOS: Andrew Berardini is a writer, curator and teacher in Los Angeles. Recognized for his poetic and sharp insight in a variety of fields, Berardini is a distinct voice within contemporary art discourse. He is the co-founder of the Art Book Review, and is a contributing editor for numerous other publications, including Mousse, Momus, and Art-Agenda. He has published articles and essays in Frieze, Artforum, Spike, and the LA Weekly, among others. In 2013, he was a finalist for the Premio Bonaldi Award for young curators and winner of an Andy Warhol/Creative Capital Grant for Art Writers. A memoir-ish book is forthcoming by Berardini from Mousse Publishing on the artist Danh Vo and he is currently at work on another about color.

Nicolas Sassoon is recognized for his digital animation, which he presents and distributes online, as well as for his projections that create immersive installations which respond to architectural space, both articulating and fabricating the built environment. Sassoon has exhibited internationally at venues and events such as the 319 Scholes, New York; May Gallery, New Orleans; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; PRETEEN Gallery, Madrid; the Centre d’Art Bastille Grenoble, France; Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam; Victoria & Albert Museum London, UK, and Today Art Museum, Beijing, China. Often collaborating with other artists, architects, music producers, and fashion designers, he is also a member of the online collective Computers Club and a founder of the collective W-A-L-L-P-A-P-E-R-S

Plug In ICA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council and the RBC Foundation as well as our generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers.

For general information please contact: info@plugin.org.

For media inquiries please contact: Janique Vigier at janique@plugin.org or by telephone at (204) 942-104 ext 27.