Clercq 62 b.g., 3 x 2.4 m, 20-22/16-18
Exhibition -> Silence Please, Don’t Move, And Perhaps We can even hear our own hearth beat, 6-9 February 2013, Jeanine Hofland Gallery, Amsterdam , NL excerpt from the publication: We wanted to see if we could give people the sense of irrationality by changing the frequency and timing of a daily act. We hired a window wiper to wipe a window every 15 minutes during an art exhibition. The wiping of a window is an often ignored act. It is a regular, weekly act that happens in a gallery space, but it is an action that visitors do not expect to see during an exhibition. When they see it once, they possibly ignore it or think that it is done by mistake. thus it is not a planned act, but an amusing coincidence. People enter an exhibition with preconceptions and expectations. Therefore, the moment people come across the window wiper it demands them to double check the conditions they are in. They try to rationalize how the window wiper fits in the context of an exhibition, consciously or unconsciously.
The effect of the window wiper was diverse. Some people saw the other works in the exhibition but did not notice the window wiper. They never questioned the window wiper, so therefore never perceived him. For others it was quite clear. The opening speech coincidently took place at the same time in front of the window that the window wiper was cleaning. That definitely had an impact on people’s realization of the act. Though some people were still wondering whether he belonged there or not. The repetition of the window wiping act after the speech had made those people conscious of the performance. After the opening speech the effects were more subtle. People walked around the exhibition, looked at multiple works and sometimes glanced at the window wiper.
People responded strongly to the repetition of the act. They might ignore it the first time, but the second time they saw the window wiper some people paid more attention and started wondering how he fitted in the exhibition. Through the repetition the window wiper loses his use. The man is cleaning a clean window over and over again. It is almost like a compulsion. Thereby it became clear his prescence was not an accident.
Some people started to feel uncomfortable. In the pictures taken during the exhibition you see that people keep staring at him and don’t know how to position themselves to him. People asked others if they perhaps knew if it was a deliberate act. They wanted reassurance. Was it art or a man just doing his job? Did other people noticed the re-occurrence as well? Some frequent gallery visitors immediatly labelled the act as a performance, and therefor did not view it as irrational.
TEXT ACCOMPANYING THE EXHIBITION (SHORTENED VERSION) “When standing in front of a window, the ground miles away. This urge to jump, to simply step over the edge and let myself fall, rushes through me. It is so strong that I almost give in, though I have no desire to kill myself. Even though I know I will never jump, though this feeling is almost frightening and yet it is so intriguing.” When a person cannot make sense of her/his actions or thoughts, s/he claims them to be irrational. Irrational, like the thought described above, which seems to be triggered by the surroundings but does not seem to have a purpose. Giving in to this thought would be harmful. Therefore it is perceived as strange, unfamiliar, frightening and thus irrational. Irrational comes from the word ratio; in comparison to. People compare what they encounter to their prior experience. They categorize these encounters. When the new encounter does not fit in a single category, it is perceived as irrational. * A reasoning can be irrational when it does not fit the rules of logics, but in daily life thoughts, feelings and actions can all be called irrational, especially when the spectator does not see or understand the reasoning behind them. In her/his opinion these thoughts, feelings or actions don’t fit the circumstances or don’t comply with his expectations of the situation. The experience of irrationality is dependent on the context in which it is perceived. This would suggest that every act could become irrational or rational when perceived in a certain context. Even a common act that people are familiar with, something that would pass unnoticed in their daily lives could become unfamiliar, strange and irrational. This brings us to a border where an act seems out of place due to the context, even though it still is a known daily act. Nearly every act fits into the context of an exhibition space. Most acts can be expected and rationalized as an art project. But can we create a sense of irrationality by placing a daily act in a different moment in time? The act would not match the presumptions people have of this moment and will be judged asout of context. By a shift or repetition in time, a daily act can lose its purpose and become useless, strange, compulsive, irrational. * These are conclusions from our Socratic Dialogues, a dialogue with a chairman where you try to answer a philosophical question. belit sag (GRA) |
