A.a.s (art group)
Encyclopedia
a.a.s is a British
group whose work parodies performance
, installation
, video
, and participatory art
.
The group has exhibited or taken part in projects in the United Kingdom
, Europe
, and at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
in Taiwan
.
In recent years, a.a.s has developed alternative ways of involving the audience in the work, and making space for audience-participants to co-author events has become increasingly central to their collaborations.
, that “London produces an army of efficient market pleasers, paranoid about competition and cynical about making money from their artwork. Elsewhere - or, more precisely, in Birmingham - people like a.a.s are making some of the most imaginative art around, seamlessly crossing over art, music and a host of curatorial projects without worrying about the divisions that arise in the capital.”
More recently, the group became disillusioned with gallery-based practice, and sought a more participatory solution to the artist-audience hierarchy
, in extended, performance fiction
works such as KR-36 (2007) and The Family (2009). A.a.s artist Stuart Tait presented a research seminar on ‘rhizomatic art practice’ at Birmingham City University in 2008, which dealt almost exclusively with the project KR-36.
The group’s commitment to developing a practice in which the audience ‘co-participate’ with artists in producing the work has involved a commitment to “contradictory ideals”, “irrational methods”, “not giving people what they want”, and presenting themselves “uncomfortably” in order to undermine normative ideas of authorship.
978-0345345257 (Video Installation)
The Family (Co-participatory performance fiction project)
Clearing Station (Participatory project)
Re:Flux (Fluxconcert)
Product Clearing (Collaborative web and comic project)
This concept seems fantastic yet it has been proven (Audio installation)
I am The Great Grock (Performance)
DY-66 (Co-participatory performance fiction project)
KR-36 (Co-participatory performance fiction project)
A.S.B.O. (Performance fiction and installation)
Intertidal Zone Art Monitoring Station (Opening night performance)
Brain Jelly (Curated performance event)
We Are Relentless (Themed, curated exhibition)
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
group whose work parodies performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
, installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
, video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
, and participatory art
Participatory Art
Participatory art is an approach to making art in which the audience is engaged directly in the creative process, allowing them to become co-authors, editors, and observers of the work...
.
Biography
Founded in 2001, a.a.s has been described as an 'imaginary' art group that makes use of real, practicing artists to meet its ends. The current administrative team are Ana Benlloch, Alex Marzeta, Vanessa Page, and Dr. Stuart Tait but, to date, over a hundred artists have been part of a.a.s.The group has exhibited or taken part in projects in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts is located in Gushan District , the northwestern district of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan. It was founded by the Kaohsiung City Government and has been administrated by the Kaohsiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs since 2003. It occupies about and started in 1994...
in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
In recent years, a.a.s has developed alternative ways of involving the audience in the work, and making space for audience-participants to co-author events has become increasingly central to their collaborations.
Approach
Early a.a.s works were often themed curatorial projects, such as We Are Relentless (2003) and Brain Jelly (2004), or complex interdisciplinary works on the theme of Science Fiction or fiction in general, such as I Want To Believe (2003) and The Quatermass Code (2006). Pil and Galia Kollectiv said about the group, in Plan B (magazine)Plan B (magazine)
Plan B was a monthly music magazine based in London, England. It catered mainly towards independent music but did not discriminate between the relative popularity of the bands it features. Plan B also documented alternative culture such as film, comics, video games, visual art and books. The...
, that “London produces an army of efficient market pleasers, paranoid about competition and cynical about making money from their artwork. Elsewhere - or, more precisely, in Birmingham - people like a.a.s are making some of the most imaginative art around, seamlessly crossing over art, music and a host of curatorial projects without worrying about the divisions that arise in the capital.”
More recently, the group became disillusioned with gallery-based practice, and sought a more participatory solution to the artist-audience hierarchy
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
, in extended, performance fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
works such as KR-36 (2007) and The Family (2009). A.a.s artist Stuart Tait presented a research seminar on ‘rhizomatic art practice’ at Birmingham City University in 2008, which dealt almost exclusively with the project KR-36.
The group’s commitment to developing a practice in which the audience ‘co-participate’ with artists in producing the work has involved a commitment to “contradictory ideals”, “irrational methods”, “not giving people what they want”, and presenting themselves “uncomfortably” in order to undermine normative ideas of authorship.
2010
The Changelings (Participatory performance)978-0345345257 (Video Installation)
2009
Berlin Hoodening: Nagual for Bjørn Nørgaard (Performance fiction for video)The Family (Co-participatory performance fiction project)
2008
SCIENCIFIC (Participatory performance fiction project)Clearing Station (Participatory project)
Re:Flux (Fluxconcert)
Product Clearing (Collaborative web and comic project)
This concept seems fantastic yet it has been proven (Audio installation)
2007
The Nagual (Performance fiction)I am The Great Grock (Performance)
DY-66 (Co-participatory performance fiction project)
KR-36 (Co-participatory performance fiction project)
2006
The Quatermass Code (Collaboratively build installation and video)A.S.B.O. (Performance fiction and installation)
2005
A stranger drifts into town or someone goes on a journey (Themed, curated exhibition)Intertidal Zone Art Monitoring Station (Opening night performance)
2004
Project 99 [a.a.s. vs doTb] (Themed, curated, multi-venue, multiples, performance)Brain Jelly (Curated performance event)
2003
Science Fiction Double Feature (Themed, curated exhibition)We Are Relentless (Themed, curated exhibition)