Maaike Bakker | Now Museum / Now You Don't

NOW MUSEUM / NOW YOU DON’T an exhibition by MAAIKE BAKKER

Catalogue submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Magister Technologiae in the Department of visual art Faculty of art, design & architecture University of Johannesburg for the exhibition Now Museum / Now you don’t at Nirox Projects | Arts on Main

NOW MUSEUM / NOW YOU DON’T an exhibition by MAAIKE BAKKER

NOVEMBER 10- DECEMBER 1, 2013 | NIROX PROJECTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Nirox Projects for granting me the opportunity to host Now Museum / Now you don’t (2013) in their exhibition space. I would also like to thank the Nirox Projects curator Neil Niewoudt for his curatorial professionalism and organisational input.

Furthermore, a sincere thank you to David Paton, my supervisor. His constant encouragement, patience and enthusiasm greatly contributed to the development of the exhibition. I also acknowledge the FADA Visual Arts department for their overall input and general guidance.

I express my deepest gratitude to Jonathan Lennox for his engineering input and general patience and time that was invested in assissting me with the technical aspects of Writing / Re-writing (2013). I also thanks Lee Ruppert and Matthew Beyers for their professional carpentry services and their particular attention to detail.

A big thanks to Anne-Lise van NIekerk for the high end photographic documentation of the exhibition.

A final thanks goes out to my family and loved ones whose endless support knows no boundaries, as well as my friends who shared this journey with me.

Maaike Bakker

ARTIST STATEMENT

The exhibition titled Now museum / Now you don’t presents a body of work that introduces the notion of the ephemeral and intangible without making any claims to be, themselves, intangible and ephemeral artworks. The intangible here refers to the artworks of an immaterial nature, and the ephemeral alludes to works created out of a medium with an inherent expiration date, that does not only influence the lifespan of a work but also informs it conceptually.

Now museum /Now you don’t therefore sets out to address the perceived instability of the ephemeral and the intangible aspects inherent in many cross-disciplinary contemporary artworks. The exhibition serves as a form of ironic evaluation of art conservation practices and curatorial approaches to re-presentation as well as a foregrounding of ironies involved in re-staging works that intentionally act against principles of permanence.

In Now museum / Now you don’t meaning is held just at bay, circulating and deferring between the works, manifesting itself in the intangible and liminal that establishes itself in between the instruction manual and the work it serves. The works themselves offer bits of information and details which might seem to point to the next work, yet eventually clearly point back to themselves, a seemingly reflexive process. Various bits of data which serve to support some of the exhibited works are ultimately also presented as works of their own (framed works and artist’s book) and eventually no longer serve the purpose of informing other works but end up becoming independent works of their own, no longer serving as information.

The instruction manuals featured alongside some of the works aim to engage the audience, inviting and challenging them to evaluate whether sufficient information is provided in each of the manuals to result in an accurate re-presentation if followed closely. These manuals also offer the audience the opportunity to take a manual and to attempt a re-presentation of their own, allowing them to act in the capacity of a curator, exploring the parameters and variabilities in the works. The viewer therefore has access to the information behind the exhibition, and can ‘own’ parts of the exhibition, and thus become involved in the relationship between the data and the featured installation. This therefore foregrounds the notion that the essence of a work lies in between the data of the work and any re-presentation there of.

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___/___ ( 2013)

___/___ (2013) chains, door slider locks, black paint

___/___ (2013) installation detail

T HE WAY T HINGS ARE ( 2013)

The way things are (2013) mirrors cut to specific dimensions

The way things are (2013) installation view

ARCHIV E V O L. I ( 2013)

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Archive vol. I (2013) framed giclee prints arranged according to instructions

Archive vol. I (2013) framed giclee prints Arranged according to instructions

200mm funnel diameter= 180mm

funnel diameter= 120mm

funnel diameter= 150mm

400mm

75Ëš

400mm

funnel holder diameter= 75mm

funnel holder diameter= 90mm

funnel holder diameter= 100mm -

125mm funnel diameter= 120mm

funnel diameter= 150mm

circle diameter=30mm

400mm

210mm

50mm

50mm

160mm

distance between circles =21,5 mm

800mm

Archive vol. I (2013) framed giclee print detail

M AUS O LEUM ( 2013)

400mm 400mm 600mm

500mm

1500mm 500mm

1200mm

1200mm 700mm

Mausoleum (2013) ash wood, glass, dust

Mausoleum (2013) detail

Mausoleum (2013) installation detail

WRIT IN G / RE-WRIT ING ( 2013)

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Writing / Re-writing (2013) manual

Writing / Re-writing (2013) installation view

Writing / Re-writing (2013) installation detail

F OREVER IS A LO NG T IM E ( 2012-2013)

Forever is a long time (2013) manual

Forever is a long time (2013) installation detail

Forever is a long time (2013) installation view

N O W MU SEU M / NOW YO U DO N ’T artis t’s book ( 2013)

Now Museum / Now you don’t (2013) artist’s book

Now Museum / Now you don’t (2013) artist’s book detail

Now Museum / Now you don’t (2013) artist’s book detail

DRAWING / RE-DRAWING ( 2012-2013)

Writing / Re-writing (2013) installation view

Writing / Re-writing (2013) detail

20ยบ ( 2013)

125mm

circle diameter=30mm

400mm

210mm

50mm

50mm

160mm

distance between circles =21,5 mm

800mm

20ยบ (2013) detail

WRI TI NG / RE-WRIT IN G a proposal ( 2013)

Writing / Re-writing a proposal (2013) lasercut Fabriano, pencil on drafting film

THE WAY THI NGS ARE abridged version ( 2013)

The way things are abridged version (2013) lasercut Fabriano, pencil on drafting film

THE WAY THI NGS A RE ab r i dged version: components ( 2013)

Writing / Re-writing abridged version : components (2013) lasercut Fabriano, pencil on drafting film

M AUS O LEUM a plan ( 2013)

Mausoleum a proposal (2013) lasercut Fabriano, pencil on drafting film

M O O N PAN ELS ( 2013)

Moon panels a proposal (2013) lasercut Fabriano, pencil on drafting film

I NSTAL L ATIO N V IEWS O F T HE EXHIBIT IO N

MAAIKE BAKKER ©