Beyond the Fans

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Žilvinas Kempinas has used ordinary items which have a life of their own and bear the potential to go beyond their unassuming qualities. Among all of these materials, magnetic tape holds a dominant place in the artist’s works. Kempinas employs the delicacy, lightness, malleability and reflectivity of the black tapes obtained from videocassettes, and uses them as abstract lines to produce sculptures and installations that activate architectural space. In "Beyond the Fans", two loops of magnetic tape surrender to air currents produced by a pair of fans facing each other. The strips of tape assume ever-changing circular shapes against the wall and magically hold their balance as they remain suspended in mid-air. This perpetual motion of VHS tape, the wind and sound generated by the fans, transform the entire space into a site of sensorial experience.