For reproduction, please contact Anita Beckers gallery, Frankfurt: info@galerie-beckers.de
PRESS RELEASE
S.F. [Art, science & fiction]
18/11/2012 > 17/02/2013
On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, the MAC is dedicating its autumn exhibition to science
fiction. The event, entitled S.F. [Art, Science & Fiction], is a group exhibition which encompasses
many of today’s art disciplines.
In actual fact, science fiction has not just produced novels, films, illustrated magazines and comic
strips. From its very beginning, it has also fostered, or indirectly created, works of art in the field of
fine arts. These include paintings, sculptures, photos, videos or actions which, without being taken
from the SF genre in the strict sense and without necessarily sharing the popular culture or kitsch,
have nevertheless drawn from its imaginary world in order to incorporate some of the main myths.
Visual artists see, in science fiction, ambitious subjects in contact with a world which learning and
technology have stretched to the point of making surreal, or rather hyperreal. Even the most
objective reality is henceforth an inexhaustible source of surprises and anxieties. Unheard of theories
like relativity or entropy and techniques as absurd as cloning or cybernetics originate from the
supernatural and figure in the pantheon of modern civilisation like new deities.
Contrary to a popular misconception, our world is far from being disillusioned. A scientific
supernatural remains, which produces, like in stories, its catalogue of magical objects and figures:
Yesterday it was the good fairy electricity, and today the bitten apple logo of information technology.
Appearing like the last avatar of the supernatural, science fiction today shows what are both the
facts and fairies of the techno-scientific world where we dream, henceforth, of waking up.
Jacques Charlier, Through the Black Hole, from the series “Art in Another
World”, acrylic on canvas, 200 x 160 cm, 2007. Artist’s collection
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The exhibition
The exhibition takes up the whole museum and presents more than seventy modern and
contemporary works of art with links to science fiction. These fine art works, without being taken
from the science fiction genre in the strict sense, and without necessarily sharing the popular culture
or kitsch, serve as a vehicle for ideas generated by its remarkable world. This popular genre which
has been providing material for literature and the cinema – but also the fine arts – for decades, has
invented journeys into time and space, created post-industrial or post-apocalyptic worlds, as well as
aliens, and fantasised about technological progress.
Through film, photo, sculpture, and installation, artists of the present 20th and 21st centuries in the
exhibition also look critically at themes as fundamental as the generation of space, representation of
the Other, conception of the future, construction of a myth or the dream of utopia. The works of
Tony Oursler, Bruno Gironcoli, and Anton Corbijn examine otherness (the alien) or transhumanism
(the robot). On Kawara, Malevitch, Lucio Fontana, and Jacques Charlier all leave in search of a largescale space whilst Mike Kelley invites us on a contrasting journey into the miniaturised universe of a
mythical super hero. Science – with its breathtaking intellectual observations – even creates part of
the phantasmagoria and oddness in the works of Larry Bell, Anthony McCall or Frédéric Platéus. One
begins to admire the splendour of an atomic mushroom (Gavin Turk) or to try to intercept Edith
Dekyndt’s waves. Utopia, high technology, and their inverse inspire thoughts on ecological
disturbance (Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Peter Hutchinson) or on genetic mutations (Tetsumi
Kudo). Robert Smithson and João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva invite you to take a journey in a
flexible time.
Lewis Baltz, Larry Bell, Fred Biesmans, Jacques Charlier, Anton Corbijn, Edith Dekyndt, Thomas
Feuerstein, Lucio Fontana, Dora Garcia, Bruno Gironcoli, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, João Maria
Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Pascal Haüsermann, Peter Hutchinson, Ann Veronica Janssens, On Kawara,
Mike Kelley, Tetsumi Kudo, Kasimir Malevitch, Chris Marker, Anthony McCall, John McCracken,
Gianni Motti, Tony Oursler, Panamarenko, Jean Perdrizet, Frédéric Platéus, Robert Smithson, Ionel
Talpazan, Gavin Turk, Marie Velardi, Karl Waldmann.
Denis Gielen is in charge of the exhibition. He will give a presentation dedicated to the themes of art
and science fiction at this event.
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Bruno Gironcoli, Eïn Körper, Zwei Seelen, cast aluminium, 220 x 230 x 100 cm, Gir/S
010003/2, 2001. Courtesy of Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck/Vienna.
.
Feuerstein Thomas, Manni, glass, metal, plankton, 65 x 30 x 30 cm, 2012. Courtesy of Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck/Vienna.
©SABAM Belgium, 2012.
Karl Waldmann, Exhibition, Collage on paper 38x 27,5cm. Copyright Karl Waldmann Museum
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The book
S.F. [ART SCIENCE & FICTION]
Denis Gielen
Published the 17th of november 2012 / tekst in french by Denis Gielen / 272 pages / 360 illustrations
/ 28,5 x 22 cm/ 978-2-930368-54-2. Price: 39,99 €
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List of works
Baltz Lewis, France Télécom
Laboratories, Nice, from the series
89/91 Sites of Technology, C-Print,
Diasec, 108 x 144 cm, 1989-1991.
Courtesy of Galerie Thomas
Zander, Cologne.
Baltz Lewis, Surveillance camera,
Matra transport (FR), from the
series 89/91 Sites of Technology,
C-Print, Diasec, 144 x 108 cm,
1989-1991. Courtesy of Galerie
Thomas Zander, Cologne.
Baltz Lewis, University of Lille,
from the series 89/91 Sites of
Technology, C-Print, Diasec, 108 x
144 cm, 1989-1991. Courtesy of
Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne.
Baltz Lewis, Worker, clean room,
Toshiba, Kawasaki City (JP), from
the series 89/91 Sites of
Technology, C-Print, Diasec, 144 x
108 cm, 1989–1991. Courtesy of
Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne.
Bell Larry, First & Last, sheets of
float glass (triangle rectangle,
rectangles) vacuum treated with
metallic salt deposits, rectangular
sheets: 182.8 x 243.8 x 1.3 cm,
triangular sheets: 182.8 x 182.8 x
1.2 cm, 1981-1989. Collection
Musée d'art contemporain, Lyon.
Biesmans Fred, Habitat
troglodytique, terracotta, 15 x 8 x
14 cm, 2011. Artist’s collection.
Biesmans Fred, La Maison des
fourmis, terracotta, 13.5 x 12 x
14.5 cm, 2011. Artist’s collection.
Biesmans Fred, Le Cercle
républicain, terracotta, 21.5 x 18 x
13 cm, 2011. Artist’s collection.
Biesmans Fred, Camping sauvage,
terracotta, 9 x 12 x 9.5 cm, 2011.
Artist’s collection.
Biesmans Fred, Le Chemin de la
coupole, terracotta, 10 x 10.5 x 15
cm, 2011. Artist’s collection.
Charlier Jacques, Giving the Space,
from the series Art in Another
World, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 80
cm, 2007. Artist’s collection.
Charlier Jacques, No Charge, from
the series Art in Another World,
acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 cm,
2007. Artist’s collection.
Charlier Jacques, Nuclear PostHuman, from the series Art in
Another World, acrylic on canvas,
120 x 100 cm, 2007. Artist’s
collection.
Charlier Jacques, The Ozone Layer,
from the series Art in Another
World, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50
cm, 2007. Artist’s collection.
Charlier Jacques, Retinian
Persistance, from the series Art in
Another World, acrylic on canvas,
60 x 40 cm, 2007. Artist’s
collection.
Charlier Jacques, Teaspoon, from
the series Art in Another World,
acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 cm,
2007. Artist’s collection.
Charlier Jacques, Through the
Black Hole, from the series Art in
Another World, acrylic on canvas,
200 x 160 cm, 2007. Artist’s
collection.
Charlier Jacques, We Are Alone,
from the series Art in Another
World, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 80
cm, 2007. Artist’s collection.
Corbijn Anton, Kraftwerk I, II, III,
IV, Barcelona, 1981, 4 black &
white impressions, framed, each
one 108 x 144 cm. Collection of
10. Courtesy of the artist and the
Galerie Anita Beckers, Frankfurt.
Dekyndt Edith, L’Ennemi du
peintre, 2010. Courtesy of Galerie
VidalCuglietta.
Feuerstein Thomas, Manni, glass,
metal, plankton, 65 x 30 x 30 cm,
2012. Courtesy of Galerie
Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman,
Innsbruck/Vienna.
Fontana Lucio, Concetto spaziale,
pencil on paper, 23.2 x 29 cm,
1951. Collection Centre Pompidou,
Musée national d'art moderne /
Centre de création industrielle,
Paris. Donated by Mrs Teresita
Fontana in 1979.
Garcia Dora, Fahrenheit 451
(1968), 1500 books printed with a
mirror-inverted typeset, wooden
table, 78 x 85 x 210 cm, 2008.
Vanmoerkerke collection.
Gironcoli Bruno, Eïn Körper, Zwei
Seelen, cast aluminium, 220 x 230
x 100 cm, Gir/S 010003/2, 2001.
Courtesy of Galerie Elisabeth &
Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck/Vienna.
Gironcoli Bruno, Ohne Titel
(Fingerhüte), cast aluminium, 414
x 226 x 356 cm, Gir/S 950001/3,
1992-1995/2001. Courtesy of
Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman,
Innsbruck/Vienna.
Gonzalez-Foerster Dominique,
Atomic Park (White Version), video
projection, silent, colour and black
& white, 8’, in loop, 2003/2004.
Courtesy of Galerie Jan Mot,
Brussels.
Gusmão João Maria & Paiva
Pedro, About the Motion of
Astronomical Bodies, installation
with camera obscura, 280 x 600 x
600 cm, 2010. Collection FRAC Îlede-France, Paris.
Gusmão João Maria & Paiva
Pedro, Cowfish, 16 mm film,
colour, silent, 2'25'', 2011.
Produced by the Museo Marino
Marini, Florence in collaboration
with Lamu Palm Oil Factory,
Kenya.
Gusmão João Maria & Paiva
Pedro, Darwin's Apple, Newton's
Monkey, 16 mm film, colour,
without sound, 1’00’’, 2012. Coproduced by Kunsthaus Glarus and
Galeria Fonseca Macedo. With the
support of the Presidência do
Governo dos Açores, Direcção
Regional da Cultura, Museu Carlos
Machado.
Gusmão João Maria & Paiva
Pedro, Fruit Polyhedron, 35 mm
film, colour, silent, 2’42’’, 2009.
Produced by Inhotim Cultural
Center, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Gusmão João Maria & Paiva
Pedro, The Throw 1, 16 mm film,
colour, silent, 1’47’’, 2006. With
the support of DGARTES, Ministry
of Culture, Portugal and ZDB,
Lisbon.
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Gusmão João Maria & Paiva
Pedro, Wheels, 16 mm film,
colour, silent, 2’33’’, 2011. Coproduced by São Tomé and
Príncipe Biennale and FRAC Île-deFrance/Le Plateau, Paris.
Peter Hutchinson, Erosion,
photographic collage, pen, pencil,
oil painting, text, 128 x 154 cm,
1996. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Hutchinson Peter, The Land and
The Sea, photographic collage,
pen, pencil, oil painting, text, 128
x 154 cm, 1993. Courtesy of
Galerie Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Hutchinson Peter, Megalopolis,
wooden-framed window
containing various elements
(marble, wood, bricks, stones,
coal, dried plants, crystals, salt,
sulphide, plaster, cork, zinc,
copper, silicone, photos, plastic
and glass tubes, glass covers,
various liquids (oil, water, glue,
red wine, etc.), 57 x 106.7 x 34.3
cm, 1976–1996. Collection FRAC
Limousin.
Hutchinson Peter, Tropical Snow,
photographic collage, pen, pencil,
oil painting, text, 128 x 154 cm,
1993. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Janssens Ann Veronica, Side,
studio version, video loop, 2’43”,
2006.
Kawara On, One Million Years,
Past - For all those have lived and
died, Future - for the last one, 2x
(15x11 cm), 2006 pages each,
1998. Edition limited to 570
numbered copies. Edition
Micheline Szwajcer and Michèle
Didier. MAC collection, donated by
the Galerie Micheline Szwajcer.
Kelley Mike, Kandor, wooden
plinth, resin sculpture, 165 x 60 x
60 cm. Private collection, Belgium.
Kudo Tetsumi, Sans titre,
hemisphere, plastic, resin and
electronic elements under a
Plexiglas cover, 21 x 53 x 53 cm,
1971. Collection Antoine de
Galbert, Paris.
Kudo Tetsumi, Votre portrait,
various materials, 50 x 50 x 80 cm,
1967. Private collection.
Kudo Tetsumi, Votre portrait
Chrysalide, various materials, 95 x
95 x 95 cm, 1966. Private
collection.
Malevitch Kasimir, Bêta,
1923/1989. Assembly, plaster,
27.3 x 59.5 x 99.3 cm. Collection
Centre Pompidou, Musée national
d'art moderne / Centre de
création industrielle, Paris.
Marker Chris, La Jetée, video film,
26’37’’, 1963. © 1963 Argos Films.
McCall Anthony, You And I (Toi et
moi), computer, animated file
using QuickTime, two video
projectors, two smoke machines,
certificate, installation instruction
manual, 60-minute cycle in two
parts, 10–11 m, surface covered:
10 x 17 m (minimum dimensions:
7.5 x 13.5 m), casket dimensions:
3.2 x 24.4 x 32.5 cm, 2005.
Collection FRAC Picardy.
McCracken John, Center, polyester
resin on a fibreglass panel, 264.2 x
40 x 4.5 cm, 1989. Collection
S.M.A.K., Ghent.
Motti Gianni, Big Crunch Clock,
digital clock, countdown of the 5
billion years before the explosion
of the sun, 10.5 x 84.5 x 5.5 cm,
1999. Collection Migros Museum
für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich.
Oursler Tony, L7-L5, film,1984.
Panamarenko, Deltavliegtuig P-1
(Piewan), aluminium, wood,
Plexiglas, 65 x 495 x 260 cm, 1975.
Collection SMAK, Ghent.
Panamarenko, Scotch gambit,
photograph of the monumental
sculpture Scotch gambit (1999),
inkjet printed on polyester, 150 x
200 cm, 1999. MAC collection,
Grand-Hornu. Donated by the
Association des galeries d'art
actuel in 2000.
Panamarenko, Spiegelschijven, 2
metallic domes with various
materials, diam. 112 x 26; diam.
95 x 25, 1980. Collection Musées
royaux des Beaux-Arts de
Belgique, Brussels.
Perdrizet Jean, Imagination du
Robot, roneotype, felt-tip on
paper, 49.8 x 64.5 cm, 1st October
1973. Collection LaM, Lille
Métropole musée d’art moderne,
d’art contemporain, Villeneuve
d’Ascq. Donation from l’Aracine,
1999.
Perdrizet Jean, Soucoupe-volante
centrifuge mieux wagon volant,
roneotype, felt-tip, ballpoint pen,
ink and coloured pencil on folded
paper, stamped and posted, 51.5 x
66 cm, around 1972. Collection
LaM, Lille Métropole musée d’art
moderne, d’art contemporain,
Villeneuve d’Ascq. Donation from
l’Aracine, 1999.
Platéus Frédéric, Solid Rock,
painted chipboard panel, stainless
steel, 140 x 220 x 180 cm, 2010.
Smithson Robert, Spiral Jetty,
1970, DVD. Courtesy of the Estate
of Robert Smithson and James
Cohan Gallery, New York.
Talpazan Ionel, Diagrama
(.U.F.O.s), felt-tip on thin card,
55.7 x 71.2 cm, 2 January 1994.
Collection LaM, Lille Métropole
musée d’art moderne, d’art
contemporain, Villeneuve d’Ascq.
Donation from l’Aracine, 1999.
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Turk Gavin, Black Umbrellas
Blossom Out, from the series
“Watercolour of a Mushroom
Cloud Based on ‘The Age of
Anxiety’ by W.H. Auden”,
watercolour on paper, 18 x 12 cm,
2009. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Turk Gavin, The Gods Are
Wringing Their Great Worn Hands,
from the series “Watercolour of a
Mushroom Cloud Based on ‘The
Age of Anxiety’ by W.H. Auden”,
watercolour on paper, 18 x 24 cm,
2009. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Turk Gavin, Our Ideas Have Got
Drunk and Dropped Their Hs, from
the series “Watercolour of a
Mushroom Cloud Based on ‘The
Age of Anxiety’ by W.H. Auden”,
watercolour on paper, 18.5 x 14
cm, 2009. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Turk Gavin, Ex-Monarchs
Remember a Past Of Wars and
Waltzes as They Wait for Death,
from the series “Watercolour of a
Mushroom Cloud Based on ‘The
Age of Anxiety’ by W.H. Auden”,
watercolour on paper, 14 x 10 cm,
2009. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Turk Gavin, The Jawing Genius of a
Jackass Age, from the series
“Watercolour of a Mushroom
Cloud Based on ‘The Age of
Anxiety’ by W.H. Auden”,
watercolour on paper, 21 x 15 cm,
2009. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Velardi Marie, Futurs Antérieurs,
XXIe siècle, offset printing, 41 x
550 cm, 2006. French version,
n°53/100. MAC collection, GrandHornu.
Turk Gavin, From dusk to death,
from the series “Watercolour of a
Mushroom Cloud Based on ‘The
Age of Anxiety’ by W.H. Auden”,
watercolour on paper, 17 x 11.5
cm, 2009. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
Turk Gavin, What Err What We
Are as If We Were Not, from the
series “Watercolour of a
Mushroom Cloud Based on ‘The
Age of Anxiety’ by W.H. Auden”,
watercolour on paper, 22 x 13.5
cm, 2009. Courtesy of Galerie
Aeroplastics, Brussels.
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AGENDA
Press conference: Friday, 16 November at 11:30 a.m.
Preview by invitation: Saturday, 17 November at 6:30 p.m.
Public opening: Sunday, 18 November from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Free entrance and guided tours all day
THE EXHIBITION IS UNDER THE HIGH PATRONAGE OF MR. ELIO DI RUPO, PRIME MINISTER OF BELGIUM, AND
OF MRS. MARTINE AUBRY, MAYOR OF LILLE.
The exhibition enjoys the special support of BNP Paribas Fortis. It is organised under the scope of the
Interreg IV – Borderline II “Des Musées sans frontiers” project and is part of the official programme
of lille3000. The event is a partner of FANTASTIC 2012, organised by lille3000.
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Our institutional partners:
Our press partners:
Our company partners:
The exhibition enjoys the special support of BNP Paribas Fortis
as part of the project “L’art est en nous”.
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MAC’s
Site du Grand-Hornu
Rue Sainte-Louise 82
BE-7301 Hornu
Communications
Department
Maïté Vanneste
Telephone:
00.32(0)65.61.38.53
Fax:
+32(0)65.61.38.91
e-mail:
maite.vanneste@grandhornu.be
Press contact:
Hélène van den Wildenberg
Caracas Public Relations
Telephone:
+32 (0)4. 349.14.41
Mobile:
+32 (0)495.22.07.92
E-mail:
hvdw@caracascom.com
www.mac-s.be
Musée des Arts Contemporains
President:
Claude Durieux
Management:
MAC Director: Laurent BUSINE
Address:
Site du Grand-Hornu
Rue Sainte-Louise 82
BE-7301 Hornu (near Mons)
Te l. : +3 2( 0) 65/ 65 . 21 .2 1
Fax: +32(0)65/61.38.91
E-mail: accueil.site@grand-hornu.be
Opening hours:
Every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
except Mondays, 25 December and 1 January.
Entry:
- Combined ticket for the Grand-Hornu site/MAC/
Grand Hornu Images – 6 euros
- Group rate (at least 15 people) or reduced rate – 4 euros
- School group – 2 euros
- Free for children under 6 years old and those accompanying school
groups.
Guided tours:
- 50 euros for a group of 25 people max. on weekdays
- 60 euros for a group of 25 people max. at weekends
Booking: 0032(0)65/61.38.81
Directions:
To reach the Grand-Hornu by road, when you leave the E19 Brussels–
Paris motorway, take exit no. 25 “Saint-Ghislain–Tertre–Hornu”
towards Saint-Ghislain, Hornu. Then follow the signs until you reach
the entrance to the site. Parking is free.
The nearest stations are Saint-Ghislain and Mons. When you exit Mons
station, you can take a TEC bus (lines 7 and 9 – Grand-Hornu stop) to
Grand-Hornu, or taxis are also available. If you exit Saint-Ghislain
station, we recommend taking a taxi to get to the museum.
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