Redcap
08.06.2005, 19:43
The Cosmopolitan Chicken gibts leider nur im Cache
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:yZopRv9FWw8J:www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/exhibitionInfo/exhibition/6196+mechelse+bresse&hl=en
Irgendwann übersetze ich das, habe jetzt keine Zeit. Mit Google kann man aber übersetzen und vieles verstehen. ;)
"The Cosmopolitan Chicken"
The Limburg artist Koen Vanmechelen is working at the great breeding project "The Cosmopolitan Chicken". This cosmopolitan chicken will unite all chickens by cross-breeding chicken races from different countries. The chicken world of course is a metaphor for the human world. The on-going project whips up discussions about globalisation, racism, genetic manipulation and a lot more.
Artists have staged living animals before. We all know the parrots of Marcel Broodthaers, the coy ote of Joseph Beuys or the pigs of Wim Delvoye. What Koen Vanmechelen does is unseen. One could say that he´s extending the Creation. And he´s using a medium everybody knows. The chic ken is at home on all continents. Of course, the cosmopolitan chicken embodies an utopia. But this is not at all a morbid experi ment to breed some sort of "Uberhuhn". The Cosmopolitan Chicken is a super bastard. A bastard is stronger as striving for purity of race offen leads to breeding-in, disease and weakness in general. "Cross-breeding is the one thing" says Koen Vanmechelen and he continues "we need to cross breed across the boundaries if we want the world not to perish. We need to think cosmopolitically. Nothing is as beautiful as joining with others cultures and take energy from this". The chicken demonstrates the madness of "Own people first" and other slogans of the extreme right wing. We should not forget that we are bastards ourselves, the result of many cross-breedings.
For his first cross-breeding Koen Vanmechelen chose the "Mechelse Koekoek" (cuckoo of Mechelen), the pride of Flemish chicken breeding and relative in name to the artist. The "poulet de Bresse" (chicken of Bresse) is a first-rate French chicken. Their cross-breeding, the "Mechelse Bresse", was presented in 1998 at the group show "In de ban van de ring" in Hasselt.
http://www.siswo.uva.nl/congressen/congressen/folders/nosmo%20dagen/mechelse%20bresse.jpg
Last summer it was invited by Jan Hoet to his show in Watou. In that Flemish village near the French border, where visual arts and poetry meet each summer, the "Mechelse Bresse" united Belgium and France. It was at that time that "The Cosmopolitan Chicken" was presented for the very first time. After that the "Mechelse Bresse" went to London, to the Lisson Gallery, to be cross-breeded with the English "Redcap". This successful race is nowadays more or less infertile. By cross-breeding with fresh blood it is fertile again. "This may say something about England as an island" states the artist. "After many years of isolation you get to deal with phenomena such as the Redcap". Behind the artist´s home an American cock is getting ready to breed with the "Mechelse Redcap: that unites Belgian, French and English nationalities. The American "Jersey Giant" is - no one won ders - the biggest chicken on earth. The hatching will be shown in America as soon as the right opportunity shows up. Only in case a border is being crossed, the artist indeed shows the whole breeding process, from the hatching of the eggs until the breaking out of the chicks. More cross breedings are to be foreseen with the "Dresdner Huhn", the Dutch "Uilebaard: a Brasilean chicken (a samba chicken, as points out the artist). "I am fascinated by the fact that people have breeded such chickens. It says something about the origin and the existence of their national conscience. In those chickens one may find the characteristics of a nation". Only in Africa the artist did not find a "national" chicken. Perhaps there is no such thing as appropriation. Chickens are eaten there but are no symbol of status.
All current chicken races originate from the first, primitive chicken, the "Red Jungle Fowl", that still lives near the Himalaya. In Nepal Koen Vanmechelen could film a Red Jungle Fowl family.
As contrasted with domesticated chickens the Red Jungle Fowl is monogamous. As the fowl still lives in the wild monogamy may be even a stronger characteristic than the polygamous element. Constantly surprising turns occur in the project. In Hasselt, on the day of the eclipse of the sun, a black cock was born. In London he invariably picked the same chicken. Pure chance or restaura tion of lost qualities? The super bastard or Cosmopolitan Chicken is no return to the primitive fowl, but a new start. "How she will look like is not important" says the artist. "She will get another sort of beauty. She will have all genes of all chickens in the world. It is an ideal and like ideals it will be full of deficiencies. The chicken is a living work of art, that is ready for something new. The artist´s role is almost gone. Everything is on the move. It is a perpetuum mobile". The chicken is hybrid as is the oeuvre of Koen Vanmechelen. Before he started this overwhelming project, he made wood constructions, assembled figures, poultry and cages, somehow in the tra dition of the Belgian assemblage artists. The chicken and the egg, that cage the chick breaks out from, were never far away. Koen Vanmechelen has been busy with chickens and pheasants all his life. In Murano he let blow glass eggs that he gave iron feet. Until recently the artist as a cook was creating desserts for a restaurant. Nowadays he is entirely devoted to the chicken breeding pro ject that spins off into video installations, collages and drawings, photographs etc. And he conti nues to make glass sculptures.
And last but not least, the chicken has found its way to the sciences. Together with Dr Ombelet, a gynaecologist, the artist publishes "The Walking Egg", an English magazine in which ethicists, philosophers and scientists debate about all sorts of procreation items. Koen Vanmechelen joins in with artistic reflecNons. The Cosmopolitan Chicken has nothing to do with cloning, but it goes without saying that the artist follows with great interest and attention those congresses. "The chicken wants to be in the middle of natural breeding and genetic manipulation" he says. "We should never forget the natural breeding. It is full of surprises".
Christine Vuegen
This is an adapted version of the article commissioned and written for the May issue of the Dutch art magazine
Kunstbeeld.
Next to Vanmechelen´s show, Deweer Art Gallery presents in the upper gallery room a thematic group show entitled "A Worid of Animals". Sculptures, paintings and works on paper by Stephan Balkenhol, Johannes Brus, Jan Fabre, Antonius Höckelmann, llya Kabakov etc. will be on view.
Both exhibitions remain open from Sunday May 6 until Sunday June 17 2001, from Wednesday until Sunday, 2 - 6 p.m. and by appointment (closed on May 24, Ascension Day).
Further (exhibition) news includes:
• Stephan Balkenhol. In the context of the exhibition tour ARTOUR 2001, in La Louviere and surroundings, the German sculptor will show some sculptures in the garden of the Royal Museum of Mariemont. From June 16 until August 12. For more Information contact Mr Eric Claus (tel. 064.238166).
At the Oda-Park Foundation in Venray, NL too, works by Stephan Balkenhol can be see (until June 17).
And last but not least, Stephan Balkenhol will have a one-man show at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, NL (June 16 - September 3).
• Jan Fabre. Until May 27 Jan Fabre will present his one-man show "Angels & Warriors" at the Marugame Genichiro - Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (Japan). Fabre also participates at the group show "Belgisch ATELIER Beige - 13 artists about identity", in Passage 44, Brüssels (until June 16).
• Jan Fabre / Thomas Lange. Both artists were invited to participate at the great exhibition "Between Earth and Heaven - New Classical Movements in the Art of Today" at the Museum of Modern Art of Ostend (B, 23.2 - 2.9).
• Thomas Lange. On June 24 opens his new one-man show "Die Mysterien der Arbeit" (The Mysteriös of Labour) at the DASA (Deutsche Arbeitsschutzausstellung) in Dortmund. A book with the same title will be published.
• Panamarenko. As winner of the J.C.Van Lanschot price for sculpture Panamarenko enjoys a presentation of some of his works at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, until May 20. At the occasion of the show Ludion publishes the book "Panamarenko - for clever scholars, astronomers and doctors" about and by Panamarenko (more information at the gallery).
• Johan Tahon. Together with Peter Rogiers Johan Tahon represents the Flemish Community at the exhibition "Connecting Worids - Contemporary Sculpture from the European Union", at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington DC (until June 3). Johan Tahon will also make the one-man show "Octopus Receiver" for the Park ter Beuken in the city of Lokeren (from June 23 onwards).
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:yZopRv9FWw8J:www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/exhibitionInfo/exhibition/6196+mechelse+bresse&hl=en
Irgendwann übersetze ich das, habe jetzt keine Zeit. Mit Google kann man aber übersetzen und vieles verstehen. ;)
"The Cosmopolitan Chicken"
The Limburg artist Koen Vanmechelen is working at the great breeding project "The Cosmopolitan Chicken". This cosmopolitan chicken will unite all chickens by cross-breeding chicken races from different countries. The chicken world of course is a metaphor for the human world. The on-going project whips up discussions about globalisation, racism, genetic manipulation and a lot more.
Artists have staged living animals before. We all know the parrots of Marcel Broodthaers, the coy ote of Joseph Beuys or the pigs of Wim Delvoye. What Koen Vanmechelen does is unseen. One could say that he´s extending the Creation. And he´s using a medium everybody knows. The chic ken is at home on all continents. Of course, the cosmopolitan chicken embodies an utopia. But this is not at all a morbid experi ment to breed some sort of "Uberhuhn". The Cosmopolitan Chicken is a super bastard. A bastard is stronger as striving for purity of race offen leads to breeding-in, disease and weakness in general. "Cross-breeding is the one thing" says Koen Vanmechelen and he continues "we need to cross breed across the boundaries if we want the world not to perish. We need to think cosmopolitically. Nothing is as beautiful as joining with others cultures and take energy from this". The chicken demonstrates the madness of "Own people first" and other slogans of the extreme right wing. We should not forget that we are bastards ourselves, the result of many cross-breedings.
For his first cross-breeding Koen Vanmechelen chose the "Mechelse Koekoek" (cuckoo of Mechelen), the pride of Flemish chicken breeding and relative in name to the artist. The "poulet de Bresse" (chicken of Bresse) is a first-rate French chicken. Their cross-breeding, the "Mechelse Bresse", was presented in 1998 at the group show "In de ban van de ring" in Hasselt.
http://www.siswo.uva.nl/congressen/congressen/folders/nosmo%20dagen/mechelse%20bresse.jpg
Last summer it was invited by Jan Hoet to his show in Watou. In that Flemish village near the French border, where visual arts and poetry meet each summer, the "Mechelse Bresse" united Belgium and France. It was at that time that "The Cosmopolitan Chicken" was presented for the very first time. After that the "Mechelse Bresse" went to London, to the Lisson Gallery, to be cross-breeded with the English "Redcap". This successful race is nowadays more or less infertile. By cross-breeding with fresh blood it is fertile again. "This may say something about England as an island" states the artist. "After many years of isolation you get to deal with phenomena such as the Redcap". Behind the artist´s home an American cock is getting ready to breed with the "Mechelse Redcap: that unites Belgian, French and English nationalities. The American "Jersey Giant" is - no one won ders - the biggest chicken on earth. The hatching will be shown in America as soon as the right opportunity shows up. Only in case a border is being crossed, the artist indeed shows the whole breeding process, from the hatching of the eggs until the breaking out of the chicks. More cross breedings are to be foreseen with the "Dresdner Huhn", the Dutch "Uilebaard: a Brasilean chicken (a samba chicken, as points out the artist). "I am fascinated by the fact that people have breeded such chickens. It says something about the origin and the existence of their national conscience. In those chickens one may find the characteristics of a nation". Only in Africa the artist did not find a "national" chicken. Perhaps there is no such thing as appropriation. Chickens are eaten there but are no symbol of status.
All current chicken races originate from the first, primitive chicken, the "Red Jungle Fowl", that still lives near the Himalaya. In Nepal Koen Vanmechelen could film a Red Jungle Fowl family.
As contrasted with domesticated chickens the Red Jungle Fowl is monogamous. As the fowl still lives in the wild monogamy may be even a stronger characteristic than the polygamous element. Constantly surprising turns occur in the project. In Hasselt, on the day of the eclipse of the sun, a black cock was born. In London he invariably picked the same chicken. Pure chance or restaura tion of lost qualities? The super bastard or Cosmopolitan Chicken is no return to the primitive fowl, but a new start. "How she will look like is not important" says the artist. "She will get another sort of beauty. She will have all genes of all chickens in the world. It is an ideal and like ideals it will be full of deficiencies. The chicken is a living work of art, that is ready for something new. The artist´s role is almost gone. Everything is on the move. It is a perpetuum mobile". The chicken is hybrid as is the oeuvre of Koen Vanmechelen. Before he started this overwhelming project, he made wood constructions, assembled figures, poultry and cages, somehow in the tra dition of the Belgian assemblage artists. The chicken and the egg, that cage the chick breaks out from, were never far away. Koen Vanmechelen has been busy with chickens and pheasants all his life. In Murano he let blow glass eggs that he gave iron feet. Until recently the artist as a cook was creating desserts for a restaurant. Nowadays he is entirely devoted to the chicken breeding pro ject that spins off into video installations, collages and drawings, photographs etc. And he conti nues to make glass sculptures.
And last but not least, the chicken has found its way to the sciences. Together with Dr Ombelet, a gynaecologist, the artist publishes "The Walking Egg", an English magazine in which ethicists, philosophers and scientists debate about all sorts of procreation items. Koen Vanmechelen joins in with artistic reflecNons. The Cosmopolitan Chicken has nothing to do with cloning, but it goes without saying that the artist follows with great interest and attention those congresses. "The chicken wants to be in the middle of natural breeding and genetic manipulation" he says. "We should never forget the natural breeding. It is full of surprises".
Christine Vuegen
This is an adapted version of the article commissioned and written for the May issue of the Dutch art magazine
Kunstbeeld.
Next to Vanmechelen´s show, Deweer Art Gallery presents in the upper gallery room a thematic group show entitled "A Worid of Animals". Sculptures, paintings and works on paper by Stephan Balkenhol, Johannes Brus, Jan Fabre, Antonius Höckelmann, llya Kabakov etc. will be on view.
Both exhibitions remain open from Sunday May 6 until Sunday June 17 2001, from Wednesday until Sunday, 2 - 6 p.m. and by appointment (closed on May 24, Ascension Day).
Further (exhibition) news includes:
• Stephan Balkenhol. In the context of the exhibition tour ARTOUR 2001, in La Louviere and surroundings, the German sculptor will show some sculptures in the garden of the Royal Museum of Mariemont. From June 16 until August 12. For more Information contact Mr Eric Claus (tel. 064.238166).
At the Oda-Park Foundation in Venray, NL too, works by Stephan Balkenhol can be see (until June 17).
And last but not least, Stephan Balkenhol will have a one-man show at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, NL (June 16 - September 3).
• Jan Fabre. Until May 27 Jan Fabre will present his one-man show "Angels & Warriors" at the Marugame Genichiro - Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (Japan). Fabre also participates at the group show "Belgisch ATELIER Beige - 13 artists about identity", in Passage 44, Brüssels (until June 16).
• Jan Fabre / Thomas Lange. Both artists were invited to participate at the great exhibition "Between Earth and Heaven - New Classical Movements in the Art of Today" at the Museum of Modern Art of Ostend (B, 23.2 - 2.9).
• Thomas Lange. On June 24 opens his new one-man show "Die Mysterien der Arbeit" (The Mysteriös of Labour) at the DASA (Deutsche Arbeitsschutzausstellung) in Dortmund. A book with the same title will be published.
• Panamarenko. As winner of the J.C.Van Lanschot price for sculpture Panamarenko enjoys a presentation of some of his works at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, until May 20. At the occasion of the show Ludion publishes the book "Panamarenko - for clever scholars, astronomers and doctors" about and by Panamarenko (more information at the gallery).
• Johan Tahon. Together with Peter Rogiers Johan Tahon represents the Flemish Community at the exhibition "Connecting Worids - Contemporary Sculpture from the European Union", at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington DC (until June 3). Johan Tahon will also make the one-man show "Octopus Receiver" for the Park ter Beuken in the city of Lokeren (from June 23 onwards).