In 1926, Brâncuși's sculpture called "Bird in Space", left Paris to be exhibited in New York for a show curated by Marcel Duchamp. When the piece arrived at the harbour, it wasn't art anymore, but an utilitarian object. The US Customs, more used to assessing goods than appreciating modern art, decided this so-called-bird-that-didn't-look-like-a-bird, was not an artwork but belonged to the "Kitchen Utensils and Hospital Supplies" category. Because of this decision, the import taxes went from zero to the hundreds. Brâncuși fought this decision at a trial against the United States of America and won in 1928. The trial changed the perception of modern art as the frontier had, first, changed its nature and then, determined its value.

Almost a century after, made-man boundaries - be they political, technological, sociological, ... - have changed a lot and these new lines draw new geometries. Trying to define what a boundary is leads to more questions than answers. Is it a line which separates in time and space or is it the infinite variations of this line through space and time? Is it the tangible area around that abstract line, where interactions appear? Is it the place where transformations occur: where what a state is, becomes something else? Is it a true moment or a non-place? It is something we don't think about until we have experienced it.

With bitter-sweet poetry or brutal eloquence, the artists presenting in this exhibition guide us into this complexity. Their works explore the notion and the tension of boundaries by revealing their materiality and questioning the phenomena of possession/dispossession they induce.

- Stephanie Vidal, Curator

Participating Artists:
Caroline Delieutraz, an artist who explores the Internet to observe the interactions between humans and online images. www.delieutraz.net
Enora Denis, an artist who seeks the visual codes born of the information-and-attention age in order to hack them. www.enoradenis.fr
Marie-Luce Nadal, an artist who is fascinated by the human will to control the weather with science, magic or both. www.marielucenadal.com
Géraud Soulhiol, an artist who creates precious and closed worlds, often spherical, within a work always in progress. www.geraudsoulhiol.com

DOCUMENTATION

A documentation of the exhibition is included in the BCC Channel Episode 4 called Power, Fear and Information. Just click on play : )