I WOULD RATHER HAVE A SANDWICH is the working title for the new collaborative exhibition project by Albert Allgaier and José Oliveira at TARS Gallery in Bangkok . As the title suggests it is an investigation into the forms and functions of contemporary art practice and its relation to everyday life. I WOULD RATHER HAVE A SANDWICH is a direct continuation of their solo exhibition LIFE=ART=SANDWICH at SODU4 Art Space in Vilnius (Lithuania) in 2017, where the artists presented a working sandwich franchise store that sold sandwiches as limited edition artworks - a critical reflection on the present way art is consumed and the circumstance of its production.

For I WOULD RATHER HAVE A SANDWICH Allgaier and Oliveira will continue their artistic investigation on the liminalities of art, work and life with a full scale working model of an sandwich shop as an art exhibition juxtaposing the idea of an art exhibition as a sandwich shop from the Vilnius exhibition. They will take this opportunity to also return to traditional artistic media like drawing and sculpting without neglecting the performative aspects of their practice and understanding of the art exhibition and all its elements as a social sculpture.

Allgaier and Oliveira will create series of new works in situ and on location to be able to directly reflect the local circumstances and their inherent materiality. Put in dialogue with individual works by the artists I WOULD RATHER HAVE A SANDWICH strives to present a new perspective on the reality of contemporary artistic practice and the ever evolving definition of what we understand as art. The simple but profound moment of enjoying a sandwich is contrasted with the intellectual challenges of conceptual art.