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 Alenka Pirman:
The Ninth Coromandel
Exhibition, Public tour, Presentation, Discussion
SCCA Project Room, Metelkova 6, Ljubljana
Exhibition: October 28-December 16, 2009
Public tour: December 3, 2009 at 17.00
(with Petra Kapš)
Presentation: December 8, 2009 at 19.30
(first public presentation of the publication the Ultimate Word)
Discussion: December 8, 2009 at 20.00
(a panel discussion with experts on the work of Alenka Pirman)
 
 
 
Public tour / with Petra Kapš
December 3, at 17.00
The exhibition entitled The Ninth Coromandel inhabited the SCCA Project Room for almost a month and a half. Part of the audience came for work-related reasons, as the room was still functioning as a working, archival, library space (and for some other uses), while some came to see the exhibition. For me, as I was in a curatorial residency at MoKS in Estonia in November, the tour of the exhibition was a chance to prepare for the discussion and attune myself to the exhibition after being away for a month. I combined the tour with my project 'O' - reflections on art - the Lady with the Unicorn and the Lion, which, however, was only an exercise for the next step, where I examine oratorical practices and rhetorical models.
 
 
 
 
 
First public encounter with the publication the Ultimate Word
December 8, at 19.30
Visitors were seated in a circle and invited to participate in a reading of the Ultimate Word. Each person read for two minutes (three minutes were suggested, but this proved to be 'too long'); the word 'forward' was the sign for the next person to take over.
 An audio recording of the reading of the Ultimate Word.
(Thanks to Irena Pivka and radioCona for support and collaboration.)
 
 
 
The reading, which lasted 23'52'', created several impressions in my mind: from the cacophony of words, letters, sounds, meaning, stuttering and pauses, to the euphony of 'liberated' words.The noise created by the synchronised leafing of the newspaper the Ultimate Word, the rich rustling of freshly printed paper. The very synchronicity which occurred through the readers' focus on the sequence of words signified the intense embodiment of a collective, reading, auditory and moving ensemble.Words, which in the process of reading shift from established collocating patterns to a liberated concreteness, independent presence.The light finity of a simple algorithm, which in a newspaper article removed juxtaposed words, removed 'particular' meanings and established understanding of words, and released them. The poetic nature of the situation .the movements of readers .a para-language?
Having read the Ultimate Word,and we are now distributing 10,000 free copies - it needs to be continually proclaimed and spread. I recommend you read the newspaper the Ultimate Word on a daily basis.
 As a gift, Alenka Pirman presented the readers of the Ultimate Word with a small calendar for 2010 and an issue of the Ultimate Word which she printed herself. It is a very useful tool for revising words. A discussion with experts on the work of Alenka Pirman: Barbara Borčić, Petra Kapš, Božidar Zrinski
December 8, at 20.00
The discussion aimed to confront different interpretations and experiences of The Ninth Coromandel artworks. I sought to examine them from the point of view of folk culture and intellectualism. Folk culture is revealed through the presence of the number nine, the method of execution - beautifully crafted, or made on the DIY principle, counting-out methods (counting-out games), etc. Intellectualism with refined criticism, conciseness of thought, insightfulness, carefully considered execution and consistent selection of the final support media. In addition to these points of view, I highlighted the artefactual nature and the status of documents. Barbara Borčić prepared a remarkable contribution, which had also a performative character; but above all, her perspective revealed a complex referential field which helped shed light on the works. She talked about her experience with visitors to the exhibition, how she encouraged them in their 'search' for art to look around and research the place, and which work often remained unnoticed. In the interpretational part, she presented her own thoughts on the subjects and quoted other authors. She discussed the principle of 'practicing oneself', the 'suchness' of Roland Barthes, wittiness, playfulness, the irreplaceability of the 'pieces', as she herself refers to the exhibited works of art, and much more, which she hopes to publish someday. Božidar Zrinski talked about his first encounter with the exhibited artworks, how he did not realise at first that they were there in the SCCA Project Room, and highlighted the India project, and Anton Mahnič and India Coromandel in this respect.
Later, when the visitors were drawn into the discussion, the focus shifted to Alenka Pirman, who sat in the back during the talk and then slowly came to the forefront, not only as the subject of discussion, but as the persona grata of the whole event.
The discussion sought to focus the visitors' attention on thinking about the exhibition and works. However, above all, I invited guests to stress that in order for a discourse to emerge, different interpretations and theoretical trends have to be created, developed and nurtured. It is only through them, in the space in-between, among the frictions, that something emerges which enables complex discursiveness, which makes sense. This is also the opening impulse of the 'O' - reflections on art project, which was included in the exhibition in terms of production and context.
Petra Kapš
 
 
 
 
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