Patrik Wallner: Paper Trails

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Born in West Germany in 1987, internationally renowned Hungarian filmmaker, skateboarder and artist Patrik Wallner has focused much of his career on storytelling as well as dissecting the convoluted nations within Eurasia & Africa. Through his Visualtraveling documentaries, he has captured life within North Korea, dove into all countries ending in ’stan, produced and directed pieces along the Trans-Siberian, Madagascar, Yemen, Myanmar, and Iran to name a few.

Over the last decade, Wallner has harvested a compilation of unusual banknotes throughout his expeditions. It has always been a fascination for him to explore how a single piece of paper can give such a lucid glimpse into the history of a nation through the pictured historical figures, landscape and cultural traits.

By painstakingly folding, and reshaping them, Wallner has produced graphic structures and symmetrical patterns, that illuminate the sheer power these banknotes behold. As payments are heading into a digital age, these twentieth century banknotes will be our last reminder of a time when we all had a piece of art crumpled up in our pockets and wallets.

This is a unique show for Young Soy Gallery, as 30% of the proceeds will be donated to a variety of different skateboarding NGOs such as CubaSkate, Make Life Skate Life, Pushing Myanmar and Salad Days. These SkateNGOs make it possible for the underprivileged skateboarding communities to receive plywood to make boards, build parks and put a roof over the heads of street kids who have shown a passion for this subculture; a cause that Wallner is passionately championing.