Pierre Granoux
Nicolas Manenti
Elizabeth McTernan
Alexandre Negrelli
Rüdiger Schlomer
Vadim Serandon
Bignia Wehrli
Anna Forlati
Sunshine Wong
Nicolas Manenti
Flaneurs, borne of post-revolution Paris as it succumbed to the growing pains of industrialisation, were a distinct urban breed. Why We Walk brings together a handful of stories from these trips beyond, creating a patchwork travel itinerary that locates new, previously un-Googlable points of the mental world map.
Curated by Sunshine Wong
Co-Curator: Nicolas Manenti
Flâneurs, borne of post-revolution Paris as it succumbed to the growing pains of industrialisation, were a distinct urban breed. Rich in time and money, they took to the streets, not to protest or reclaim the nation as an enraged French populace did a generation before, but to walk amidst thronging crowds. Bereft of errands or schedules, flânerie of the 19th century shares a few important attributes with contemporary art: both favour participatory spectatorship and, propelled by inquisitiveness, both wander deliberately into unknown territories.
Away from the neatly manicured road of learned appropriateness, detours of the mind provide momentary respite from "common sense", during which the flâneuring artist may confront new ideas or regard old ones from a different viewpoint. Why We Walk brings together a handful of stories from these trips beyond, creating a patchwork travel itinerary that locates new, previously un-Googlable points of the mental world map: Granoux's incessant search for the word "Gap" on signages around the world echoing his hometown of the same name; McTernan's tender correspondence to an ill-fated building from her transcontinental expedition; Serandon's jigged readings of Marcel Broodthaers, amongst other works. Decidedly modest in gesture, the artists of the project are less interested in the immediacy of epic scales, preferring instead to focus on the transformative powers of the small and minimal.
Participating Artists: Pierre Granoux, Nicolas Manenti, Elizabeth McTernan, Alexandre Negrelli, Rüdiger Schlömer, Vadim Sérandon, Bignia Wehrli + Anna Forlati
Opening Friday, 01.07.2011, 19 - 24
91mQ art project space
Landsberger Allee 54 - Berlin
from 02.07.2011 to 07.07.2011 only by appointment
tel: 0177 305 9222 or 0176 6615 4113