Programme - Archive of Destruction

Archive of Destruction

Department for Conservation and Restoration

Nada Prlja Department for Conservation and Restoration Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia 2016–2024

Cambridge Piece

Barry Flanagan Cambridge Piece Cambridge, UK 1972

Study for a Pavilion

Tina O’Connell and Neal White Study for a Pavilion Askeaton, Ireland 2017

De Blauwe Golven

Peter Struycken De Blauwe Golven Arnhem, The Netherlands 1977

Elterwater Merz Barn

Kurt Schwitters Elterwater Merz Barn Cumbria, UK 1947

The James Joyce Tower in Bread

Marta Minujin The James Joyce Tower in Bread Dublin, Ireland 1980

300 Meters of Black Tape to Mourn a Public Square

Horacio Zabala 300 Meters of Black Tape to Mourn a Public Square Buenos Aires, Argentina 1972

Untitled Sculpture

Garth Evans Untitled Sculpture Cardiff, UK 1972

Madonnenfigur

Katharina Fritsch Madonnenfigur Münster, Germany 1987

13 Most Wanted Men

Andy Warhol 13 Most Wanted Men New York, USA 1964

Partially Buried Woodshed

Robert Smithson Partially Buried Woodshed Ohio, USA 1970

Enclosed

Amina Menia Enclosed Algiers, Algeria 2012

Ambit

Alison Wilding Ambit Sunderland, UK 1999–2002

Grande Cretto

Alberto Burri Grande Cretto Sicily, Italy 1985–2015

Pissed Off & Shoe Tree

David Hammons Pissed Off & Shoe Tree New York, USA 1981

Oscar Wilde’s Tomb

Jacob Epstein Oscar Wilde’s Tomb Paris, France 1912

Untitled (Flag 2)

Josephine Meckseper Untitled (Flag 2) Kansas, USA 2018

House

Rachel Whiteread House London, UK 1993

After-War

Kristina Norman After-War Tallinn, Estonia 2009

Orbital Reflector

Trevor Paglen Orbital Reflector Space 2019

A Series of Unexpected Incidents

Maja Bekan A Series of Unexpected Incidents Warsaw, Poland 2014–2017

Break Down

Michael Landy Break Down London, UK 2001

John Gerrard Western Flag Digital commission 2017

Untitled

Michael Asher Untitled Münster, Germany 1977

Homage to New York

Jean Tinguely Homage to New York New York, USA 1960

Scaffold

Sam Durant Scaffold Minneapolis, USA 2017

The List

Banu Cennetoğlu + UNITED for Intercultural Action The List Liverpool, UK 2018

Metro-Net, Transportable Subway Entrance

Martin Kippenberger Metro-Net, Transportable Subway Entrance Syros, Greece 1993–1997

Demolition of a Wooden House

Lara Almarcegui Demolition of a Wooden House Otwock, Poland 2011

Wrapped Reichstag

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Wrapped Reichstag Berlin, Germany 1971–1995

Time and Relative Dimensions in Space

Mark Wallinger Time and Relative Dimensions in Space Oxford, UK 2001

The Skoghall Konsthall

Alfredo Jaar The Skoghall Konsthall Skoghall, Sweden 2000

Boys Club Mural

Keith Haring Boys Club Mural New York, USA 1987

Palace Ruin

James Beckett Palace Ruin Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2016

Brussels Anti-Demolition Campaign

Olivia Hernaïz Brussels Anti-Demolition Campaign Brussels, Belgium 2012–2013

Restoration

Hew Locke Restoration Bristol, UK 2006

Heidelberg Project

Tyree Guyton Heidelberg Project Detroit, USA 1988

Marsh Ruins

Beverly Buchanan Marsh Ruins Georgia, USA 1981

Association of Friends of Angel Square

aapA Association of Friends of Angel Square Porto, Portugal 2007–2021

Ensacamento (Covering)

3Nós3 Ensacamento (Covering) São Paulo, Brazil 1979

Draped Seated Woman

Henry Moore Draped Seated Woman London, UK 1957

Skoob Tower Ceremonies

John Latham Skoob Tower Ceremonies Oxfordshire, UK 1964–1968

Outside the Wall

Yu Wen-Fu Outside the Wall Taipei, Taiwan 2009

Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue

Joanna Rajkowska Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue Warsaw, Poland 2002

SOLANGE

Katharina Cibulka SOLANGE Ljubljana, Slovenia 2021

Tilted Arc

Richard Serra Tilted Arc New York, USA 1981

How Ya Like Me Now?

David Hammons How Ya Like Me Now? Washington DC, USA 1989

Apollo Pavilion

Victor Pasmore Apollo Pavilion Durham, UK 1969

Prototype 180

Mary Ellen Carroll Prototype 180 Houston, USA 1999

The Books in Landscape Experiment

Avital Geva The Books in Landscape Experiment Messer, Palestine; Kibbutz Metzer, Israel 1972

Sketch for a Fountain

Nicole Eisenman Sketch for a Fountain Münster, Germany 2017

Flailing Trees

Gustav Metzger Flailing Trees Manchester, UK 2009

Window Blow-Out

Gordon Matta-Clark Window Blow-Out New York, USA 1976

Monument for Strangers and Refugees

Olu Oguibe Monument for Strangers and Refugees Kassel, Germany 2017

The Fountain: An art-technological-social drama

Maddie Leach The Fountain: An art-technological-social drama Lund, Sweden 2021–2024

full stop. Dot dot dot

Henry VIII’s Wives full stop. Dot dot dot Arbroath, UK 2014

Programme

New Archive of Destruction publication

4 October 2022

The first Archive of Destruction reader has been published!

Designed by the wonderful Daly & Lyon and launched at Flat Time House in October 2022, it is edited by curator and writer Jes Fernie.

It includes conversations, texts, stories, artworks, and pictures by artists, curators and writers, including Joe Namy, Marianne Wagner, Kasper König, Britta Peters, Vanessa Onwuemezi, Marysia Lewandowska, Horacio Zabala, Candice Purwin, and Joanna Rajkowska.

Copies cost £8 and all proceeds go to contributors’ fees for the next reader. Order here from Flat Time House. AoD is run by Jes Fernie on a voluntary basis – your orders are very much appreciated!

Everything Will Be Interrupted

14 July 2021 12–1pm Online Speakers: Eloise Hawser, Marysia Lewandowska, Vanessa Onwuemezi, Jes Fernie

The Archive of Destruction includes a series of commissioned essays by writers, artists, curators, and academics. For this event, Jes Fernie is joined by three of the contributors to discuss their response to archive, and the texts they have contributed.

Eloise Hawser is an artist living and working in London. Her Archive of Destruction text considers the bizarre story of the destruction of Giacomo Balla’s Futurist Suit in 1914. Designed to incite the Italian public to join the Nazis in pursuit of a violent, nationalist politics, the suit was torn to shreds by angry students and lecturers at Rome’s Institute for Civil Law.

Marysia Lewandowska is an artist living and working in London. She makes the case for acts of destruction to be embedded within public discourse, archives and collective memory, and for these modes of knowledge production to be openly accessible, exploratory and disruptive.

Vanessa Onwuemezi is a writer based in London. Destroyed in Love is an experimental reflection on time, colonial history, destruction and decreation, using the removal of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol as an evocative focal point.

Image: Giacomo Balla’s Futurist Suit, ca. 1913–1918.

A Series of Unexpected Incidents

22 June 2021 12–1pm Online Speakers: Maja Bekan, Kristina Norman, Jes Fernie

Many of the artworks in the Archive of Destruction are catalysts for conversations around political and environmental turmoil, social ills, colonial oppression, and institutional conservatism. For the first event of this series of talks, two of the artists whose work is in the archive present their projects and discuss the political, historic, and social contexts in which they were realised. Jes Fernie gives an overview of the Archive of Destruction.

Maja Bekan is a Serbian artist based in Rotterdam. Her project A Series of Unexpected Incidents (2014–2017) is a sleuth narrative about the disappearance of a public sculpture in a Warsaw housing estate in 1992. Working with local residents over a two-year period Bekan goes in search of the sculpture and unearths a story about fear, puritanism, and institutional interference.

Kristina Norman is an Estonian artist based in Tallinn. After-War (2009) is an exploration of the political tensions between Estonian nationalists and Russians in Tallinn, the Estonian capital. Her installation of a life-size golden replica of a contested World War II Red Army soldier in a public space leads to her arrest, protests, nation-wide TV coverage, the swift removal of the statue, and her participation in the 2009 Venice Biennial.