Mads Lynnerup
Claire Fontaine
Douglas Gordon & Morgane Tschiember
Martin Honert
Bernard Aubertin
Daniel Wurtzel
Anya Gallaccio
Jeppe Hein
Alona Rodeh
Oscar Tuazon
Pyotr Pavlensky
Katja Novitskova
Trey Abdella
BGL
Yōsuke Yamashita
Laurin Döpfner
Gal Weinstein
Nasan Tur
Raphael Hefti
Louise Despont
Tan Teng Kee
Pier Paolo Calzolari
Maximilian Moll
Stuart Haygarth
Teresita Fernández
Item Idem
Liza Lou
Antonio Manfredi
Ian Strange
Steven Spazuk
Du Zhenjun
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Mads Lynnerup Everything Has Been Done (2019)
‘In this video a book lights on fire, as it gets opened. The book was published by Colpa Press in San Francisco and is in a limited edition of 50 in which 10 out of the 50 books has the potential of lighting on fire, when opening the book. Every book comes in a sealed bag, so there’s no way to tell what books will light on fire or not. To purchase one of the books. Click on this link.’
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Claire Fontaine France (burnt/unburnt) (2012)
‘I arrived just as the first matches were being lit. There was a hose ready in the gallery and fire extinguishers around in case things got out of control– I remember feeling relieved to see that. Everyone had their iPhones and camcorders out to document the slow burn of the piece. At first, when the map was lit on fire (intentionally), it burnt slowly and was rather gorgeous.
‘However, within about 15 seconds of burning, something went wrong and the flame began to surge out of control. We were not sure if it was part of the art piece… however, soon the smoke was billowing over the entire crowd and the sulphur was so hot and thick that it hurt the lungs.’
‘Someone yelled “EVERYONE OUT!!!” and the small crowd stumbled out the front door on Mission Street. The smoke was so thick and yellow that one couldn’t see.’
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Douglas Gordon & Morgane Tschiember As close as you can for as long as it lasts at Elevation 1049 (2017)
‘‘As close as you can…’ is an artwork made using fire, smoke and sound —a call and response between two artists—an oblique reference to the well-known history of yodeling in this particular landscape. Tschiember and Gordon were invited to visit the beautiful but terrifying mountain landscape around Gstaad. As a reference to Jack London, Morgane Tschiember decided to build a fire – the only thing that can help to survive in this supernatural environment. In response to this Douglas gordon answers by installing a sound piece based on our primal fears – of unknown animals, our fear of the dark, driving us towards the fire of Morgane Tschiember.’
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Martin Honert Fire (1992)
Polyester, painted, illuminated
245 x 205 x 205 cm
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Bernard Aubertin tableaux-feu (2012)
‘Bernard Aubertin was a French artist born in 1934 in Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. He died in August 2015 in Reutlingen, Germany. He met Yves Klein in 1957 and joined the Zero movement during the 1960-1961 period. One of his text (″Esquisse de la situation picturale du rouge dans un concept spatial″) was published in the Zero magazine, vol 3. July 1961. He is known for his red monochromes (1958), paint and nails on panel, fire paintings and performance arts.’
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Daniel Wurtzel Fog & Fire Tornadoes (2014)
‘Daniel is a fantastic artist who has created a unique series of shows using air flow. The Air series of sculptures and room-sized installations involves lightweight materials such as bird feathers, flower petals, Styrofoam peanuts, fabric, balloons, soap bubbles, fog, fire or ordinary litter from the street that are trapped, and continuously fly in columns or vortices of open air. This show will make a huge impact at any function, whether it is a private party or a corporate event.’
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Anya Gallaccio No Better Place Than This (1995)
Installation, beeswax candles, glass, wood; Size: 73 x 183 cm.
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Jeppe Hein Water Flame (2011)
‘The installation, which is essentially a small fountain with a flame dancing atop the stream of cascading water, creates the paradoxical visual effect by dispelling a dose of natural gas through the water, making it flammable and able to emit a ball of fire at the center. Thus, there is the illusion of a cooperative relationship between the two natural elements.’
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Alona Rodeh Fire, Work! (2010)
‘There are different expectations from a gallery which operates within a community center, among others, the pedagogical-social content it displays. Alona Rodeh plays a fascinating game with these expectations. She creates a work that looks like a study video, a cooking class; but Rodeh is cooking up a revolution. Her work is first and foremost a recipe, a visual instructional guide for the unexpected.’
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Oscar Tuazon Burn the Formwork (2017)
‘In Münster, Tuazon has installed an object made of concrete in an industrial wasteland along a canal—an undefined plot of land which is used by various groups of people. The object serves as a public fireplace. The cylindrically shaped sculpture can be used for barbecuing, warming up, and as a look-out. The work’s focal point is the chimney-like pillar with its two integrated fireplaces—its reduced form is the consequence of its function. A spiral stairway with large steps rises around the hearth, encircling two-thirds of it. In turn, the stairway is bounded by a lateral wall. The vitiated air from the separate fireplaces is conveyed to the chimney through a system of pipes beneath the stairway. The small sections of wooden boarding that were used in the construction can be removed and burned as well.’
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‘Russian dissident artist Pyotr Pavlensky, famous for his radical acts of protest art that range from nailing his scrotum to Moscow’s Red Square to cutting off part of his ear, was sentenced to three years in prison for his latest action: setting the Banque of France on the Place de la Bastille square in central Paris on fire in October 2017 with his then partner Oksana Shalygina.
‘At the time, the thirty-four-year-old artist said, “The Banque de France has taken the place of the Bastille, and bankers have taken the place of monarchs.” The square’s namesake, the Bastille prison, was stormed by rebels in 1789, signaling the beginning of the French Revolution. Pavlensky reiterated his stance on the bank at trial, which he dedicated to Marquis de Sade, the eighteenth-century French nobleman and revolutionary known for his libertine sexuality. He also praised the yellow vest protesters, who have been rallying against increasing fuel prices and other frustrations in Paris over the course of the last several weeks.’
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Katja Novitskova Neolithic Potential (fire worship, yellow horns) (2016)
‘In Neolithic Potential (fire worship, yellow horns) (2016) Novitskova digests and refracts natural phenomena through digital post-production techniques. Novitskova’s use of the Internet as a source for appropriation harkens back to the “new photography,” of the 1980’s, with the feminist appropriation movement, and even before that in Dadaist collage techniques. Here, her cutouts look like puppets miming signage.’
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Trey Abdella When Hell Freezes Over (2025)
acrylic, foam, wood, fiberglass, resin, aqua resin, AC motor, ball bearing, metallic tinsel, led lights, transparent display, fake plants, motion sensor, epoxy clay, epoxy paste, and armature wire
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BGL Marshmallow + Cauldron + Fire = (2009)
‘A metal cauldron, filled with burnt and melted marshmallows, sits on a dancing Plexiglas fire.’
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Yosuke Yamashita Burning Piano (2008)
‘Famed Japanese jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita has expressed his burning passion for music by setting his piano on fire at a beach.’
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Laurin Döpfner Deconstructed Piano (2014)
‘A Time-Lapse Video of a Piano Being Burned to the Ground With Heat Guns is being burned to the ground by two heat guns, set to “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven. The Sonata represents the agony and grief suffered by the piano. For this performance two heat guns at a temperature of 650°C work the piano’s wood on and on to the point of collapse.’
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Gal Weinstein Fire Tires (2012)
‘Tel Aviv-based artist Gal Weinstein replicates a number of burning tires emitting heaps of billowing smoke in the aptly titled series Fire Tires. Each sculpture, which reaches up to a height of 4 meters, is made of wax, carved to look like tires, accompanied by various skillfully crafted components to mimic the thick, swirling smoke rising into the air. The artist combines polystyrene foam, pillow filler and graphite dust to capture the remarkable tone and texture of the suffocating substance.’
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Nasan Tur Fire (2010)
‘A room with a wall in flames. Although the fire burns incessantly, contrary to expectations it does not spread.’
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Raphael Hefti Quick Fix Remix (2013)
‘The Swiss artist performed at the opening, where the gallery filled with sand became an experimental workshop for his fiery intervention that has left a new piece of ‘land art’.’
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Louise Despont According to the Universe (2015)
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Tan Teng-Kee Fire Sculpture (1979)
‘Tan Teng-Kee is known for his experimental approach to metal sculpting. Tan saw sculpture as a channel for social interaction, saying, “I want viewers to go into the sculpture, have a feeling of space, time and intrinsic material quality… This is the shining realm of art.” Tan is most known for his 1979 outdoor exhibition near his home, which culminated in Fire Sculpture. This has been described as the first “happening” to take place in Singapore, and marked the earliest removal of art from a gallery to the outdoors in Singapore.’
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Pier Paolo Calzolari Fire-eater (1979)
Oil tempera on plate, asbestos, fire-eater
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Maximilian Moll Keep the Fire Burning (2011)
‘Maximilian Moll extracts from the mass media the remnants of our visual culture, which is only thriving on the outside make-believe of pictures, and he combines the fragments in collages of kaleidoscopic compositions of our collective memory of images. By bringing together elements which are contradictory or don’t belong together, he examines the impact of the images – looking behind their semantic qualities, tackling their iconic and symbolic substance. Aside from an evident reality, cliches are constantly created from all images which reconfirm themselves as true by repetition and adapted re-use. Appearing to be something they are not: reality.’
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Stuart Haygarth Pyre (2006)
‘Kee Klamp steel framework, timber base and 70 vintage electric log effect fires.’
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Teresita Fernández Fire (America) (2016)
‘Teresita Fernández’s 16-foot glazed ceramic wall panel, Fire (America) (2016) is a hypnotic installation daunting by virtue of its scale, and mesmerizing by virtue of its vivid color and heavy symbolism that abounds. From the title of the piece, we understand that the nocturnal landscape being devoured by flames is a metaphor for America—a nation that exists both as a place and fragmented vision, ultimately forming a fifty-state mosaic. The work however is not just a representation of the planet’s natural elements; it is a multi-layered replica of the earth and of the American continent, which unravels more and more the longer one spends with it.’
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Item Idem & Cheng Ran JOSS (2013)
‘The romantic wholeness of now Republican-captive politics and economy is shattered. Artist Cyril Duval, who works under the nom de guerre Item Idem, considers how extremely mediatized American culture and avant-garde policy leaders are inspiring Stygian attitudes toward the future. Too, the project summons thoughts on the dialectic tension between Apollonian and Dionysian realities as intuited by Friedrich Nietzsche.’
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Liza Lou The Worshipper (2004)
Quartz crystal and resin, in two parts each: 44 x 44 x 21in
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Antonio Manfredi Art War (2012)
‘A museum in Italy has started burning its artworks in protest at budget cuts which it says have left cultural institutions out of pocket. Antonio Manfredi, of the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum in Naples, set fire to the first painting on Tuesday. “Our 1,000 artworks are headed for destruction anyway because of the government’s indifference,” he said. The work was by French artist Severine Bourguignon, who was in favour of the protest and watched it online. “The survival of the museum is such an important cause that it justifies the despicable, and painful, act of destroying a work of art,” she told the BBC. “My work burned slowly, with a sinister crackle. It cost me a lot, but I have no other means of protesting against the loss of this institution.” Mr Manfredi plans to burn three paintings a week from now on, in a protest he has dubbed “Art War”.’
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Ian Strange Untitled Film [Destruction of Three Holden Commodores] (2011)
‘Film from Ian Strange ‘Home’ installation exhibition, Turbine Hall, Cockatoo Island – Sydney, Australia. The exhibition featured a full scale replica of the artists childhood home rebuilt from early adolescent memory and this film documenting the destruction of three Holden Commodore cars inside the exhibition space.’
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Steven Spazuk 90 sec. imprint (2015)
‘For the past 16 years, artist Steven Spazuk has been honing the craft of painting with fire. The “fire artist” uses the resulting soot from flames to produce haunting, delicate work. By trailing his tools over the remnants of a flame, he almost sculpts his subjects on the canvas in a technique called fumage.’
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Du Zhenjun Global Fire (2007)
‘This dome can be installed in both inside and outside of the exhibition space. The inside of the dome comes with 12 thermo-sensors. Each sensor is installed onto a metal-structure, total 12 pieces, with same height 1,6m. Each temperature-sensor contains two functions: one shows the current temperature. Another one is the temperature which can turn on the image of flames. 12 metal-structures should be positioned in a circle. The whole space of the dome with 360° will be covered by the images from 5 projectors. Visitors can interact with the artwork by lighting up temperature sensors then turn on the image of flames. Projected flame is burning the flags of 200 countries. Each sensor can be lighted up individually. Projected image of flame can last 2 minutes; after, it can be repeated by another visitor. If 12 sensors are turned on at the same time, then the image of an explosion effect will be shown. This scene includes three sections, one minute each.’
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p.s. Hey. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. I considered Gary Glitter but I couldn’t bring myself to go there. ** Dominik, Hi!!! The new SCAB has helped life be inspiring even when it otherwise isn’t. Yes, my birth certificate arrived, and my lawyer has it, and hopefully she’ll say it’s ready to face the government. Weekend was alright. I finished the close-to-final new script draft and Zac’s poring over it. France had big local elections, and the Socialists won the Paris mayorship, which is good, and the far right didn’t make as much headway as had been feared. Have the plants perked up, colored in, or whatever life for a plant presents? I know, I just got a 7 million dollar inheritance offer in my spam this morning. Sigh. Love telling the social media gods that he only needed one ‘BTS is back!’ announcement to know that was the case and not millions of them, G. ** Adem Berbic, Hey. I’ve been to Stockholm I think four times but always not for very long. I like it. I can’t find a single thing wrong with it so far. Almost every cigarette bumming social smoker I’ve known has turned out to have a pack secretly stashed somewhere on their person. Yeah, yeah, Proust, I get it, I believe you from afar. Try not to give book launches so much importance, I say. They come, they stress, they fulfil, they go. ** Jimmy, Hi, Jimmy, good to meet you. No, I don’t know that track or that band, but I’ll dig into it as soon as I’m out of here. Nice title, obviously. Everyone, Jimmy has an add to the Glam show this past weekend. And it seems pretty promising. Here. Thanks!! ** Laura, I’m one of the lucky few who saw Jobriath live on his one US tour. As you may know, the pre-hype on him was so intense and over the top, and promised the most extravagant stage show and thing ever seen by the human race, and so the real show was a bit sad at the time. Hoping your head is just a cloud on your shoulders now. No, I didn’t look Eid up, oops. I will in a minute. I haven’t written poetry in, like, a couple of decades now maybe. I don’t even remember how to do it anymore. As usual, I’m mostly setting up film screenings, trying to get a last bunch in before we send the file to streaming. Just got Amsterdam and somewhere in Florida and Melbourne. Bunch of art to see. That’s about it from the outset at least. ** Carsten, Pretty hard to predict how long it takes to raise the money to make a film. For PGL, it was quick, six months or so. For RT, it took five years, but that was due to our hellish destructive producer. I’m really hoping and will be aiming for a year at most with the new film, but it really varies. I saw no art, but, movie-wise, I saw ‘Project Hail Mary’, which was slightly fresh but essentially very SciFi formulaic complete with the loveable, wisecracking alien sidekick. It was half-diverting and half-annoying. I can see why it’s a big hit. It feels familiar and usual with just enough cosmetic freshness to make the blockbuster loving set think they’re seeing something special. Interesting about the regional distinctiveness. I don’t think I understand France at large well enough to know what the deal is here. ** Steve, I saw The Tubes back when. Their show was pretty standard rock ‘n’ roll until they ended with ‘White Punks …’ whereupon they brought out the costumes and the theater aspect. I think I laid out my weekend up above. Work, elections, ‘Project Hail Mary’, etc. How was ‘The Family Jewels’? I don’t remember that one. In my memory, ‘The Bellboy’ is the only great Lewis film. Showtime! Everyone, Steve’s “Radio Not Radio” show is celebrating its First Anniversary with a new episode featuring ‘Denzel Curry, DJ Medmessiah & Morobeats, Chrisman & Lebon BLS, dalek, Da Brat, Quelle Chris, KJade, dj mitsu the beats, Roxanne Shante, BunnaB, Paul Marrmota, 2AT & Nixss, Brenda, Eisabelle, Two Daughters, the Residents, Genre Is Death, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, The Mon, Lard Free, Gnod, Bill Orcutt & Mabe Fratti, Tamikrest, Takaat, Praed, Radwan Ghazi Mounmeh & Frédéric D. Oberland, Pep Llopis and Idjah Hadidjah.’ Listen up here. ** Thom, Hi, Thom. My T. Rex experience started with ‘Unicorn’, which I guess was the beginning of their evolution from psych folk into Glam. One of my best friends, and a bandmate in my short lived high school band, was completely obsessed with the Tyrannosaurus Rex era stuff and became a kind of teenaged TR tribute act although he wrote his own TR-like songs. I started getting into them myself with ‘A Beard of Stars’. They were cool, but they weren’t very good live surprisingly. Bolan would stretch the songs out for ages and ages with tiresome guitar soloing. It was weird. I will definitely reach for a short Steinbeck. I’ll be surprised if I end up purchasing a book by him. But I’m open. I’ve never read Darnielle’s fiction. I’ve always been a bit wary for no real reason. Pretty percolating weekend you had there. Nice. Keep your brain swallowing. I’ll try too. ** Steeqhen, No, I don’t know how the press works. Some writers I really like have done books for them, but I’m not in touch with them at the moment. I would try to pay attention to your upcoming life and see what works or doesn’t and let your decision on location accumulate via experience, but that’s easy for me to say. ** ⋆˚꩜｡darbbzz⋆˚꩜｡, Haha, that is a nice line from your boss. Edgar Winter … I only remember his hits. I never got that into him. I was more into his brother Johnny’s blues-rock thing back in the day. Huh, I don’t know Pain Américain. But I’ve never really looked. I’ll look. It does sound very American or what the French would think was. Maybe there’s a veggie version. ** HaRpEr //, Sounds like me talking about my work except I never accidentally find the right way to nail it verbally. Brett Smiley is such a strange story. There’s not very good book about him, but the trajectory itself is fascinating and grim. ‘Dark Rides’, yeah, Derek was amazing from his beginnings. I need to pick that Pilot reprint. ** Minet, Hey, M! Yes, sucks about the bad timing, but we’ll find a way and somewhere, no doubt. Exhibitions … big Goldin retrospective at the Grand Palais, George Perec exhibition I forget where, … Bookstore: After8 in the 10th. Best bookstore in Paris by far. I always recommend Le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature. It’s my favorite thing in Paris. May Monday burst your week wide open. ** Right. Today it’s fire that gets the thematic treatment. See you tomorrow.
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