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Art Basel Miami Beach

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For Art Nova, Art Basel Miami Beach 2011, gb agency will establish a mirror-like parallel between the two very different universes of Ryan Gander (1976, U.K.) and Pratchaya Phinthong (1974, THA), revolving around the manner they inscribe their work into a human economy and interconnectivity. The two artists use the existing framework of networks in order to circumvent and amplify their effects. Belonging to two very different cultural contexts, we will also stress on the fact that their thinking and production processes radically differ. Ryan Gander and Pratchaya Phinthong both draw in those sources and displace the stakes, while producing a differentiated and unique form.

Thus, Pratchaya Phinthong with Demonstrations, 2008 realises a performance in which the invigilator of an art space takes a fake banknote out of his pocket and presents it to any visitor willing to see it. If the history of this work is rooted in Thailand’s 2008 political and economical crisis (the populist party of Taksin, former prime minister, was paying with fake money the peasants demonstrating against the government in place), this act acquires an entirely different meaning in an exhibition space, thus becoming an artistic and performative gesture. In his work On Point, 2010, Ryan Gander produces a Hermes silk scarf prototype, the brand being iconic in the world of luxury goods market. The scarf, after being reworked

by the artist’s hand, is left on the floor, and becomes a forgotten object revived in a somewhat poetical way. Pratchaya Phinthong punctuates his practice by producing a series of Untitled paintings (however all of them are unique) reproducing exactly a blank canvas still under plastic wrapping, as sold in shops. Very much in the Thai tradition, the artist delegates the execution of the reproductions to copyists, an entirely conceptual gesture. The slogan of the brand “Artist Quality” refers to the clichés on the know-how of the artist, thus questioning his status.

In both cases, the artists fictionalize through detours, signs, instances of appearance and disappearance (inspired by popular English culture, for Ryan Gander, and by access to knowledge via Internet, for Pratchaya Phinthong), putting in use rumour phenomenons.