PASSPORT + ART
SANTIAGO SIERRA
PALABRA TAPADA at the VENICE BIENNALE 2003
SANTIAGO SIERRA
PALABRA TAPADA at the VENICE BIENNALE 2003
At the Venice Biennale's Spanish Pavillion, Sierra blocked off the words "Spain" off the Spanish Pavillion building. He also had security guards at the gate, only permitting visitors with a Spanish passport to enter. When the viewers entered the space, they were faced with were remnants of the exhibition from the previous year's exhibition.
Santiago Sierra's piece Palabra Tapada (meaning "covered word") was based on the idea that “national purity has always been a fantasy based on an imagined and necessarily ruined past” (Ratnam 291). Those permitted into the building found that once they entered, all that exists is the debris of a previous exhibition. This (non)installation related the idea that there is no longer any such thing as national purity.
"In the context of the biennial we are all playing at national pride, and I wanted to reveal that as the principal system of every pavilion. I had fun covering the word “España” on the facade of the building. In other situations I can play a bit with themes, but the biennial piece was already marked: it had to talk about the concept of the nation, of the representation of Spain, about the significance of those pavilions—because you can’t forget that the countries that participate in the Biennale are the most powerful ones in the world. I mean, there’s no pavilion for Ethiopia. So the theme was already a given. People have received it very well, although the Spanish press took it as a provocation, when it was simply a reflection."
"A nation is actually nothing; countries don’t exist. When astronauts went into space they did not see a line between France and Spain; France is not painted pink and Spain blue. They are political constructions, and what’s inside a construction? Whatever you want to put there. And in fact the pavilion wasn’t empty: there were leftovers there from previous shows. It was an act of respect to the history of the place. But the work was also the people who were passing by it. The piece was not the empty space but rather the situation."
- Sierra in an interview with Bomb magazine
Santiago Sierra's piece Palabra Tapada (meaning "covered word") was based on the idea that “national purity has always been a fantasy based on an imagined and necessarily ruined past” (Ratnam 291). Those permitted into the building found that once they entered, all that exists is the debris of a previous exhibition. This (non)installation related the idea that there is no longer any such thing as national purity.
"In the context of the biennial we are all playing at national pride, and I wanted to reveal that as the principal system of every pavilion. I had fun covering the word “España” on the facade of the building. In other situations I can play a bit with themes, but the biennial piece was already marked: it had to talk about the concept of the nation, of the representation of Spain, about the significance of those pavilions—because you can’t forget that the countries that participate in the Biennale are the most powerful ones in the world. I mean, there’s no pavilion for Ethiopia. So the theme was already a given. People have received it very well, although the Spanish press took it as a provocation, when it was simply a reflection."
"A nation is actually nothing; countries don’t exist. When astronauts went into space they did not see a line between France and Spain; France is not painted pink and Spain blue. They are political constructions, and what’s inside a construction? Whatever you want to put there. And in fact the pavilion wasn’t empty: there were leftovers there from previous shows. It was an act of respect to the history of the place. But the work was also the people who were passing by it. The piece was not the empty space but rather the situation."
- Sierra in an interview with Bomb magazine
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ALFREDO JARR
ONE MILLION FINNISH PASSPORTS 1995
"Tonight No Poetry Will Serve", is the title of the poem by the late American writer Adrienne Rich (1929-2012), an important source of inspiration for the artist.
“I strongly believe in the power of a single idea,” - Alfredo Jarr
In this piece, Jaar installed one million Finnish passports. Due to security reason, they were blocked off in glass, so people would not be able to steal it for fraud purposes. The passports were burned after the exhibit ended. This piece comments on the nationalism of FInland, as the context refers to the strict immigration policy that Finland has, only allowing a small number of people to become citizens. The one million passports represent the one million people that should have been citizens.
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NEW SOLVENIAN ART
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NEW SOLVENIAN ART
NSK, which stands for Neue Slowenische Kunst, or “New Slovenian Art” in German, is a Slovenian political-art organization. They are based on socialist ideas, with an emphasis is on the collective identity rather than the individual.
In 2012, NSK performed a passport making session at the Museum of Modern Art's Print Studio.
NSK was formed in 1984 when Slovenia was still a part of Yugoslavia. They began making work that recycled "past symbols, images and philosophical ideas, particularly those that have been used by governments or other institutions to accumulate and hold power".
NSK declared itself a state in time and spirit. NSK citizenship is granted by holding an NSK passport, which anyone can attain by submitting an application and paying a small fee. The thousands of NSK citizens live everywhere around the world, from Tai Pei to New York.
Although the state of NSK is supposed to be a more conceptual state rather than legal or physical, a number of Bosnians used the NSK passports to cross borders during the war in 1995. Also people who are seeking visas or wishing to migrate/flee, have attempted to use these passports for practical purposes, although they are not actual legal identification documents.
"That questionable ambiguity further underscores the complexities of nationalism in a strangely and increasingly interconnected world." - MOMA
"With the gravitas of these situations in mind, NSK’s presentation of passports speaks to the social and political weight placed on printed materials. The process of making printed documents such as passports creates a basis around which identities or collective membership can established. NSK passports act as a tangible symbol of the abstract concept of a nation or an identity. In addition to serving as tools for granting or denying access, passports, as physical manifestations of national identity, can inspire their holders to action." - MOMA
NSK WEBSITE AND FAQ
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KHALED JARRAR
STATE OF PALESTINE
Khaled Jarrar is a Palestinian artist who works with video, photography and performance. His work questions the problems around his native homeland, and also raises questions about the notion of home and belonging.
He created a passport stamp with the intention to declare the existence of a non-existent state. His stamp reads "the State of Palestine", challenging the Israeli border system. These stamps represent the independence of Palestinians while fighting the violent fragmentation of the Palestinian territory.
These stamps are not just a visual experimentation, but also an act of political activism. When you have this stamp stamped onto your passport pages, you are agreeing/supporting the artists' intention for Palestinian people.
In 2012, NSK performed a passport making session at the Museum of Modern Art's Print Studio.
NSK was formed in 1984 when Slovenia was still a part of Yugoslavia. They began making work that recycled "past symbols, images and philosophical ideas, particularly those that have been used by governments or other institutions to accumulate and hold power".
NSK declared itself a state in time and spirit. NSK citizenship is granted by holding an NSK passport, which anyone can attain by submitting an application and paying a small fee. The thousands of NSK citizens live everywhere around the world, from Tai Pei to New York.
Although the state of NSK is supposed to be a more conceptual state rather than legal or physical, a number of Bosnians used the NSK passports to cross borders during the war in 1995. Also people who are seeking visas or wishing to migrate/flee, have attempted to use these passports for practical purposes, although they are not actual legal identification documents.
"That questionable ambiguity further underscores the complexities of nationalism in a strangely and increasingly interconnected world." - MOMA
"With the gravitas of these situations in mind, NSK’s presentation of passports speaks to the social and political weight placed on printed materials. The process of making printed documents such as passports creates a basis around which identities or collective membership can established. NSK passports act as a tangible symbol of the abstract concept of a nation or an identity. In addition to serving as tools for granting or denying access, passports, as physical manifestations of national identity, can inspire their holders to action." - MOMA
NSK WEBSITE AND FAQ
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KHALED JARRAR
STATE OF PALESTINE
Khaled Jarrar is a Palestinian artist who works with video, photography and performance. His work questions the problems around his native homeland, and also raises questions about the notion of home and belonging.
He created a passport stamp with the intention to declare the existence of a non-existent state. His stamp reads "the State of Palestine", challenging the Israeli border system. These stamps represent the independence of Palestinians while fighting the violent fragmentation of the Palestinian territory.
These stamps are not just a visual experimentation, but also an act of political activism. When you have this stamp stamped onto your passport pages, you are agreeing/supporting the artists' intention for Palestinian people.
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JESSE CHUN
ON PAPER
Jesse Chun is a Korean artist based in New York. Her series On Paper explores notions of identity, homeland and mobility.
Drawing from her transcultural experience as an immigrant in multiple countries, she investigate bureaucratic travel identification documents to examine the ways in which our identities are validated across borders. She recontextualizes various passports’ watermarks into large-scale landscapes of boundless nature, by employing methods of appropriation, scanning, and digital manipulation. Chun transforms bureaucratic information to construct metaphors of our collective transit and identity.
JESSE CHUN
ON PAPER
Jesse Chun is a Korean artist based in New York. Her series On Paper explores notions of identity, homeland and mobility.
Drawing from her transcultural experience as an immigrant in multiple countries, she investigate bureaucratic travel identification documents to examine the ways in which our identities are validated across borders. She recontextualizes various passports’ watermarks into large-scale landscapes of boundless nature, by employing methods of appropriation, scanning, and digital manipulation. Chun transforms bureaucratic information to construct metaphors of our collective transit and identity.
Valid From Until is a book of 36 poems in 4 languages that are redacted from various immigration documents. All poems were created by a selective erasure of information, leaving all fonts, sizes and spacing in their original context.
CLICK to preview the pages from the book http://www.jessechun.com/valid-from-until
Jesse Chun's site
CLICK to preview the pages from the book http://www.jessechun.com/valid-from-until
Jesse Chun's site