Un Cabinet de Curiosités, Part. 2 An exhibition of 10 Parisian artists Curated by Dr. Antoine Lefebvre
@ Undercurrent Projects, 215 E 5th Street, NYC, 10003 By Appointment only Opening 01/08 at 6pm
Fontaine Cuvier, Paris.
Proceeding from Anthony Huberman's seminal essay For the Blind Man in the Dark Room Looking for the Cat that isn't There, Lefebvre explores the reality of art as non-knowledge. Un Cabinet de Curiosités assembles a group of young, emerging Parisian artists who take a scientific approach to art-making. They work in the fields of economy, geometry, publishing, or social science, as well as the traditionally related disciplines of history or philosophy. These artists twist the way we usually view art, and create things that are not necessarily as they appear to be. These works are often strange, disorienting, and much more complicated than they initially appear. Taking his inspiration from the 19th century artist publisher and curator, Antoine Lefebvre brings to New York the work of the most brilliant minds he found in the French capital. Tied by both art and friendship, they are not necessarily all French, but they came to Paris to find what it is famous for: good food, wine, and artistic comradery. For Part 2, Antoine Lefebvre is now exhibiting his own Cabinet de Curiosités, including unique books, zines, and a camel tooth. He has teamed up with JaZon Frings, who presents his own body and gestures to the viewer as an interactive stock market. On taxonomy: "This passage quotes a ‘certain Chinese encyclopedia’ in which it is written that ‘animals are divided into: (a) belonging to the Emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) suckling pigs, (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, (j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, (l) et cetera, (m) having just broken the water pitcher, (n) that from a long way off look like flies’." Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, 1966.
Jazon Frings is an artist that operates under the identity of the JaZoN Ex. (JZX^), which he is the creator and president. JZX is a system of notions that express the current state of his life. He uses different mechanisms from the financial world to reinterpret not only the idea of value itself, but how we can create art using it. His work robs the economy of the question thought to be its exclusive domain: how to interpret value? He has created financial instruments never before seen that express the diversity of life’s experiences in all their complexity: monetary systems, stocks, investment funds, bonds, and more. In turn the concept of finance is re-thought opening greater perspectives than its current status of a playground for a select few. By putting into place his proper value systems he directly confronts the rational ideas of contemporary economics, when life’s absurdities become the crucial point for determining value, more doesn’t always have to be better than less. The aim of JaZoN’s work is to use value as expression, therefore each of his creations have their own value systems and regulations, plus most function in real time with an important place for public participation. www.jazonex.com www.zexchanges.com JaZoN Frings’s list of exhibited works : Z Love Hedge Fund, 4 framed certificates 50 x 70 cm each, unique Z-engraving on wood, 2014. 5000$ Z Moment, 2nd of June 2009 11:23:18 am, 20,5 x 30 cm, Handmade unique book, 2009. 3000$ Z Moment, 3rd of March 2009 10:32:26 am, 20,5 x 30 cm, Handmade unique book, 2009. 3000$ Zo Hot & Sexy mutual Fund, 27 “grade A” shares 21 x 29,7 cm, pigment prints, 2011. 2500$ Various certificates, 21 x 29,7 cm, pigment prints, different dates, edition of 5 each 300$ + the price of the share Antoine Lefebvre is an artist-publisher whose works explore all kinds of printed matter, from lithographs to ‘zines, with a consistent concern for language and its operation. He founded La Bibliothèque Fantastique in 2009 as a platform for artist books production and just presented a Ph.D. in Fine Arts at the Sorbonne, where he received his undergraduate degree. antoinelefebvre.net labibliothequefantastique.net Antoine Lefebvre’s list of exhibited works (from left to right) : 49 Drawings of Nothing, ink on paper, 24 x 35”, 2014. 2000$ Sharpie Triptych, sharpie on paper, 11 x 17”, 2015. 200$ An Hommage to Filliou, various material, 5 x 8,5 x 8,5 inches, 2015. 400$ Portrait de l'artiste en éditeur, L'édition comme pratique artistique alternative (dissertation), 4 laser printed volumes in a silkscreened cardboard case, 2,25 x 8,25 x 11,75”, 2014. 200$ Livre (livre, page, texte, mot, lettre, langage, art, tautologie, erreur, métonymie), 10 lithographed volumes in a cardboard laser printed case, 4,5. x 5,5 x 8”, 2007. 1200$ Hommage to the Third International, 12 inches diameter, 2008. 800$ Il est amusant de prendre le train pour les petites villes, offset and laser print, 6 x 6”, 2013. 1$ When Nothing is Done Nothing is Left Undone, laser print and letterpress, 8,5 x 7”, 2014. 10$ Books of La Bibliothèque Fantastique, laser print, 8,5 x 5,5”, 2008-2013. 5/10$ Untitled, laser print, 4,5 x 7,25”, 2013. 10/30$ Le carré #9, offset, 6 x 6”, 2013. 1$ I can't breathe (Eric Garner), laser print, 8,5 x 7”, 2015. Pay as you wish
