"FAIR TRADE" MARIEVIC : Brussels
Past exhibition
Press release
Fair Trade is an exhibition on display at Stems Gallery in Brussels, starting March 3rd, 2016. A series of butts are hung in a grid on the gallery wall. But this is not simply a sculptural installation – it is an invitation for participation. The work is for sale, by the square meter. This commercial transaction is integral to the overall project : Once a collector acquires a piece of the work, he is invited to trade the butt for other art objects, to inhabit the role of commodity, to seek a valuable exchange in the market. This is a playful exercise of sex in commerce.
Eventually, Fair Trade will become an exquisite corpse, an art experience that evolves as it exchanges hands, each interaction adding to the work. What value does art have? What value does the body have? In this context of the gestural work, the butts become a medium for a sort of potlatch, an improvised deal that af rms the importance of unproductive expenses. There is a Faustian aspect, a way in which earthly pleasures are asserted and celebrated in favor of something less tangible. For a delicious study on the commodi cation of the body and commercialization of art, it’s a tempting bargain – made in France and Fair Trade! by MarieVic.
Installation Views
