Remco Torenbosch

EUROPA

In the courtyard and glass pavilion of the GAMeC but also in several locations in the city of Bergamo, Remco Torenbosch presents a critical variety of situations and thoughts. The works are a reflection on the political and socio-economic changes to which Europe has recently been subjected. In this, Torenbosch investigates the language and manifestations through which a community and continent declares, represents, and questions itself through the consciousness of contemporary and historical references. Within this research, he tries to distil the situation as a return to a more human scale and perspective by underlining the importance of care and action.

Next to physical and non-physical works, this exhibition also contains several found places that can be seen as physiological places of Europe. These Places of thought invite the spectators to adopt a critical mentality to piece together the available information that has been given, and to create their own meaning on these places that are delivered to constantly changing circumstances.

EUROPA is the first solo exhibition in an Italian institution of the Dutch artist Remco Torenbosch. It is the result of a three-month residency in Bergamo for the project entitled The Blank Artist in Residence – Fondazione Banca Popolare di Bergamo, which has been conceived by the no-profit association The Blank in collaboration with GAMeC and the Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti of Bergamo and realized thanks to the support of Fondazione Banca Popolare di Bergamo, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Milan, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Rome.

European conceptualization in analytical philosophy on history and present (Public Library): The courtyard of the GAMeC has been transformed into a public library. It offers a selection of publications with topics spanning the concept of Europe from different angles and perspectives and could be considered as the brain of the exhibition. The library is an invitation to the spectator to relax, invest time and to immerge in this wealth of information, underlining the ability to use the institution as a platform for change, debate and protest. For the GAMeC, the installation has been adapted to the local Italian situation: the special selected books are partly about the Italian-European history and turn the courtyard into a place of open discussion and thought to rethink the critical point of the European and Italian social and economic condition.

European conceptualization in analytical philosophy on history and present (C): A European blue coloured banner is covering the message board on the outside wall of the GAMeC office building. This place, that normally serves the purpose of communicating practical information, is transformed into a self-referential mute monochrome, leaving the spectator in a defuse state of doubt. The European blue can be seen as a chroma key (blue-screen) colour to project one’s thoughts. The European blue was chosen by Arsène Heitz and Paul Lévy in 1955 for the Council of Europe (CoE). In 1985 the EU, which was then the European Economic Community (EEC), adopted it as its own colour at the opening of the European Parliament. The colour is not mentioned in the EU’s treaties; it was simply adopted during the European constitution, and is now formally in law.

Via Mercatorum: At the entrance of the GAMeC a subtle sound intervention is installed, playing the soundtrack of Via Mercatorum, that since the Middle Ages was an important trading route. This sound work is mentally connected to another part of the exhibition called Walking Manifesto (Via Mercatorum): a two-hour walk starts from Lonno (Nembro, Bergamo) crossing Via Mercatorum - and Salmezza (Nembro, Bergamo) and then goes back to Lonno. This work uses the act of walking as a starting point for collective thinking and speaking.

Places of thought: Governo ladro di futuro; Istruzione, lavoro, pensione a rischio di estinzione: On a metal separation wall in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, in front of the Bergamo train station, two lines have been written down by an anonymous writer with spray-paint. One line says: ‘Governo ladro di futuro’ (The Government is the thief of the future) and is written in red. The other line says: ‘Istruzione, lavoro, pensione a rischio di estinzione’ (education, employment, pension at risk of extinction) and is written in black. 3
Places of thought: Governo ladro di futuro; Istruzione, lavoro, pensione a rischio di estinzione

Places of thought: Arboretum: An arboretum is a collection of different types of trees that can be put together with the aim of gathering knowledge and equipment for forestry or nursery, with purely scientific or educational purposes. The term arboretum was first used in an English publication by John Claudius Loudon, The Gardener’s Magazine, in 1833. In Loudon’s Hints for Breathing Places for Metropolis published in 1829, he firstly referred to the idea of city planning that he later developed while travelling through Europe.

Financial Times, 2009 - 2012: The Financial Times newspaper, together with its iconic pink colour and iconic name, is used as a synonym for the critical economic time (Financial Time) in which we are living. The Pink Un is the name of the colour that has been used since 1893 to distinguish it from its competitors. The newspaper as an object can be seen as a time capsule and represents directly the socio-economic and political issues during the time the newspaper was published. In this case, the Financial Times that is focused on the economical wealth aspect of existence is now used as a window covering wallpaper to conceal the closed shops in Via Giacomo Quarenghi.

Caring: A group of plants is positioned in the apartment in Via Giacomo Quarenghi, where Remco Torenbosch lived for three months. Within this intervention, the passive object (in this case a group of plants) is turned into a social interaction between the artist, the spectator and the institution, forcing the individual who feels responsible to take care of it.

Turning Fontana del Tritone into a Wishing Well: Wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it is thought that any spoken wish will be granted. The idea that a wish will be granted came from the idea that water was home to deities or that its presence was a gift from the gods, since water is a source of life and, especially in the past, was often a scarce commodity. Remco Torenbosch officially turned the Fontana del Tritone (a fountain close to the economic district of Bergamo at the Piazza Dante Alighieri) into a wishing well.

Participants: Remco Torenbosch

GAMeC, Bergamo, Italy
Curated by Stefano Raimondi
June 14 — September 30, 2012

Within this exhibition Remco Torenbosch is showing components of his study on the concept of Europe entitled: European Conceptualization in analytical philosophy on history and present. The works that have emerged from this study are a reflection of the political, social and economic changes the European Union has undergone since the founding and the underlying accompanying utopian ideologies during the formation.

One element in this research is the creation of a collection fabric samples in the blue colour of the European flag, gathered in the countries of the European Union. With this collection of fabric samples Torenbosch is questioning if the collection can be ultimately considered as cultural objects and possibly can represent an ethnographic value as remnants from the various disappearing local textile industries, which results into wide social and economic changes. Within the colour differences between the fabric samples, this collection also underlines the European differences by country and it’s standard idea about the European blue. In the physical sense, the European blue colour functions as a monochrome within a modernist tradition with its purity laws, its longing for transcendence and an optimistic believe in the utopian potential. Simultaneously in a psychological sense the blue functions as a blue-screen (chroma key) where the broad and critical thoughts about Europe and the European Union can be projected, an idea that in both cases is a parallel to the so-called European collective thought.

The research European conceptualization in analytical philosophy on history and present started at the end of 2011. Components of this research are shown in the solo exhibition EUROPA at GAMeC - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bergamo, Italy. And in the group exhibition Autumn of Modernism curated by Lorenzo Benedetti and took place at De Vleeshal and at the Temporary Gallery in Cologne, Germany.