This exhibition at La Criée brings together works by two American artists of the same generation who, one might say, explore the two most important aspects of Marcel Duchamp’s legacy: the institution and the object.
- The Work of Haïm Steinbach
The work on display stands out somewhat as an exception within the artist’s body of work. There are no serial variations of objects here, but rather a deliberate selection of two objects placed back-to-back. On one side, a sofa bed (a reissue based on a model by Mies van der Rohe from the 1920s) occupies half the space, establishing formal relationships (proportions, rectangular shape), material (light wood, leather, and chrome within a dark walnut-veneered compartment), and conceptual connections (the bed, an object of desire, invites rest and also alludes to psychoanalysis). On the other side, the dark side of the work is divided into three sections. The largest section is filled in, with the surface of the wood showing at the top. Two compartments have been carved out there: one, at the very bottom, remains mysteriously empty, while on the left, a vertical niche holds a child’s coffin placed upright. This highly symbolic object dates from the 19th century and was used in certain Mexican rituals.
In its simplicity and direct impact, this work offers “an eloquent, if not striking, analogy of the difference between day and night, and the similarity between sleep and death, daydreams and deep sleep, the horizontal and the vertical.” Presenting this work against a dark blue backdrop amplifies its unique mode of operation. The new “psychological space” that is thus created—particularly in the small room at the back, which has taken on a mysterious and boundless quality—further intensifies its effect.
- The Work of John Knight
The work presented in the exhibition—created specifically for this occasion—consists of a video projection, directly onto the wall, of a sequence lasting approximately 3 minutes and 30 seconds that repeats endlessly. It features a 10-year-old actress, filmed in a close-up, reciting the conjugation of the verb “to shout” in Breton, in all tenses and moods: I shout, you shout, he shouts… I shouted, you shouted, he shouted, etc. The choice of this verb is certainly no accident: on the one hand, it refers directly to the setting in which this work is set (La Criée) and to its original activities (auction sales); on the other hand, when spoken by this young narrator—naive yet focused—it brings to mind an entire aspect of Breton culture (or, metaphorically speaking, the culture as a whole). In fact, intercultural power relations almost always involve linguistic domination: speaking French means thinking in French. This work by John Knight is accompanied by a special piece on the exhibition poster. The artist decided to turn the usual presentation on its head by depicting the La Criée logo in color (whereas it is typically rendered in line art, in gray on a white background), taking care to have the inscription on the building’s pediment translated into Breton (La Criée municipale becomes “koc’hu ar ger”) while the central part of the poster, usually reserved for the announcement of the exhibition itself, features his “JK” logo in white on a gray background.