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The Beaver 05.02.2013
WOO!
Facts, Fiction and
T
Philosophy
o reveal the life of its theories, philosophy needs art. With this declaration Dr. Alex Voorhoeve encapsulates the essence of the current LSE Arts public exhibition Facts, Fiction and Philosophy. This compact and accessible exhibition explores the close intertwinement of philosophy with the arts, particularly the profound link between philosophical ideas and creative writing. It illustrates how complex theoretical questions of reality, human existence, freedom and morality have historically inspired some of humankind's greatest works of fiction, drama and poetry. The exhibition begins by taking you back to the ancient world and subsequently invites you to a journey through various philosophical and literary interconnections. 14 sizeable boards form the core of Facts, Fiction and Philosophy and present parallels between select
naturally. Sartre's prominent philosophical work Being and Nothingness offers a brilliant theory of being and is accompanied by his novel Nausea and plays such as Huis Clos or The Flies that bare striking insight into lived experience. Existentialist themes of relativity, absurdity and anxiety came to form the integral part of Ionesco, Stoppard or Becket's exploration of the human condition. Fiction, poetry and drama are compelling mediums for the exploration of changing social and moral attitudes. By placing the singular story within the larger context of human existence, fundamental questions of life are tackled. Facts, Fiction and Philosophy offers an intellectually stimulating insight into the medium of creative expression. The exhibition emphasises literature's profound portrayal of the human spirit and offers a comprehensive overview of the longstanding relationship between lit-
I
ABOVE Kate Moss in a wheelbarrow, 2012
V I S U A L philosophers and writers. Friedrich Nietzsche's proclamation of the death of God and moral bankruptcy in the 19th century, for example, provided for a climate of modernism that was to influence innumerable forthcoming literary works. George Bernard Shaw, a Nietzschean among playwrights (and founding member of LSE), set out to unveil the comfortable as uncomfortable in addressing moral, economic and political issues. Significance in shaping modernist thought may further be attributed to the work of French philosopher Henri Bergson, who colossally influenced literary giants, such as James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Henrik Ibsen and Virginia Woolf. In the existentialist writings of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus philosophy and literature further blend most
erature and philosophy and the latter's inevitable need for literary exemplification. Comments by academics, numerous illustrations, students' own poetic explorations of philosophical ideas and a short film will leave you inspired to go and read (more) literature. The displayed authors further include Plato and Thomas More, Baruch Spinoza, Goethe and Coleridge, Dostoevsky and the utilitarian thinkers, Martin Heidegger and Paul Celan, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Isaiah Berlin, Milan Kundera, Wittgenstein and Tom Stoppard.
B.
A R T S
BELOW Ed (Teller's son), 2010
did not know that I came across Juergen Teller‘s work earlier in my life: his
art photography accompanied by witty comments, both of which had a blunt sort of pep and punch, featured in a weekly controversial column in Germany‘s popular Die ZEIT magazine. Given free creative rein, Teller produced shots on his business travels and his free time which often provoked outcry amongst readers (I vividly remember my mother getting upset about the degree of nudity in his pictures published in such a respected magazine). Nudity does play a big role in his latest exhibition entitled Woo! at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London. Upon entering the main exhibition room the visitor will be greeted by three monumental photographs of the iconic British fashion designer Vivien Westwood posing without clothes upon an antique sofa decorated with a fading floral pattern. When the German photographer
took these pictures in 2009, Westwood was 68—inevitably, her body lacks the juvenile features of a teenage model, yet Teller manages to portray her in a magnificent and overwhelming manner. Westwood is not the only celebrity Teller has closely collaborated with—Kurt Cobain, Björk, Kate Moss (in a mucky old wheelbarrow) and Victoria Beckham (Teller somehow convinced her to climb into an enormous Chanel shopping bag and pose with only her legs visible) were among those who Teller managed to picture in the most unconventional poses and settings. Teller’s provocative interventions in celebrity portraiture subvert the conventional relationship of the artist and model. Whatever the setting, all his subjects collaborate in a way that allows for the most surprising poses and emotional intensity. Juergen Teller, one of the most influential photographers of his generation, could be described as the antithesis of conventional fashion photography seen most markedly in his campaigns for Marc Jacobs and Céline. However, it was not his (outstanding) fashion photography that struck me most as part of his manageably sized exhibition—but the numerous private shots of himself, animals, his family, forests and friends. Humour, self-mockery and emotional honesty thread much of his work —e.g. the images of his baby son in Motorhead Ed or Teller himself passed out in a plate of suckling piglet. A remarkable part of the exhibition is the Fox Reading room which has been turned into floor-to-ceiling fashion photographs pasted up from magazines interspersed with intimate pictures of his son getting a haircut, Vivien Westwood eating fruit and a dog in a public bin—frozen to death. It‘s the unique and exciting juxtaposition of Teller‘s photographs in each of the three exhibition rooms that reveals a lot about the his approach to photography and life in general: "I'm just producing work and I try to find channels where I can express myself," he says. "That can be a magazine, a book, a poster… whether it's art or photography I really don't care." The ICA is conveniently located near Trafalgar Square. If you have a spare minute and are in need of an amusing and inspirational break, go and see it—it‘s fun.
Katerine Maria Niedinger
Erika Arnold
Until 2 March 2013
Until 17 March 2013
ATRIUM GALLERY, OLD BUILDING
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART