A visit to the Baltic: Jasmina Cibic and Serena Korda

I recently visited the Baltic on a day trip out with some fellow students to see what was new since there seemed to have been a full turn over of new exhibitions since my last visit. Two that really caught my attention were Jasmina Cibic's 'This Machine Builds Nations' and Serena Korda's 'Missing Time.' Jasmina Cibic's works were a wide range including film, sculpture and installation. Cibic looks at themes of combining art, architecture and politics to look at the representation of the idea of nation, and draws influence from European architects and modern architecture shown through elements such as a curtain backdrop and a corridor that were created as part of the exhibition.

One thing I really like is when exhibition spaces are transformed in to something else and create a feeling of entering a different kind of space. Cibic created this at the Baltic most likely because of her architectural themes in which it felt like I was weaving through a series of rooms and spaces rather than just walking through a gallery space. This reminded me of a previous exhibition I had seen at the Baltic called 'Starless Midnight' in which the first section had been made to replicate a waiting room. I remember how much I liked the surprise of disguising a gallery space with something familiar and everyday. Although Cibic's rooms did not resemble a likeness to anything else to me, I really liked this element of her work as an idea of not using a gallery space in the most conventional way.

Jamina Cibic's exhibtion also consisted of three video pieces and video as a medium is something I am not usually drawn to or that really grabs my attention a lot at previous shows I have been to. Although Cibic's second film 'Nada Act II' did actually intrigue me and I happily watched the entire thing, something in all honesty I have rarely done at gallery visits.

Serena Korda's show was my favourite currently on show at the Baltic. It consisted of a series of marbled clay discs and sound. Korda was influenced by themes such as tradition, location and the cosmos. Working locally due to a fellowship at Newcastle University, Korda used homemade radio tech to record the sound of stars from Northumberland. I think Korda's work captures this otherworldly-ness she is aiming for and the large heavy-looking discs seem to resemble satellite discs with beautiful combinations of galactic colours. They are displayed with a light behind each circle that adds a pleasant effect. My favourite pieces are the broken ones displayed mounted on a wall in a constellation-like display as the fractions and interesting composition makes it really stand out compared to the straight rows on the other walls.