Claire Fontaine
19 Jun - 28 Aug 2010
CLAIRE FONTAINE
June 19th - August 28th, 2010
One prays when the oblivion of a story is so deep that the fact of telling it doesn’t change anything. One prays when this oblivion is orchestrated day after day, when people are massacred day after day, when force has made the words “right” and “wrong” totally inadequate.
Closed for prayer is a neon sign that quotes the texts of a sticker found on the doors of a shop in Paris. It is an artwork and it is for sale, but the things that resonate in it have nothing to do with art and cannot be bought.
The reasons for a prayer are numerous and they can be frightening. The deafness of the gods doesn’t weaken this gesture, that isn’t an imploration, but the distillation of a collective pain.
Through this exhibition we no longer pray to anybody, we make room for our own shame and for other people’s suffering. We also make a mourning. Our gesture is nothing but a sort of silence and so is this press release.
Claire Fontaine, June 2010
June 19th - August 28th, 2010
One prays when the oblivion of a story is so deep that the fact of telling it doesn’t change anything. One prays when this oblivion is orchestrated day after day, when people are massacred day after day, when force has made the words “right” and “wrong” totally inadequate.
Closed for prayer is a neon sign that quotes the texts of a sticker found on the doors of a shop in Paris. It is an artwork and it is for sale, but the things that resonate in it have nothing to do with art and cannot be bought.
The reasons for a prayer are numerous and they can be frightening. The deafness of the gods doesn’t weaken this gesture, that isn’t an imploration, but the distillation of a collective pain.
Through this exhibition we no longer pray to anybody, we make room for our own shame and for other people’s suffering. We also make a mourning. Our gesture is nothing but a sort of silence and so is this press release.
Claire Fontaine, June 2010