Ellen de Bruijne Projects

Falke Pisano’s diagrammatic works expose a loop, in which shifting abstract sculptural forms are conceived directly in relation to written and spoken language, implying an ongoing and morphing production of meaning. In the series “Figures of Speech” (2005-10), Pisano questions the nature of language and its relationship to the concrete object. The cycle “The Body in Crisis” (2011- 2014) consists of a series of inquiries looking at the body in situations of crisis as an ongoing event, addressing notions of distance, repetition and representation. “The Value in Mathematics” (2015-2016) asks questions concerning the relationship between the universal and particular; curricular versus cultural responsibility in education; and globalism and pluralism through the lens of logic, scientific research and abstraction-all of which are also pertinent issues in contemporary art.

For GRANPALAZZO the gallery is exhibiting from `the Body in Crisis` cycle, two iconic works; Structure for Distance (Obstacles), 2011, which consists of six horizontal black-and- white obstacles, looking and functioning as an index. The main organizing principle of the work is framing six events or occurrences that highlights a moment in history were the body is thrown into a state of crisis through a change in conditions (being institutional, hegemonic, administrative or physical changes):

Pergamon, 199, / Closed Body becoming Open Body;

Amsterdam, Europe and the Colonies, 1571 / Magic Body becoming Work-machine;

Paris, 1793 / III Body becoming Clinicopathological Body;

Madrid, 1988/ A national museum is established in a building that originally housed a state hospital;

Mons, 1915 / Work-machine becoming Dysfunctional War-machine;

Paris, 1974 / Becoming Body in Exile;

Houston, 1984 / Incarcerated Body becoming Outsourced Body.

The second work is the video: The Body in Crisis (Notes on Distance, Repetition and Representation), 2011, which acts as an archive, a collection of notes of Pisano’s investigative and performative approach, translated into images, text and the artist voice on video.