ART-PRESENTATION: Alexandre Singh -The School for Objects Criticized AE

Alexandre Singh examines the intellectual phenomena and commercial products of our consumer society through the lens of an ironic archaeology. His works consist of a blend of such diverse narratives genres as collage, the university lecture and Shakespearian drama. His work is characterized by a protean nature, evolving between writing, performance, collage, installation and sculpture.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Sprüth Magers Gallery Archive

Alexandre Singh presents his installation “The School for Objects Criticized AE” at Sprüth Magers Gallery in Berlin, earlier versions of which were exhibited at the New Museum (2010) and Palais de Tokyo (2011). The title references Molière’s one-act comedy “La Critique de l’École des Femmes” in which he brings to the stage the theater critics who had attacked his comedy “L’Ecole des Femmes” (1662), and roundly refutes them. At first it appears to be a theatrically-lit readymade installation in which the objects on display are presented on pedestals as important historic sculptures. The installation takes the form of a theatrical play in which the role of artwork and spectator are inverted. However, the theatrical atmosphere is not just for show, as it contributes to the narrative which appears to be “performed” by these inanimate characters/objects. At the exhibition space, each character/object starts “speaking” to the audience, spotlight shifts from one pedestal to another and explains which character/object is talking. Each object (a toaster, a bottle of bleach, two tape players, a sculpture, a slinky toy and taxidermic skunk) has his own personality, and even has established relationships with the others. Their discussion covers a wide range of topics, reflecting on art, criticism, creation, mass production, God, life, sex and death; which are basically all common topics related to the contemporary thought. As their conversation goes on, the characters occasionally mention an art installation that they saw recently, by an artist named Alexandre Singh, the exhibition the audience is currently viewing. The declarations of these characters/objects invite us to question our own discussions about art and culture. Alexandre Singh using the form of existentialist comedy, analyzes the art scene’s anti-intellectual and neo-Marxist currents, as well as its ambivalent power structures, bourgeois sense of complacency, and sometimes vacuous ambitions.

Info: Sprüth Magers Berlin, Oranienburger Strsse 18, Berlin, Duration: 30/4-25/6/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-17:00 (the play runs every hour), www.spruethmagers.com