SMART Project Space | 1e Constantijn Huygensstraat 20, Amsterdam





ARTISTS PRESENT.
A series in which artists present their work.



Location: SMART Cinema
Price: free admission





Friday November 14, 20.00 hrs.



Marc Bijl

Artist statement: Politics are fiction, art is real and we are all going to=
die.
The sculptures, installations and interventions by Marc Bijl are based upon=
social issues and their superficial image or myth. His wall graffiti is ba=
rely distinguishable from genuine subversive political slogans. Taking icon=
s from (recent) art history and mixing it with counter-cultural movements s=
uch as Punk, Gothic and Anarchism, Bijl explores how these political statem=
ents function, not only through their content, but also by their formal app=
earance.

In his recent exhibition at Smart Project Space, Bijl appropriated the poem=
Prayer of the Ignorant by Multatuli, published in 1860 (Multatuli inspired=
emancipatory movements such as freethinkers, socialists and anarchists), t=
hese sentences were spray-painted over the walls from floor to ceiling. The=
words encourage us to evaluate the society we live in and to think about a=
n alternative. In the middle of the space a tower of crates - filled with M=
olotov cocktails - emit the heavy smell of petrol that at once provokes and=
challenges the transgression of ethical values. We are offered the possibi=
lity of concluding with our own convictions whether we are correct or wheth=
er we ought to rethink our opinions.


Bijl's practice has strong parallels with Colin Wilson's The Outsider (1956=
) 'The Outsider's case against society is very clear.

All men and women have these dangerous, unnameable impulses, yet they keep =
up a pretence, to themselves, to others; their respectability, their philos=
ophy, their religion, are all attempts to gloss over, to make look civilize=
d and rational, something that is savage, unorganized, irrational. He is an=
outsider because he stands for truth' Bijl infuses his work with social an=
d political desire, leaving the viewer in a state of perplexed anxiety.



Yvonne Droge Wendel



In one of her projects, Yvonne Droge Wendel devised an enormous black bal=
l seamlessly covered in felt and filled with air - measuring 3.5 meters in =
diameter - which she has set on a trajectory through different European cit=
ies. Collaborating with people from the local community, Droge Wendel let=
s the ball roll through the city, allowing people on the street to interact=
spontaneously and push it of their own initiative. She creates a powerfull=
y dynamic ball game that is at once mesmerizing as it controls the human ma=
sses on the street. Droge Wendel's object is devoid of meaning and functi=
on, an entity that is of neutral significance and acts as an interface, a c=
ollector of stories that arise from the people who have contact with it. Th=
e potential of the black ball lies in the performative relationship between=
the public and their interaction with the object.







For information please contact Genee Presta genee@smartprojectspace.net


SMART Project Space | www.smartprojectspace.net
Exhibition Space & Cinema: 1e Const. Huygensstraat 20
Opening times: Tues-Sat from 12.00-22.00, Sun from 14.00-22.00 hrs.
Mail to: P.O.Box 15004, NL-1001 MA Amsterdam
Phone: +31 20 427.5951
Fax.: +31 20 427.5953
mail: info@smartprojectspace.net

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