An accumulation exhibition leading up to a sculpture reading performance on Fri 20th June, 6pm
12 - 22 June 2008
Curated by Jan Verwoert.
What defines an exhibition as an event? If not its beginning and end, then how could the modalities of its duration be changed and used to redefine what the show can be?
In their exhibition Lying Freely, Ruth Buchanan and Eveline van den Berg attempted to do precisely that. They treated the time of the show as a medium to work in.
Materials and experiences were accumulated during the time of the exhibition; daily through objects and texts displayed in the gallery and posted online, eventually culminating in a live reading performance (lasting as long as it takes to read all the texts) and an accumulated sculpture.
During the period of accumulation all texts and objects were exhibited in a basic display and archive system designed for this purpose, with two works by Buchanan and van den Berg creating a backdrop for the invigilator, designating the space as a site where an event is in the making.
As the temporal parameters of the exhibition are unhinged, the experience of the work is opened up in time. Who will experience the work, when, and how? The casual visitor, those attending the final presentation, or the invigilator reading the texts and observing the changes in the space day by day – are all bound to have different experiences of the work. All of these experiences in the end will make up the show. But will anyone know what the invigilator read and saw? There is no way to tell. If you ask, he or she may just be lying freely.
Click here for the Exhibition blog
Eveline van den Berg (NL, 1982) is an artist based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She completed her BA (Fine Art) in 2005 at Academie voor Kunst en Vormgeving, Den Bosch, NL. In 2007 she completed a two-year working period at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, NL. Recent exhibitions and projects include Art Sheffield 08: Yes, No, Other Options, Bloc, Sheffield, UK, A little more conversation with my friend in The Collapse of Several Pillars (publication), PZI, Rotterdam, NL, To him she was still perfection, Duende, Rotterdam, NL, Exercises of Unwillingness, 1646, Den Haag, NL, Normal Desires, Rm 103, Auckland, NZ, Throughout the last century…, de Veemvloer, Amsterdam, NL, What could happen in ten years, Extrapool, Nijmegen, NL. She is currently working on the book project Don’t give me questions, give me answers.
Ruth Buchanan (NZ, 1980, Te Ati Awa/Taranaki) is an artist based in The Netherands. Buchanan gained her BFA from Elam School of Fine Art, Auckland, NZ, 2002 and her MA (Fine Art) from the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, 2007 and is currently a Fine Arts Researcher at Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NL. Recent exhibitions and projects include Lying on rocks, sitting in windows, standing on chairs, KunstTour Weekend/Euregional Bus Tour, BE/DE/NL, Ostensibility in Özlem Altin:Geomtrisch Potret, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, NL, Older Lovers etc, Square2, City Gallery, Wellington, NZ, Working on Talking, Gambia Castle, Auckland, NZ, Open In Total Darkness, Lothringer13/laden, Munich, DE, Knowing Nothing of Agility, TENT, Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, NL, Normal Desires, Rm 103, Auckland, NZ, It was almost brilliant, Extrapool, Nijmegen, NL. Buchanan actively intitates and contributes to artist books and other print-based projects.
Jan Verwoert is a contributing editor of Frieze and writes for various publications including Frieze, Afterall and Metropolis M. He teaches at the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam. His book, Bas Jan Ader - In Search of the Miraculous, was published in 2006 by Afterall Books/MIT Press.
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