Dear members and visitors of #VirtualSPAR, we are glad to announce that our platform will host an online exhibition!

Transpositions is an exhibition project launched in 2015 aiming to reunite SPAR participants and present their art. This summer we were to have the third edition of Transpositions in the Museum of nonconformist art, St. Petersburg, Russia, but due to current circumstances, we have to transfer it online.

Transpositions-III will take place from July 25th 2020 to August 2nd 2020 here, on #VirtualSPAR. During this period of time the platform will be temporarily transformed and reserved for exhibition-related publications that appear daily.

The theme for Transpositions-III was chosen back in September 2019, but is now more relevant than ever: “Mind the Gap“. Below we post the curatorial introduction by Anastasia Patsey:

“There is a gap between the mind and the world, and (as far as anybody knows) you need to posit internal representations if you are to have a hope of getting across it. Mind the gap. You’ll regret it if you don’t.” ― writes Jerry A. Fodor, one of the most influential philosophers of mind, in his 1983 essay ‘The Modularity of Mind’.

The third issue of the ‘Transpositions’ exhibition addresses the theme of gaps and their role in our life. How are gaps created and what do they change in the way we see the world and ourselves in it? Should we try to overcome these gaps at any cost or embrace them as an essential part of our empirical knowledge?

In the modern world’s quest to technical perfection gaps tend to be seen as errors or defects, but at the same time they are important signs of human presence. In this context the concept of gaps can be linked to the idea of imperfection as a natural part of being human and to destigmatizing failure.

As negative spaces in a collage gaps can be all-sufficient objects to look at both visually and conceptually. Or they can reveal the missing details lost in translation between languages, media, and communication forms.

The participants of the exhibition are encouraged to reflect on the concept of gaps, their different forms, functions, and aesthetics from personal perspectives.

We would also like to introduce you a bit to the history of the project:

Transpositions-I happened in July-August 2015 and united the artists who took part in the St. Petersburg Art Residency program during the first three years of its existence (2012-2015). The exhibition didn’t have any special theme and presented works by 21 artists mainly focusing on the projects they created during residencies at SPAR. There is a web-page documenting the event and a photo album.

Transpositions-II took place in March-April 2017 and was titled “How we find our ways to transcendental homelessness”. 12 artists – SPAR participants in 2015-2017, were invited to reflect on the phenomenon of home and the concept of travelling as method of creativity. Here is the documentation a review from Artforum and a digital edition of the catalogue.

Soon we will announce the list of participants and the online public program of Transpositions-III!