X, Y, etc.! is an array of film and video artworks, a video programme motivated by the methodological project of Charles Fort (1874–1932). Fort was a relentless researcher of paranormal and anomalous phenomena avant la lettre, yet he made no attempt to present a coherent theory or to endorse the material which he compiled through years of work in the British Museum and New York Public Libraries. Instead, his accounts of uncanny artifacts, unexplained disappearances, objects falling from the sky, etc. comprise a satire of ‘acceptable’ and beliefs.
Fort’s skeptical philosophy and his magnitudinous capacity for conjecture and information retrieval could be seen as a prescient analogy for the arch relativity and seeming arbitrariness of search engines and the Internet. He trusted in what he termed a hyphenated existence: e.g. “positive-negative”, “hero-villain”, “genuine-bunk”. Hence in X, Y, etc.! everything has been considered plausible: the banal and the unique, artistic with non-artistic, fact with fake, sincere with insincere, correct with incorrect, etc. Art is encountered, and artists encounter the world, as a fundamentally unexplained phenomena. X, Y, etc.! participates in Fort’s universe by presenting a contrary borderland of knowns and unknowns, cynicism and speculation, science and fiction. Here everything is anomalous and underdetermined. Art and reality are far more mysterious, complex and nuanced than we realise.
Films selected for the 2008 Video Lounge (in screening order, starting 11.30am):
- Mark Titchner, Ivy Meets Mike, 2007, Peres Projects, Berlin & Los Angeles
- Hans Op de Beeck,The Building, 2007, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Boissy-le-Châtel
- Christelle Lheureux, Non ricordo il titolo, 2008, Artericambi, Verona
- Elizabeth McAlpine,The Film Footage Missed by the Veiwer Through Blinking While Watching the Feature Film ‘Don’t Look Now’, 2003, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
- Elizabeth McAlpine, Light Reading (1500 Cinematic Explosion), 2005, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
- Michael Fliri, Early Morning With Time to Waste, 2007, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano
- Emilie Pitoiset, Othello, 2006, Galerie Lucile Corty, Paris
- Gianni Motti, The Messenger, Raël and Brigitte Boisselier, 2003, Cosmic Galerie, Paris
- Sven Johne, Elmenhorst, 2006, Klemm’s, Berlin
- Swetlana Heger, Untitled (The Cohen Residence / Paradise Valley), 2006, Galerie Frank Elbaz, Paris
- Morag Keil, Fainting for YT, 2008, Grimm Fine Art, Amsterdam
- Danai Anesiadou & Sophie Nys, X, A & M, 2008, Elisa Platteau Galerie, Brussels
- Christian Jankowski, Hollywood Schnee, 2004, Cosmic Galerie, Paris
- G.R.A.M., Zephyr, 2007-8, Christine König Galerie, Vienna
- Anja Kirschner & David Panos,Trail of the Spider, 2008, Hollybush Gardens, London
- Carles Congost, La Mala Pintura, 2008, Artericambi, Verona
- Andrea Büttner, Little Works, 2007-8, Hollybush Gardens, London
- Pia Maria Martin, Go, 2008, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
- Jordan Wolfson, Favourite Things, 2008, T293, Naples
- Judith Hopf & Deborah Schamoni, Hospital Bone Dance, 2005, Croy Nielsen, Berlin
- Shana Moulton, Whispering Pines #4, 2007, Pianissimo, Milano
- Gianni Motti, Shock and Awe, 2003, Cosmic Galerie, Paris
- Sergio Vega, The Ants, 2006, Umberto Di Marino Arte Contemporanea, Napoli
- Julika Rudelius, Adrift, 2007, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
- Delphine Reist, Averse, 2007, Triple V, Dijon
- Gareth James & Cesare Pietroiusti, Untitled, 2006, FrancoSoffiantino ArteContemporanea, Torino
- Haris Epaminonda,Tarahi I, 2006, Rodeo, Istanbul
- Haris Epaminonda,Tarahi III, 2006, Rodeo, Istanbul
- Aurelien Froment, Théâtre de Poche, 2007, Motive Gallery, Amsterdam
- Shimabuku, Fish & Chips, 2006, NoguerasBlanchard, Barcelona
- Hans Schabus, Loch, 1999-2000, Zero..., Milano
- Harry Dodge & Stanya Kahn, All Together Now, 2008, Elizabeth Dee, New York
- Donna Conlon, Low Tide, 2004, Galleria Giorgio Persano, Torino
- Donna Conlon, Summer Breeze, 2007, Galleria Giorgio Persano, Torino
- Alice Cattaneo, Untitled 1, Untitled 2, 2007, Galleria Suzy Shammah, Milano
- Patrick Tuttofuoco, La Noce d’Oro, 2005, Studio Guenzani, Milano
- Guillaume Leblon, Notes, 2007, ProjecteSD, Barcelona
- Clemens von Wedemeyer & Maya Schweizer, Rien du Tout, 2007, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris
- Alterazioni Video, Black Hole ... Our Understanding of the Universe is About to Change, 2008,V.M. 21 arte contemporanea, Roma
- Cezary Bodzianowski, Cacadu, 2006, Zero..., Milano
- Matthew Darbyshire & Sam Gunn, Le Chant du Rossignol, 2008, Herald St, London
The films will be shown continuously each day in a specially-constructed screening environment, and will also be available on three video-on-demand consoles. “It does not matter where we begin”, Fort wrote, “whether with stars, or laws of supply and demand, or frogs, or Bonaparte. One measures a circle beginning anywhere.”
X, Y, etc! es una selección de videos motivada por el proyecto metodológico de Charles Fort (1874-1932). Fort fue un incansable investigador de fenómenos paranormales y anómalos avant la lettre, aunque nunca intentó presentar una teoría coherente para respaldar el material recopilado a lo largo de años de investigación en el Museo Británico y las bibliotecas públicas en Nueva York. En lugar de ello, sus historias sobre extraños artefactos, desapariciones inexplicables, objetos que caen del cielo, etc.comprenden una sátira de teorías «aceptables» que ridículizan la certeza de las teorías epistemológicas.
La filosofía escéptica de Fort y su capacidad para recuperar y seleccionar información podría ser visto como una analogía de la aparente arbitrariedad de los buscadores y de Internet. Fort acuñó nuevos términos uniendo dos palabras antagónicas, ejemplo:"Positivo-negativo", "héroe-villano", "verdadero-basura". De ahí que en X, Y, etc! todo ha sido considerado plausible: lo banal y lo único, lo artístico y lo no-artístico, realidad y ficción, lo hipócrito y lo sincero, lo correcto y lo incorrecto.El arte se experimenta como un fenómeno fundamentalmente inexplicable.
El Video Lounge 2008 será una especie de archivo donde el visitante encontrará teorías arcaicas, episodios aparentemente misteriosos y fragmentos perdidos bajo el título X, Y, etc!. Una estructura donde todo puede ser convincente, que incluye lo ‘normal’ y lo paranormal, lo artístico y lo no artístico, realidades y falsedades, lo correcto y lo incorrecto, etc. – el arte se experimenta como un fenómeno fundamentalmente inexplicable. X, Y, etc! participa en el universo de Fort mediante la exploración de una zona fronteriza de incógnitas, de cinismo y especulación, ciencia y ficción. Aquí todo es normal e inderdeterminado. El arte y la realidad son más misteriosas, complejas y matizadas de lo que nos demos cuenta.
Programa del Video Lounge 2008 (en orden de proyección, inicia 11.30h):
- Mark Titchner, Ivy Meets Mike, 2007, Peres Projects, Berlin & Los Angeles
- Hans Op de Beeck,The Building, 2007, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Boissy-le-Châtel
- Christelle Lheureux, Non ricordo il titolo, 2008, Artericambi, Verona
- Elizabeth McAlpine,The Film Footage Missed by the Veiwer Through Blinking While Watching the Feature Film ‘Don’t Look Now’, 2003, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
- Elizabeth McAlpine, Light Reading (1500 Cinematic Explosion), 2005, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
- Michael Fliri, Early Morning With Time to Waste, 2007, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano
- Emilie Pitoiset, Othello, 2006, Galerie Lucile Corty, Paris
- Gianni Motti, The Messenger, Raël and Brigitte Boisselier, 2003, Cosmic Galerie, Paris
- Sven Johne, Elmenhorst, 2006, Klemm’s, Berlin
- Swetlana Heger, Untitled (The Cohen Residence / Paradise Valley), 2006, Galerie Frank Elbaz, Paris
- Morag Keil, Fainting for YT, 2008, Grimm Fine Art, Amsterdam
- Danai Anesiadou & Sophie Nys, X, A & M, 2008, Elisa Platteau Galerie, Brussels
- Christian Jankowski, Hollywood Schnee, 2004, Cosmic Galerie, Paris
- G.R.A.M., Zephyr, 2007-8, Christine König Galerie, Vienna
- Anja Kirschner & David Panos,Trail of the Spider, 2008, Hollybush Gardens, London
- Carles Congost, La Mala Pintura, 2008, Artericambi, Verona
- Andrea Büttner, Little Works, 2007-8, Hollybush Gardens, London
- Pia Maria Martin, Go, 2008, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
- Jordan Wolfson, Favourite Things, 2008, T293, Naples
- Judith Hopf & Deborah Schamoni, Hospital Bone Dance, 2005, Croy Nielsen, Berlin
- Shana Moulton, Whispering Pines #4, 2007, Pianissimo, Milano
- Gianni Motti, Shock and Awe, 2003, Cosmic Galerie, Paris
- Sergio Vega, The Ants, 2006, Umberto Di Marino Arte Contemporanea, Napoli
- Julika Rudelius, Adrift, 2007, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
- Delphine Reist, Averse, 2007, Triple V, Dijon
- Gareth James & Cesare Pietroiusti, Untitled, 2006, FrancoSoffiantino ArteContemporanea, Torino
- Haris Epaminonda,Tarahi I, 2006, Rodeo, Istanbul
- Haris Epaminonda,Tarahi III, 2006, Rodeo, Istanbul
- Aurelien Froment, Théâtre de Poche, 2007, Motive Gallery, Amsterdam
- Shimabuku, Fish & Chips, 2006, NoguerasBlanchard, Barcelona
- Hans Schabus, Loch, 1999-2000, Zero..., Milano
- Jesper Just, A Voyage in Dwelling, 2008, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York
- Jesper Just, A Room of One’s Own, 2008, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York
- Jesper Just, A Question of Silence, 2008, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York
- Harry Dodge & Stanya Kahn, All Together Now, 2008, Elizabeth Dee, New York
- Donna Conlon, Low Tide, 2004, Galleria Giorgio Persano, Torino
- Donna Conlon, Summer Breeze, 2007, Galleria Giorgio Persano, Torino
- Alice Cattaneo, Untitled 1, Untitled 2, 2007, Galleria Suzy Shammah, Milano
- Patrick Tuttofuoco, La Noce d’Oro, 2005, Studio Guenzani, Milano
- Guillaume Leblon, Notes, 2007, ProjecteSD, Barcelona
- Clemens von Wedemeyer & Maya Schweizer, Rien du Tout, 2007, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris
- Alterazioni Video, Black Hole ... Our Understanding of the Universe is About to Change, 2008,V.M. 21 arte contemporanea, Roma
- Cezary Bodzianowski, Cacadu, 2006, Zero..., Milano
- Matthew Darbyshire & Sam Gunn, Le Chant du Rossignol, 2008, Herald St, London
[Above: Aurélien Froment, production still of 'Théâtre de Poche' (12 min), 2007. Photo: Aurélien Mole. Courtesy: the artist and Motive Gallery, Amsterdam; Below: Charles Fort (public domain)]