For its second duo show, TICK TACK invited Stine Deja (DK, 1986) and Richie Culver (UK, 1979) to its sensational exhibition space. Culver's practice involves various media but centers around music and visual arts. Deja’s language consists mainly of installation work which also includes sound and moving image.
In NERVOUS ENERGY, Richie Culver lays out the two main tracks that define his visual work: painting and photography. From there, the project unfolds in a performance which – with a newly released debut album called ‘I was born by the Sea’ – demonstrates he’s very much at home in the world of (underground) music. The title of this exhibition is also the title of a track featured on this new album.
The struggle for life, the ubiquitous gender orientation process and the nervous online representation of our contemporary existence are the key elements in Culver's work. He's not only taking a closer look at life as it is, but also at the way in which we try to (and have to) deal with life. Narcotics sometimes play a role in this, as a numbing escape from the routine or pain of daily life, yet often becoming a painful routine itself
in the form of addiction. For some time, this underworld was part of Culver’s life. Now, photographs and images of that period frequently find their way into his practice. These images however are selected with great care since their function is not to document the environments or subjects
as such, but to find a way of translating the underground lifestyle in a manner that carries meaning for the world 'above'. Often it involves people with whom Culver had or still has close friendships.
At first sight, the works in the exhibition reveal little or no explicit references to
this background and the source material images, but rather the neurotic backside. The words and sentences give (new) understanding or meaning to the situations, scenes, images and sometimes clogged, twisted ironic thoughts that seem to
occupy Culver's mind. The authentic street-art language (verbally and in writing) is painted or sprayed directly on canvas, on top of an intense texture or directly
on a smooth naked surface. Phrases
like ‘YOLO THEN YOU DIE’, ‘I LOVE HOSPITALS’ or I LOVE AMBULANCE’ pop up like large-scale mantras; they appear unambiguous, clear and often funny but they also exude an intrusive, slightly absurdist, ironic-sarcastic energy.
‘I STOLE YOUR STYLE...’, for example, is a strange mix of humour and sadness, of art relativisation, of daily life and our never- ending attempt to make something of it
all. We appropriate all kinds of things in order to make, find or construct our ‘selfie’. 'FUCK TRYING' reflects a despondency towards life, something we can all experience for any reason whatsoever: the pain of being, a love lost, fruitless interpersonal communication, scanning through social media etc. At the same time, it resonates a powerful message: there is only one way and that’s your way and don't dwell on the expectations and choices of others. FUCK TRYING to be like the rest. Perhaps a reference to the intrinsically mimetic unhappiness of human beings, increasingly encouraged by our online lives.
'FUCK TRYING’ functions as a welcome sign to the basement, sprayed on the wall. Downstairs is almost entirely empty, apart from the ceiling and one wall covered
in all kinds of (undistinguishable) words and graffiti doodles. Some photos of the above mentioned ’underworld‘ are taped to the wall. The subdued atmosphere of the two upper floors seems to explode underground, giving complete free play to words and neurotic-psychotic streams of thought. This was the setting for Culver's performance, an intrinsic part of the NERVOUS ENERGY exhibition.
A dark cellar, an English accent that fully transports the London scene to Antwerp, dark sound effects, all sorts of improvised and loosely expressed thoughts floating by: Seven days a week...As I sleep on this