WETCATION
Immersive installation, video loop, print publication, site-specific works on wall
Artist: WET
June 10th - October 8th 2023
Curated by Wørld & Tenthaus for Momentum 12, Together as to Gather
At Galleri F15, Moss
Immersive installation, video loop, print publication, site-specific works on wall
Artist: WET
June 10th - October 8th 2023
Curated by Wørld & Tenthaus for Momentum 12, Together as to Gather
At Galleri F15, Moss
In March 2023, WET headed to Norway, from Czechia, through Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Germany, and Sweden, using alternative means of transport such as freight trains, walking on foot and hitchhiking. The outcome of the situations encountered on the month-long journey is articulated as artistic reflections for their presentation in Moss. Titled Wetcation, the installation includes texts, drawings, tattoos and murals, a photo zine, cyanotypes made with found materials, and videos from the public interventions on their travel routes. The zine WetGet charts the month-long journey of the girl crew WET and their friends across Europe by freight train to far beyond the Arctic Circle. The magazine nostalgically draws inspiration from the contents of teen magazines, so inside there is also a quiz or a small gift created from things found on the road. The zine is a diary of hobo culture, created by WET during their journey. It is a collection of situational photos, stories, sketches, as well as columns and information, and contributions from friends made along the way.
By inviting WET to travel into the gallery to work with its topology, we
might learn more about how the gallery wires the biennial and the
potential of the gallery as a switch in a network. How could the white
cube deal with the opaque realities of infrastructure space and be
relevant to an increasingly saturated network of travelers?
The WET crew began to form in 2020 in Czech Republic. Whether it is about graffiti, concern for sustainable travelling, animation, painting, or text, these women—naiades—can move gently yet radically, just like their water element. In the most diverse metamorphoses, they observe chaotic movement, which remains exceptionally sensitive, perceptive and harmonious.
The collective’s name, derived from the word wet, carries erotic energy, which is not meant to be vulgar but is quite the opposite. The naiades in this group want to express a specific sexual sensitivity and natural attraction like mythical nymphs. As the WET crew consists solely of female members, the name tends to provoke and defiantly allude to still-present sexism. Their collective work concerns the fusion of overstatement, poetry, and mythological and fairytale motifs. They are connected through the energy of water and rituals.
Photos by Brian Smeets, WET and Wørld.
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