Curator Marie Heilich developed this proposal during the Summer 2010 Curatorial Intensive in New York.
Can't NOT is a group exhibition of five international contemporary artists who challenge established limitations through active pursuits made in vain or a passive surrender to powers at be. Failure has remained a prevalent theme in visual culture. The basic ideology of post-modernism and conceptual art rely heavily on both the right to fail and value in failure itself. Yves Klein’s Leap into the Void and Chris Burden’s Shoot Piece perpetuated the self-defeating gesture. More recently, images paired with a “fail” caption regularly circulate the internet. To attempt in the face of inevitable failure, when at its earnest, can be disarmingly honest and vulnerable. However, moments of humor surface making confronting one’s capacity bearable. Noble attempts at the impossible, illusions rendering the impossible as possible, as well as a coming to terms with limitations result from grappling with shortcomings head-on. The artists included in this exhibition highlight a specific deskilled approach to art making by working with accessible materials. This anti-process creates a sense of immediacy, urgency and at times haphazardness to the work.
Toronto-based artist Mike Billington’s of-the-moment ink drawings paired with straightforward text gives way to a cynical yet simplified acceptance of shortcomings. Brooklyn-based, Kate Gilmore, tests her own physical limitations in Cake Walk as she struggles through the self-induced challenge of climbing a sloped wooden board coated with cake while wearing roller skates. London-based Daniel Eatock proposes challenges through an open call, then compiles and arranges the participants’ attempts. In No Photo, “photography prohibited” signs are photographed generating small victories over perceived limitations. In another series by Eatock, vessels made from exactly two pounds of clay are arranged by the amount of water they hold, rendering strife towards an undefined goal visible. Based in Grenoble, France, Camille Laurelli contributes a looped video of a watering can in a rain storm streamed from youtube, as well as a commissioned takeaway text by Inès Sapin which explores at length why Camille Laurelli is the worst artist in history. Two photographs by Chicago-based Dave Murray document the artist’s caring intentions yet careless attempts to improve upon nature with gestures that own up to the limitations of man. Murray’s piece, 85% Of The Art I Made Turned Into A Diamond, punctuates the exhibition noting the obscure value gained through failure.
On view
Available May 2011
Publication
Download Camille Laurelli's Inès Sapin, a takeaway publication from the exhibition.
Technical Specs
Number of artists: 5; Number of works: 18. 1 DVD player; 1 Flat screen monitor; 1 set of headphones; 1 laptop with internet access. This exhibition is ideally for a space between 1,000 and 1,500 square feet. The exhibition fee is US $4,000.
LEARN MORE
For further information about this project or The Curatorial Intensive, please email info@curatorsintl.org.
