The Decelerator
Sudlab
Portici, Italy
December 13th, 2013 - January 13, 2014
The Leo Kuelbs Collection is proud to announce the return of “The Decelerator.” Its 5th incarnation brings the group video show to Sudlab, in Portici Italy, overlooking Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii, near Naples. Originally conceived as a reaction against the digital world’s encroachment on terrestrial time, the meaning of “The Decelerator” has evolved since its 2011 3-city inception. “The most powerful thought I had during the creation of the concepts behind ‘The Decelerator’ was of time as we know it being pulled ever more quickly into a black hole,” says lead Curator Leo Kuelbs. “Somehow on the other side was a new reality, 2012 was the threshold, and 2013 the beginning of the creation of new communal, universal fabric. The fact that ‘The Decelerator’ returns again leads to thoughts of societies moving into the hole at different speeds. Its fascinating to think of the world as a larger single entity, moving through reality, with a very, very long tail.”
“The Decelerator” also laid the foundation for other shows, including the massive “Codex Dynamic” projection on the Manhattan Bridge in 2012, as well as “Divine Coalescence” and “The Expanding Universe,” both for Dom Perignon in 2012/2013. “The discussions leading to ‘The Decelerator’ revealed the idea that if a concept is created, it justifies its exact opposite,” continues Kuelbs. “My original thought was to highlight slow motion works to demonstrate deceleration. The other curators took the idea and went right into why we need to slow down. The justification of opposition through basic creation then became a key part of my thinking for the next several shows.”
Previous Sites: NYC, Berlin, Budapest, Munich
For more on “The Decelerator” in Italy, please contact:
Leo Kuelbs: lkuelbscollection@gmail.com
Antonio Perna: antonio.perna@sudlab.com
Work by:
Danielle de Picciotto
Tomas Eller
Richard Jochum
Denis Salivanov
Vadim Schaeffler
Gábor Tóth, aka tgnoise
Ryan Uzilevsky
Joao Vasco Paiva
Sound by:
Alexander Hacke
Curated by:
Leo Kuelbs
Adam Nankervis
Kozma Zsolt
Amelie Zadeh
Image Credit:
Top: Tomas Eller, (formula), video, 4'35", dv-pal/stereo
Middle: Vadim Schaeffler, Still from “Kugelstaat” Digital Animation, 2010
Bottom: Still from Joao Vasco's "Moving Landscapes, Chang Mai" Video, 2009, as part of "The Decelerator" and The Leo Kuelbs Collection
Video by FirmaFormat