One, two, three, four walls
From 08/10/2011 to 04/04/2012 at ARTIUM Basque Centre-Museum of Contemporary Art in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
A project curated by Mar Villaespesa and BNV Producciones (Joaquín Vázquez), with the participation of Bulegoa z/b, Fundación Rodríguez, Valentín Roma and Laura Trafí-Prats.
The value of a work of art does not depend only on its content but on the possibilities it holds beyond the creative act. Under the circumstances, and in view of the etymology of the term “restore”, the exhibition Stanzas. Restorative practices on the Artium collection is developed, in an attempt to recover the potentialities of a number of works from the collection.
The project is conceived on the basis of four Stanzas,** four curatorial exercises, articulated around a number of works and actions, a seminar-workshop, theatre performances and a laboratory, made in a number of different timeframes. These works and the elements used to activate them are presented in the Lower East Gallery of Artium, which is also a space for work and machines.
Since Benjamin, discourses on the aesthetic conditions through which art is created have referred to concepts such as distance, proximity, reproducibility, authorship, value… Stanzas. Restorative practices on the Artium Collection concurs with these strategies and the Brechtian concept of “refunctionalisation”, in the sense that the aim is not to supply the art production apparatus but to transform this.
Stanza 3, One, Two, Three, Four Walls proposes two exercises for observing a single work in different circumstances. Through two different mises-en-scène of a significant work in the Artium Collection—Homenaje a Velázquez (1958) by Jorge Oteiza—visitors are invited to explore and exploit the meanings attached to the action of presenting an artistic object in the space, as well as to the types of relationship determined by this action.
* One, Two, Three, Four Walls is a project related to the Glossary of Bulegoa z/b.
**
Stanza 1
The truth lies in the extreme. Valentín Roma
Stanza 2
Some actions for CMVAC. Fundación Rodríguez
Stanza 3
One, two, three, four walls. Bulegoa z/b
Stanza 4
Out of control: laboratory of obliterated images. Laura Trafí-Prats
Theatrical performance
A sculptural object, Homenaje a Velázquez [Hommage to Velázquez] (Jorge Oteiza, 1958), is removed from the exhibition context and transferred to a theatrical context. The operation of transferral enables something that is unusual in an exhibition space, the protracted and detailed observation of a sculpture for the space of one hour through subjecting the spectator to theatrical norms.
The theatre performance directed by Bulegoa z/b is presented within the framework of Stanzas. Restitutive practices on the ARTIUM Collection, curated by Mar Villaespesa and BNV producciones, in dialogue with Bulegoa z/b, Fundación Rodríguez, Valentín Roma and Laura Trafí-Prats.
Original texts: Peter Friedl (Writing/Reading), Carla Zaccagnini (Translation), Bojana Cvejic (Theatricality), Xavier Le Roy (Form)
Design of the theatrical space: Gorka Eizagirre
Lighting design: Óscar Grijalba
Voiceover: Matxalen de Pedro Larrea, Igor de Quadra
Performances: 11th and 25th of February. 19:00 h (Basque), 21:00 h (Spanish)
Venue: Lower East Gallery, ARTIUM, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Admission free. Limited seats
More information: www.artium.org