Faire un effort : agence – Specimen
11.10 – 25.11.2007
Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (BOZAR)
Rue Ravensteinstraat 23 – 1000 Brussels
+ 32 (0)2 507 82 00
Monday to Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm
Thursday, 10 am – 9 pm
Agency presents quasi-things. Quasi-things fall just inside or outside a category, they move from one category to another or they don’t belong to any category at all… In short, things that witness hesitation in terms of classification.
On the occasion of the exhibition series “Faire un effort” of NICC at the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels, agency presents quasi-things that are related to conflicts concerning authorship. Some of these conflicts lead to a lawsuit. As opposed to visitors of an art centre, who usually approach things in a subjective way, a judge is expected to make an objective judgement. For the purpose of evaluating copyright, a judge employs the division between categories such as nature and culture, evolution and creation, object and subject, collective versus individual… Many things are difficult to classify as such.
Take for example Specimen 770. This quasi-thing is part of the German TV film Zwischen Zirkuskuppel und Manege that was broadcasted by WRD in 1964 (see picture). The point of conflict is the copyright of a dance of a circus elephant. The judge has to decide whether the film abused the copyright of this dance. The resulting discussion during the lawsuit questions whether the taming of an elephant can be protected by copyright of dance.
On Sunday October 14, 2007 at 2 pm agency makes a call for concerned artist, producers, lawyers and others to present such specimens. During the whole duration of the exhibition quasi-things can be brought in. In order to add things to the collection, a temporarily office will be set-up inside the exhibition space. Therefore the set-up of the exhibition will constantly change.
What will happen when quasi-things are presented inside an exhibition? This is difficult to know beforehand. This exhibition is an experiment.
Admission free
Co-production: NICC
