Edith Dekyndt, Perpetual Room, 2010, projector, camera, MAC computer, variable dimensions, courtesy of Parker's Box.
Armory Arts Week will host a night in Brooklyn tomorrow, Saturday, March 6. All Williamsburg Gallery Association galleries will be open after hours – from 6PM to 11PM. One of those galleries will be Parker’s Box, with a new show entitled “Unidentified Living Objects” that we are sure will be worth the quick trip on the L. The exhibition is curated by Hélianthe Bourdeaux-Maurin and features artists Pierre Ardouvin, Edith Dekyndt, and Gereon Lepper. The three works selected tap into the idea that after spending some time with certain art pieces, they can begin to take on a life and mind of their own. We spoke with Bourdeaux-Maurin about the inspiration for “Unidentified Living Objects” and the Williamsburg gallery community.
WHITEWALL: Tell me about the exhibition of Claudio Parmiggiani at Le Couvent des Bernandins in Paris and how it inspired the show that will open this week at Parker's Box, "Unidentified Living Objects."
HELIANTHE BOURDEAUX-MAURIN: This exhibition was absolutely beautiful! It was located in a former medieval convent and featured a number of site-specific works as well as well-known pieces by the artist. I was in one of the crypts looking at his installation of old church bells and the more time I spent with them, the more it seemed to me that they might start ringing or begin moving on their own at any moment. One after the other, his installations started to take on a strange autonomy… It struck me that on different occasions throughout my experience as an art historian and curator, I had encountered works of art that touched me, amazed me, or even scared me because they suddenly started to seem to be alive, and so I decided to bring some of them together in an exhibition. I wanted to try to offer the opportunity to the public of experiencing what I had found so moving or at least to encourage a different way of looking at or relating to artworks.
WW: How did you choose the three artists in the show: Pierre Ardouvin, Edith Dekyndt, and Gereon Lepper?
HBM: I envision this show as the first part of an ongoing series of exhibitions about the same subject but these three artists were the first three I encountered whose works embodied my idea.
Edith Dekyndt came to my mind because one of her pieces, “Ground Control,” is a perfect illustration of the exhibition’s theme. When we showed it at Parker’s Box in 2008 during her first solo show in New York, I was always impressed by the fact that this floating black ball filled with helium and air frequently traveled in a straight line towards the visitors, as if attracted by them. And when the sound that was associated to the piece was a heartbeat, the transformation was complete. The work was alive, moving closer to you at different speeds and heights, sometimes curious, sometimes tender, sometimes threatening... I was convinced that the fact that this particular piece was acquired by MoMA and the Progressive collection after the show, among other institutions, was really due to its uncanny living presence. With this in mind, I decided to show another piece by Edith Dekyndt that shared this quality, and it turned out that her most recent work, “Perpetual Room,” which had never been shown before, corresponded to the idea of the exhibition. It consists of a camera filming the pulsating light of a MAC computer in sleep mode, and this is projected on a large scale onto a wall. The continuous and insistent signal of the glowing computer suddenly and subtly becomes its pulse, the signal of an irrepressible life…
Pierre Ardouvin, La Chose, 2008, PVC, air pump, timer, 236 x 126 x 138 inches, courtesy of Parker's Box.
I admire the work of Pierre Ardouvin and I had heard of his piece that he showed at the Ricard Foundation, “La Chose” (“The Thing”), which is a monumental abstract structure made of PVC with round excrescences. Twenty feet long and ten feet wide, it is at once soft and hard, and seems to be breathing. The invasive presence of the piece, its use of both humorous and nightmarish appearances and above all its mimicry of the human and animal trait of breathing (itself often seen as the essence of being), all contribute to the atmosphere of fascination and anxiety that the work provokes.
I was introduced to Gereon Lepper's work by Parker’s Box founder, Alun Williams, and when I visited his studio in 2007 in Germany, he showed me a version of “Grenzgänger” that was so incredible that it really stuck in my mind. I decided that one day I would show it in New York. “Grenzgänger” (“Borderline Walker”) is a three-legged, motorized object, attached to a central pivot with the ability to navigate an assortment of obstacles.
WW: The show focuses around the idea of an object having a mind, a soul of its own. Does this come from your impression of these artists’ work or is it the intention of the artists to have their work come across in this way?
HBM: As a curator, I always base the themes of my exhibitions on the artworks and the meanings given to them by the artists. I do not try to illustrate a pre-conceived judgment. The artwork always comes first. But it is true that I also use my interpretations of the work as an art historian, with the knowledge I have of the context and of the artist’s work and as a human being with my emotions, my senses and of course my own memories.
WW: In order for the viewers to sense these objects’ souls or minds do they need to actively give into the experience of viewing them? Maybe quiet their minds?
HBM: I believe that the first thing to do would be to give these objects time, so that they can reach your own soul. I don’t think that your mind should be quiet. On the contrary, I would hope that your mind might be filled with ideas, laughter, or tension simply from experiencing these works. I would just recommend coming to them with an open mind, exercising wonder rather than reason, probably via the child in you, in order to access the ability to feel touched or surprised, to marvel at something coming out of the ordinary, to allow links to be created with totally unfamiliar but living objects.
For example, if the viewer observes the inexorable and relentless progress of the “Grenzgänger,” looks at the details of its uncanny anatomy, appreciates the strength of its legs, focuses on the delicate rubber soles that bend and extend themselves in an uninterrupted movement, the whole machine morphs into a surprisingly elegant dancer, slowly twirling around the room, almost up to the ceiling. Like an astronaut exploring an uneven and perilous planet, pushing down on its ballet-shoe-space-boots, “Grenzgänger” manifests the stubbornness, dedication and determination only known in the realm of the living.
WW: The show opens during Armory Week’s Brooklyn night. Why was this the show that you wanted to present for that occasion? Do you think it comments on the Williamsburg gallery community?
HBM: Yes, we really wanted the international art world to have the opportunity to see this exhibition. We wanted these three artists to gain even more exposure than they already have; we wanted to share the works of a few amazing European artists (although we also represent amazing American artists!) whom American collectors and institutions may not know yet; and most of all we wanted to do a beautiful, strong, unique and monumental exhibition to show that during the difficult times we are all going through, money does not determine the quality of the works that one can display. Great art and artists are alive, more than ever! And Brooklyn galleries are more than survivors: a source of creativity and energy for the entire art community!
Gereon Lepper, Grenzgänger, 2010, steel, aluminum, rubber, motor, halogen lamp, variable dimensions, courtesy of Parker's Box.
