Paris je t’aime (Part 1)

New York is killing me. Paris Je t’aime. As Alix mentioned I am gallivanting around Europe, recently in PARIS, below on PALAIS DE TOKYO. 

Palais de Tokyo has become a monstrously large space for contemporary art with two recently added raw and unpolished subterranean floors; channelling the warehouse or parking garage vibe.

An excellent setting for Tomas Hirchhorn’s “Flamme Eternelle,” a large DIY participatory exhibition in the form of a maze-like structure of stacked car tyres, throughout which a variation of seating arrangements often constructed with the help of brown tape and a bar can be found. Several large artificial camp-fires also help fill the space. With a semi-anarchistic set-up the exhibitions programming includes lecture series that staff sets up daily with walk-in lecturers, viewing stations for pirated DVDs, a library and the artist himself. When I said that the set-up reminded me of Occupy Wall Street Hirschhorn replied, “Occupy Wall Street has copied my aesthetic.”

The Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition also did well in the depths of Palais de Tokyo’s new space, illuminated only by the natural light of a few overhead windows the exhibition explores Sugimoto’s use of discarded materials in work which deals with re-creating different types of ritualistic objects and environments.

Ed Atkins work embodies a post-internet-era aesthetic. The artist explores the human condition when it is at its most vulnerable. His digital work explores depression, loneliness, and substance abuse through three projected loops of video accompanied by text.  Atkins and/or his collaborators expertly master the craft of film and the exhibition’s sound-system was incredible. It is a treat to see conceptually great video that also is well-crafted.

IMAGES: Ai Wei Wei, Tomas Hirschhorn x2 & Ed Atkins.

Read more about my summer in Paris:
Paris je t’aime Part 2
Paris je t’aime Part 3