Exhibition at the
Bourse de Commerce
Exhibition at the
Bourse de Commerce
LE MONDE COMME IL VA - THE WORLD AS IT IS
Exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce
Le monde comme il va – The world as it is
Exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce
until 2 September 2024
Our world is characterised by crises of all kinds. Fixed points of reference are disappearing and many things are in a state of upheaval. The exhibition “Le monde comme il va” (The world as it is) aims to reflect this artistically. On display are selected works from the Pinault Collection, most of which were created between 1980 and the present day.
The South Korean artist Kimsooja (*1957 in Daegu) was awarded “Carte Blanche” for the design of the rotunda, the showcases around it and the basement.
Bourse de Commerce
Tickets
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Where does the title come from?
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To breathe - Constellation
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The human comedy
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And suddenly this overview
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Jeff Koons & Damien Hirst
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German female artists
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1.
WHERE DOES THE TITLE COME FROM?
“Le Monde comme il va” is a rather unknown philosophical play by Voltaire. It is about Babouc, a young man who is sent by an angel to the fictional city of Persepolis (read by critics as Paris in Voltaire’s time) to judge whether or not it should be destroyed due to social conditions.
Babouc is undecided, finding both bad and good: “Irresponsible mortals! How can you combine so much baseness and so much greatness, so many virtues and so many vices?”
As there really is a LOT to see, I have picked out a few highlights for you for this report.
Kimsooja’s installation in the Rotunda was first and foremost a source of enthusiasm and playfulness for me.
The floor is completely mirrored and when I arrived, I could already see several visitors walking around on it and taking photos of each other. So I slipped a pair of overcoats over my shoes and threw myself into the fun.
Oops, my head knew that I had solid ground under my feet, but the emotions… the reflection of the dome, which is open at the top, can make you feel like you’re walking into an abyss. I preferred to imagine that I could walk on water (the sky was just so beautifully blue).
Cool effect: due to the architectural shape, you always remain in the piece of mirrored sky, regardless of whether you are in the centre or at the edge of the area!
Once I’d got used to it, I started by taking lots of photos and videos. Then I started to observe the others – what are they doing (can I perhaps pick up a funny idea for a photo?).
And of course, I asked myself the question: How did the Korean conceptual artist come up with the idea? She herself says: “I want to create works that are like water and air, that cannot be owned but can be shared by everyone.”
In addition to the main installation, she has also equipped the display cases in the Rotunda’s surrounding corridor with works from the past 40 years of her career. Three performances on video can be seen in the basement. Here I found the references to her origins exciting, including the moon jars (a traditional Korean porcelain vessel) or the colourful bottaris (bundles of fabric in which objects are wrapped).
2.
TO BREATHE - CONSTELLATION
3.
THE HUMAN COMEDY
On the ground floor, another literary allusion awaits you, namely to the monumental work “Comédie Humaine” by Balzac. This title brings together works by various artists, including Cindy Sherman, Sigmar Polke and Martin Kippenberger.
The element of surprise makes “Old People’s Home” by Sun Yuan & Peng Yu stand out in particular. I entered the room and a man in a wheelchair approached me. I automatically moved aside to make room when the beep sounded and the wheelchair stopped.
Wait a minute, there are more wheelchairs with… male dolls in them, all ancient, a sheikh, a priest, one with a whip in his hand, the other with a hand grenade….What is this???? A parody of a UN Security Council meeting, as I read in the description, the (former) rulers are now senile victims of the patriarchal and pathological structures they themselves have established. I would definitely find the title “The Human Tragedy” more appropriate here.
4.
SUDDENLY THIS OVERVIEW
Who used to have to make vases in pottery lessons and the result was always rather crooked and lopsided?
This part of the exhibition reminded me of that, with 76 clay figures by Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Two little men who look pretty much the same with the title “Funny and Stupid”, a figure standing on its head with the title “Above and Below” or the nice play on words “Cassius Clay (😉) after the fight against Joe Frazier” (the figure shows a damaged boxer).
I liked this way of not taking oneself and art too seriously and using naivety as a stylistic device.
The mirror for my consumerist attitude was held up to me right here. Not only does a mirror-shaped sculpture also hang on the wall, but I almost overlooked one of his early works: two hoovers in a display case from the 1980s.
The relationship between art and consumption is one of Jeff Koons‘ major themes. He definitely hit a nerve with his balloon dogs, which have become a symbol of contemporary art. Doesn’t everyone want to have them (or at least photograph them?).
He also explores the relationship between object and body. On the one hand, he insists that his sculpture is a fairly lifelike, albeit enormous, representation of a balloon or a mirror. On the other hand, the curvy shapes and polished surfaces may evoke sexual connotations (which I still don’t really understand). And the hoovers are supposed to represent “breathing machines”, androgynous, with their tubes and openings. Well, yes.
Koon’s works had a great influence on Damien Hirst, who is represented in the same room with his work “The Fragile Truth”. It was created in 1997 and 1998, i.e. in the period between the “shark pickled in formaldehyde” (The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991) and the “glittering skull” (For the Love of God, 2007), probably two of his best-known works.
Hirst deals with the relationship between art, science, and religion as well as the capitalisation of life and death. The huge display case full of medicines is reminiscent of a cabinet of curiosities and can be read as a commentary on the skilful marketing of the pharmaceutical industry with its variety of logos, designs and slogans. Incidentally, the first version of this work was created when Hirst found a cupboard full of pills in his grandmother’s house after her death…
5.
Jeff Koons & Damien Hirst
6.
GERMAN female ARTISTS
Anne Imhof from Giessen (home of Céline) is represented with three works. In the room entitled “Making Ruins” hangs a triptych from 2022 depicting an explosion. It was generated by an AI, but then painted by hand and only appears black and white at first glance. On closer inspection, you can see the red and green coloured areas that give it a 3D effect.
On the wall next to it is a black leather jacket from which white powder appears to be trickling. A naked back on a black canvas, with the words “Now and forever” in his hair, hangs in the room with the title “The Silence of the World”. An allusion to Albert Camus’ work “The Myth of Sisyphus”, in which he writes: “The absurd arises from this confrontation of the human call with the unreasonable silence of the world.”
Under the heading “Fantasies and bankruptcies”, Rosemarie Trockel deconstructs gender stereotypes. A pink-coloured surface with six hotplates, but one of them has slipped down. An iron that melts the sculpture of a male head. A nude photo in which a giant spider replaces the pubic hair on a vagina. A red sculpture, criss-crossed by lines, in which a male torso is only barely recognisable. Powerful statements, but not for the faint-hearted…
To pick up on Babouc’s quote once again: People are capable of anything. Of creative excellence and humanity, as well as manslaughter and destruction.
In my opinion, the negative side of the exhibition outweighed the positive. There were many “ouch” moments, and occasionally, I was really shocked. However, reality can also do that and if you look at art as a mirror, I think it can shake you up and make you think.
On the other hand, I had fun, was surprised and learnt a lot. The works are from the last 40 years, which made me realise that there have always been crises and there always will be. And just as artists shape their works, we as humans also influence the world around us and can decide how we deal with challenges.
Incidentally, in Voltaire’s story, the angel decides not to destroy the city because “even if not everything is good, it is still acceptable.”
I would say: off to Persepolis, err Paris, see the exhibition and decide for yourself what you think is good and bad. It runs until 2 September!
Conclusion
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2024
With the support of Anne Okolowitz.
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