|
LET EVERYTHING BE TEMPORARY, OR WHEN IS THE
EXHIBITION? brings together the work of artists that
consistently and very differently explore temporariness or the
possibility of instability in the work of art. This is
manifest not so much as a subject of their works (although it
is sometimes also that), but rather as a constitutive element,
shaping the artwork’s fragility as well as the indeterminacy
of visitors’ experiences of it.
On the surface, Felix
Gonzalez Torres’ candy piles diminish, Michel Blazy’s wall
slowly decomposes, Gabriel Kuri’s avocados ripen, Oksana
Pasaiko’s soap dissolves, Tomo Savic-Gecan’s artwork loses
value, and Joëlle Tuerlinckx’s square of confetti spreads
throughout the exhibition space. But more than that, their
artworks demonstrate that whether motivated by the political,
aesthetic, economic, or the intimate, these artworks literally
perform their temporal questioning. And as such they challenge
the idea of the work of art as eternal, unchanging, and
aesthetically fixed. Visitors are thus encouraged to return
(again and again!) to see the show in its multiple states of
(de)evolution.
*In response to the problem of
documenting what is inherently a constantly changing
presentation, filmmaker Boris Belay will capture the state of
the space via stop action film for the duration of the show.
The final piece will be announced after the close of the
exhibition.
Elena Filipovic is an art
historian, independent curator, and critic based in
Brussels. | 
