The Adding Machine

As a bank clerk in Auburn, New York, William Seward Burroughs (1857-1898) became convinced that banks needed a machine that would add figures accurately and print entries and sums. He went to St. Louis, took a job in a machine shop, and began tinkering. By 1891, he had several patents and an adding machine sufficiently reliable for use in banks. It was sold by a firm called American Arithmometer Company, later renamed Burroughs.

 The photograph above shows the first model sold by the American Arithmometer Company. It measures 8 cm. x 38 cm. x 32 cm. 

The photograph below shows a true-to-scale copy of an archaeological stone sculpture from Teotihuacan, Mexico, depicting a jaguar. It is an opening exhibit of the exposition "The adding machine" by Mai-Thu Perret which takes place at the Aargauer Kunsthaus.  

Mai-Thu Perret, The Adding Machine, 2011, polyurethane foam, 103 x 243 x 87 cm

Arriving 15 minutes late to the Aargauer Kunsthaus I barely catch the beginning of the Artist’s talk with Mai-Thu Perret and Madeleine Schuppli, Director and Curator of the Aargauer Kunsthaus.

Everything about Mai-Thu is surprising and refreshing: the contrast between her full feminine red lips and her childlike sandals, her fragile figure and a speed of a machine gun with which she answers questions....answers them with irony and almost shocking directness. 

 Image from www.vogue.it

I am irritated with not seeing the exhibits beforehand to be able to understand what the artist refers to. She speaks of references, which is honest and fresh, since most of us want to be inventors and not interpreters... even the name for the show she chooses, referring to the “cut-up ” technique of American writer Willian S. Burroughs, the great grandson of the inventor of the adding machine (I think...)   

In the last few years Mai-Thu Perret (born 1976) has drawn considerable attention in Europe an the US for her multidisciplinary artistic work, which includes sculprures, painting, installation, video and text-based pieces. 

Little Planetary Harmony, 2006, wood slices, hammered aluminium, aluminium colored acrylic paint, foam, plaster, 353 x 665.5 x 365.7 cm

Mai-Thu Perret, Untitled, 2010, Acryl auf Holz, 60.6 x 45 cm

Untitled, 2009, acrylic gouache on plywood, 24.7 x 19.7 cm

Show "The Adding Machine" stays with the Aargauer Kunsthaus until 31.07.2011 and then goes on view in modified form at the MAGASIN - Centre national d'Art Contemporain in Grenoble, France, in the fall 2011. 

Love,

AB

If love is the answer could you please rephrase the question?

At the end of each year and well into the beginning of a new one we tend to look back at the last 365 days of our lives. We retrospect and make all kinds of lists: best books, worst films, failed resolutions, kept promises, etc, etc.

According to Yahoo! the most popular questions of 2010 were:

1. How to Tie a Tie
2. How to Lose Weight
3. How to Kiss
4. How to Write a Resume
5. What’s the World’s Only Immortal Animal?
6. Which City Has the Best Tap Water?
7. Which Natural Disaster Shortened Earth’s Days?
8. What Is Love?
9. What Causes Lightning?
10. How to Boil an Egg

Striking range, isn’t it? From practical tips to purely philosophical topics. "What Is Love" is a good one to ask Yahoo!... Is there a definition of love? Sure. Thousands of them. And we still don’t know. Century after century creative minds try to unearth the essence of love. Look for Love quotes – it will take years to read. 

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love." - Sophocles

"Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away." - Dorothy Parker

"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it...It really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more." - Erica Jong

“Do not seek the because - in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.” – Anais Nin

Or how about: “If love is the answer could you please rephrase the question?” It’s a video created by Bettina Disler, an artist from Canton Aargau, one of the local artists of the year, chosen by the Aargauer Kunsthaus and the Aargauer Kuratorium for Auswahl 10. This traditional annual exhibition of Aargau artists offers a review of the various current art practices in the Canton of Aargau. 

Image courtesy of www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch

To be completely frank I always feel somewhat lost after visiting this yearly event. Many works seem very conceptual, although the concepts are not always understandable. Probably for this reason Bettina's video was my favorite exhibit this year, because after all love needs no explanation. Naturally one can join a group and the guide will elaborate (as far as interpretation goes) on artist's ideas and intentions, but I prefer wild guessing. 

And when I run out of wild guesses I go to the 1^st floor to see the permanent collection of the museum.  As site description puts it, “the Aargauer Kunsthaus is home to one of the most beautiful and comprehensive public collections of recent Swiss art. It is an ideal venue for encountering the great diversity of Swiss art – from the 18th century to today.” Comprehensive and beautiful - a truly precious combination...

Max Pechstein Liegendes Mädchen, 1910

The annual exhibition will last till Sunday, January 9, 2011. More information about Auswahl and other events you can find here: http://www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch/en. 

I hope you had a lovely start in 2011.

Love,

AB

Every day sunshine

Not every day, actually. It was a rainy day yesterday…again. But the atmosphere in the Art House Aarau (Kunsthaus Aarau) was quite sunny in spite of the name of a new exhibition of Ugo Rondinone “The night of lead”.

There are few things I really loved about his art. Names of his works…are an art themelves…

And all the different media and forms of expression! : aluminum, canvas, wood, wax, video...

My favorite exhibits: the doors. I loved this one in particular, locked and chained…the door to one’s mind I would have called it…

The clown (or is it a Ku-Klux-Clown?...). I wanted to lie down next to him, but Kunsthaus keepers have been waaaay too strict. (The same with photos, at first I was told it was ok, but then I was hunted down every time i produced my little camera…)

And at last the video project. Now this is just great. But one has to take time in this room, don’t try to judge or understand, just swim in a blue sunshine…

There was also an interesting guest performer John Giorno (it is a real name?...) I havn't finished listening to his performance, but now when i re-read his poems, i regret to have left early...  Here is a sample of his (earlier) poetry.

On a day when
you're walking
down the street
and you see
a hearse
with a coffin,
followed by
a flower car
and limos,
you know the day
is auspicious,
your plans are going to be
successful;
but on a day when
you see a bride and groom
and wedding party,
watch out,
be careful,
it might be a bad sign.

Just say no
to family values,
and don't quit
your day job.

Drugs
are sacred
substances,
and some drugs
are very sacred substances,
please praise them
for somewhat liberating
the mind.

Tobacco
is a sacred substance
to some,
and even though you've
stopped smoking,
show a little respect.

Alcohol
is totally great,
let us celebrate
the glorious qualities
of booze,
and I had
a good time
being with you.


Just
do it,
just don't
not do it,
just do it.

Christian
fundamentalists,
and fundamentalists
in general,
are viruses,
and they're killing us,
multiplying
and mutating,
and they destroying us,
now, you know,
you got to give
strong medicine
to combat
a virus.

Who's buying?
good acid,
I'm flying,
slipping
and sliding,
slurping
and slamming,
I'm sinking,
dipping
and dripping,
and squirting
inside you;

never
fast forward
a come shot;
milk, milk,
lemonade,
round the corner
where the chocolate's made;
I love to see
your face
when you're suffering.

Do it
with anybody
you want,
whatever
you want,
for as long as you want,
any place,
any place,
when it's possible,
and try to be
safe;
in a situation where
you must abandon
yourself
completely
beyond all concepts.

Twat throat
and cigarette dew,
that floor
would ruin
a sponge mop,
she's the queen
of great bliss;
light
in your heart,
flowing up
a crystal channel
into your eyes
and out
hooking
the world
with compassion.

Just
say
no
to family
values.

We don't have to say No
to family values,
cause we never
think about them;
just
do it,
just make
love
and compassion

Apart from taking unauthorized photos and listening poems I don't quite understand, I spend my days in a cellar (sounds kinda freaky...) of Teatro Palino working on a new entrance sign. If you are trying to reach me on my mobile and don’t manage, I must be there, inhaling golden paint and talking to dusty, discarded angels...

P.S. I forgot to mention that the exhibition of Ugo Rondinone “The night of lead” will stay in the Kunsthaus Aarau through summer, I will sure go back to enjoy some everyday sunshine...