‘Second Actuation’ performance by Olivier Maarschalk at WHAT’S THE POINT OF GIVING YOU ANY MORE ARTWORKS?
Dressed in a military officer’s suit, equipped with a helium balloon and a strange mask, Olivier Maarschalk confessed a history of war crimes.
Tag Archives: history
Lara Almarcegui
‘Relocated houses, Brittons yard’ (2009) by Lara Almarcegui.
On the outskirts of the city of Wellington (NZ) there is a weird collection of houses. The houses are moved there from different places and on display, waiting to be sold (housemoving is a common occurance in New Zealand). The result is a ghost-town like street with empty buildings, some in state of disrepair.
Lara Almarcegui traced the roots of each building in this street. For the One Day Sculpture project she created a tour and a catalogue showing the individual stories and memories connected to each house. By inviting people to visit the yard with her one evening, Almarcegui coaxes us to look not simply at what these buildings are but why and how they are here, and in turn to speculate on the processes of change in our environment.
Goshka Macuga’s ‘(On) The nature of the Beast’
Goshka Macuga, ‘The nature of the beast’ (2009)
Macuga was commisioned to make new work by the Whitechapel Gallery in London, where Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ had once been exhibited. Inspired by this historic fact, Macuga made a replica of the Guernica tapestry that Nelson Rockefeller commisioned in 1955. Some thirty years later this was lent to the United Nations Headquarters in New York where it has hung ever since outside the Security Council. Offered as a deterrent to war, in 2003 the tapestry was covered by a blue curtain in front of which Colin Powell delivered his fateful speech on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Macuga’s installation ‘The nature of the beast’ in the Whitechapel Gallery consisted of the Guernica’s replica, as well as a round meeting table (a symbol of democracy) in front of it. The room had been designed to accommodate meetings, discussions and debates around the central table, with Guernica once again as a backdrop. Groups were invited to organise these events free of charge during opening hours.
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