Syndicate: Fwd: news from Skop

[Syndicate admin <syndicate@v2.nl>]

From: "Suzana Milevska" <suzanam@osi.net.mk>
Subject:  news from Skopje
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 00:39:24 -0500



Curators: Suzana Milevska (Curator at the Museum of the City of Skopje) =
and=20

Valerie Cassel (Director of the Visiting Artists Program at the School =
of the Art Institute of Chicago)

Artists: Candida Alvarez, Gaylen Gerber, Oliver Musovi}, Kay Rosen, Igor =
To=9Aevski and =8Eaneta Vangeli

Dates: Official opening of the exhibition: 12 October, 20.00 at The =
Museum of the City of Skopje

Lectures by the curators and artists: 9 and 10 October, 19.30=20

The exhibition will be open from 12 =96 22 October 2000 at the Museum of =
the City of Skopje=20





The initiative for the project "Words-Objects-Acts" is based on the =
basic difference between the language and the world, no matter which =
language and which culture is taken in account. This problem is =
something that various cultures and arts have in common but it is =
interpreted and understood differently within the different contexts.

The question about the different specifics of this relation is a =
relevant issue not only in the context of theory of art and philosophy =
but also in the general discussions about the problems of communication =
and relation between works of art and everyday life. Thus, the main =
focus of this project is the question about the possibility to act in =
the world with language and art and to transform the language based =
ideas in images and objects.=20

The action that can enable this process of "doing things with words" is =
important for art and artists that are concerned with art that deals not =
only with its own rules.=20

Also, the possibility of communication via different languages: verbal, =
visual or computer languages, is an issue that is going to be questioned =
through this project.

One of the main theoretical source for the concept of the project "Words =
-Objects -Acts" is the specific linguistic problem of performative =
sentences, the most thoroughly discussed in the J.L. Austin=92s book =
"How to Do Things with Words". His underlying of this phenomenon is =
important for this project since it puts emphasis on one of the rare =
samples of language based actions: the declaration of war, marriage, =
baptizing, naming a ship etc. These kind of events whereas only by =
uttering of a sentence or two a person can make serious changes in the =
reality are interesting in the art context since art is doing something =
similar all the time: it creates new worlds only by its own means.

Usually art is held to be a material embodiment of a prior inner =
emotional state and pure thought thus establishing the relation to some =
outward sign or symbol. Still, the analogy between art and language can =
be misleading if it is taken as pure identification: that we experience =
the work of art just as we experience the meaning of a word.

The other radical question that derives from this analogy would be the =
parallel with the problem of private language. If we start from the B. =
Russell statement that "there is absolutely nothing that is seen by two =
minds simultaneously" that could lead us to a wrong conclusion that art =
is not communicable with any other subject but its author. Therefore, =
the project "Words -Objects -Acts" investigates the possibility of =
entering of the art in the realm of reality through objects and acts =
that will, at the same time, change this reality.

The very old philosophical polemics about the correlation between words =
and object that even today divides the philosophers in nominalists, =
realists and conceptualists according=20

to their belief if there are ties between the words and world gives to =
this project another possible direction in discussion the contemporary =
problems that Macedonia goes through exactly because of the unsolved =
question of the name, flag and other state symbols and emblems.=20

The exhibition starts very optimistically with the piece of Kay Rosen =
that greets the audience with its witty usage of the first 9 letters of =
the alphabet where the letters H and I are painted in different color =
than the others and make the HI word. Candida Alvarez in her work Still =
Life shows a video of her mother cooking specialties of Puerto Rico =
cuisine accompanied with drawings with the names of the vegetables used =
for the meal.=20

Gaylen Gerber invited two film directors: Chris Smith and Sarah Price to =
project their American Movie on his gray canvas that was stretched in =
situ at the Museum.

Igor Tosevski exhibits documents from UNO Committee for Human Rights

That he found in his father (employee of UNO) archive on old fashioned =
scales under the ironic title 23 Kilos of Human Rights.=20


------Syndicate mailinglist--------------------
 Syndicate network for media culture and media art
 information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate
 to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at>
 in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress