Curated by Laurie Cluitmans and Wijnand de Jonge. Opening 7:30 PM. Live reading starts at 8 pm sharp. Katrina Palmer / Under the Desk. Performance 8:15 PM sharp. Claire Makhlouf Carter / Demo De Fabriek. Exhibition open 8-9, 15-16 december 2012. Opening hours 1-5 pm. To: Wijnand de Jonge Subject: The scene changes to an empty room?? Sent: 2 July 2012, 18:19 Dear Wijnand, Hopefully this email finds you well. How is London? It was nice finally, although briefly, meeting over Skype and I am looking forward to start our collaboration at De Fabriek. It will be a challenge I think, to follow up on De Fabriek’s invitation. It feels a bit like a professional blind date. Yet at the same time it is an instruction for us (to en)act, perform, respond. It reminded me of the instruction works of the sixties and seventies: Bruce Nauman ordering himself to walk around in the studio in an exaggerated manner; Yoko Ono instructing to paint; John Cage enforcing a ‘silence’ composition. Consisting of simply written (or dictated) texts, outlining a set of conditions for the artist himself or someone else to follow, these instruction pieces realized the art object in its textual form. Sometimes leading to fabricated objects, executed performance, sometimes just a text. What intrigues me however, is thatthe instruction here is not just a tool for something else. It does not just dissolve the moment the instruction is enacted. Rather, it is an instigator for potential moments to follow.. If De Fabriek’s invitation is an instruction and blind date, it might be considered as one of Absolute Zero. Perhaps like a tabula rasa, a clean slate from where to start anew. So before anything, the scene changes to an empty room. But as with each clean slate, (and as modernism’s legacy has proven) it is never really clean, it is never really empty, it is never just a monochrome. References, histories (however small), or memories step in. Well, I’m looking forward to start or actually continue our dialogue and to invite other artists to join us at De Fabriek. Warmest from Istanbul, Laurie To: Laurie Cluitmans Subject: Re: The scene changes to an empty room?? Sent: 27 November 2012, 23:11 Dear Laurie, It was great seeing you at De Fabriek this morning. I am writing this email in the basement, in order to briefly escape the pressing matters of the exhibition space! And yes - it is very cold here too! However it gives me some time to reflect. You were right when you wrote that the premise of the show and its title The scene changes to an empty room, arose from our starting point, when we embarked on the project as perfect strangers, grappling with a gigantic blank canvas. The more time I spend in this place, the more I realize the assumption that this building would ever function as an empty shell was unfounded. Like many buildings, it is informed by its own history. Traces of art projects, politics, and parties, fill this seemingly empty space, and as for us, we never started this project from neutral standpoints. At this point in time, however, the title of the exhibition relates well to the transitional stage of the exhibition, where the past slowly moves into the contingent. Even though things might look somewhat fragmented at the moment, I am sure everything will fall into place. Beforehand, I had hoped that the show would precision and experimentation, and it looks like this may well happen. Here are some points that we should organize before the weekend; 1. Get a quote for the rental monitor (Paul will collect by car) 2. Make a hotel booking for Claire, Katrina and Rachel (for the 8st of December) 3. Send invites for the dinner party There is probably more to discuss, but I will call you tomorrow and see you on Monday. Best, W.