SoiL Thornton, Assisted Cleansing/tactile gap glue (372 of 1,000,000), 2020 – ongoing. Vehicularly flattened aluminum cans inside storage vessels. Variable dimensions.
Exhibition view of “Decomposition Evaluation” at Kunstverein Bielefeld, 2022. Photography by Fred Dott. Courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Bielefeld.
SoiL Thornton, Pay it Forward, 2022. Detail. Steel, chicken wire, adverts and compost. 300 x 150 x 100 cm.
Exhibition view of “Decomposition Evaluation” at Kunstverein Bielefeld, 2022. Photography by Fred Dott. Courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Bielefeld.
SoiL Thornton, actualizing implications of self care through world care via capitals regenerative processes, i mean earths, 2022. Voucher for my purchase of Loop mycelium coffin for self, mycelium material sample choices to be used for coffin, letter from the owner of Loop, mat and wood frame. 56 x 39 cm.
Exhibition view of “Decomposition Evaluation” at Kunstverein Bielefeld, 2022. Photography by Fred Dott. Courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Bielefeld.
SoiL Thornton, Dinner Plate as varying support for an artwork(s)(faux pas in faux finish), 2022. Detail. Digital print car-wrapping foil, laminated, on CNC routed MDF coated with FR polyuria, sanded, primed and sprayed white. 120 x 120 x 10 cm.
Exhibition view of “Decomposition Evaluation” at Kunstverein Bielefeld, 2022. Photography by Fred Dott. Courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Bielefeld.
SoiL Thornton, Dinner Plate as varying support for an artwork(s)(Kunstverein Bielefeld), 2022. Spray paint and CNC routed MDF coated with FR polyuria, sanded, primed and sprayed white, and ink.
120 x 120 x 10 cm.
Exhibition view of “Decomposition Evaluation” at Kunstverein Bielefeld, 2022. Photography by Fred Dott. Courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Bielefeld.
SoiL Thornton, Waisted Breathe, 2022.
Some of my hopes and dreams whispered into Shopping Bag Waste Bins of stainless steel with brass finish, aggression release, in plastic vacuum sealed bags.
18 parts. Variable dimensions.
Exhibition view of “Decomposition Evaluation” at Kunstverein Bielefeld, 2022. Photography by Fred Dott. Courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Bielefeld.
“Decomposition Evaluation” if the first institutional solo exhibition of the work of SoiL Thornton to be held in Europe. Thornton’s practice engages with the underlying conditions for the exhibition, presentation and representation of artistic production. Who represents what? Which roles are assigned to any particular artist? What are the underlying processes of economic exploitation? How are identity, individuality, and biography used to shape artists into brands? And what is it that constitutes value?
SoiL Thornton’s artistic work questions precisely these processes, the ways by which a society constitutes agreed norms and sets up established power relations. Their approach is often about measuring the tension between an idea and its material implementation. Thornton has developed this exhibition specifically for the Kunstverein Bielefeld, including new installative works. One concept moving through the exhibition is based on an investigation of the visual effects of chroma keying, examples of which can be seen both in the invitation card and in the site-specific wall work Beginnings of dematerialized space / containment through exercising imagination then exercising active practice? (ready to go) (2022) shown at the Kunstverein Bielefeld. In film production, key colors like chroma green are used to create backgrounds on which to overlay digital content. Thornton’s work has an abiding interest in questions of how things appear and how meaning comes to be. Their works are an appeal to fiction and its inherent possibilities for self-transcendence.
