For a Hard-Won Second or Two

Gabrielė Adomaitytė Urte Laukaityte Rustan Söderling

We here at the society are aware that our observations of the past are fragmentary and incomplete. [1]

We see below its muddy exterior [2]

silversmithing dreams about grasses, [3]

the sprawling roots of our numerous branching histories. [4]

Marvel at being alive during a time of unrivalled precision (...) [5]

It’s stepped-up efficiency, a flaming protest, every possible head of hair. [6]

And do so for a hard-won second or two. [7]

The exhibition For a Hard-Won Second or Two brings together the work of three artists.

Adomaitytė’s new paintings (all 2022), eternal scar would comb on its way the enzymes dance in meander; palm tree gait with multiple orbits of toothpaste; it’s stepped-up efficiency, a flaming protest, every possible head of hair; silversmithing dreams about grasses; life is a calyx to long thirsts, continue her interest in the techno-body and the devices which construct it. The gestural marks which (in)form the paintings, fleeing outwards like veined glitches, frame the imagery which falls between anatomy and abstraction.

Laukaityte’s text work (2023), exhibited as a print on paper, is a compact study of the motors of timekeeping. Explanation is centered on the UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) and the intricate system in place to create it, as well as the expansive potential of optical atomic clocks. Its tone dictates an absorbing reading experience: the viewer is compelled to create a mental image of time in plain sight.

In Söderling’s video On Location (2023), an animated ‘site’ is used as a protagonist to reflect on the construction of (historical) narrative: with its shifting perspective(s), the use of AI, and musings on the recording of cultural artifacts, the video makes pantomime the virtual spaces it is rendering—a mise en abyme which reveals itself as all too familiar.

Within this overflow of information—through Adomaitytė’s scrolling-abstractions, Laukaityte’s deadpan synopsis, and Söderling’s animated world(s)—is an anxiety axed between absurdity and reality: enzymes dancing, microseconds tuning, sets washed aside by high tides.

—Mitchell Thar

For a Hard-Won Second or Two is organized by Gratin, Gabrielė Adomaitytė & Mitchell Thar

Gabrielė Adomaitytė (b. 1994, LT/NL) currently lives and works in Amsterdam, and was an artist-in-residence at De Ateliers from 2017-2019. Adomaitytė’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad: T293, Rome (2022), Zuzeum, Riga (2021), Tilde, Amsterdam (2021), Encounter Contemporary, London (2021), Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam (2020), Swallow, Vilnius (2020), Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (2020), De Ateliers, Amsterdam (2019), Vartai Gallery, Vilnius (2019), and Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (2018).

Urte Laukaityte is a writer, science communicator, and artist. As part of her philosophy PhD at UC Berkeley, her research interests span a range of disciplines under the umbrella of cognitive science, with a primary focus on theoretical psychiatry. She has published articles in general audience magazines, such as the Public Domain Review, History Today, among others, and she serves as assistant producer for the Many Minds podcast. Her work has been supported by a number of foundations and other grant-awarding bodies; for instance, she has been a Regents fellow, a Global Priorities fellow, a DISI fellow, as well as a SSNAP fellow. Urte is currently a Solitude fellow at the Akademie Schloss Solitude, where she is involved in various art collaborations.

Rustan Söderling is an artist from Gothenburg (SE) based in Amsterdam (NL) whose work focuses primarily on moving image and animation. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam) and completed a two-year residency at De Ateliers (Amsterdam). Recent exhibitions include: A Sickness in the Water, Gossamer Fog, London; Prepper Paradise, Bureau Europa, Maastricht; Future Proof, Refresh, Paimpol; Summer of Bees, Corridor Project Space, Amsterdam.

1- Rustan Söderling, On Location, 13:3 from HD video (19:24), 2023

2 - Rustan Söderling, On Location, 02:45 from HD video (19:24), 2023

3 - Gabrielė Adomaitytė, oil and acrylic on linen, 79 x 71 in, 2022

4 - Rustan Söderling, On Location, 02:47 from HD video (19:24), 2023

5 - Urte Laukaityte, On the Elusive Nature of Time, text, 2023

6 - Gabrielė Adomaitytė, oil on linen, 79 x 92 in, 2022

7 - Urte Laukaityte, On the Elusive Nature of Time,text, 2023