2019 04 11 – 04 20. Benas Šarka, Remigijus Treigys “Midnight and More”

A travelling exhibition of photographs by Benas Šarka and Remigijus Treigys opened at the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center on April 11, 2019.

Everything started when Benas Šarka posted a photo on Facebook and Remigijus Treigys commented on it not with words but with a photograph. This relationship between the two old friends twice a day – once at around noon and the other at about midnight – became such an everyday ritual that it even interrupted Remigijus’ sleeep. If he dozed off before midnight without having received a photo from Benas, he would get up in the middle of the night and take photographs. This photo-discussion between the two friends lasted about a year and a half and evolved very naturally without any pretensions of being art. Words cannot always express what you want to say about everyday occurrences. The never ending conversation without words on a social media platform began to capture the imagination of others. Some were witnesses and only listened, others, in the reverse, would send their images, changing and adding to the discussion between the two friends. Time was transformed and boundaries blurred between real life and creative expression.

No one really remembers when it all began. The travelling photography project “Midnight and More” was inspired by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch’s film Paterson about the poetry of the minutiae of everyday events. The film director did not offer anything much to his audience – simply to live for two hours in the rhythm of the life of Paterson.

Benas Šarka and Remigijus Treigys are suggesting that one more hour be stopped between everyday conversations. The exhibition will present everyday stories that are unknown and unseen. The creators invite their audience to discover a world in which everything happens differently, even though at first glance there does not seem to be anything new in our everyday rituals. During the opening of the exhibition, visitors were able to not only look at the photographs, but also bring a part of the exhibition home. The works do not spend much time in any one place and will continue their journey from one city to the next, slowly disappearing in everyday events.

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