[Nettime-ro] future past present / on show at UNAgaleria 02-10/12/2010

["andreea l." <amnesiacforsale@yahoo.com>]

future past present
andreea lupescu / aurÃlien prÃvost
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UNAgaleria 02-10/12/2010
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âfuture past presentâ is a collection of 200 living images that create a(rt) 
history based on sight, memory and imagination. 

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On show at UNAgaleria, G-ral Budisteanu 10, opening hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-16:00
Opening night on 2nd December 2010, 18:00
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about the authors:
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Andreea Lupescu â 23 y. o., student, Faculty of Art History and Theory, National 
University of Arts (UNArte), Bucharest, Romania
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AurÃlien PrÃvostâ 34 y. o., engineer, PhD nuclear physics, Paris, France
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AurÃlien and I met through a social network in the autumn of 2009 and started a 
correspondence that makes up for a total of 1306 emails sent from 27th September 
2009 to last one received on 30th November 2010. We wrote each other on an 
almost daily basis and got to know each other so well that if we couldâve 
changed roles, we would have done it to live the life of the other, 
effortlessly.
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The idea of âfuture past presentâ as a project is in fact a one-line email 
dating back to 10th January 2010 in which I let AurÃlien know how I came up 
suddenly with this great thoughtâ He replied immediately out of curiosity and 
what happened next is that we started working on the project in a weird and wild 
burst of enthusiasm. Our first postcard was sent on 14th January 2010. We 
imagined it as a spontaneous exchange based on the idea of image and sight in 
time, meant to be entirely private. We have never taken into account the 
possibility of the existence of a third person simply because the person wasnât 
there and couldnât see. It was just us, some 1500 km apart, choosing randomly 
the printed reproductions and the real images that would describe the reality we 
shared in spite of distance and the one-hour Western to Eastern time difference. 
We used ink to write and real mail to send these images, constantly submitting 
them to weather and transport. The post mark, the stamp, the blue priority 
sticker give an unmistakable proof of time and place. They trace the coordinates 
of an urban tale in which we seem to be placed somewhere above the city, in a 
constant flight from one image to another. 

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What we sent each other was a daily dose of description. Our means to render 
thoughts visible turned us immediately into absent spectators to one anotherâs 
lives. We experimented on the real closeness that can exist between two people 
whom have never met but are together in a time of their own design and in the 
completeness of their vision, limitless, imperfect and absolutely free. We are 
not artists, we are opposites. AurÃlien is left-handed â together we have 
written with the two hands of the same body. 

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Each postcard contains a written image that can also be something felt, heard or 
imagined. It can tell an absolute truth or a perfect lie. Put them together and 
they make a narration to be read before going to bed but in reality they are a 
year from someoneâs life. AurÃlien and I have spent 10 months working on the 
project (January-October 2010) out of which 100 days of sending postcards (10 
days every month). Weâve met twice in real life, in Bucharest where we tried to 
have a relationship, but we have failed. The project remains a success. 

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âfuture past presentâ can be anything. In theoretical terms, weâve also created 
a travelling museum which makes famous paintings available to the public out of 
their original context through the means of mass reproduction. The printed 
reproduction is a symbol of the continuous fight in between word, image, 
dimension and surface. Itâs also something that can be bought. Instead of 
focusing on masterpieces, we focused on the instantaneous being eternal. And we 
have paid for it. 

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A few days after we sent our first postcard, I filled up a form for a fictitious 
exhibition, trying to escape the close deadline of an exam. Taking the project 
to school meant to give it a public dimension that includes today not only a 
third, but a fourth, fifth and many other persons. You participate actively to 
the life of the image through the means of your own perception. You relate to us 
through your subjectivity. Our 200 written images are a pretext for you to 
create more. AurÃlien and I have seen and shared the experience. Now we pass it 
on. Itâs your turn to make it neverending. 



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