On May 29 at 7 PM in SODAS 2123’s bar “Estafetė“, SODAS 2123 residency programme participant Ella Skinner will host a film screening of and discussion about Brad Troemel’s 2020 film ‘The Exit Report’

According to Skinner, the art world is an elaborate Ponzi scheme run by wealthy criminals and as artists, we, unfortunately, play into their pyramid scheme, buying into MFA programmes, artist studios and paying unaffordable rents in big cities often for very little gain. We make knockoff Pollocks and Rothkos, write endless funding applications and make Instagram reels of our mental breakdowns, all in the hope that one day the president of Lockheed Martin will eventually buy our work, after which we will FINALLY be able to quit our barista jobs, maybe even earning the pride of our mothers.

American artist Brad Troemel in The Exit Report implores: QUIT THE ART WORLD BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

Don’t do that MFA programme, don’t move to New York and certainly don’t do cocaine with that curator whose Dad owns a successful tech company. Detailing the failures and unsustainable economics of the art world and its inevitable crash, The Exit Report asks: Do artists have to appeal to galleries? Do artists have to go to art school? Do we need middlemen such as curators and collectors? What would art look like if it was completely severed from galleries, institutions and art fairs? What are the alternatives to ‘hustling’?

The Exit Report (31’ 47”) will be screened at the SODAS 2123 bar and followed by a conversation between SODAS 2123 artist-in-residence, Ella Skinner, and Vilnius based artist Dovydas Laurinaitis. This event is for artists to have an honest discussion about the financial and ethical implications of their work, and find alternative ways to navigate their careers outside the traditional art world.

The event will be held in English.

Ella Skinner is a Welsh visual artist and set designer. Her transgressive and often provocative works create experiences that engage all six traditional senses. Working with architecture, flesh and religious iconography, she is interested in using art as a transformative experience for her audiences. Skinner initially trained as a writer of fiction and painter, studying for a bachelor’s degree in English Literature with History of Art at the University of Manchester. During this time, she began operating within DIY experimental artistic scenes in both England and Wales, leading her to create installations and performances that challenged traditional conceptions of art, discipline and order. Skinner graduated with a master’s in Fine Art from the Manchester School of Art and went on to complete a certificate in architectural draughting for production design at Pinewood Studios, London. Her visual art expands to artistic direction and set design for film, events and music.

Ella Skinner’s residency at SODAS 2123 is organised together with Audra Festival and curated by Tautvydas Urbelis.

SODAS 2123 activities are supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius city municipality.