{"id":3410,"date":"2001-09-09T13:02:42","date_gmt":"2001-09-09T11:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chv.ipd.mybluehost.me\/publicaties\/olympia-of-het-spoorloze-lichaam-van-johan-pas-2001\/"},"modified":"2021-09-10T12:35:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T10:35:08","slug":"300-olympia-of-het-spoorloze-lichaam-van-johan-pas","status":"publish","type":"publicaties","link":"https:\/\/pierremertens.be\/en\/publications\/300-olympia-of-het-spoorloze-lichaam-van-johan-pas\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympia, of het spoorloze lichaam van Johan Pas (2001)"},"content":{"rendered":"

OLYMPIA, OF HET SPOORLOZE LICHAAM VAN JOHAN PAS (2001)<\/h1>\n
\n

Olympia, or the disappearing body<\/h1>\n

(By Google Translate)<\/p>\n

Big words have many meanings. The name Olympia can, depending on the context conjure up images of the Olympic games, the legendary concert hall in Paris, the Riefenstahl documentary from 1936 of the same name or perhaps have associations with the actual saving scheme of Opel-Belgium.<\/p>\n

Art lovers will probably think of Eduard Manet\u2019s scandalous painting of 1863, office employees will see the famous brand of typewriters. This last association is the starting point in Pierre Mertens recent art integration project in the Plantijn College in Antwerp.<\/p>\n

During his exploration prior to this project the artist found stored in an old college building a rack of redundant typewriters. One of his first actions in the new college building was to transfer this rack of dust-free, packaged typewriters to the library. The outdated machines, once potent symbols of progress\u00a0\u00a0are thus reincarnated.\u00a0\u00a0The ungainly physical presence of these quiescent, pre-digital machines contrasts strikingly with the dynamic – and intangible – contemporary information medium.<\/p>\n

However the link with Manet is not too remote. When he exhibited his own Olympia this naked representation provoked a great scandal. Manet\u2019s self-willed combination of the centuries-old and respectable Venus theme with the representation of a modern prostitute resulted in an artistic short\u00a0\u00a0circuit. The undisguised physicality of Manet’\u00a0s model, Victorine Meurent shocked the public. The collision of two frames of reference – idealized tradition and crude reality- created confusion and\u00a0controversy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As a result of this tumult, the painter achieved the status of a modernistic pioneer, perhaps without\u00a0\u00a0aiming to do so.<\/p>\n

Manet\u2019s provocative confrontation of artificial idealism with natural realism\u00a0provides an interesting analogy with Pierre Mertens\u2019\u00a0\u00a0emphasis on the tension between \u2018the virtual\u2019 and \u2018the physical\u2019.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the classically-influenced citizen of the 19th<\/sup>century who was not ready for Manet\u2019s physical naturalism are we now witnessing the retreat\u00a0\u00a0of\u00a0physicality and the advance of virtual artificiality.<\/p>\n

In Manet\u2019s time modernity involved recognising the reality within that which was artificial.<\/p>\n

Today the main attribute of contemporary life is the infiltration of the artificial\u00a0\u00a0into\u00a0our physical perception of reality. This\u00a0reversal is probably the essential characteristic of post modernism.<\/p>\n

Not only is our relationship to physicality changing but also the perception of public space is in the process of evolving.\u00a0\u00a0When the city as a public environment was in full expansion Manet, Monet and\u00a0\u00a0other pioneers of the avant-garde created salons and alternative groups as their working space. Streets and squares\u00a0\u00a0of the 19th<\/sup>century metropolis were the domain of the academicians and the public space was\u00a0\u00a0filled with statues and monuments.\u00a0\u00a0Citizens of bronze, and marble virgins, embodied the communal ideals of technology and progress.<\/p>\n

Today the public environment, and the art exhibited therein,\u00a0\u00a0shows a reverse movement.\u00a0\u00a0The public space now extends into that non physical space, which constitutes the World Wide Web.
\nThe\u00a0\u00a0attitude of contemporary artists towards assignments in the public space is changing.<\/p>\n

Pierre Mertens approach is, in this light, exemplary.\u00a0\u00a0He has opted in this project not for a striking\u00a0\u00a0centrally placed physical sculpture,\u00a0\u00a0but has developed over more than a year a peripheral circuit of 12 artistic interventions.<\/p>\n

The function of the college as social and communicative space became the red line. Pierre Mertens\u2019 interventions interweave in various ways with students’ and staff usage of the building.\u00a0\u00a0Contrary to traditional attitudes towards public space,\u00a0\u00a0Pierre Mertens\u2019\u00a0\u00a0representations are not punctuation marks in\u00a0\u00a0the interpretation of the building, but are accents.<\/p>\n

At the same time the artist provides an inventory of traditional and\u00a0\u00a0current communication strategies.<\/p>\n

The written and spoken words, collected objects and images, selected and digitally – manipulated photographs, a screensaver and a public chat box as billboard, all form the heterogeneous elements of a subtle\u00a0\u00a0network of\u00a0\u00a0comprehension. Experience the tension between the feelings of the individual and the power of the masses.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The whole integration project can be viewed in a virtual walk on Internet or in the Cd-rom both of which were created as an invitation to the inauguration of the project.\u00a0From his seat the virtual visitor can visit the\u00a0\u00a0abandoned\u00a0Plantijn college. Effortless, noiseless and above all trackless. Like\u00a0\u00a0a phantom.<\/p>\n

Johan Pas<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1933,"template":"","class_list":["post-3410","publicaties","type-publicaties","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOlympia, of het spoorloze lichaam van Johan Pas (2001) - Pierre Mertens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/pierremertens.be\/en\/publications\/300-olympia-of-het-spoorloze-lichaam-van-johan-pas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Olympia, of het spoorloze lichaam van Johan Pas (2001) - Pierre Mertens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OLYMPIA, OF HET SPOORLOZE LICHAAM VAN JOHAN PAS (2001) Olympia, or the disappearing body (By Google Translate) Big words have many meanings. 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