Yves Klein
Art & Language
Robert Barry
Robert Irwin
Stanley Brouwn
Bethan Huws
Maria Eichhorn
Roman Ondak
John Armleder
Gustav Metzger
Mai-Thu Perret
Francis Baudevin
Ben Vautier
Mathieu Copeland
Clive Phillpot
Philippe Pirotte
Stuart Comer
This chronological retrospective brings together nine empty exhibitions by Yves Klein, Art & Language, Robert Barry, Robert Irwin, Stanley Brouwn, Bethan Huws, Maria Eichhorn, and Roman Ondak. The principle of the exhibition is to present only exhibitions where the space is left rigorously empty, without the addition or subtraction of anything, thus excluding, for instance, shows or works involving the modification of lighting, the installation of sound, the construction of partitions or the exclusion of the public. Accompanying events: a performance by Ben Vautier, a screening of films, a listening session by Francis Baudevin, and a concert.
With VOIDS, EINE RETROSPEKTIVE the Kunsthalle Bern offers an opportunity to explore
a crucial chapter in the history of art. Following Yves Klein's exhibition at the Iris Clert
gallery in 1958, the empty space became a recurrent artistic theme. This chronological
retrospective exhibition brings together nine empty exhibitions by Yves Klein, Art &
Language, Robert Barry, Robert Irwin, Stanley Brouwn, Bethan Huws, Maria Eichhorn, and
Roman Ondák.
Yves Klein's 1958 emblematic exhibition 'The Specialization of Sensibility in Raw Material
State into Stabilized Pictorial Sensibility', which was subsequently referred to as The Void, is
widely considered as a turning point in modern art history. The empty space exhibited as such
thus became, in a way, a classic of radicalism, and would be repeated and remade in other
contexts, other places and other times by other artists whose intentions might be similar,
different or even opposed to Klein's.
The principle of the exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bern is to present only exhibitions where the
space is left rigorously empty, without the addition or subtraction of anything, thus excluding,
for instance, shows or works involving the modification of lighting, the installation of sound,
the construction of partitions or the exclusion of the public. And it is no part of its goal to
reconstruct the original physical space, as rather than representing the historical void by the
artists, the retrospective - working closely with the artist and their estate - considers the void
itself, and not the architecture that hosted the void.
Also, all forms of historical documentation or memorabilia related to the original exhibition
(such as posters, photos, invitations, photo-documentation, press reviews, original texts) are
excluded from the exhibition; all such elements being included in the exhaustive catalogue
published alongside the exhibition, edited by the curators John Armleder, Mathieu Copeland,
Mai-Thu Perret, Clive Phillpot, Gustav Metzger, together with Laurent Le Bon and Philippe
Pirotte.
Each void offers a different reading of the empty space, representing, perhaps, a claim, a
renunciation, or, indeed, a celebration of the museum or gallery's space. Contemplating
emptiness, one confronts nothingness and absence, the invisible and the ineffable, destruction and negation. VOIDS are offered for what they are, and for what they allow. This
accumulation of empty spaces, similar in appearance but radically different in reality, has
echoes and implications beyond its walls. More than a radical and conceptual exhibition, the
retrospective is an invitation to explore and experience, in a very physical manner, the
different texture of each different space. The visitor encounters the empty exhibitions now in
2009, exactly 40 years after 'When Attitude Become Form' organised by Harald Szeeman
when director of the Kunsthalle Bern. It was such exhibition that enabled this retrospective to
be, and one could dream that with the voids, the attitudes, literally, are the forms.
This exhibition brings together the work of artists who have attempted this extreme gesture,
to exhibit without showing an object, without making any intervention but a single
announcement. The exhibition begins with Yves Klein's 1958 exhibition, and from then on
envisages how entirely empty exhibitions have defined different kinds of emptiness,
sometimes as a means to signal sensibility as for Klein, sometimes as the peak of a
conceptualist or minimalist practice as with Robert Barry's 'Some places to which we can
come, and for a while "be free to think about what we are going to do (Marcuse)"' (1970).
Sometimes as the desire to explore our understanding of exhibition & exhibition spaces as for
Art & Language's 'Air Conditioning Show' (1966-67), or in the case of Robert Irwin's
'Experimental Situation' (1970) as the appraisal of the space, and the affirmation that there is
no such thing as nothing. Sometimes as the desire to empty an institution & focus on the
experience of walking through it as for Stanley Brouwn, or with Laurie Parsons' exhibition at
the Lorence-Monk Gallery in New York in 1990, announced by a card bearing only an
address, with neither dates nor the name of the artist, as a means to announce the artist's
complete withdrawal. Sometimes as the affirmation that there is no need to introduce in a
space a work of art as it is already there, as with Bethan Huws' 'Haus Esters Piece' (1993).
And again as with Maria Eichhorn's 'Money at the Kusnthalle Bern' who in emptying the
Kusnthalle in 2001 worked with the void out of necessity, devoting the exhibition budget to
the renovation of the building. And sometimes it is the means to remind us that the most
important aspect of any void is the notion of trust and belief, as with Roman Ondak's 'More
Silent Than Ever (room fitted with eavesdropping devices)' (2006), a piece that deceives the
public in making one believe that there is more when indeed there is nothing.
In this respect, from the search for a renewal of perception, through political or ideological
statement, to the deconstruction of the very principle of exhibition, these exhibitions pose a
range of crucial questions about the role of the institution, and this unprecedented marshalling
of eloquent emptiness within the Kunsthalle Bern represents a true challenge to the
institution.
For an unprecedented exhibition, a unique curatorial team. VOIDS, A RETROSPECTIVE,
which is both an exhibition in the most traditional sense and an art event in its own right, has been put together by John Armleder, who has always been interested in nothing; Gustav Metzger, a key figure in auto-destructive art, Mai-Thu Perret, a young conceptual artist,
Mathieu Copeland, a curator who explores the limits of the exhibition, Clive Phillpot, a
writer; together with Philippe Pirotte, director of the Kunsthalle Bern.
Accompanying and simultaneously to the retrospective at the Kunsthalle Bern, the
Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, will be entirely empty and open to the public for a week
(20th - 27th of September) as an invitation to visit Yves Klein's 'Raum der Leere', a
permanent void realized in 1961.
Accompanying events will also include an evening of performance by Ben Vautier, a
screening of films curated by Stuart Comer, a listening session by Francis Baudevin, and
"Absenz - (k)ein konzert" a concert by Ensemble Neue Horizonte. For more information on
dates and locations in Bern on all these events, please refer to the website.
VOIDS, EINE RETROSPEKTIVE is coproduced by the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Kunsthalle Bern.
Events:
FLUXUS AND NOTHING by Ben Vautier
Friday, 11 September 2009, 8 pm
Marienstrasse 8, 3006 Bern
He recently told us that 'Less is More, but I prefer Nothing'! It is therefore with great pleasure that we
welcome Ben Vautier to realise a too rare performance by this Fluxus hero and ever so influential
artist for an evening considering nothing and the void. Performing his own pieces intertwined with
pieces taken from the extensive Fluxus repertoire, Ben creates a program that look into the apparent
impossibility of doing nothing, and furthermore (or rather furtherless), on stage. A fascinating event
that will cast a beautiful light on what his mother used to tell him, that there is no such thing.
Ben Vautier was born in Naples, Italy, on the 18 July 1935. He lives in Nice France.
Mathieu Copeland and Philippe Pirotte
Absence- (not) a concert
Sunday, 4 October 2009, 5 pm
Mit (No)works 1949 – 2009 by:
Robert Bozzi "Choice 18" George Brecht "Two Elimination Events" & "Instruction" &
"Flute Solo" John Cage "Lecture on Nothing: 6 Answers" & "Tacet" Dick Higgins
"Constellation" Bengt Af Klintberg "Orange Event Nr. 1" George Maciunas "Solo for
Conductor" Toshiro Mayuzumi "Metamusic" Roland Moser "Null" Tomas Schmit "Sanitas
Nr. 35" Dieter Schnebel "Umrisse" & "Assoziationen: Cage-Kommentar" Urs Peter
Schneider "Nichts" & "Rezept XX" Mieko Shiomi "Disappearing Music for Face" Peter
Streiff "Die verschollene Leere" & "Konzept IV" Ben Vautier "I Will Be Back in 10
Minutes" & "Nothing" Robert Watts "Event for a Whole Year" La Monte Young "Piano
Piece for D. T. Nr. 2"
Ensemble Neue Horizonte Bern
Concept and direction: Urs Peter Schneider
Image: Dominique Uldry, Installation Shot VOIDS, EINE RETROSPEKTIVE
Press contact:
Julia Strebelow Tel.+41(0)31 3500040 Fax.+41(0)31 3500041 Email j.strebelow@kunsthalle-bern.ch
Press conference: Friday, 11 September 2009, 11 am
Opening Saturday 12 September 6 pm
Kunsthalle Bern
Helvetiaplatz 1 CH-3005 Bern
Opening hours
Monday: closed
Tuesday - Friday: 11 am to 6 pm
Saturday/ Sunday: 10 am to 6 pm
Ticket prices:
Adults: CHF 8.00.
Apprentices/retirees/students/teachers with ID: CHF 4.00.
Children: CHF 2.00.