Signs and Symbols

Art Rotterdam
The Oceans Academy of Arts (OAOA)
Nelly Fabriek
February 2016

Signs and Symbols (2016), with works by Özlem Altın, Soucis et Jasmins, Ola Vasiljeva, and Marianne Vierø, was first presented during Art Rotterdam in 2016.

The project marked OAOA’s first clandestine entry into the commercial context of the fair, despite the collective’s elusive structure and semi-fictional character. Rather than presenting discrete, clearly attributable artworks, OAOA introduced a wardrobe-like structure functioning as a container for dispersed objects contributed by its members. Viewed through apertures, the interior revealed a constellation of elements whose authorship remained intentionally unmarked. The installation foregrounded ambiguity and shared authorship, subtly displacing the expectations of the art fair format while introducing OAOA’s characteristically amorphous approach to exhibiting.

Since then, the work has continued its slow fermentation, absorbing new elements and stories contributed over time by the same members of OAOA.