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Robert Breer

Press release

Robert Breer April 24 - May 29, 2004

The motorized sculptures of Robert Breer move extremely slowly, freely, and without logic. The pieces from the 1960's activate the surrounding space as well as structures the timeframe for the spectator. Consequently, the excessively slow movement provokes our memory; their presence becomes traces of recognition--creating an experience of 'deja vu'. Simultaneously, the sculptures' autonomy of action captures our attention. After the initial surprise, the spectator is left with the expectation of witnessing their actual journey and the changing of space. The pieces by Robert Breer acts on our perception, that of our bodies in relation to a physical space illustrates a precise instant: every moment has its memory. However, one cannot affirm that the sculptures are in fact kinetic: they only activate the surrounding space through the impression of their lack of movement; each piece isolates its own movement, in the same manner as that of the films by Robert Breer.

The work tests the thresholds of perception and challenges the limits of the definition of "sculpture". The absence of any pedestal and as a result of their movement, the rapport between the objects and the floor becomes an active space. The neutral colored geometric modules seem to melt into the surrounding architecture, assimilating into real-life situations. The works by Robert Breer inscribe quite paradoxically our visual field: while spatially independent, their timing seems to vary according to the circulation of the spectator.

We also present the artist's film What Goes Up?, 2003, whose multiple visual impacts consist of photograms, drawings, collages, sounds, video extracts as well as photographs. This work addresses all the questions the artist must face with his country, family, his life: all of life's cyclical journeys and unforseen collisions.

The exhibition confronts the lucidity of Robert Breer, his refusal of authority and his vision of a free and irreverent world. Formal, constructed, or conceptual categories are broke down as he reinvents our relationship to the world. One grand Float, 1970, by Robert Breer is presented in the exhibition "Genesis Sculpture" curated by Stéphanie Moisdon at Domaine Pommery, Reims, from May to October, 2004

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