Wälzende, 1926 Bronze
Alreadymade II (installation)
Barbara Visser
Sparring partner exhibition
Documentation + text design
08.02.2024 – 12.05.2024 Kunsthaus Zürich
Documentation + text design
08.02.2024 – 12.05.2024 Kunsthaus Zürich
‘Fountain’, a urinal that was declared to be a work of art in 1917, is perhaps the best-known conceptual object of the 20th century. Signed ‘R. Mutt’, it was submitted anonymously to an exhibition by the Society of Independent Artists in New York; since then, everyday objects can be ‘readymades’ and qualify as art too. Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) claimed authorship of the work. However, there are rumours that it was not he who masterminded it but rather the Dada artist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874–1927).
The film ‘Alreadymade’ (2023), which forms the basis for Visser’s site-specific installation at Kunsthaus Zürich, is an alternative whodunnit that explores the boundaries between genuine and fake. ‘Fountain’ is the starting point of the artist and film-maker’s investigation into the speculation surrounding Duchamp’s authorship. Adopting the readymade approach, she produces the work from existing material: found film footage from which she creates her own moving images, employing new technologies such as motion capture and meta-human modelling. The result is not an art-historical documentation; rather, the mix of existing and newly created material serves as a reflection on such fundamental questions as ‘what is reality, and what is fake?’ Who is the author? What is an original and what is a copy?
The film ‘Alreadymade’ (2023), which forms the basis for Visser’s site-specific installation at Kunsthaus Zürich, is an alternative whodunnit that explores the boundaries between genuine and fake. ‘Fountain’ is the starting point of the artist and film-maker’s investigation into the speculation surrounding Duchamp’s authorship. Adopting the readymade approach, she produces the work from existing material: found film footage from which she creates her own moving images, employing new technologies such as motion capture and meta-human modelling. The result is not an art-historical documentation; rather, the mix of existing and newly created material serves as a reflection on such fundamental questions as ‘what is reality, and what is fake?’ Who is the author? What is an original and what is a copy?
Barbara asked me to be her sparring partner for this exhibition and give shape to parts of it. Working closely together we discussed the installation and I became responsible for the time line of Von Freytag-Loringhoven her life with all the ambiguity surrounding it, the sketches of Djuna Barnes her ideas of the biography she would never write of Von Freytag-Loringhoven and helped on mulitiple parts consiting of the graphic design within the exhibition; such as the ‘do not touch’ items + a reader consisting of all the writing of Von Freytag-Loringhoven. I also assisted Barbara during the installation of the exhibition in Kunsthaus Zürich.
Kunsthaus Zürich is the first museum where this new work was shown. It will also be shown in Germany and possibly in the Netherlands.
barbaravisser.net
kunsthaus.ch
La cigale et la fourmi
Karianne Bueno
Exhibition text design
What does freedom really mean – as a concept, as something we all seem to aspire?
About fifteen years ago, in her late twenties, Karianne her cousin E. chose to live her life as free as possible. She is a shepherd in the French mountains for most of the year and spends the rest of her time riding her horses or driving her camper van towards where ever she feels like going.
La cigale et la fourmi, which lends its title from a famous fable by Jean La Fontaine about a singing grasshopper and a hard-working ant, is a long-term photography/text project containing a vortex of ideas. It is about the metaphorical place where our personal lives and western society collide, about commitment, feasibility and the human need to be seen in a world that continuously seems to move away from us.
About fifteen years ago, in her late twenties, Karianne her cousin E. chose to live her life as free as possible. She is a shepherd in the French mountains for most of the year and spends the rest of her time riding her horses or driving her camper van towards where ever she feels like going.
La cigale et la fourmi, which lends its title from a famous fable by Jean La Fontaine about a singing grasshopper and a hard-working ant, is a long-term photography/text project containing a vortex of ideas. It is about the metaphorical place where our personal lives and western society collide, about commitment, feasibility and the human need to be seen in a world that continuously seems to move away from us.
For this installation, which was part of Noorderlicht 2023, Karianne asked me to structure her texts. They consist of insights, thoughts, letters, conversations and stories all circling around the idea of freedom. To keep intact the strolling of thoughts and also containing a conversation in which nothing is set in stone were the key elements for designing the texts. A playfull way of going about a somewhat abstract phenomenon as freedom.
This first collaboration might be followed up by working more closely together on the book Karianne will get published somewhere in the future.
Colophon Photography & text
Karianne Bueno
Concept & design
Anouk de l’Ecluse
Installation photos
Harry Cock
kariannebueno.com
Unlimited editions
Maartje van Ringen
Exhibition design
'It's another soul, but it's the same thing.' A quote taken from a conversation Maartje had with Roberto concerning his cloned dogs.
Unlimited edtions is an ongoing research project by Maartje van Ringen about everything that contains within the world of animal cloning. By learning about the possibilities and challenges and by analysing different perspectives Maartje tries to understand how we relate to our pets and horses. For her research she traveled to the United States to meet with people who cloned their beloved cat, favourite dog and successful quarter horse. She also visited a commercial animal cloning company called ViaGen and their laboratories.
Searching for the right way of getting this complicated and multi-layerd topic across in her first exhibition, we came up with the concept of transforming the space into an Animal Cloning Visitor Centre. Here you can stumble upon and dive into all the aspects that come when wnating to clone your animal. The scientific, philosophical, human, religious and unavoidable dark side of this new way of dealing with live and death.
Colophon
Photography
Maartje van Ringen
Concept & design
Anouk de l’Ecluse
Maartje van Ringen
Concept & design
Anouk de l’Ecluse
Edit
Maartje van Ringen
Karianne Bueno
Anouk de l’Ecluse
Installation photos
Theo van der Meijs
maartjevanringen.com
Maartje van Ringen
Karianne Bueno
Anouk de l’Ecluse
Installation photos
Theo van der Meijs
maartjevanringen.com