6^a MOSTRA [2^o SIMPOSIO] settembre - ottobre 2009

Missive Humor, or Contours of Place

This second simposio exhibit, utilizing an excerpt from Alessandro Baricco's Ocean Sea as thematic underpinning, was dedicated to humor, happiness, winsomeness and wit, if not also a fair amount of ultimately mirthful sadness. From the scores of postcards sent in from all over the world, to the brief simposio reading assignment, to Didier Clain's exhibit-breaching and exhibit-binding installation Regenbogenfarbenflug 69 Crashes Down in Berlin, to the world map that delimited the geographical parameters of all those elements, this show was quite entirely about ups and downs, sharing and spreading, contagions and contours – physical, emotional, metaphorical and otherwise.

PDFs of the resultant simposio packet, featuring an extensive list of all contributors, collaborators and points of postal origin, are available free upon request.

(Note: The photos below are an attempt to trace the trajectory, or rather the 'contours,' of the exhibit. The 200 or so postcards and other missives were sent in by more people than this space will allow me to list. The multicolored airplanes winding through the postcards are the installation by Didier Clain. The installation's starting point is the plane at the bottom right corner of the first photo. Its terminal point is the final pink plane. Following the black & white image are photos from the opening.)