Carsten Höller- jack-of-all-trades
The artist Carsten Höller (1961, Brussels) has undertaken biological research into the way plants and insects communicate with each other, has organised festivals of Congolese music and has investigated the hallucinatory properties of mushrooms. His work also takes a variety of forms: sculpture, painting, video and installation. Because Höller does not master all the disciplines, he regularly involves other artists and studios to execute the work for him. Many of his works confuse the senses. The artist tries to disturb the spectator’s equilibrium by using flickering light and subtly moving spaces. Carsten Höller exhibited in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (6 February to 25 April 2010).
Maurizio Cattelan: a striking portrait
Maurizio Cattelan (1960) made this self-portrait in 2002. A hole was made in the floor of the museum hall specially for this installation. With this, Cattelan breaks down the foundations of the museum, both literally and figuratively. The artist enjoys making fun of the museum as an institution. His works explore the borders between legal and illegal, responsible and immoral. In 2002, he exhibited a kneeling figure in Museum Boijmans van Beuningen of Hitler praying. This gave rise to enormous controversy: exactly Cattelan’s intention.
A Babel-like confusion of tongues
This painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder from 1565 tells the story of the Tower of Babel. This story from the Bible can be found in Genesis 11:1-9. A tower of bricks and mortar was built in a city in the land of Shinar. The builders had a dream to build a tower so high that it would reach to the heavens. God condemned these vain plans and disrupted the construction. What had been one people with one language was changed by God’s intervention into countless nations spread out over the world, each speaking its own language. From then onwards, the different nations spoke to each other in a Babel-like confusion of tongues. A contemporary theme in an old jacket, for language barriers and cultural differences are still a topic today.
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen is producing its own television series together with RTV Rijnmond, Popov film and RO Theater . In Boijmans TV, the museum building provides a changing backdrop for three main characters: a major work from the collection, a high profile artist exhibiting in Boijmans museum and a museum visitor who has the illusion of being in a different world.
The series is being broadcast weekly from 14 April 2010 by the regional television station RTV Rijnmond.
Boijmans TV has been developed with support from the VSBfund, partner in education to Museum Boijmans van Beuningen.