Newspaper Jan Mot Afgiftekantoor 1000 Brussel 1 Verschijnt vijfmaal per jaar in V. U . Jan Mot januari – maart – mei – Antoine Dansaertstraat 190 augustus – oktober 1000 Brussel No. 91, maart 2014 Erkenningsnummer P309573 149 Jaargang 18 No. 91

The work was about “defin- Ing as experiencing.” Wha- Le work was about “defin- ing as experiencing.” Wha- The work was about “defin- ing as experiencing.” Wha- The work was about “defin- ing as experiencing.” Wha The work was about “defin- Robert Barry (advertisement)

By in White from which the previous quote is Kathan Brown taken that we can’t be certain whether or not he actually did anything with gasses. 14 9 “The thing I remember about Robert Bar- The work was about “defining as experi- ry,” a friend said to me when I mentioned I encing.” What we are sure he did do was Exhibition Opening was writing this essay, “Is going into what have printed an announcement that said: 5/4 – 17/5 5/4 18 – 20h seemed to be an empty gallery – I think it was 1970 – and seeing people walking ROBERT BARRY, New York around looking up over their heads. I Inert gas series, 1969; Helium (2 cubic feet) couldn’t see what they were looking at until Description: Sometime during the morning I found a wall label that explained that the of March 5, 1969, 2 cubic feet of Helium ROBERT room contained a frequency band of radio will be released into the atmosphere. waves running a few feet from the ceiling. BARRY Well, after that I looked up, too. Of course, A person reading the announcement might radio waves are always there, everywhere, envision the activity, and taking time to do but the surprise of having someone call that, might continue on in his mind to real- your attention to them like that – well, it ize the concept – perhaps the one I quoted ONLY was visual, although you couldn’t really see from the artist, perhaps a part of it, perhaps anything.” a different one. It doesn’t matter what con- cept he grasped, so long as something In collaboration with Robert Barry invented invisible visual art. occurred to him. “It’s about people adding, Galerie Greta Meert He did a number of works with radio waves. not adding what, I don’t care what they He worked with radioactive material, and add”, Barry says. Jan Mot with inert gasses. He speaks about the gas- Rue Antoine Dansaertstraat 190 ses this way: Barry learned about using material in art 1000 Brussels, Belgium school; he was a painter and (minimal) The thing about the inert gas was that inert sculptor before he began to work with lan- is an important word. It doesn’t mix with guage. He studied under Robert Mother- it. But, being an artist, he did try, and that anything else; one could say that a particu- well at Hunter College, but rejected abstract resulted in the works I have just described. lar body of gas, although expanding and expressionism as it was being taught in all It is important to realize that, while he was changing, is essentially the same. It’s not art schools at that time (1961-3). One thing thinking, he did not figure it out and then going to change into something else. It’s he learned from abstract expressionists, write it down so others could see what he really permanent – there was also the idea however, and still believes firmly, is that saw. What he did was use the material of that the gas comes from the atmosphere and “making art is really about doing. It’s not language in order to think about it. what I did was simply to return it, complete really about making things. And the thing the cycle of returning it to the atmosphere. must always just be what happens while An absurdly elusive subject that preoccu- you’re doing something interesting.” What pied Barry for several years in the early That is a concept, a concept that the work he was doing that was interesting, after 1970’s was art. Here is one of his works produced in the mind of the artist – and per- about 1968 when he gave up painting and from that time (1972): haps in the minds of “viewers.” My notion sculpture in favor of using language sculp- that conceptual art consists of (1) idea, (2) turally, was thinking. He was thinking about It work, and then concept is really put to the “the absurdity of trying to understand or should remain the way it is test here. If you read this description care- grasp anything which doesn’t seem obvi- could be in trouble fully, however, you will see that the idea ous.” Infinity for instance: “gas endlessly has possibilities Barry started with was a word, “inert” – or expanding in the atmosphere, or radio could become familiar perhaps two words “inert gas”. He wanted waves... even when you turn the thing off it will lead to something else to use these words as material to make art. just continues endlessly going out into may be a success Barry points out in the interview with Rob- space.” Perhaps it is absurd to try to grasp isn’t necessary 2 Newspaper Jan Mot Robert Barry 149 3 Newspaper Jan Mot New space 149

implies things his own thoughts. The function of art and tion, you know, we can move, interpret, we conversations, affecting us without our real- is own thoughts. The function of art and the cription of a performance of Barry’s which could be misunderstood the artist is to make us aware, to cause us to can find out. izing it. It was a full evening. artist is to make us aware, to cause us to I attended recently (1978). It was held at is public expand our comprehension of life. “Are you expand our comprehension of life. “Are you MOCA, the Museum of Conceptual Art, in will please some trying to convey some kind of information And finally, he goes on to describe his atti- It has been seven years since I first encoun- trying to convey some kind of information San Francisco. There is a large gallery area has been tampered with to people?” Robin White asked Barry. tude towards using the etching process. He tered Barry’s work in Rome. It seems so to people?” Robin White asked Barry. upstairs and an old and comfortable bar fits in speaks clearly; I cannot improve on his simple, now, so elegant and so compelling downstairs. Announcements had been sent isn’t presented everywhere “Yes,” he replied. “But I’m not trying to words: that I can hardly believe that I thought then “Yes,” he replied. “But I’m not trying to out, and the bar was crowded. Barry was is among other things teach them anything”. When I read that that I couldn’t understand it. It has been teach them anything”. When I read that present, sitting in the bar drinking and talk- can be objected to reply, something came into my mind that I like the idea of cutting into the metal. It’s more than a decade that Barry has been reply, something came into my mind that ing with people. The work was on a tape could be elsewhere Eric Hoffer said: “In a time of drastic much slower (than drawing) for one thing… working with language, and his works has Eric Hoffer said: “In a time of drastic and was broadcast upstairs and downstairs is part of something larger change, it is the learners who will inherit It becomes very much involved with the change, it is the learners who will inherit simultaneously for about two hours. It con- might be featured the earth. The learned will find themselves actual making of the word, especially when the earth. The learned will find themselves sisted of Barry’s voice, roundly pronounc- is dependent well-equipped for the world of the past.” We you have to do it backwards, you know. It’s y mind that Eric Hoffer said: “In a time of well-equipped for the world of the past.” We ing words, with long spaces of silence in effects other things can learn from Barry’s work without his really hard and you think very much about drastic change, it is the learners who will can learn from Barry’s work without his between each oncription of a performance is individual teaching us so long as we don’t think of our- making each one – they don’t flow. You have inherit the earth. The learned will find teaching us so long as we don’t think of our- of Barry’s which I attended recently (1978). will be repeated selves as learned, so long as we are open to to be disciplined, have an incredible themselves well-equipped for the world of selves as learned, so loe learners who will It was held at MOCA, the Museum of Con- is limited suggestion. amount of concentration…I hadn’t really the past.” We can learn from Barry’s work inherit the earth. The learned will find ceptual Art, in San Francisco. There is a can be accounted for thought about this at all before, except wiy mind that Eric Hoffer said: “ themselves well-equipped fo large gallery area upstairs will cause problems By the time Barry came to make etchings at sometimes in the sound pieces, where you was anticipated Crown Point Press (January of 1978), he really – after awhile you just think about the may fail was using words as discrete forms on or air coming up out of your throat, coming should be left alone around the edges of a sheet of paper, “acti- out of your mounth, your tongue, the damp- isn’t possessed vating” the page. ness on your lips or something like that. In Gallery moves to new space in Brussels was organized the sound pieces, there also has to be a lot could be destroyed You begin to activate that space around the of concentration, especially after a long will have enemies word, the meanings as you go from one period of time. After recording for 45 min- might be helpful word to another… The words choose them- utes or an hour (and you still have a long is surrounded selves once I get started in it… I have these way to go), not missing a word on your list might be distracting lists of words that I’ve complied – I start becomes a real challenge. adds something that way… Sometimes a word may just look is active dried up, and I’ll remove it and add some- This is Barry’s “performance” – before a can get in the way thing else. The list has between a hundred tape machine, setting up slides, or, earlier, may need protection and two hundred words, words which some- letting (or not letting) gas out of canisters. how mean something to me now. When I Still viewers are affected by it as an action Nowhere was it said, so far as I know, that begin to work I look at the list and some- rather than as a tangible object. Here is a affected artists greatly. The time cannot be he was describing art in these works – but thing will just jump out, and I’ll start with description of a performance of Barry’s very distant when it will be known and what else? I remember a show of lists like that and see where that goes. Then add which I attended recently (1978). It was cared for by a much wider audience. this that I saw in Rome in 1972. It was curi- something to it and see what happens. Then held at MOCA, the Museum of Conceptual ous to me then, and still is, why this work I’ll think, these are kind of downers – I’m Art, in San Francisco. There is a large gal- Excerpt from was not totally baffling to the Italians (it going to come up with something that will lery area upstairs and an old and comfort- Kathan Brown, John Cage, Tom Marioni, was baffling to me at the time, and I’m a brighten it a little bit. Or there may be too able bar downstairs. Announcements had Robert Barry and Joan Jonas. Their Art In native-speaker of English). many four syllable words – we’ll do a one been sent out, and the bar was crowded. the Context of the ‘70’s, in: Music. Sound. syllable – that kind of thing… I don’t believe Barry was present, sitting in the bar drink- Language. Theater. John Cage. Tom Mari- A couple of years later (1974) I saw another that there is only one right, absolute, cor- ing and talking with people. The work was oni. Robert Barry. Joan Jonas, Crown Point exhibition of Robert Barry’s, this time at the rect word. But there could be wrong words on a tape and was broadcast upstairs and Press, Point Publications, Oakland, CA Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The – sometimes you’ll do something, and it just downstairs simultaneously for about two 1980 room was dark, and a slide projector on doesn’t look right. So you reject it. Some- hours. It consisted of Barry’s voice, roundly With thanks to Kathan Brown. automatic projected a series of color land- how it just didn’t work that time. pronouncing words, with long spaces of scapes alternating with large, single words. silence in between each one. Upstairs – It was beautiful and oddly moving, but This quotation shows how traditional Bar- with a handful of people (at any one time) again, I was baffled – I didn’t know enough ry’s approach is, though his material is non- all silently listening, footsteps or a banging not to try to figure it out. I needed more traditional, and his considerations in his door being the only interrupting sounds – confidence in my own insights in order not choosing and arranging are not entirely the work was meditative. Because of the to try to see what I was “supposed” to see. visual. Barry continues in this way: long spaces between the words, one was What I have learned since then is that truth forever drifting away, then being called is not revealed to the viewer by the artist; You asked me why are the words arranged back by the next word. Downstairs, howev- the viewer finds it himself, out of his own that way, and I tried to explain that they er, the bar was noisy, the lights bright, the experience, finds it along with the artist by have to be that way so that they can be beer plentiful. As we pursued our conversa- • View over Brussels from Place Poelaert, next to the gallery’s new space. (Photo: Julia Wielgus) following the artist’s train of thought and at allowed to be what they are. If you run it all tions, our jokes, our stories, Barry’s words the same time making his own associations together, nothing is going to take place. would interrupt us. “Incredible” would The show Only by Robert Barry is the last the ground floor of a 19th century house, their new spaces. Our first show - with and connections. The words that Barry uses There isn’t going to be any room to move, to come rolling in on us from the loudspeaker, one to be held at the rue Dansaert 190. After known for the law bookstore Bruylant situ- communal opening on June 11 - will be by are suggestive and significant, and their interpret, to grow. That’s why I like a lot of “Soon”. “Soon”, muttered an old “regular” almost 12 years, the gallery will move to a ated here until 2011. On the upper floors David Lamelas. context is always open-ended, so that a per- space between things. Space becomes very at the bar. “Soon, sooner” someone new location in the rue de la Régence 67, of the building the galleries of Micheline son encountering the work can learn from dynamic – it’s that in which we can func- laughed. The words worked their way into next to the Palais de Justice. We will occupy Szwajcer and Catherine Bastide will open 4 Newspaper Jan Mot David Lamelas 149 5 Newspaper Jan Mot Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster 149

MoMA acquires group of works Splendide Hotel in Madrid

by David Lamelas MADRID, 13 MARCH - The projects of Palace’. Its purpose was to house an exhibi- just one impenetrable room that replicates Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster invite the tion of plants and flowers from the Philip- the original architecture of the building. visitor on a journey through spaces and pines as part of the General Exposition of The carpet covering the floor and the mys- times where literature becomes a habitual the Philippine Islands, held that year. tery reigning inside evoke that distant practice of inhabiting the world. The In the same year, Rimbaud was in Aden, period when the Palacio was built. Around artwork is redefined as a process beyond Yemen, after the publication the previous it are several rocking-chairs surrounded by the concrete significance of objects. Litera- year of his Illuminations. In the first poem books, inviting visitors to sit down and ture and theatre constitute strategies for the of this compilation, Après le Déluge, he transport themselves to the worlds hidden configuration of an imaginary where physi- gives life to the Splendide Hôtel: “... Et le inside the literary selection that the French cal space is no more than the tip of an ice- Splendide Hôtel fut bâti dans le chaos de artist has made for this occasion. Authors berg traced out by the viewer on both real glaces et de nuit du pôle” (“... And the like the Philippine José Rizal, Dostoyevsky, and fictional coordinates. Splendide Hôtel was built in the chaos of Rubén Darío, H.G. Wells and Vila-Matas From her first works of the mid-eighties to ice and night of the Pole”). become companions on the voyage in time her latest creations, the artist has explored Also inaugurated in 1887 was the Hotel that Gonzalez-Foerster encourages us to the notion of space as a revealing medium, Splendide in Lugano, and the Splendide share. and of time as one of its closest allies. The was furthermore the name of the hotel in characteristics of the Palacio de Cristal Évian-les-Bains where Proust used to sum- On the occasion of the show onestar press offer Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster the mer with his parents. Splendide Hotel is published an artist book entitled 1887 – opportunity for a new exercise that will now also this hotel into which Dominique Splendide Hotel in a limited and numbered attempt to revisit the 19th century context Gonzalez-Foerster has temporarily transfor- edition of 250 copies. (EUR 35). in which it was built. med the Palacio de Cristal in Retiro Park. 1887 is the year when Ricardo Velázquez A large luminous sign on the main door The installation by Dominique Gonzalez- Bosco constructed the greenhouse known announces that the visitor is entering the Foerster at the Palacio de Cristal is on view today as the Palacio de Cristal, or ‘Crystal new Splendide in Retiro Park, a hotel with until the 31st of August 2014.

• David Lamelas, Analysis of the Elements by which the Massive Consumption of Information Takes Place, photograph taken during the installation in Düsseldorf in 1968.

BRUSSELS, 14 MARCH - The Museum of and Audio, Lamelas’ contribution to the Estrellita Brodsky, Adriana Cisneros de Modern Art in New York recently acquired Venice Biennale of 1968. Other works Griffin, Mauro Herlitzka, Marie-Josée Kra- a group of works by David Lamelas. Analy- acquired by MoMA are A Study of the Rela- vis, Raul Naón, Carlos Padula, Gonzalo sis of the Elements by which the Massive tionships between Inner and Outer Space Parodi, and Ernesto Poma. Office of Infor- Consumption of Information Takes Place (1969), Time as Activity Dusseldorf (1969) mation was donated to the museum by the dates from 1968 and was first shown by and Film 18 Paris IV. 70 (1970). The muse- artist. (JM) Wide White Space at Prospect 68 in Dus- um described Lamelas as “a key figure of seldorf Kunsthalle, conceived by Konrad the Conceptual art avant-garde since the Fischer as an ‘international preview of art in 1960s. His early structuralist films and and Audio, Lamelas’ contribution to the avant-garde galleries’. This early multi- media installations of the 1960s and 1970s Venice Biennale of 1968. Other works media installation is constructed around the are particularly important in their innova- acquired by MoMA are A Study of the Rela- three major channels for transmitting infor- tive treatment of time and space, and his tionships between Inner and Outer Space mation: auditory (excerpts of London radio work has been highly influential upon a lat- (1969), Time as Activity Dusseldorf (1969) stations), visual (an arbitrarily selected pub- er generation of artists”. The acquisition and Film 18 Paris IV. 70 (1970). The muse- licity film) and printed media (copies of was initiated by Sabine Breitwieser, former um described Lamelas as “a key figure of German newspapers and magazines). This Chief Curator of the Department of Media the Conceptual art avant-garde since the work is a development of an earlier installa- and Performance Art and made possible 1960s. His early structuralist films and tion which also entered the museum’s col- thanks to the generosity of Robert Speyer, media installations of the 1960s and 1970s lection: Office of Information about the the Latin American and Caribbean Fund, are particularly important in their innova- Vietnam War at three Levels: the Visual, Text Jill Kraus, Beatriz and Andres von Buch, tive treatment of time and spac • Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Splendide Hotel, Palacio de Cristal, Madrid (photo: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 2014) 6 Newspaper Jan Mot Letter 149 7 Newspaper Jan Mot Agenda 149

……………|………………..| ...... artwork is redefined as a process beyond . /::::::::Ä the concrete significance of objects. Litera- Letter to the Editor V ……………|………………..| ...... ture and theatre constitute strategies for the Agenda . |:::::::::l configuration of an imaginary where physi- . . “-, ”-, . There is a place cal space is no more than the tip of an ice- By humans. (And animals change landscapes constructed, by people and other agents, where this does not apply..……………/…… berg traced out by the viewer on both real Sven Augustijnen Asad Raza too: according to a YouTube video I watched, then it can be constructed differently. It also ………..Ä,,-“,~”……/…..,-“ . .”-,……… and fictional coordinates. Conversation Piece, Mu.ZEE, Oostende the presence of wolves in Yellowstone calls for an adult attitude towards “nature”-- …..’-,.”-,……..) . . . .”-,,- From her first works of the mid-eighties to (BE), 14/12 - 29/06; Ravaged. Art and Cul- March 17, 2014 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil National Park changed the course of its riv- we are not its victims or its destroyers, but its ………….’-,……..(,–,.,-“ . . . . her latest creations, the artist has explored ture in times of conflict, Museum M, Leu- ers, as deer were scared off to higher eleva- co-authors. That gives us a responsibility to |…………….”-,”-,,(“-~”-,””~~~” the notion of space as a revealing medium, ven (BE), 20/03 - 01/09; Spectres, Siskel Dear Jan, tions and previously shifting riverbanks co-create, not to escape or to dominate. But …………….¯”””¯,-“, .), . . . . and of time as one of its closest allies. The Film Center, Chicago (US), 03/04 (screen- were stabilized by the roots of newly uneat- the thing I like about Latour’s proposal the ,-“……………….”-,Ä,.”..,-“ characteristics of the Palacio de Cristal ing); Spectres, Wexner Art Center, Colum- I have enough observations about Rio de en foliage.) In Brazil, the mutually con- most is its immanence: unlike belief systems ………………….’-, offer Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster the bus (US), 04/04 (screening); Spectres, 9ième Janeiro and its culture and the omnipresence structed nature of humans and nature, rather dependent on a higher reality (either onto- .”.,“-,_„„~”……………………”.”-,” opportunity for a new exercise that will Festival. Raisons d’Agir, Poitiers (FR), 11/04 of plant life and the love of fruit juices and than an overstated opposition of the two, is logical as in religion, or metaphysical as in …………………..”~”-,.Ä,…,–~~~-,…… attempt to revisit the 19th century context (screening); Spectres, Salle Marcel Guého, the relaxed habitus of the people and the much closer to the surface of understanding. secular ideology), a composition of humans/ …………,~’, in which it was built. Theix (FR), 12/04 (screening); Tim Etch- street danger and the delicious taste of the A century ago, Oswald de Andrade nature is just itself, sublime not for some …………………………¯”~/ . . . . . 1887 is the year when Ricardo Velázquez ells. Order Cannot Help You Now, Argos, meat and the touch-sensitivity of the culture approached this under the rubric of anthro- inner “content,” but for its interrelations, its .)……………,”-~’, Bosco constructed the greenhouse known Brussels, 04/05 - 29/06; Spectres, l’Iselp, and the way the beach works here and the pophagie (cannibalism), which twists the constant motion, and its generation of new ………………………..…./ ...... |– today as the Palacio de Cristal, or ‘Crystal Brussels, 07/05 (screening); Spectres, visible legacies of slavery here and the kind- idea of the human away from disembodied arrangements. „„„„„„–,~””¯ . . Palace’. Its purpose was to house an exhibi- Camera Austria, Graz (AT), 14/06 - 31/08 ness and openness of many people here, that rationalism and towards animal appetites tion of plants and flowers from the Philip- (solo); Spectres, l’Iselp, Brussels, 28/06 I could fill many pages and frustratingly and the visceral body. The enemy is food to This lack of a need for hidden propositional Perhaps in tropical zones, where biological pines as part of the General Exposition of (screening); Spectres, CCS Bard & Hes- don’t have the time. One of the most obvi- be incorporated. meaning, whether spiritual or metaphysical, and mineral genesis, growth, decay, and the Philippine Islands, held that year. sel Museum Annandale-on-Hudson (US), ous but striking things about this city, relates deeply to art, which is infused with a decomposition is all around you, the bene- In the same year, Rimbaud was in Aden, 28/06 - 24/09 (solo) though, is the degree to which it combines I used the word composition when speaking deep meaninglessness. As Paul Chan fits of a compositionist approach is easier to Yemen, after the publication the previous many of the elemental locales to be found in of these matters purposely, as a way of refer- recently wrote (and here his typographical recognize. Taken seriously, it suggests year of his Illuminations. In the first poem Pierre Bismuth our world: a metropolitan agglomeration, ring to an essay, “Towards a Compositionist marks, I think, are relevant): something about one of the major cultural of this compilation, Après le Déluge, he For Each Gesture Another Character, the open ocean, high mountains, bays, Manifesto,” by Bruno Latour. There, Latour tropes of the last five hundred years, namely gives life to the Splendide Hôtel: “... Et le Art Stations Foundation, Poznan (PL), islands, lagoons, beaches, tropical forests, makes the argument that our old under- ……………Does the interested ………… the placement of the human being, rather Splendide Hôtel fut bâti dans le chaos de 16/01 - 04/05; (Site specific project), even secluded waterfalls, within city limits. standing of Nature as a timeless canvas …………..,-” ever obey the law? ”¯””-,… than nature or gods, at the center of the uni- glaces et de nuit du pôle” (“... And the Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, 01/02 - 01/05 Other cities might have one or two of these upon which humans paint their worldly ……………… When one is verse’s compass, needs readjustment. Splendide Hôtel was built in the chaos of (solo); BIOPIC, Team Gallery, New York elements, but in Rio all of them are often in efforts is, of course, a hopeless misunder- interested,…………….,~”……….Ä (Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man is the popular ice and night of the Pole”). City (US), 06/03 - 13/04 (solo); Words As view from one vantage. standing. (This seems more obvious than …………………………,~”…………,..Ä symbol of this; but the better example from Also inaugurated in 1887 was the Hotel Doors, Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & ever, now that we are changing the oldest it is because interest is useful enough to be the same artist is the way many of his com- Splendide in Lugano, and the Splendide Medien, KM-, Graz (AU), 15/03 - 22/05; Le But this tropical collage, commemorated by symbol in all art and literature of the time- beauti- positions make, as their center, the eye of the was furthermore the name of the hotel in Musée Imaginaire d’Henri Langlois, endless tourist paraphernalia, is more than less renewal of the essence of Nature: the ful.………………………,-“…………… person who regards them.) The soil that nur- Évian-les-Bains where Proust used to sum- La Cinémathèque Française, Paris, just a ‘great visual.’ Unlike the urban master very seasons.) He recommends understand- …….| tured humanism now needs to be replen- mer with his parents. Splendide Hotel is 09/04 - 03/08; The Part In The Story Where plans of modernism, which impose grids on ing these relationships using the term “com- …………….…… . . .“-~“ . . ¯¯¯¯¯””~-, ished with another fertility. Perhaps there is now also this hotel into which Dominique A Part Becomes A Part Of Something a flat plane and thereby appear to have been positionist.” The word, says Latour: ……………|………Beauty is in fact what a way of fertilizing with our own (anyway Gonzalez-Foerster has temporarily trans- Else, Witte de With, Rotterdam (NL), generated autonomously by human engi- is useful enough to us to be an extension of decaying) bodies and other things, which formed the Palacio de Cristal in Retiro 22/05 - 17/08 neers, Rio interrupts any attempt to focus on “…is connected with composure; it has who we are then consumed anew. Park. the city as solely a built creation. Sheer- clear roots in art, painting, music, theater, happen to be. ..| .,-“…………………… A large luminous sign on the main door Manon de Boer faced mountains erupt in every direction, dance, and thus is associated with choreog- /..|……….………/………… A final note: I don’t think this is a return to announces that the visitor is entering the Conversation Piece, Mu.ZEE, Oostende towering over the city while hosting man- raphy and scenography; it is not too far from ……………|………………..Ä . . . ._ .. . . . 60s-style ideas like “harmony with nature.” new Splendide in Retiro Park, a hotel with (BE), 14/12 - 29/06; The Ever Changing sions, favelas and jungles on their lower “compromise” and “compromising,” retain- . . . “-,„„„-”……………|..……………..”-, . For one thing, if there is no such thing as an just one impenetrable room that replicates Body. Part II, Cultuurcentrum Strombeek reaches; plant life is so dense as to half-hide ing a certain diplomatic and prudential fla- .(..”~,————~” independent nature, there is nothing to har- the original architecture of the building. Grimbergen, Strombeek-Bever (BE), many buildings and streets in green, often vor. Speaking of flavor, it carries with it the …………….|._………………..”~,..”~-‘— monize with--or, maybe, both sides of the The carpet covering the floor and the mys- 21/02 - 17/04; Sequenza, (pre-premiere) due to deliberate vertical gardening, their pungent but ecologically correct smell of ,………………,–~~-, harmony have to be partly composed. Nei- tery reigning inside evoke that distant Cultuurcentrum Strombeek Grimbergen, leaves and fronds continuously swaying; “compost,” itself due to the active “de-com- ………….,~” . ¯”~,……………….¯”~~-”,- ther is the Romantic idealization of nature, period when the Palacio was built. Around Strombeek-Bever (BE), 01/04 (screen- part of the horizon is nearly always defined position” of many invisible agents. . . . Ä………….,-“-,”~, . .”-, what a literary critic once called “natural it are several ro Palacio was built. Around it ing); Sequenza, Courtisane Festival, Gent by blue water. The visual presence of cliff Above all, a composition can fail and thus ……….,-“….,~”,-~”Ä…..-‘.,„„„………… supernaturalism,” really convincing, for are several rocking-chairs surrounded by (BE), 06/04 (screening); one, two, many, faces of rock, impassable forest, and the sea retains what is most important in the notion ……”-,……….|…………..’…| much the same reason. Lonely, melancholic books, inviting visitors to sit down and Images Toronto (US), 10/04 - 19/04 (screen- are reminders of the planetary existence of of constructivism (a label which I could …The contemplation of ruins seems at this point a transport themselves to the worlds hidden ing); Sequenza, Dissonant, Laurien, March which human activity is one element. have used as well, had it not been already ……………../…………………….……| kind of adolescent escapism (maybe Word- inside the literary selection that the French 1996 - Laurien, September 2001 - Laurien, taken by art history). It thus draws attention … law, sworth always did). All of these theologies artist has made for this occasion. Authors October 2007, Festival international d’art de Rio de Janeiro only makes more dramatic away from the irrelevant difference between ……………./…………………..,„_„…| are empty, because what seems needed is like the Philippine José Rizal, Dostoyevsky, Toulouse, Toulouse (FR), 23/05 - 22/06 what is true about most cities on Earth: that what is constructed and what is not con- … written before this discovery, has power not a theology, or even a theory, but a living Rubén Darío, H.G. Wells and Vila-Matas they are compositions of human and non- structed, toward the crucial difference over only those who have not found any- practice, in motion, or a vibrance. become companions on the voyage in time Rineke Dijkstra human features. Actually, even this descrip- between what is well or badly constructed, thing useful enough to be beautiful, and vice that Gonzalez-Foerster cking-chairs sur- I Love Holland. Dutch Post-War Art, Ste- tion is too binary, since human and non- well or badly composed. What is to be com- versa. ……………,-,-~-,-~’, rounded by books, inviting visitors to sit delijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam human elements always exist in a dynamic posed may, at any point, be decomposed.” ……………../……………….,-“ ( . . o)_º) down and transport themselves to the wor- (NL), 21/09 - 06/09; XXS Dutch Design, relation to each other--the beaches of Ipane- ……………./………………./...... lds hidden inside the literary selection that Museum voor Communicatie, Den Haag ma are steep with sand trucked in by Latour’s idea is optimistic: if everything is . . ,-~“~, the French artist has made for this occasion. (NL), 27/11 - 29/06; Striking Resemblance. Authors like the Philippine Jos 8 Newspaper Jan Mot Agenda 149

The Changing Art of Portraiture, Zimmerli tria, Graz (AT), 14/03 - 25/05 (solo); L’image 2014, Yokohama Museum of Art / Shinko Art Museum at Rutgers University, New suivante..., Musée des Arts Contemporains Pier, Yokohama (JP), 01/08 - 03/11 Brunswick (US), 25/01 - 13/07; Post Pi- de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Hornu casso. Contemporary Artists’ Responses (BE), 23/03 - 08/06; The Place of Dead to His Art, Museu Picasso Barcelona (ES), Roads, Centre d’art contemporain, Geneva Colophon 06/03 - 29/06; Rineke Dijkstra: The Krazy- (CH), 23/05 - 17/08 (solo); Kill All Mon- Publisher Jan Mot, Brussels house, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washing- sters, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel Concept Design Maureen Mooren & ton DC, 29/03 - 15/06 (solo); Conversation (CH), 25/05 - 29/06; Phantoms in the Dirt, Daniël van der Velden Piece VI, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem (NL), Museum of Contemporary Photography, Graphic Design Maureen Mooren, 28/05 - 21/09 (solo); Go Betweens, Mori Art Chicago (US), 25/07 - 05/10 Amsterdam Museum, Tokyo, 31/05 - 31/08; Manifesta Printing Cultura, Wetteren 10, Saint Petersburg (RU), 28/06 - 31/10 David Lamelas Extension of the Combat Zone. The Collec- Mario Garcia Torres tion. 1968 - 2000, Neue Nationalgalerie, tria, Graz (AT), 14/03 - 25/05 (solo); L’image Galeria Elba Benitez, Madrid, 21/02 - 05/04 Berlin, 08/11 - 31/12; Other Primary Struc- suivante..., Musée des Arts Contemporains (solo); The Invisible Hand. Curating as tures, The Jewish Museum, New York City de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Hornu Gesture, 2nd CAFAM Biennale, Beijing, (US), 14/03 - 03/08; Words As Doors, Kün- (BE), 23/03 - 08/06; The Place of Dead 28/02 - 20/04; Words As Doors, Künstler- stlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien, KM-, Roads, Centre d’art contemporain, Geneva haus, Halle für Kunst & Medien, KM-, Graz Graz (AU), 15/03 - 22/05; Lia Rumma, (CH), 23/05 - 17/08 (solo); Kill All Mon- (AU), 15/03 - 22/05; Three Collectors, été Milano (IT), 25/03 - 26/04 (solo); Uncom- sters, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel 78, Brussels, 13/04 - 17/05; 8th Berlin Bien- mon Ground. Land Art in Britain 1966 – (CH), 25/05 - 29/06; Phantoms in the Dirt, nale, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 1979, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefiend Museum of Contemporary Photography, Berlin, 29/05 - 03/08; Black House. Notes on (UK), 05/04 - 15/06; FRAC Lorraine, Metz Chicago (US), 25/07 - 05/10 Architecture, Museum of Contemporary Art (FR), 06/06 - 30/08 (solo); Jan Mot, Brus- of Estonia, Tallinn, 21/06 - 27/07 sels, 11/06 - 19/07 (solo) David Lamelas Extension of the Combat Zone. The Collec- Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster Sharon Lockhart tion. 1968 - 2000, Neue Nationalgalerie, SPLENDIDE HOTEL, Palacio de Cristal, In Context. The Portrait in Contemporary Berlin, 08/11 - 31/12; Other Primary Struc- Madrid, 14/03 - 31/08 (solo); The Library Conceptual Photography, Wellin Mu- tures, The Jewish Museum, New York City is on Fire 1(c). Haunting Glyphs, Proto- seum of Art, Hamilton College, Clinton (US), 14/03 - 03/08; Words As Doors, Kün- cinema, Istanbul (TR), 29/03 - 12/04; 303 (US), 30/01 - 27/07; Milena/Milena, Bon- stlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien, KM-, gallery, New York City (US), 17/04 - 31/05 niers Konsthall, Stockholm, 16/04 - 29/06 Graz (AU), 15/03 - 22/05; Lia Rumma, (solo); La Décennie, Centre Pompidou- (solo); Liverpool Biennial 2014, Liverpool Milano (IT), 25/03 - 26/04 (solo); Uncom- Metz, Metz (FR), 24/05 - 02/03; Manifesta (GB), 05/07 - 26/10; Artes Mundi 6 Biennial mon Ground. Land Art in Britain 1966 – 10, Saint Petersburg (RU), 28/06 - 31/10 Exhibition 2014, Cardiff (GB), 23/10 - 22/02 1979, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefiend (UK), 05/04 - 15/06; FRAC Lorraine, Metz Douglas Gordon Tino Sehgal (FR), 06/06 - 30/08 (solo); Jan Mo The Crime Was Almost Perfect, Witte de These Associations, CCBB, Rio de Janeiro With, Rotterdam (NL), 24/01 - 27/04; Fút- (BR), 11/03 - 21/04 (solo); Pinacoteca (advertisement) bol: The Beautiful Game, Los Angeles do Estado de São Paulo, Sao Paulo (BR), County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (US), 22/03 - 04/05 02/02 - 20/07; Douglas Gordon: Pretty much JAN MOT every film and video work from about 1992 Philippe Thomas until now, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, Hommage à Philippe Thomas et autres 07/03 - 31/12 (solo); 19th Biennale of Syd- œuvres augmenté de L’Ombre du jaseur Rue Antoine Dansaertstraat 190 ney, Sydney (AU), 21/03 - 09/06; Douglas (d’après Feux pâles), Mamco, Geneva (CH), 1000 Brussels, Belgium Gordon, Caithness Horizons, Thurso (UK), 12/02 - 18/05 (solo); Philippe Thomas: AB tel:+32 2 514 1010 10/05 - 11/10 (solo); Douglas Gordon, Aus- (1978-1980), mfc-michèle didier, Paris, [email protected] tralian Centre for Contemporary Art, Mel- 29/04 - 31/05 (solo) bourne (AU), 30/05 - 10/07 (solo); Pretty Thu – Fri – Sat 14 – 18.30h much every film and video work from about Tris Vonna-Michell and by appointment 1992 until now., GOMA, Glasgow (UK), Lecture-Performance: New Artistic Formats, 27/06 - 28/09 (solo); GENERATION: 25 Places, Practices and Behaviours, MUSAC, Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, León (ES), 18/10 - 06/07; VOX, Montréal José Maria Tornel 22 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, (CA), 06/02 - 12/04 (solo); Gallery TPW, Col. San Miguel Chapultepec Edinburgh (UK), 28/06 - 25/01 Toronto (CA), 10/05 - 07/06 (solo) 11850 México D.F., México [email protected] Joachim Koester Ian Wilson The Crime Was Almost Perfect, Witte de There Will Never Be Silence: Scoring John By appointment only With, Rotterdam (NL), 24/01 - 27/04; The In- Cage’s 4’33, Museum of Modern Art, New visible Hand. Curating as Gesture, 2nd CA- York City (US), 12/10 - 22/06; Flatland. FAM Biennale, Beijing, 28/02 - 20/04; Hab- A Plateau of Sculptures, Mamco, Geneva www.janmot.com itar el tiempo, Museo Jumex, Mexico City, (CH), 12/02 - 18/05; 3rd Biennale of Bahia 07/03 - 18/05; The Ghost Shop, Camera Aus- (BR), 29/05 - 07/09; Yokohama Triennale