Frieze Art Fair
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Frieze Art Fair
October 2011
Creative Aquarium by Pierre Huyghe
We were honoured to produce, in conjunction with French artist Pierre Huyghe, an exciting work of art for the star-studded world famous Frieze Art Fair 2010.
Odd yet extremely beautiful, spontaneous yet realistic, it was a particular interest of super model Elle Macpherson. While chatting with director Roland Horne at the fair, she discussed how much she likes it, calling it “absolutely amazing” and like nothing she had ever seen before.
Huyghe was to present a creative aquarium for a marine ecosystem performance. He created a fictional narrative for crabs to enact by filling this aquarium with Mars-like red rock and assorted crabs, including a giant hermit crab that had taken a bronze cast of Brancusi’s Sleeping Muse as its new home. The crab took on a curious and almost comical quality as it scurried around the aquarium. The artist is well known for creating situation where creatures, and sometimes even people, interact with their circumstances to raise questions about nature.
In an interview by Allard van Hoorn in 2011, Huyghe explains that “I like the work to be influenced, corrupted, by the site where it appears. I’m interested in the sedimentation of factual or fictional narratives on site, an equivalence to an anachronic archaeology.”…” For this specific tank, the sculpture of Brancusi’sSleeping Muse will rest at the bottom of the tank. It is a shiny head reflecting the surroundings. A giant hermit crab will live within the muse’s head and will transport its home all around a brutal landscape. As I was saying, I’m focusing on the animals’ behaviors, the biosemiotics. I try to exploit the very basic or essential animal behavior or need and try to match these behaviors in constructed situations.”
The creative aquarium was later relocated to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, courtesy of the gallerist Marian Goodman.
Frieze Art Fair
Creative Aquarium by Pierre Huyghe
We were honoured to produce, in conjunction with French artist Pierre Huyghe, an exciting work of art for the star-studded world famous Frieze Art Fair 2010.
Odd yet extremely beautiful, spontaneous yet realistic, it was a particular interest of super model Elle Macpherson. While chatting with director Roland Horne at the fair, she discussed how much she likes it, calling it “absolutely amazing” and like nothing she had ever seen before.
Huyghe was to present a creative aquarium for a marine ecosystem performance. He created a fictional narrative for crabs to enact by filling this aquarium with Mars-like red rock and assorted crabs, including a giant hermit crab that had taken a bronze cast of Brancusi’s Sleeping Muse as its new home. The crab took on a curious and almost comical quality as it scurried around the aquarium. The artist is well known for creating situation where creatures, and sometimes even people, interact with their circumstances to raise questions about nature.
In an interview by Allard van Hoorn in 2011, Huyghe explains that “I like the work to be influenced, corrupted, by the site where it appears. I’m interested in the sedimentation of factual or fictional narratives on site, an equivalence to an anachronic archaeology.”…” For this specific tank, the sculpture of Brancusi’sSleeping Muse will rest at the bottom of the tank. It is a shiny head reflecting the surroundings. A giant hermit crab will live within the muse’s head and will transport its home all around a brutal landscape. As I was saying, I’m focusing on the animals’ behaviors, the biosemiotics. I try to exploit the very basic or essential animal behavior or need and try to match these behaviors in constructed situations.”
The creative aquarium was later relocated to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, courtesy of the gallerist Marian Goodman.