Zam Zaag is the path that we lead or follow, it is the way life evolves and moves and travels, and it is a form of destiny that happens with and without our control. This work explores the lack or loss of water that leaves in its wake – paths and tracks in the land and in people’s faith and connection. Sometimes these paths come together and sometimes they move apart. The absence of the rivers feels like a death but aesthetically these riverbeds and ‘used-to-be waterways’ are beautiful. We are aiming to show this beauty and to remember the loss.
In 2023, 362 Mongolian rivers significantly shrunk in size or disappeared. People around the world are worried about lost rivers and environmental change. There is a story in our paths, the paths of water and the paths of people. This work explores these stories and these paths and aims to refocus us on nature, bringing reconnection to a place that can feel lost. ZAM ZAAG | ᠵᠠᡍᠠ᠊ᠬ | ЗААГ is made entirely from materials gathered, recorded, and documented in the Gobi Desert.
The exhibition consists of two works. The first is of two companion video pieces and a sound piece running 9 minutes and 30 seconds entitled Zam Zaag. This work explores the lack or loss of water that leaves in its wake – paths and tracks in the land and in people’s faith and connection. It is a meditation on the human connection to earth, dirt, rock, riverbed; and the sounds that are held in and below these spaces. This works is made from video and sound documentation collected during a week-long research trip to the Gobi Desert.
The second work is entitled Zag, the name of a tree commonly found in the Gobi which endures and adapts to extreme conditions to survive in the desert terrain. This work puts the Zag tree in conversation with melting ice as a reflection on the large pockets of water that remain in the Gobi, much of it as ice. These glaciers and frozen waterways slowly melt through the summer months, some however remain frozen until the temperatures drop again in the winter. The work consists of a timelapse video, a dynamic soundscape, a 14-meter-long piece of silk, and a monotype – all about Zag. In the timelapse the branches have been suspended in relation to each other in mid-air, re-creating the interesting, knotted twists and turns of the Zag in the Gobi. Many of the branches are frozen into water and the installation unfolds as these blocks of ice melt slowly over a period of hours, the drips of water interacting with clay, dirt, and mud from the Gobi, creating interesting textures and designs.
Opening Night: Thursday, 2 May 2024, 5.00pm–7.00pm
Exhibition Dates: 26 April – 29 May 2024, 10.00am–4.00pm
Floor Talk: Wednesday, 22 May 2024, 12:30pm–1:30pm
Gallery Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 10am–4pm
Click HERE for the Invitation
Images are courtesy of the artists
Diana CHESTER & Ariuntuya JAMBALDORJ | Zaag | 2024
Diana CHESTER & Ariuntuya JAMBALDORJ | Zam Zag | 2024
Diana CHESTER & Ariuntuya JAMBALDORJ | Zaag | 2024
Diana CHESTER & Ariuntuya JAMBALDORJ | Recording in the Khongor Dunes | 2024
