Unidentified Living Objects

Unidentified Living Objects...

Pierre Ardouvin, Edith Dekyndt, Gereon Lepper

curated by Helianthe Bourdeaux-Maurin

March 4 - April 11, 2010

Parker's Box is pleased to present Unidentified Living Objects..., an exhibition curated by Helianthe Bourdeaux-Maurin and featuring monumental works by international artists Pierre Ardouvin (France), Edith Dekyndt (Belgium) and Gereon Lepper (Germany).

When visiting an exhibition of Claudio Parmiggiani at Le Couvent des Bernardins, in Paris, the curator was struck by the idea that some works of art, when considered for a while, end up giving the impression that they are alive, that they seem to have a mind, an autonomy and a soul of their own... They seem to have a life, independent of the decisions of their creators. They have the ability to mesmerize us, without the need for high technology or interactive systems, by their strange, magical and sometimes whimsical presence. The spectator's willingness to spend time absorbing the personalities, movement, colors, and the artworks' very existence is the sole key to a new realm of fascination. The works on display at Parker's Box are ultimately "only" objects, or matter, animated by somebody else's will and not their own. Inanimate in the sense that they have no "anima", or soul, they nonetheless, oscillate between the surrealist question: "Inanimate objects, do you have a soul?" and the archaic belief of animism.

Edith Dekyndt, a Belgian artist represented by Parker's Box who has recently gained considerable international acclaim as witnessed for example by MoMA's recent acquisitions, explores the idea of living objects in this exhibition in both her installation and recent drawings. From Disney's version of the Sorcerer's Apprentice to Toy Story, storytellers have often imagined the parallel lives of inanimate household objects when the owners of a house are away. In comparison, in the utterly rational context of the modern world, the objects that surround us no longer wait for us to turn our backs in order to have a life of their own. Dozens of lights and signals issue from our electronic equipment, constantly beeping, flashing and changing color, emitting vital signs of life and activity --whether we are in the room or not. Even the accompanying new vocabulary uses references to the life of these objects. Our devices are personified: they sleep and wake up... But they always keep a flashing eye on our world... This paranoid and amusing idea led Edith Dekyndt to create the piece called "Perpetual Room", shown here for the first time. It consists of a camera filming the pulsating light of a MAC computer in sleep mode (which might be urging you to get back to work), and this is projected on a large scale onto a wall. The continuous and insistent signal of the glowing computer suddenly and subtly becomes its pulse, the signal of an irrepressible life... The second incarnation of Edith Dekyndt's exploration in this domain, are the drawings that she associates with the installation. These are made on aluminum foil with very systematic and almost unconscious gestures. The artist states that "by transforming [herself] into a sort of automatic machine without its own will or conscience", she allows the material itself to guide her hand, to determine the movements of her pen, and therefore, the result of the drawing. The material becomes the artist, achieving its own kind of independence and free will.

The German sculptor, Gereon Lepper investigates the influence of energies on structures and form. He is interested in the potential of an overlap between technical and natural principles. In his work, the frontier between machine and animal worlds becomes confused. The artist's "Grenzgänger" ("Borderline Walker") is a three-legged, motorized object, attached to a central pivot with the ability to navigate an assortment of obstacles. This work is at first very mechanical, remote, and cold. But this isn't just another curious spider made by an artist. On the contrary, if the viewer observes the inexorable and relentless progress of the "Grenzgänger", looks at the details of its uncanny anatomy, appreciates the strength of its legs, focuses on the delicate rubber soles that bend and extend themselves in an uninterrupted movement, the whole machine morphs into a surprisingly elegant dancer, slowly twirling around the room, almost up to the ceiling. Like an astronaut exploring an uneven and perilous planet, pushing down on its ballet-shoe-space-boots, "Grenzgaenger" manifests the stubbornness, dedication and determination only known in the realm of the living...

Pierre Ardouvin (France) is represented by Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris. His work has been exhibited in prestigious venues such as the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Fondation d'Entreprise Ricard, the Plateau/FRAC Ile-de-France, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris; Museum 52 in London; or the Musée d'Art contemporain, Marseille. He was nominated for the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2007. Edith Dekyndt (Belgium) is represented by Parker's Box, New York. Her work has been shown at a number of prestigious European venues: The Venice Biennial; Witte de With, Amsterdam; Krinzinger Projekt, Vienna; Musée des Arts contemporains du Grand Hornu, Brussels. Among her current and upcoming exhibitions are her participation in Dancing on the Ceiling: Art & Zero Gravity", at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Troy, New York (March 18-April 11, 2010) and On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century at MoMA, New York curated by Connie Butler and Catherine de Zegher in the Fall of 2010. Gereon Lepper (Germany) is a graduate of the renowned Art Academy of Düsseldorf and his monumental outdoor sculptures are installed throughout Germany. His work has been exhibited in places as various as the Sydney Biennial; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Museum Fredericianum, Kassel; Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg; Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf; the Creux de l'Enfer, Centre d'art contemporain, Thiers, France; and FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

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