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If you do know that 'here is one hand'…
from 2010-05-04 to 2010-08-31
Participants:
Anonym, Goda Budvytytė, Liudvikas Buklys, Gintaras Didžiapetris, Antanas Dombrovskis, Stanisław Filibert Fleury, Antanas Gerlikas, Martijn In‘t Veld, Juozas Laivys, Raimundas Malašauskas, Nicolas Matranga, Elena Narbutaitė, Peter I, Matt Post, Jennifer Teets, 2Easy Fashion, Ola Vasiljeva & "Yearbook" collective (Goda Budvytytė, Kevin Killian, Falke Pisano, Adam Putnam, Aaron Schuster, Alex Cecchetti, Marco Belfiore, Juozas Laivys together with Darius Mikšys, Benoît Maire, Gintaras Didžiapetris, Jessie Ash, Patricia Esquivias, Yi-Ping Hou & Joe Miceli)
Physical spaces:
Heden Hier gallery, The Hague; Contemporary Art Centre and its premises, Vilnius; Vilnius Antiquity museum; Lithuanian Archives Department;
Lithuanian National Museum; Place du Petit Sablon, Brussels;
Curator: Valentinas Klimašauskas
Designer: Goda Budvytytė
The Title as a Premise of an Exhibition’s Existence
"If you do know that here is one hand, we’ll grant you all the rest" – those are the words that open Ludwig Wittgenstein’s On Certainty, a book that only existed in the form of personal notes in the author’s notebook while he was alive. Wittgenstein borrows the "hand" from George Edward Moore’s (1873-1958) text A Defence of Common Sense (1925), in which the latter argues that if he has hands, "an external world" is bound to exist.
In his defence of common sense, Moore had employed a series of performative actions. First of all, he lifted his right hand and said: "Here is one hand". Then he lifted his left hand and said: "And here is another". With the third utterance he confirmed what did not appear evident to the sceptics: "Thus, at least two hands exist in the external world, and therefore I know that an external world exists". Yet Ludwig Wittgenstein prompted one to doubt this logic. Referring to the fact that nobody had ever seen their brain, he turned that statement into a question: "do I know that I have a brain?".
This discussion about the confirmation, refutation and substantiation of seemingly evident things inspires one to meditate on the possibilities of putting together an exhibition. If the notion of "common sense" can be grounded in such an effortless manner, why don’t we deconstruct, reassemble and multiply the connections between the hand and the brain operating it so as to create new hands, brains and connections between them? In this way, the present exhibition, which has its beginning in (through, about, from) CAC’s showcase, seeks to create new and reveal the already existing relationships between bodies, organs, brains, internal and external networks.
Let’s return to Ludwig Wittgenstein, or, rather, to his brother Paul Wittgenstein at this point. Paul was a one-armed pianist who had lost his right arm during World War I. He became famous precisely for being able to perform works that had previously been considered impossible to play for a performer with just five fingers. Let us imagine Paul Wittgenstein attempting to re-enact Moore’s performative "defence of common sense". First of all, he would lift his right arm and say: "Here is my right hand (it is absent only for the moment, or it is elsewhere at the moment)". Then he would lift his left arm and state: "Here is my left hand". With his third statement he would confirm what would not appear evident to the sceptics: "Thus, at least two hands exist in the external world, and therefore I know that an external world exists".
Paul Wittgenstein’s right arm, the one that’s been lost, exists differently than the remaining one. This missing arm exists as a temporary lack; it exists by not existing. Although in his concerts Paul played the works written specifically for him by Sergey Prokofyev, Richard Strauss or Maurice Ravel with his left hand, the right, non-existing and non-playing one had a solid influence on how the listeners perceived the sound of music.
But let us go back to the exhibition. Following the line of Moore’s argument, an exhibition may exist as long as we provide the premises of its existence (for instance, by proving the existence of its title). In the same way, the existence of an exhibition is possible if its title acts as a "missing hand" – through temporary absence (that is, the title had indeed existed or will exist, yet for certain reasons we may not know it at the present moment). It means that a title is not necessary in order to prove an exhibition’s existence. An exhibition can equally exist through what directly defines it and its parts, and through what is missing in it (like space, works to be displayed, authors, etc.), what is lacking at this or other point in time, yet, precisely by its active absence and lack, makes possible the exhibition’s existence and resonance.
The Exhibition’s Spaces: Showcase, Model, Diorama, Map, Scale, Organ Without A Body, Collection Of Potentials, Isolated Brain, Brain Wrapped In Cotton-Wool, White Cube, Product Paradise, In Vitro, Heterotopia, Network, Other
More information: www.cac.lt
Ticket prices:
For adults: 8 Lt
For schoolchildren, students, seniors: 4 Lt
Purchase ticket at:
At the exhibition box-officeVenue
Contemporary Art Centre (CAC)
Vokiečių St. 2
Tel. +370 5 212 1945 (ticket office)
www.cac.lt
Open:
I |
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II |
12:00 - 20:00 |
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III |
12:00 - 20:00 |
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IV |
12:00 - 20:00 |
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V |
12:00 - 20:00 |
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VI |
12:00 - 20:00 |
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VII |
12:00 - 20:00 |