Pour Les Curieux: A Pocket Companion was the exhibition catalogue and guide for Pour Les Curieux [0] our project to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Musée d'art et d'histoire and the Ecole supérieure d'art visuel, Geneva. In collaboration with Sylvia Alberton, Adrien Beck, Donatella Bernardi, & Michael Henry.
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Pour Les Curieux
A Pocket Companion
A
ACADEMY
gymnasium where Plato taught: a society of learned persons organized to advance art, science, or literature : a body of established opinion widely accepted as authoritative in a particular field. synonyms: boarding school, college, art school, finishing school, institute, military school, preparatory school, secondary school, seminary, university. (see) EDUCATION
AMATEUR
personne qui cultive un art, une science pour son seul plaisir ( et non par profession). Amateurisme: “[...] état d’esprit [qui] peut aussi transformer la routine purement professionnelle qui est notre lot à tous, ou presque, en quelque chose de beaucoup plus radical et beaucoup plus vivant [...]” Edward W. Said
APPEL!
“A tous ceux qui ont déjà reçu une invitation en bonne et due forme ouqui se sentent oubliés s’ils n’ont pas été invités: renoncez à titre préventif, ou alors justifiez vos arguments. (Voir) GARDIEN. Pourquoi participez-vous? D’où vient l’argent? A quoi bon cette exposition? Qu’y a-t-il là de subversif? Dites quelque chose! “ Renate Lorenz, Stephan Geene (voir) REACTION
ARCHIVE/ARCHIVES
collection de pièces, titres, documents, dossiers anciens.The place in which state or local records are stored: written or material evidence: public records.(see) MUSEUM and STORE “Arca, this time in Latin, is the chest, the “ark of acacia wood”, which contains the stone Tablets; but arca is also the cupboard, the coffin, the prison cell, or the cistern, or the reservoir.” Jacques Derrida
AUDITOIRE
région (Belge, Suisse). Salle de conférence. (voir) AUDITORIUM
AUDITORIUM
of, relating to, or experienced through hearing: the scene of formal, authoritative instruction. (see) LECTURE
AULT, Julie
artist and curator: founder member of New York based artist’s collective Group Material (1979), and most recently (see) PARASITE
AUTORITE
rapport de force omniprésent, proclamé ou diffus. Droit de commander, pouvoir (reconnu ou non) d’imposer l’obéissance. antonym : anarchie.
B
BRICOLAGE
anthrop. travail dont la technique est adaptée aux matériaux, aux
circonstances. Ricocher, zigzaguer, biaiser.
BROODTHAERS, Marcel (1924-1976)
Belgian artist and poet. Director and senior curator of the Musee d’Art Moderne, Department des Aigles 1968-1972.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the copying of books: the history, identification, or description of writings or publications: a list often with descriptive or critical notes of texts relating to a particular subject: useful in identifying and replicating a particular textual (see) MODEL
C
COLLECT
to assemble or bring together with order: to put one’s thoughts in order: accumulate within defined parameters: a number of, anything: an accumulation of objects gathered for study, comparison, or public (see) EXHIBITION or as private hobby: (see) MUSEUM as the principle technology for housing collections: a set of apparel designed for sale, usually in a particular season. (see) STORE also ARCHIVE
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COPIE/COPY
an imitation, transcript, or reproduction of an original work (as a letter, a painting, a table, or a dress): one of a series of, especially mechanical, reproductions of an (see) ORIGINAL object or artefact: standard tool of education: copy suggests duplicating an original as closely as possible copied the painting and sold the fake as an original.imitate suggests following a model or a pattern but introduces some variation to imitate an artist’s style : mimic implies a close copying (as of voice or brushstroke) often for fun pupils mimicking their teacher .synonyms: ampliation, archetype, calque, clone, contrefaçon, counterfeit, double, duplicata, épreuve, effigy, expédition, fac-similé, facsimile, forgery, grosse, hard copy, image, imitation, imprint, inscription, likeness, manuscrit, maquette, microfiche, mirror, (see) MODEL, pattern, photocopie, plagiat, photograph, portrait, print, reflection, réduction, reflection, replica, replication, réplique, representation, reproduction, rubbing, similarity, simulacrum, simulation, study, tracing, transcript, transcription, type, xerox. (see) MODEL
CURATORIAL
pratique curatoriale. Faute d'un terme français qui permettrait de définir les diverses pratiques et la pluralité des champs de savoir engagés dans l'exercice de cette profession récente, nous empruntons le terme "curatorial" à la langue anglaise, une notion qui englobe toutes les pratiques (existantes et à inventer) relatives à la construction et à la diffusion d'un discours artistique et culturel, sans privilégier l'exposition.
Curiosité/Curiosity
Il est étonnant que, dès les origines, le mot désigne à la fois l'état
du sujet et la nature de l'objet (Voir) IDEE. eargerness to know or
learn: excessive inquisitiveness, useful in education: a rare, unusual,
singular, (see) ORIGINAL or extraordinary object.
Curiosity, Cabinet of
also known as Wunderkammer: any of various cupboards, fitted or freestanding, some approaching room-size which flourished in Europe amongst the educated aristocracy: private collections, eclectic in their composition were often the immediate precursors of the more rational public museum. (voir) ENCYCLOPEDIA and DIDEROT
D
Diderot Denis (1713 -1784)
French philosopher, critic and main editor of the Encyclopedie 1751-1772. The encyclopedia remains the foundational work for systematizing knowledge: shaped the rationalist and humanist ideas known as the Enlightenment. (see) ENCYCLOPEDIA
Dion, Mark
artist: has worked consistently with systems of classification, representation and display with artifacts designated as natural, or animal, or natural history.
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E
Education
instruction: development of knowledge: education refers to a society’s total pattern of formal institutions, agencies, and organizations that transmit knowledge: the cultural heritage which influences the social and intellectual growth of the individual: in modern states the system of education is usually administered by a government agency which organizes, administers, finances, and controls the formal and cultural aspects of education in all regions and localities. The laws, curricula, personnel, materials and methods of instruction are generally centralized, although in Switzerland it falls under the jurisdiction of the constituent states, the 22 Cantons and 3 half cantons (voir) ACADEMY and MUSEUM synonyms:: apprentissage, brainwashing, breeding, catechism, civilisation, civique, coaching, cultivation, culture, direction, discipline, drilling, edification, enlightenment, érudition, exercise, finish, formation, guidance, gymnastique, improvement, inculcation, indoctrination, information, initiation, learning, literacy, nurture, pédagogie, politique, politesse, préparation, propagande, prosalytism, reading, rearing, refinement, savoir-vivre, sexuelle, scholarship, schooling, science, study, surveillée, teaching, training, tuition, tutelage, tutoring. antonym s: ignorance, grossièreté, illiteracy.
Encyclopedia
the whole ordered, (see) COLLECTION of human knowledge: a work containing information on every department of knowledge, generally in a systematic, alphabetical order: embracing the whole span of human learning. Specific museums (see) MUSEE d’ART et d’HISTOIRE, Geneva implement an encyclopedic endeavor in a material form.
Exhibition
a public show of works of art and manufacture: exhibition, as a form facilitates direct contact between the public and an object: principle technology of the modern (see) MUSEUM and the favored form of contemporary art presentation: a range of exhibition technologies can be deployed in the light of scientific, aesthetic and psychological criteria. Exhibited artifacts can be displayed in association with other objects or isolated in a (see) VITRINE: explanatory and contextual information is often used including text panels, documentary photographs, display cases, environmental reconstruction, frames, accompanying leaflets, tours, (see) LECTURES and audio visual presentations. (see) STORE “...à tout moment acte d’exposition: on met une chaise dans un coin de la chambre, on dépose une plante verte dans le hall d’entrée, on dresse le couvert pour un repas ....” Rémy Zaugg
Ecole superieur d’Art visuel
began as a school of drawing in 1748: acquired old master drawings and plaster casts of classical sculpture to facilitate teaching, this accelerated after 1776 with the foundation of the Society of Arts. The Society’s function was to supervise (see) EDUCATION in the school, and care for the evolving (see) COLLECTION. Article XVII of the new Legislative program issued by the Genevan National Assembly on the 2nd of December 1794 stated:“there will be a Museum which shall collect all manner of works of nature and works of art useful to public education.” Unfortunately, this never happened. Only in 1897 when the collection of the School joined many others -including a post revolutionary gift from Napoleon of some 44 paintings- from disparate sources, private and institutional, to become the (see) MUSEE d’ART et d’HISTOIRE
F
Fraser, Andrea
artist, whose practice has most subtly exposed relations of power and arbitrary taste within (see) MUSEUMS, other institutions of display and (see) EDUCATION. Most recently formulated her practice as (see) SERVICES provision: member of (see) PARASITE
Frame
to give expression to: to devise falsely (as a criminal charge):the constructional system that gives shape or strength (as to a building or idea): an open case or structure made for admitting, enclosing, or supporting something <a window or image>: an enclosing border: one image on a length of film: the frame of reference that an artist creates, by the use of technical devices, in and around the work of art to differentiate it psychologically from other things, spaces or ideas. (See) MUSEUM. Cadres de détermination; Cadres de production; Cadres d’inscription; Cadres de diffusion; Cadres de réception.
Foucault, Michel (1926- 1984)
philosopher and scholar whose life-long project was to trace the production and articulation of power. A wide range of studies linked systems of knowledge (see ) LECTURE and SEMINAR, modes of representation (see) ORIGINAL and COPY, with institutions (see) ACADEMY and MUSEUM, to authority and its replication. “Nous devrions bien plus examiner les vides qui naissent de la disparition de l’auteur; nous devrions observer de près nos nouvelles limites en fonction des fossés et des manques pour combler de nouveau ces vides. Nous devrions nous attendre à ces fonctions mal définies, libérées par cette disparition.” Michel Foucault
G
Gardien
jamais invité ni remercié.
Geneva
city of Calvin and center of the reformation: population 167,267 (est.1991): nestled in the southwest tip of Switzerland, surrounded on three sides by the European Community and to the north the breathtaking lake Geneva (Lac Léman). The city is well known for its finely manicured parks, spectacular fountains, magnificent boulevards, prestigious neighborhoods, luxurious town houses, stately mansions, and a surprisingly high density of colorful squats. Geneva still retains its structure as an international banking center and is considered one of the most important intellectual and economic cities in Switzerland. Classified as having one of the highest standard of living, per capita, of any city in the world, Geneva is renowned for its clean air, pure water and abundance of nature. On a clear day, looking out of the city one can experience the spectacular view of the serene Mont-Blanc Massif. Geneva is the proud host of several international organizations including the International Red Cross, World Health Organization, the International Bureau of Education, and last but not least, the World Bank. It is a centre of dipolomacy.
Guard
to watch: to take care: one assigned to protect or oversee another, a person or a body of persons or an valuable (see) OBJECT: the act or duty of protecting or defending so as to prevent escape: someone sleeping: a safety device (see) VITRINE: to protect from danger: make secure: police: to stand at the entrance, as a barrier. (voir) GARDIEN
H
I
Idée
“Créer cest avoir une idée. Une idée ça n arrive pas tous les jours”. Gilles Deleuze.
Inventory
an itemized list of current assets: a catalogue of the property of an individual or estate, describing each article precisely and in detail (see) ARCHIVE: the quantity of goods or materials on hand (see) COLLECTION: an attempt to define, even momentarily, the limits of materiality: a popular English journal devoted to Losing, Finding, Collecting.
J
K
L
Label
an item, written or printed, attached to an object: to append: a slip (as of paper or cloth) inscribed and affixed to something for identification or to establish ownership or provenance: a word or phrase used to provide additional information: a brand of commercial recordings issued under a trademarked name. (see) STEREOTYPE synonyme: étiquette. “C’est vous qui collerez les étiquettes... pour l’expédition: haut et bas, fragile, prière de manier l’objet avec précaution”. Jean-Paul Sartre
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Lecture
a discourse on any subject given before an audience or class: to instruct authoritatively: a formal reproof. (see) EDUCATION also ACADEMY
Ligne
“lignes brisées compliquées.Les formes les plus simples des lignes brisées peuvent être compliquées par l'adjonction de quelques autres lignes aux deux lignes ordinaires”. Wassily Kandinsky. (voir) ORIGINAL
M
Miscellaneous
consisting of diverse things or members: heterogeneous: having various traits: a miscellaneous collection of small articles: curios (voir) CURIOSITE: something suggesting bric-a-brac: (see) OBJECTS left over: synonyms:: assorted, confused, different, disordered, disparate, divergent, diverse, heterogeneous, indiscriminate, jumbled, mixed, multifarious, promiscuous, scattered, scrambled, sundry, unmatched, unsorted, varied. antonyms: homogenous, identical,ordered. (see) ARCHIVE “...Aussi ne recule-t-on devant aucun investissement susceptible d’aviver, d’égayer, d’électriser, et rendre la présentation plus intelligente, spirituelle ou accrocheuse. Tout est mis en oeuvre, pêle-mêle, du répertoire de l’étalagiste au savoir-faire du décorateur d’intérieur, de l’optimisme de la jardinière d’enfants, à la science du graphiste ou du scénographe, des subtilités du typographe ou de l’architecte d’intérieur à l’art du paysagiste ou du tapissier, du goût du designer, de la verve du conteur et de la performance narratrice du dessinateur ou du styliste aux astuces raffinées de l’éclairagiste. [...] Fanfreluches, camelote et falbalas. Métaphysique de marivaudage.” Rémy Zaugg (Voir) BRICOLAGE
Model
the original pattern of which all things of the same type are representations or (see) COPY: prototype: a perfect, ideal, (see) ORIGINAL example: a person or thing that serves as a pattern for an artist or student: one who poses for an artist: life-model: archetype: fashion-model: a system of postulates, data, and inferences presented as a description of an entity or state of affairs: someone or something set before one for guidance or imitation (see) EDUCATION: something taken or proposed as worthy of imitation: to shape or fashion in a plastic material: to produce a representation or simulation of: software.
Museum
toute collection raconte comme toute narration ramasse. L’ activité de collecter suppose un sujet, une conscience dotée de désirs, de goûts, d’habitudes propres; et cette conscience, après qu’elle a amassé un corpus cohérent d’expériences, se trouve en position, voire obliger d’en parler. Le sujet qui compte et le sujet qui raconte sont intiment liés. En vérité, toute collection est déjà narration; et ni l’une ni l’autre ne sont innocentes. Une subjectivité est le ricochet sans fin d’une négociation du choisir et du dire ; effets du pouvoir historiquement donnés auxquels on ne peut échapper, sauf à les transgresser. la passion de collecter (voir) COLLECT (soi même en dernier lieu) et de témoigner s’impose au sujet, à tout le moins en Occident. C’est seulement du dedans qu’on peut s’opposer à ces façons d’être et de dire. James Clifford, Feuilles volantes; Collections passion, Musée d’ethnographie, Neuchâtel, 1982. (voir) PREHISTOIRE
An institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value: a place where (see) OBJECTS are (see) EXHIBITED. A medley of objects derived from the Wunderkammer (voir) CABINET OF CURIOSITY became organized by the prevailing scientific orthodoxies (see) DIDEROT. Museums are institutions which european countries have developed to stave off the deterioration of cultural artifacts. Museums do for objects what (see) ENCYCLOPEDIA(s) do for words. Museums accumulate, (see) STORE, study and display (see) EXHIBIT their collections for a wide variety of cultural purposes. Museums protect all that is authentic in the singular and relatively stable artifacts of the past: they hold the idea of the (see) ORIGINAL, authentic, exemplary, unique, best, oldest, first, etc.
Musee d’Art et d’Histoire
Switzerland’s treasures are housed in seven hundred or so museums: the MAH is the only encyclopedic museum in the country. In 1820 it consisted of archaeology, ethnography, zoology, mineralogy, fine art , applied art and physics, known as the (see) ACADEMIC museum: A long and complex history was crystallized in 1910 with the completion of a grand neoclassical building to house the core (see) COLLECTION: consisting of painting, sculpture, archaeological material, the Fol collection, the museum of decorative arts, the armour room, the coin collection, modern art and the ethnographic collection. The museum owns around one million artifacts of which 98 percent are in (see) STORAGE at any one time. The museum has also devolved into other sites: museum Ariana, museum of clockmaking, museum of the history of science, maison Tavel, the print cabinet and the iconographic collection.
N
O
Object/Objet
something material that may be perceived by the senses or mind, and, which makes the senses and the mind knowable: that which mediates desire: a thing: that which forms an element of, or constitutes the subject matter of, an investigation or science or process: a cause for attention or concern ` money is no object`: “It is abundantly clear now, that we do not need to have an object, to have an artwork, but we must have a difference manifested in order to have it seen”. Joseph Kosuth (see) MUSEUM
Original
pertaining to the origin or the beginning: first in order of existence: unique: the start of a process of manufacture: ideal (see) MODEL: from the author’s own words or the artist’s own pencil, or intention: not copied: not translated: original is a useful term for establishing difference: popular in (see) EDUCATION and an essential medium of the (see) MUSEUM
Outil
L'intelligence... est la faculté de fabriquer des objets artificiels, particulièrement des outils pour fabriquer des outils” Henri Bergson (voir) PREHISTOIRE et EDUCATION
P
Parasite
one who frequents another’s table: an organism nourished by the juices of another, its host: a group of artists, predominantly American, whose practice follows a parasitic model: these might be characterized as interpretive (see) SERVICES, between the institution -the host- and its public. Amongst others (see) Julie AULT, Mark DION, Andrea FRASER and Fred WILSON.
Pour Les Curieux
a project hosted at the Musee d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva 5th June-20th September 1998. At the invitation of (see) Bernard ZUMTHOR and Cesar Menz , with the support of (voir) Claude RITSCHARD on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Ecole Superieur d’Art Visuel: P. Les C. comprises Adrien Beck, Donatella Bernardi, Neil Cummings, Myk Henry, Marysia Lewandowska and has been coordinated by Sylvia Alberton.
Préhistoire
“Vers deux millions quatre cent mille ans avant notre ère, un australopithèque de l’Afar éthiopien rompit un instant sa précaire verticalité, se pencha sur le sol, recueillit un galet, puis un second caillou dont il frappa la premier pour produire un éclat tranchan.(...) Le choix délibéré des matériaux les mieux adaptés au but recherché fit-il de lui le premier collectionneur? Faux problème. La frontière entre collecte et collection est insensible, et rien ne se fossilise plus mal que les mécanismes psychiques.” Michel Egloff
Q
Question
“L'art devrait soulever des questions.” Bruce Nauman
R
Réaction
(voir) DISCUSSION
Ritschard, Claude
assistant director and senior curator of the (see) MUSEE d’ART et d’HISTOIRE. With the assistance of Brigitte Monti, has made Pour Les Curieux project, in all its forms, possible.
S
Séminaire/Seminar
lat. chrét. seminarium,1551, proprem. <<pépinière>>, de semen <<semence>>. The (see) ORIGINAL place where everything derives from, a nursery: a place of (see) EDUCATION: a group of advanced students studying under a professor, each doing original research and all exchanging results: an advanced or graduate course often featuring informality and discussion which feels democratic in its procedures : a meeting for giving and discussing ideas. (voir) IDEE
Service
“Andrea (voir) FRASER est en mesure de fournir des services artistiques sous forme de projet individuel, à des particuliers, des institutions, des fondations, des sociétés et des organisateurs de programmes d’art publics. Les services proposés par l’artiste consistent en deux phases consécutives, donnant lieu à des engagements distincts. La première phase relève de l’interprétation et la seconde, de l’intervention. Conformément aux entretiens préliminaires, ces phases se déroulent différemment, selon la nature et les intérêts du client.” Andrea Fraser (voir) STEREOTYPE
Souvenir
act of remembering: something that serves as a reminder: an (voir) OBJECT esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr: a survivor or remnant left after decay, disintegration, or disappearance: a material trace of some past or outmoded practice, belief or experience: the souvenir haunts the (see) CABINET of CURIOSITY and the modern (see) MUSEUM
Stéréotype
objet qui paraît sortir d’un moule. "La Moule. Cette roublarde a évité le moule de la société. Elle s'est coulée dans le sien propre. D'autres, resemblantes, partagent avec elle l'anti-mer. Elle est parfaite." Marcel (voir) BROODTHAERS. Objet qui paraît sortir d’un moule acte ou geste, mot prolongé ou répété inlassablement, inutilement, de façon automatique et d’une manière inadéquate aux circonstances. Symptôme de certaines maladies mentales. (voir) COPY
Store
a quantity of things accumulated and hidden away in frighteningly dark, damp, underground spaces often smelling of mould and decay: to preserve for future consumption: abundance or wealth, temporarily with no use: supplies or provisions, from memories via objects to dust: to keep (as one's thoughts) to oneself: a shop with many departments or branches: synonyms: abundance, accumulation, (see) ARCHIVE, cache, (see) COLLECTION, fund, heap, inventory, mass, pile, reserve, reservoir, riches, resource, stock, supply, treasure, wealth :antonyms: expend, spend, squander, (see) EXHIBIT, throw away, waste.
Student
one who studies: scholar: one who attends a school, college or (see) ACADEMY: an attentive and systematic observer: a person who is always late. (see) TEACHER
Stupide
“En France, il y a une vieille expression, "stupide comme un peintre". Le peintre était considéré comme stupide, mais le poète et l'écrivain comme très intelligents. Je voulais être intelligent. J'ai eu l'idée d'inventer. Cela n'avait rien à voir avec ce que ton père a fait. Il ne s'agissait pas du tout d'être un autre Cézanne. Dans ma période visuelle il y a un peu de cette stupidité du peintre. tout mon travail durant la période précédant le Nu était de la peinture visuelle. Et puis j'en suis arrivé à l'idée. Je pensai que la formulation idéale était une manière d'échapper aux influences.” Marcel Duchamp
Symbole
“Peut-être est-ce exagérer le fait ou parler de façon elliptique que de dire qu’un objet est de l’art quand et seulement quand il fonctionne symboliquement. Le tableau de Rembrandt demeure une oeuvre d’art, commeil demeure un tableau, alors même qu’il fonctionne comme abri; et la pierre de la route ne peut pas au sens strict devenir de l’art en fonctionnant comme art. De façon similaire, une chaise reste une chaise même si on ne s’assied jamais dessus, et une boîte d’emballage reste une boîte d’emballage même si on ne l’utilise jamais que pour s’asseoir dessus. Dire ce que fait l’art n’est pas dire ce qu’est l’art; mais je suggère que dire ce que fait l’art nous intéresse tout particulièrement et au premier chef.” Nelson Goodman
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T
Teacher
an academic subject: one who imparts knowledge or appears academic in background, outlook, or method: someone who failed in their chosen profession: to (see) EXHIBIT so as to impress upon the mind: one whose occupation is to instruct: a member of an institution of learning (see) ACADEMY
Thanks
to express gratitude or favour: to repay for service or action where a material exchange is insufficient: to reward, often elliptically “My thanks go to you”: thanks Catherine Queloz, Departement de l’Instruction Publique, Geneve, Imprimerie Medecine et Hygiene, Geneve, The British Council, The London Institute, Chance Books, Stephen Coates, Joanna Grabianska, Chelsea College of Art and Design.
U
V
Vitrine
a glass fronted case or cabinet: a device for the secure setting or presentation of something in open (public) view: (see) EXHIBITION: a means to produce an ostentatious show of food, goods or artifacts: an eye-catching arrangement by which something is displayed: visual information: a transparent container through which transactions are conducted.
W
Wilson, Fred
artist: whose practice has investigated the museum, its modes of display and inevitably its exclusions and omissions: member of (see) PARASITE: justly famous for Mining the Museum exhibition 1992, with the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore.
X
Y
Z
Zumthor, Bernard
historian, director of the Ecole supérieure d’art visuel, Genève. Author of a book on the history of Swiss museum architecture: invited and instigated the Pour Les Curieux project.
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