Compass Trouble Again
Compass Trouble Again focuses on cultural histories, vernacular aesthetics, and semantic reconstruction. The exhibition is the thematic follow-up to Compass Trouble, held in Guadalajara, Mexico, in May 2014. This second iteration brings together a number of threads and cues, presenting material from France, Mexico, Sweden, Algeria, Austria, Nigeria, and Iran.
As cultural objects move between contexts, they undergo shifts that are both subtle and emphatic. Questions emerge around how meaning changes across contexts and what takes place within these gaps. Compass Trouble Again approaches these questions through multiple gestures. The exhibition features a series of illustrated pages in English and Persian introducing Chaos Theory, presented as formal objects that offer a diagnostic view of translation at work. A commissioned Persian translation of The Palm-Wine Drinkard, a foundational work of African magical realism from the 1950s, is published for the occasion, introducing a key text of African postcolonial literature into a Persian-language context.
Other works include a re-painted Mexican mural from the Cacaxtla tomb, based not on the original painting but on its stylised textbook illustration, returning a mediated image to the wall through translation. Two musical compositions by Stockholm-based producer KWC 92 and Biarritz-based DJ Biscuit are produced for the exhibition, presenting contrasting approaches to dance music, ranging from introspective psychological meditation to cold techno isolation. These compositions are played throughout the space, with specially produced CDs made available to visitors. Paintings on silk depicting logos from a local Armenian coffee shop and the Abgineh ceramics and glassware museum are installed alongside large photocopies capturing reflections in the glass of the Abgineh museum’s display cabinets.
The varied gestures that comprise Compass Trouble Again are concerned with cultural exchange, shifts in meaning through translation and transposition, collective narratives in new environments, and expanded forms of social engagement. While several elements reflect on pre-existing moments of cultural transition, the musical compositions and the bootlegged publication perform an active shift between contexts, extending the exhibition beyond its immediate spatial and temporal frame. The shared and collective components of the exhibition point towards the generative potential of cognitive gaps and the aesthetics of misunderstanding.
Thomas Jeppe was born in Australia in 1984 and holds a Master’s degree in Visual Arts from the Victorian College of Arts and an Honours degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Melbourne. Working across painting, sculpture, and publishing, Jeppe’s practice engages social histories of cultural production, often involving community, vernacular aesthetics, and provisional frameworks for interaction. Research and reconstruction form a central part of his work, combining critical inquiry with curiosity, energy, and propositional experimentation. Recent exhibitions include presentations at Sketch London, Conradi Hamburg, Utopian Slumps Melbourne, The Duck Berlin, Die Diele Zurich, Curro & Poncho Guadalajara, 032c Workshop Berlin, Polansky Prague, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney.
Thomas Jeppe’s exhibition at Sazmanab is produced with support from Creative Victoria, and his residency in Tehran is made possible with support from Kaaf.
Venue: Sazmanab (Khaghani St.)
Dates: 27 February – 17 March 2015
Opening reception: Friday, 27 February 2015, 15:00–22:00
