Ed Fornieles

Jupiter Ascending

Opening Preview: Thursday 19 February 6pm

Carl Kostyál is pleased to present the solo exhibition ‘Jupiter Ascending’ by Ed Fornieles: a functioning spa exploring themes of renewal, contemplation and the effects of living in a stream of data. ‘Jupiter Ascending’ is an attempt to disrupt the high-speed flow, creating a pocket of resistance in which to reflect, review and dive back into the bombardment of global news, bio explosions, eco meltdowns and emotional matrixes. ‘Jupiter Ascending’ is a platform designed to receive, buffer and filter, a space for repurposing, empowering, redefining and reterritorializing the daily.

The spa facilities at ‘Jupiter Ascending’ are based on the Native American practice of the sweat lodge, a place of spiritual refuge used to repair damages done to both mind and body. In the darkness of the lodge, all sense of race, colour and religion are set aside; identity is allowed to become unstuck, able to wonder at its own accord As the steam and temperature rises, so to do our senses, and a group consciousness is formed in the heat allowing for a sense of physical and mental connectivity. Live news radio channels are distorted and fed into the sauna, becoming an abstracted background to personal and communal visions.

Coffee is the drink of accelerationism, it’s a “late-for-work” pick-me-up designed to propel the body, allowing it to keep up with appointment schedules, terrorist attacks and baby feeding times. Tea as its counter supplies a moment of reflection in its infusion and drinking, the stimulation of caffeine is counterbalanced by the amino acid L-Theanine that simultaneously calms the nervous system and enhances concentration and mindfulness. ‘Jupiter Ascending’ offers a selection of ancient Japanese teas grown on the volcanic island of Honshu, traditionally used in Zen Japanese tea ceremonies, whose earthy flavour can be felt with each sip and facilitate a heightened perception and slowing down of time.

Communal and private meditation spaces have been set aside, each with its own data totem; where breaking news stories, image feeds and graphics roll over you. A reality stream of impermanent identities forming narratives, a run off of biological, financial, political, ecological systems at play which to observe and peacefully ignore and pass away.

Ed Fornieles (b. 1983, UK) lives and works in London and LA. Fornieles received his MA at the Royal College of Art, London (2011) and his BA from Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford (2003). Recent solo exhibitions include Modern Family, Chisenhale Gallery, London, NY NY HP HP, New Museum, New York, Pool Party Plays Itself, MOCA TV, LA, Despicable Me 2 Mihai Nicodim Gallery, LA and The Hangover Part II, Carlos/ Ishikawa, London.