Speech and What Archive?

A Love Medicine Show, Cafe Pompier, for Evento Bordeaux

2011-09-22T18:40:00.002+02:00

This web site is currently being updated

Speech Objects #3, Musée de l'objet, Blois

2011-09-22T17:30:00.002+02:00

This web site is currently being updated
Launch of Medicine Show vinyl by Speech and What Archive and the presentation of SWA newspaper #1 at le Musée de l'objet, Blois

Speech and What Archive's Fabien Vallos presents a Specific Dinner with Jérémie Gaulin for edition #3 of Speech Objects

Medicine Show Avante Spectacle, La Ferme du Buisson

2011-07-17T17:22:00.004+02:00

this site is currently being updated

Speech and What Archive for Convivio

2011-07-02T18:32:00.001+02:00

this web site is being updated

Speech Objects #1, Musée de l'objet, Blois

2011-05-22T17:31:00.001+02:00

Installation of Speech and What Archive

Performance by Clémence de Montgolfier

Medicine Show Rotterdam

2011-02-19T15:26:00.002+01:00

Paola Pivi's GRRR JAMMING SQUEEK invites A Constructed World Medicine Show with Speech and What Archive in collaboration with Sculpture International Rotterdam. With special guests Steve Piccolo and Michele Robecchi.

Notes Toward a Sympathetic Approach

2011-01-04T19:24:00.001+01:00

From the first of these principles, namely the Law of Similarity, the magician infers that he can produce any effect he desires merely by imitating it: from the second he infers that whatever he does to a material object will affect equally the person with whom the object was once in contact, whether it formed part of his body or not. [...] Both [principles] assume that things act on each other at a distance through a secret sympathy, the impulse being transmitted from one to the other by means of what we may conceive as a kind of invisible ether.

-Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough

Why do I find it beneficial to invoke—within the context of a group of artists, writers and curators assembled to consider issues surrounding speech acts and their documentation—a Scottish anthropologist’s theorization of magical practice dating from the early 20th century? First of all, I want to say that my intention here is not to simply replace the word “magic” with the word “art” as a kind of analog for the agency of the art object (although, when considered as a kind of materialist practice, Frazer’s notion of “sympathetic magic” preserves the agency of individual actors within a broader system of exchange). Nor do I wish to substitute the word “artist” for “magician,” thereby reproducing notions of artist-as-shaman, possessed though some inexplicable power by the secrets of the natural world. This kind of mystification would be extremely dubious, especially given the collective work of the Speech and What Archive. Instead, I want to invoke sympathetic magic as a potential way to reconsider the hierarchies that we have inherited from narratives that set the truth of reality against the falsity of its representations.

Frazer’s theorization of sympathetic magic thinks a world in which images/objects do not represent the things they depict, but rather are understood to be valences of them, distributed through a spatiotemporal network of sympathy and contagion. In other words, rather than reduced to a false image or a “mere” representation, the sympathetic image/object (in its life as material and image), is thought to contain something of the thing itself. It seems to me that this is how sympathetic magic can be productive with respect to discussions of documentation. Because, although it accepts causal relations, it resists a strictly ontological understanding. That is, it does not privilege reality over its image, nor the original event over its documentation. Instead, it prefers to concern itself with processes of transmission and translation, material contexts, embodiment and affective response. It is in precisely this way that the notion of sympathetic magic can provide an alternative to the document’s evidentiary capacities and internal problematics of truth/falsity, past/present and subject/object. The same kind of operation can be described with regard to the archive’s function as a representative totality. Instead of exhibiting the anxious drive to record, represent and preserve the way something really was (whether it be a person, an event or an epoch), a sympathetic approach in fact anticipates a fundamental instability, contradiction and loss. Nothing is true, everything is real. As part of a shared space of not-knowing, it becomes a generative framework, relying on the continued articulation of a collective memory, a contagious and excited state of fragmentation and contact.

Matthew Rana

Paris, explaining eels to contemporary art

2010-11-16T17:09:00.004+01:00

On Friday Nov 12, A Constructed World invited Sébastien Pluot and Fabien Vallos (from SWA) and guest Sophie Auger to made a conversation about eating eels. This aperitivo event signified the end of 'Explaining contemporary art to live eels #6' an event curated by Pluot at Villa Arson earlier in the year.

London meeting

2010-10-13T13:35:00.018+02:00

Speech and What Archive met at One Marylebone in London on October 16 for a conversation about ...

Biennale de Belleville

2010-10-10T19:38:00.002+02:00

Speech and What Archive performed, read, spoke and sang in the Speakeasy Medicine Show, an ACW event, at the Biennale de Belleville on 9 October.

A Floating Conversation
Performance #31 & 32, Adam & Eve
COLD Trailer
Vespétro
The Gift of Nothing
Lenny Bruce Monologue
The Nice Choir

Belleville meeting

2010-10-10T10:00:00.007+02:00

Biennale de Belleville

The group met in Paris for four days. There was several meetings, rehearsals, two diners, and a night out in a bar of my neighborhood with lots of beer. It was good that even though we did'nt all knew each other, I felt that people sort of jumped in and accepted right away the presupposition of working in the context of the paper room event. It felt much more easy to speak together. Marie talked about common memory, which I guess is the reason why I am writing those words now. Anna talked about her editing projects, and about the kite that she had made in Bordeaux, and that had traveled to Melbourne the year before. Jesper talked about speaking to trees and to plants, the healing power of nature, and he had the project to take back in sweden with him a small tree from Paris that all of us could tell our faults and dark secrets to. Then in Sweden he would plant it in the ground to grow. I wonder if you can take a plant on a plane though. Matthew talked about performance and comedians, and Lenny Bruce of which he re-enacted bits of a performance he had once learned by heart. It was good to spend some time together an to make something together. I liked that other people were sort of connected to us in a way, as if we were part of a larger group. What I remember the most was the event itself, that seemed to fly by, and the tap dancing, and the singing. Especially the singing.
Clemence de Montgolfier

Speech and What Archive 2010

2010-10-01T19:31:00.007+02:00

After a number of informal meetings in Paris and Linköpings, Speech and What Archive has come together again to make their second series of meetings, events and exhibitions. The group is Marie Gautier, Anna Hess, Clémence de Montgolfier, Sébastien Pluot, Fabien Vallos, Etienne Bernard, Olivia Barrett, James Deutsher, Jesper Frilund, Yann Sérandour, Matthew Rana and ACW.

Melbourne Flottante Exhibition Documentation

2010-06-01T18:01:00.008+02:00

Melbourne Flottante
Y3K Gallery
Melbourne
April-May 2010

Speech and What Archive? Melbourne Flottante

2010-04-05T11:47:00.012+02:00

Opening Saturday the 10th of April from 18-20h

Speech and What Archive? began on a floating house on a river in Chatou at the invitation of A Constructed World. In Melbourne Flottante, we continue to consider what is kept and why it is kept, how things may be mapped, traced or stored, the possible shape and content of an archive, who may speak and what is kept unsaid, and generally what is privileged in culture so that it is available to the future.
The exhibition is composed of a presentation element, where objects that in some way act as archives will be exhibited at Y3K, and archive development, where the curators will work on methodologies of archiving and re-presentation for the duration of the show.

Speech and What Archive? Melbourne Flottante is curated by Marie Gautier and Anna Hess (Paris) and Liv Barrett and James Deutsher (Melbourne) with the support and counsel of A Constructed World.

Speech and What Archive is a project of A Constructed World. This project was made possible with funding and support from Vision Forum and Linköping University; CNEAI, Chatou; Social Practice MFA Program, CCA, San Francisco; and Villa Arson, Nice

Y3K
http://y3kgallery.blogspot.com
205 Young St.
Fitzroy
Melbourne
Australia
3065

Poster Project

2009-11-30T04:14:00.009+01:00

The next event of SWA will be sur la Maison Flottante/on the Floating House
Cneai Chatou Sunday 13 December 15h – 18h

Speech and What Archive present a moving, impulsive conversation by twenty-one people looking to find ways to say-what-we-want individually and in a group. What can be said? What will get kept?

a brownie, coffee and cakes, make some cakes, excited, prosecco, dancing is possible

it should have been me, BADLY ARCHIVED, temporary archives, unintended event, lost archive, No archive, burning all, we keep all, Compulsive hoarding, misunderstanding as a form of communication, from Gutenberg til now, hot pyjamas for winter, blackout, structural uncertainty, living archives, incomprehensible democracy, finding my female voice, Ö╖f ╨D}┐ ╜¼ .î ⌡Θ╗╒ 3╪/ε]Z!░|3ß)░√0é(A▓5₧^GT]é)╔YOÆ πÉâÖπ1╩ ▐V°Bv9p|╓┌ ─U=63YNT e£ ( WΓ”3╜0Ü ╝ Rq$+ :àαä2╞ü ΦO”1Pμ Æîë ╘!k º╖ù^╪┘╡ B: ─ 5 Ü ß Ω ╚ ∙ è ½ â 6 ü t ⌠ É l c ╜ 8 ª T ” ? ╕ A Ö¿B}>>╥PZÆòÄm NmU░^█é#«“▒ê█φ^¥╫┬ ▒╟, , To what extent can we trust history upon which our identities are based, Both adverse selection and moral hazards are key factors in designing efficient mechanisms to mitigate climate change, Billie Jean King, manipulated images, elvis greatest, image over text, green circle, be wary of the image, imperative for withdrawal, another person who was thinking about me, black disk folded, if it weren't for the prison we'd know we were in the prison, withdrawal, battery as a gift, suspended space, restriction and flow, take your place take your space, I have been told that it was not all about saving, what can be yet to come in a world that is absolutely full, the internet is like a disorganized archive, if everything were accessible the world would be an archive.

Posters by Speech and What Archive (ACW, Liv Barrett, Etienne Bernard, James Deutsher, Christelle Foucoulanche, Marie Gautier, Anna Hess, Marie Husson, Clémence de Montgolfier, Sébastien Pluot, Pelin Uran) and invited artists Amy Balkan, Malak Helmy, Lynne McCabe and Ruth Robbins, Allison Rowe, Ted Purves, Nancy Nowacek, Ann Schnake, Alex Wang, Fred Alvarado

San Francisco Conversation

2009-10-29T17:24:00.015+01:00

Speech and What Archive will be meeting in San Francisco for two weeks between 18 November and 1 December.
Events include:
Living Archives vernisage, Swell Gallery Graduate Centre SFAI, 19 November
SWA apartment meeting and dinner, cnr 15th St & De Haro, 20 November
SWA Workshop, California College of Art (CCA) Social Practice, 23 November
Living Archives Symposium, San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), 24 November
SWA Bar meeting, Pacific Heights, 24 November
SWA and Living Archives dinner, Bryant between 6th & 5th, 27 November
SWA Conversation, CCA Social Practice, 30 November
(Living Archives is a project of Sébastien Pluto and includes SWA's Clémence de Montgolfier)

Become a memeber of Speech and What Archive group on Facebook.

Paris conversation

2009-10-29T16:00:00.005+01:00

The next meeting of Speech and What Archive will be in Paris on Saturday 14 November, beginning at 3pm.
The adress is 21, rue de la Villette 75019
Metro: Jourdain (11), Pyrénées (11)
The front door code is: 4638
The office is on ground floor in front of the entrance (after the 3rd courtyard).
Name on the door: ADCEP/E3C

This meeting will involve:
a conversation
poster project update
individual and collaborative project update
dancing
eating and drinking

Use-value

2009-09-30T16:50:00.006+02:00

'the workshop seems to have shifted the way i look at objects and documents, i'm thinking about this in terms of what has neccessitated the production or existence of all these things...'

'The easygoing yet rigorous two days made me reflect on the things that I wished to articulate as opposed to the things that are expected of me by other people...'

'The workshop helped me to develop and to understand a bit more some questions. We have talked about exhaustion, the decrease of information, constraining energy, the feeling of saturation, the absence and refusal. These issues are very important to me...'
READ MORE

The Participants

2009-09-30T14:12:00.016+02:00

The Speech and What Archive? brings together a group of people from different backgrounds and levels of experience including professional, young and emerging art historians, curators and artists. They are A Constructed World: Geoff Lowe + Jacqueline Riva, Liv Barrett. Etienne Bernard, Benoît Bourreau, James Deutsher, Christelle Faucoulanche, Marie Gautier, Anna Hess, Marie Husson, Clémence De Montgolfier, Sébastien Pluot, Jean-François Robardet and Pelin Uran.

Workshop charts

2009-09-29T22:03:00.013+02:00

VIEW ALL WORKSHOP CHARTS INDIVIDUALLY CLICK HERE

Paris workshop

2009-09-18T18:58:00.014+02:00

The first workshop for Speech and What Archive? will be held aboard la maison flottante, Centre de l'estampe et de l'art imprimé, Chatou (Cneai). La maison flottante, a floating studio designed by the Bouroullec brothers, is situated on the river Seine next to the Cneai art centre, and is their floating residency atelier.

This three-day intensive workshop is for participants of the Speech and What Archive? research project exclusively. It will create an opportunity for the group to meet, eat together, to generate knowledge from within the group and identify objectives for collaborative and individual projects.

A Constructed World will design and facilitate the workshop, art historian and curator Sébastien Pluot will run the conversation 'Theoretical Heresay' and each member of the group will speak about interests related to speech and archive.

Dates and schedule:
Monday 21 September
13h lunch, 14h-18h afternoon session
Tuesday 22 September
11h-13h30 morning session, lunch, 14h30-18h afternoon session
Wednesday 23 September
13h lunch, 14h-18h afternoon session, 18h aperitivo, 20h dinner

Locations and directions:
Cneai,Chatou
Maison Levanneur, île des impressionnistes
78400 Chatou
RER A Rueil Malmaison
for further information contact acwprojects@gmail.com

Reader's Archive Projects

2009-09-14T17:34:00.009+02:00

Anecdote Archive
The Anecdote Archive is a compilation of short video recordings of word-of-mouth as an alternative to traditional documentation of ephemeral art projects and practices. Focusing on performances, situations, personal encounters, actions and other temporary events, the archive aims to register memorable experiences and their echoes. Anecdote Archive is recorded and organized by Joseph del Pesco

Living Archives
L’École des Beaux Arts d’Angers propose un programme de recherche théorique, d’expérimentation pratique, d’exposition, de performance et de publication : Living Archives. Son objectif est d’approfondir les connaissances sur les enjeux théoriques et les usages du document et de l’archive dans l’art contemporain, la musique, la danse et le cinéma. Programme réalisé par Bernard Calet, Gildas Guihaire, Sébastien Pluot et Raphael Zarka

Future Archive

Curating Degree Zero
Curating Degree Zero was launched to research, present and discuss changes in the practice of freelance curators, artist-curators, new-media curators and curatorial collaborations. Beginning in 1998 with a three-day symposium and an ensuing publication, the project now focuses on an expanding archive about these practices, which is touring as an exhibition, accompanied by a programme of live events and discussions

Archive Contracts
Ben Kinmont wrote these two contracts to preserve the purpose of the project archives. Not easily described by any one object, the projects often begin with an idea or question but include notes; sketches; research; sometimes contact with a curator; sometimes a publication; usually the involvement of strangers....

Chris Kraus with Martin Rumsby

2009-09-14T12:53:00.004+02:00

This link will take you to SPEECH web magazine and the interview with Chris Kraus. One part of the interview has been selected for your viewing, if you want to watch the entire interview select the other YouTube links. Go to

Reader's Reader

2009-09-13T16:34:00.010+02:00

AAAARG.ORG
*Log in to access texts

Michele Foucault, 'The Order of Things', Routledge London, 2002 edition
*See in particular the Preface and Part 1, Chapter 5, Classifying

Hal Foster, 'An Archival Impulse', October 110, Fall 2004, pp. 3-22

Hal Foster, 'Archives of Modern Art, October 99, Winter 2002, pp. 81-95

Hal Foster, 'The Archive Without Museums', October 77, Summer 1996, pp. 97-119

Charles Merewether, ed, 'The Archive', Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006

Pierre Nora, 'Between Memory and History Les Lieux de Memorie', Representations, No26 Spring 1989

'To be liberated is to pierce the future with a destructive gaze that vanquishes omens and exposes the future as nothing but an illusion. What can be yet to come in a world that is absolutely full, where everything that has ever been still is, and where everything that will ever be, is already here? Let the fire of love devour the future and past and deliver me into the jaws of a perpetual present.'
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, paraphrased in David Rattray's 'How I Became One of the Invisible', Semiotexte, 1992

Ana Balona de Oliveira, 'The Paradox of an Archive: The Anarchival-Archival Art of Thomas Hirschhorn '

Freud, 'A Note Upon The Mystic Writing Pad', 1925
For Freud, all means of mechanically supplementing the memory suffered from one of two drawbacks. Permanent means of recording, like paper, can only be written on once--they quickly become filled and need to be further supplemented. The alternative (eg: a chalk board) is infinitely receptive, but only if one erases the previous inscriptions. The Mystic Writing Pad, however, represented an admittedly imperfect but illuminating example of how the psyche itself records material.

R. Kennedy, 'Treasures From an Underground Trove', International Herald Tribune, Aug 18 2009

Jacques Derrida, 'Archive Fever, A Freudian Impression', University of Chicago Press, 1996

Okwui Enwezor, 'Archive Fever, Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art', International Center of Photography, New York, 2008

Speech and What Archive?

2009-03-17T13:17:00.029+01:00

Speech and What Archive?
A Constructed World (ACW) Paris based research project

This ACW research project will take place between Paris (FRA), Linköping (SWE), Melbourne (AUS), New York and San Francisco (USA).

Speech and What Archive? brings together experienced and emerging artists, curators, and art historians to make research and art works around what can be said and saved from a disorganised and confused present.

Participants will have access to institutional archives such as the CNEAI, Chatou, DOCVA, Milan, CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux, and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. While these archives are useful to understand diverse representations of history, what-we-can-say, what-is-saved and on-behalf-of-who is perhaps more the issue for artists, curators and contemporary art historians now. Personal, impulsive and idiosyncratic archives have the potential to make something unacknowledged become visible, to bring what is said and valued in private into the public. We might also consider the internet, the vector of all possible archives, as a link between the institutional and collective histories and as a site for research and dissemination.

Outcomes from this project will include a workshop, exhibitions, events and publications. The weblog Speech, an existing site for contemporary art discourse, will host video interviews and commentary. Speech has been directed mainly towards making an account of what wouldn’t normally be reported in the popular media or art press yet is often heard in conversations outside of exhibitions, in cafes and lounge rooms. For this project Speech will move between contemporary art and speech in the wider sense of what is allowed and what cannot be said — or, as 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes calls it, ‘flow and constraint’. The processes of this project; art works, ideas, texts and material generated from the workshop and events will be collected into a print publication produced by a number of the participants.

The project will develop in a non-linear way with the opportunity to work collaboratively, in clusters, or individually using different research methodologies across geographies that can image different audiences and publics. Using the internet, video, speech, writing and openness to any media we look to move between the space of the expert and the institution and private longings and desires that may help us form a better picture and account of what we collectively want.

SPEECH web magazine, founded by A Constructed World in 2005, includes reviews and commentary by experts and non-experts. See the following posts, and in particular reader’s comments, for the kinds of discussion often discouraged in the contemporary art press.
Lizzy Newman
Kain Picken and Pat Foster
How Free
Short ride in a fast machine