Page 38 - Horizon02

38 Peter Downsbrough Spaces on
scribes a a a similar positioning register and the relationship with the place as it it represents an accurate model from the front When work­ ing on
a a a a map the artist uses an objective tool and and and gives gives us and and and gives gives a a a a a a marked and and and anno­ tated space to read The map becomes index It is what it represents If you can orient the map it it proposes its distinctive routes of com­ munication and movement through the use of of the possibilities of of movements it it designs It is a a a kind of ’invitation to travel’ To the logic of contours shapes and lines imposed by the objective and formal writing of the map Pe­ ter Downsbrough adds a a sequence of words hooks and lines that offer the possibility of of a a a a dialogue or a a a a discourse with the map on
it it or or from it The map is »language for image image language — image« The use of maps hung on
the walls and called map map pieces appear in his retrospective exhibition at the Palais des Beaux­Arts in Brussels PO­ SITION (2003) Maps of Dijon and Salt Lake City are opposed in every way to any place of its formal organization: Salt Lake City sug­ gests the the new world with its level in the the form of highly structured network while Dijon sug­ gests a a a flexible and rounded writing sample These maps also evoke two different cultures both are made of words written in English and and French in in lines and and hooks that take po­ sition sometimes on
on
the the map other times times directly on
the wall The descriptive writing is superimposed on
the map here thanks to these distinctive elements the the pos­ sibility of a a a personal reading suggested by the perspective of putting in in in two cities reminis­ cent of two continents By imposing signs on
on
the map Downsbrough proposes a a a a narrative of the different spaces that are shown The plans and and then the the map and and plan plan sphere which have been used naturally in the space of the book since 1988 reflect his concerns with the concept of localization and move­ ment in the the space on
on
the the page and also on
on
a a a a a global scale The plan proposes a a a a a more di­ rect and specific approach to the location It allows us to draw a a a a a portrait of the city and therefore produce a a discourse about it Luis Marín says that »the plan of a a a a a city used to be called a a a a a a portrait« and »the portrait portrait the the plan of the the the city would be at the the the same time the the the trace of a a a a a past that persists and the structure of a a future to come« As for the plan sphere on
the the the books they mark the the the main dif­ ference in the relationship between scales A A A TALE OF THE SPACE BETWEEN whose title can be translated as »The history of the space between« tells a a a personal history A portion of of the plan sphere frames a a a piece of of the the world and also tells of the the gap between humans the absence and beyond space the space between This is is a a book in which the the volume is is displayed in the the geographical boundaries of a a a a clearly defined frame by the plan sphere which occupies the entire main deck Everything is is in in in distance and framing like an illustration of of the the location of of the the pro­ tagonists The book examines the concepts of time place and also the distance that separates one place from another The use Downsbrough makes of the plan spheres in his book MANY is is centred on
a more politi­ cal speech The book surprisingly up to date was published in 2004 The artist proposes a a a route using a a a colour map of the world cut up into different continents and countries –
ones which were part of the former USSR the United States Mexico Brazil Germany Argentina Africa Asia Japan The maps are circumscribed by a a framework ’like borders and and edges borders and and boundaries’ Differ­ ent ent fragments of maps are found repeatedly throughout the book reflected in a mirror or or following obverse / reverse Then the word HERE appears attached on
Iraq Downs­ brough offers through confrontation and contrast in parallel to establish a a a a a a a dialogue a a a a a a a reflection on
on
the world around us The photo­ graphs like the typographic elements such as filled squares fit the the vision vision and the the vision vision box and put »the representation in a a a a state of ex­ clusive presence« In this trip around the world Downsbrough paradoxically shows photographs with universal values gas sta­ tion tion port area ruins station — with no par­ ticular meaning then little little by little little the the image becomes more abstract and stretches into an orthogonal structure that recalls the pres­ ence of a a a grid The maps in MANY relate to those making up the series of of impressions of of inkjet in in which maps like the ones Jerusalem Washington or Baghdad associated with the words — — HERE SUBJECT AND — — and pro­ pose a a political speech In the work of Peter Downsbrough maps and drawings are framed works of art continents and con­ tent enclosed in fin a a a a confined space such as a a a a book or given in real space Annotated with words or or or lines of colour black or or or white situ­ ated in in parallel or or in in the the form of a a a a hook the the maps maintain expand and and develop a a a a a a dif­ ferent purpose to that originally posed by Downsbrough on
on
our our position and our our rela­ tionship with time and space Line Herbert-Arnaud
Louis Marin »Les voies de la carte« en Cartes et figures de de la terre Museo Nacional de de Arte Moderno Centro Georges Pompidou François Wahl »Le désir d’espace« in Cartes et figures de la terre op cit p p 41 Louis Marin »La ville dans sa carte et son portrait« artículo aparecido en Cahiers de l’École normale supérieure de Fontenay 30–31 1983 p 11–26 retomado en De la représentation colección Hautes­Etudes Gal­ limard Le Seuil Paris 1994 p 206 Ibid Louis Marin »Le cadre de la représentation et quelques-unes de de ses figures« en Art de de voir art de d de décrire II n° especial de d de Les Cah­ iers du Musée national d’art moderne 1988 p p 62–81 reanudado en en De la représentation op cit p p p 346 Este artículo supone la con­ tinuación de la conferencia pronunciada por Louis Marin en en el Centre Georges Pompidou el 19 19 de de diciembre de de 1987 Ibid the geographic map The originality of of the work of of Peter Downs- brough who develops an »open work« is within the parallel development of various artistic works that are synthetic and refined These works can take shape in in real space in in a a two dimensional medium or or in the form of films or or or sound recordings Historically the source of his art sculpture is is a a founding role in in his itinerary and can not be separated from the writing of his books which have been claimed to be both an an experimental field and a a a a full ex- pression of rights Downsbrough’s problems with sculpture were already outlined in in his first book Notes Notes on
on
on
location (1968) Notes Notes on
on
on
location II (1969) Both conceptualize the two pipes and two poles which offer a a a a real space a a position an indexing site The sculpture of Downsbrough since then has been stated in in its relationship with elements that are exter- nal It is work of phenomenological experi- ence ence of presence in the place and space that surrounds it it it and it it it acquires all its consistency in its relationship with the viewer or reader The artistic vocabulary developed by Downs- brough is essentially binary it has gradually been extended to lines and words Indexing the place of his presence is is enough to suggest a a a a a a book that unfolds and maintains a a a a a a privileged relationship with the the hosting space either two dimensional dimensional or three dimensional dimensional Downsbrough enters his work in space and makes us reflect on
on
complementary position­ ing notions and and circulation through maps and and drawings taken in in its role as an illustration of reality as as well as as tools fixed on
the wall or fragmented in the books The map is a a a sign »A map in my view immediately excites me me to to talk to to make a a a speech ( ) it shows things makes signs indicating the the thing that is there in front of me »this« »hoc « « The map as writing has its own language The cartogra­ pher who orders the elements offers a con­ ventional representation whose goal is to lo­ cate the actual elements more than represent them The main function of the the map comes into resonance with the original books written by Downsbrough in 1968 and 1969 Notes Notes on
on
on
on
location location and Notes Notes on
on
on
on
location location II published in 1972 and 1973 respectively Notes on
on
location proposes accurate informa­ tion on
on
space­time from the first page: 9 am 800 800 ASL nine o’clock in in in the morning and 800 800 feet high allowing an absolute positioning in in in time and space Then come the words place and location to which the opening words of the book Notes on
on
Location II: depart arrive and now all of them implying a a a movement The author’s concerns expressed in a a syn­ thetic but nonetheless evident way is very clearly associated with location and move­ ment Peter Downsbrough always uses topographical vocabulary in his books The map then completes the the process and in­
Peter Downsbrough artist born in New Jersey U S currently living in in Brussels Belgium