Platform, which was founded in 2005, is the umbrella organisation comprising 19 FRAC’s spread all over France with the aim of making their collection accessible to a new and international public.
Against the background of the French chairmanship of the European Union, Platform sought contact with the IBK (Instituut voor Beeldende Kunst, now amalgamated with IAK (Initiatief Audio Visuele Kunsten) as BAM) to make the collections of this Fonds Régionaux d’Art Contemporain available to Flemish museums. The S.M.A.K. has opted for a selection of films and videos which, on the one hand, are closely linked to its own collection. On the other hand, we plan to show a series of videos we consider worth seeing. In various programme compilations spectators will be able to see varying combinations of films ranging from those that are thematically linked to those which are merely visually linked. The films/videos of Frac will not only be shown in cinemas. Work will also be spread throughout the museum and interwoven with the collection on display. A strong emphasis will lie on the performative character of many of the videos which include work by Francis Alÿs, a Belgian who lives in Mexico and attempts to find his place as a migrant in a country full of economic and social contrasts. ‘Dogs do not like white people.’ A short double performance by and with Robert Filliou and Monty Catsin is playfully simple and questions the status of the work of art and the art world. Language, as used by Marcel Broodthaers, is recognisable in this expressive juggling. Nevertheless Broodthaers himself created the language of his poetry. Abdel Abdessemed unravels the mystery of the woman wearing what appears to be a black burka. Everyone is equal in the eyes of the god and the camera. Wim Delvoye explores the outside of the inside with the significant title ‘Sybille II’. The rough landscape of the charming nose is subjected to the meticulous torment of the finger nail. Here too Delvoye reverts to Roman mythology in which the Sybille predicts the fall of Rome. The nose is the symbol of her vanity which caused her to reject Apollo’s favours. Pipilotti Rist’s ‘You called me Jacky’, based on a song by Kevin Coyne, shows us a colourful journey through recreated landscapes of cities, stations, fields and seas of fire. The strange colours and effects spring forth from a belief that like painting, video art has a certain coarseness and imperfection in it. In the months of October to December these and other films by Gillian Wearring, Matt Mullican, Thomas Barlyle, Ingrid Wildi, Bjorn Melhus for example, will be shown. This project is part of the event ‘Carte(s) Blanche(s). All Eyes on the FRACs, and vice versa’ coordinated by PLATFORM and is supported by the European cultural Season, organized during the French Presidency of the European Union (July 1st > December 31st, 2008). With the support of: ambassade de France en Belgique, Alliance Française, Ministère de la culture et de la communication (Délégation aux arts plastiques-DAP), Culturesfrance
