Exhibition: El Hotel Eléctrico – Rooms available
M HKA, Antwerp
21 February 2014 - 11 May 2014
©M HKA
What was lost when animation entered the field of cinema, and subjected itself to strict cinematic parameters? El Hotel Eléctrico went looking for the potential of animation in its earliest stages, when this innovative artistic method was not constrained by the conventions and the industrial approach as a mass medium.
When we try to understand animation as a form of art, the question arises as to what animation can be. Where can we find animation, other than in the playing field of a traditional screen? Where and how can animation manifest differently?
When animation leaves the measured framework of the film screen to crop up in the white gallery, artists and museums no longer just offer the visitor something to look at, but they situate it in a space that requires exploring. El Hotel Eléctrico was not so much conceived as a group exhibition, but rather as a visual essay, a space-bound experience. More than a mere cinematic practice, animation was understood here in wide sense, like entering a force field: manipulating intervals, not only of film frames themselves, but also between images and objects in a 'staged' space.
Much like a hotel, a museum is a place where every visitor, by definition, is a temporary guest. The tension between public and private, between neutral interiors and custom objects, between waking and sleeping, between work and dreams, made for a playful contrast in the design of each zone or 'room' at El Hotel Eléctrico.
El Hotel Eléctrico alternated between merry and macabre, monochrome and brightly-coloured, and magical and secret framework for work by Robert Breer, David Claerbout, Robert Devriendt, Léon Foucault, Sara van der Heide, Pierre Huyghe, Katrin Kamrau, Julien Maire, Anthony McCall, Lars Morell, Matt Mullican, Philip Newcombe, Honoré d’O, Roman Ondák, Cornelia Parker, Philippe Parreno, Bart Prinsen, The Quay Brothers, Yann Sérandour, Tommy Simoens, Michael Snow, Clare Strand, Javier Téllez and Luc Tuymans.
Media
>More information on the concept of the exhibition? Click here for the text 'animation beyond animation - a media-archaeological approach' by Edwin Carels (curator El Hotel Eléctrico).
>Read also: "Spaces of Wonder: Animation and Museology" by Edwin Carels.
>Campaign image
WorksShow artists
> Robert Breer, A Man and his Dog Out for Air, 1957. Drawing, paper.
> Robert Breer, Floats, 1965-2009. Installation, variable dimensions.
> Robert Breer, Recreation, 1977. Mixed Media, kodachrome 35 mm film, plexi, 97 x 192 cm.
> Luc Tuymans, Wiedergutmachung, 1989. Drawing, watercolour, paper, 84 x 57 cm.
> David Claerbout, Fitness, lichte oefeningen, 1995-2014. Print, ink, paper, 5 x (40 x 60) + (30 x 40) cm.
> Pierre Huyghe & Philippe Parreno, ANNLEE PROJECT, 1999. Installation.
> Roman Ondák, Sans titre (Empty Gallery), 2000. Drawing, 24 frames, 400 x 250 cm.
> Michael Snow, Couple, 2001. Video, dvd, 02:45 min.
> Matt Mullican, [Untitled] (Animated Fictional Details: Dying Stick Figure), 2002. Video, dvd, 32 sec.
> Cornelia Parker, Rorschach (Accidental I), 2005. Object, 52 silver plated objects crushed by a 250 ton metal press, 1.9 x 219.9 x 236.2 cm.
> Robert Breer, Panorama 1, 2005. Object, mixed media, 700 x 40 x 20 cm.
> Tommy Simoens, [Untitled I] (WTWTA), 2006. Print, digital print, silver foil, 1000 x 750 mm.
> Anthony McCall, Between You and I, 2006. Installation, computer, digital file, video projector, haze machine, double projector, 32:45 min., 1200 x 1000 x 1700 cm.
> Luc Tuymans, Simulation, 2007-2014. Painting, wall painting (temporary), 403 x 600 cm.
> Yann Sérandour, Complet, 2007. Object, neon, 50 x 80 x 5.5 cm.
> Yann Sérandour, Perfect Lovers, 2008. Poster, framed poster, 82 x 59.5 x 5 cm.
> Yann Sérandour, Inside the White Cube (Hond M HKA editie) , 2008-2014. Object, books, 21 x 21 x 21 cm.
> Bart Prinsen, Denkbeeld voor een restruimte (iets voor onderweg), 2009-2013. Installation, wire installation, stad: 760 x 41 x 80 cm, bouwput: 540 x 270 x 80 cm.
> Javier Téllez, Snow White doesn't live here anymore, 2010. Mixed Media, variable dimensions.
> Philip Newcombe, Beach ball filled with air from the lungs of a dying man, 2010. Object, ball, object to expire over time, ø 60 cm.
> Robert Devriendt, Le rendez-vous fatal, 2010-2011. Painting, oil, canvas, 8 x 9 cm, 19 x 10 cm, 7 x 13 cm, 7 x 10 cm.
> Honoré δ'O, - If Language Substitutes the Title -, 2011-2013. Installation, pvc, mixed media, variable dimensions.
> Sara van der Heide, Art History, 2011. Installation, 2 x 80 slides, 21:00 min.
> Lars Morell, Ink on Paper, 2012. Print, shapecut diasec photo's, 7 x (210 x 140 x 2.5 cm).
> Lars Morell, Silent Codes, 2012. Sculpture, bronze, 140 x 110 x 160 cm.
> Katrin Kamrau, Spektrum*Shelf , 2013. Installation, 6 shelves and pictures.
> Clare Strand, 75 Indicative Images, 2013. Photography, 75 small frames with news paper images.
> Julien Maire, Reading Back, 2013. Object, 3 automatic reading machines, stepper motors, electronic drivers and mechanism and 3 books with original drawings, 70 x 55 x 60 cm.
> Quay Brothers, RE-ENACTMENTS, This Comb Does Not Work at Random (Hommage à Segundo de Chomón) El Hotel Electrico 1908, 2014, 2014. Installation, wood, card, 70 x 60 x 30 cm.
> Léon Foucault, Turbine rotating mirror, engine recorder, cogwheel mechanism, mirrors and supports used by Léon Foucault. Other.