feature il tempo del postino
from left: Matthew Barney, Hans Ulrich Obrist, tino Sehgal, Pierre Huyghe, Koo Jeong-A,
Philippe Parreno, Liam Gillick, ramdane touhami, rirkrit tiravanija
“it’s like being on a plane in 1978: you have one movie seen by Indeed, the duo were so convinced of the genius of their trapped-
all the passengers.” That’s artist-curator Philippe Parreno describing on-a-plane motif that the seats in their Manchester auditorium were
what it’s like to experience Il Tempo del Postino, a group show featuring decorated with aircraft-style headrest protectors, complete with an Il
a series of time-based artworks, co-curated with Hans Ulrich Obrist. Tempo del Postino logo (a black cross that looks like a stylised version of
And although it premiered in an ornate 2,000-seat opera house (as something Kazimir Malevich would have had hanging round his studio
part of this summer’s Manchester International Festival) rather than in the early days of Modernism) commissioned from Manchester’s
in the claustrophobic environment of a sealed jet plane, there’s no most famous design guru, Peter Saville. While the actual effect of
disguising the fact that it doesn’t sound like a particularly attractive this may have done more to give the impression that the auditorium
proposition. Not just because there’s something more than a little grim had been prepped by someone with a compulsive, if rather senseless,
about the thought of an exhibition inspired by the dark ages of inflight hygiene fetish, there was definitely a sense, as the show began, that you
entertainment; but also because Parreno appears to be invoking the wouldn’t be able to escape before the end of this journey without first
kind of setup – a group of people imprisoned on a plane with no way taking off your shoes and collecting a parachute.
out – that forms the basis of so many disaster movies. And once that Aeroplanes aside, the central conceit of Il Tempo del Postino
plane motif has popped out of his mouth, it’s hard not to be looking is this: ‘What if an exhibition was not about occupying space but
for Bruce Willis bumbling around a fuselage in a sweaty white vest or occupying time?’ And the show features a lineup of artists that would
Samuel L. Jackson strutting and swearing his way through a snake- cause most of the world’s curators to shudder with excitement and reach
filled cabin (“Enough is enough!” you imagine him saying, “I have had for a change of underwear (indeed, a glamorous gaggle of curators
it with these motherfucking artists on this motherfucking plane!”). But and dealers from around the world graced the premiere, creating an
while their similes may appear to be at best anachronistic and at worst atmosphere of suitably moist anticipation). On the bill were Doug
unappetising, Parreno and his co-conspirator are convinced that their Aitken, Matthew Barney with Jonathan Bepler, Tacita Dean, Trisha
production could radically alter the way we think about and define the Donnelly, Olafur Eliasson, Liam Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster,
term ‘exhibition’. Douglas Gordon, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Koo Jeong-A, Anri
Artreview 54
Manchester Final.indd 4 13/8/07 14:15:14
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