In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Roy Ascott: The Syncretic Sense
  • Jan Baetens (bio)
Roy Ascott: The Syncretic Sense, Curated by Paula Orrell. Plymouth Arts Centre, 404- 24052009.

What can it possibly mean to put on a retrospective on the work of an artist who stated in 1974: "Imagine a society that possesses a history composed only of future predictions?" And what does it mean to exhibit as works of art, that is, framed on a wall or displayed in securely closed plastic showcases, the thinking of a man who, strongly influenced by cybernetics and later telematics, claimed from the very start of his career, in the late 1950s, that art had become behavior and that what mattered in behavior was the possibility to change it? And what does it mean, finally, to highlight the work and thinking of one man, if that very man believes that the most important thing in art was not simply to share it, but to connect people?

These are some of the exciting challenges raised by Paula Orrell, the curator of this great exhibition, the very first on an artist and teacher whose 1960s "Groundcourse" on arts as a form of living can be considered as revolutionary as the Bauhaus Grundkursand whose impact, both as a teacher and as an artist, may possibly be compared, at least in qualitative terms, to that of someone like John Cage or, although in a slightly different manner, Chris Marker.

At first sight, the strategic choices made by the curator and her team will surprise the visitor. What one discovers in the show is exactly what one did not expect to find. First, the show focuses on the artist rather than on his network. (It could have been possible, for example, to organize a show on Ascott while gathering nothing other than works of his students or admirers.) Second, it concentrates on the past rather than on the future. (Ascott's current work, which is taking place mostly on the Internet, is just hinted at in the exhibition.) Third, the work is also presented in a very straightforward way; well documented and exemplarily offered not as theoretical statements but as artistic achievements. (Ascott's most stunning and audacious speculations bear some resemblance—in form at least—to Jeff Wall-inspired light boxes.)

Yet the traditional appearance of the show proves extremely deceptive. For those willing to take a closer look, it rapidly appears that the curators' vision actually redefines what this retrospective is: not the passive celebration of a great man but a hugely active user's manual. First of all one notices that even if the show includes hardly any interactive items, it produces much more interactivity than that achieved by those installations that most frequently allow only for use and reuse of the work. Instead of simply experiencing an artistic product, the visitor is confronted with the intellectual basis that triggered Ascott's artistic idea. One is stimulated to redo the creative thinking that preceded the realization of the work itself. Second, one realizes that this retrospective view on Ascott's work is no less thought provoking than some hypothetic leap into an unknown future. For by displaying both the process and the product of Ascott's art, the curators question the direct teleological relationship between these dimensions: The emphasis on everything that prepares the work suggests that other outcomes might have been possible and therefore remain open to further fine-tuning. The third and last surprise is the strong presence of material (tactile) works. Whereas Roy Ascott is most famously known for his exceptionally fruitful speculative thinking, this show is a humble reminder of the necessity of embodiment and enables the spectator to judge in a different way the actual stakes of the artist's rebuilding the world.

Thanks to this clever presentation, the show has become something more than either a pale copy of new media works that one should read and evaluate in one's own technological environment or a banal illustration of the intellectual fireworks that can be found in Ascott's publications. Centered on works that are to be discovered as working spaces, this retrospective, which by the way also demonstrates how...

pdf

Share