For those who think that
contemporary art tends to be a pain when it takes itself too seriously, there’s
an interesting alternative combining the useful and the pleasant, which could be
called: “The art of satisfying nature’s call in
style.”
Yann Dumoget, the serial
painter who produced the astronomical quantity of 366 paintings in 1999, i.e.
one a day for a year, before generously allowing them to be covered with
“graffiti” (in other words massacred) by the first guys who came along, does it
again for Documenta 11 with a new experiment and a wild Web
site.
This
year, Documenta (the Mecca of contemporary art, which takes place every five
years in Kassel) has been spread out into several “platforms.” Yann, who also
wishes to offer forums for expression located at the center of people’s lives,
has decided to put his works where graffiti are usually found, where you truly
come face to face with yourself, where the guardians of good taste would
sometimes like to relegate modern painting, in short : in the
john…
From 1 June to 7 July he’ll
be exhibiting twenty-two of his paintings (one in the men’s room and one in the
ladies’ room) in eleven strategic lavatories in the city, for example the
psychiatric hospital, an in-club, the graphic arts university, not to mention
certain more or less official cultural and exhibition sites. For more than one
month, each lavatory will have one original 50 ´ 65 cm work by the artist
as well as a marker, and the users will be warmly invited to pass from privy to
painting and for once be allowed to express themselves freely in these premises
long devoted to pouring out the soul.
But readers should rest
assured that they won’t have to go to Kassel to relieve themselves in this way
(again, it’s supposed to be accessible to everyone) because the artist has
created a one-and-only Web site of its kind, recreational and truly interactive,
with a digital copy of each of the 22 paintings where anyone can place their
graffiti online and from any corner of the planet.
Using a special computer
program developed by two Web pros, the drawings and graffiti added by Web
surfers will be taken into account successively on the site and the gradually
enhanced digital works will evolve at the same tempo as the original version.
This is the chance for you to participate in a global collective work open to
everybody. In a world where globalization too often corresponds to the lowest
common denominator and loss of identity, where works of art are untouchable,
both manually and mentally, Yann has the good humor (with a wink at Marcel
Duchamp ) to persevere in his commitment to interactive and demystified art. He
tries to promote some of his favorite values, which we could all use: sharing,
friendliness, freedom, respect for differences and, from time to time,
provocation. With this experiment at Kassel, he persists in his belief that his
works are better with you than without you. So: on your mice, get
set, GO!!!