Married by Powers (with Frac Nord-Pas de Calais)
Married by Powers explores the nature of museum collections through the lens of Gustave Flaubert’s Bouvard and Pécuchet, where two obsessive collectors amass objects ranging from menhirs to pharmacy pestles, attributing universal meaning to them. Their museum becomes a phallic symbol of control, yet it ultimately reflects the absurdity of trying to represent the entire universe through fragmented artifacts. When confronted, the collectors shrug off objections, embodying the delusion that their collection constitutes a coherent worldview. They argue that museums sustain themselves through the fiction that their disparate items form a meaningful whole, when in reality they are often just a bric-a-brac of valueless fragments substituting for deeper representation.
Invited to work with the collection of FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais, Bik Van der Pol approached the task with a critical eye toward cultural production. They view museum collections not as static treasures but as tools with potential for social resistance or commercial exploitation.
Their perspective aligns with the idea that collections are “activated” and “revitalized” only when taken into operation, transforming them from dormant storage into “working papers” at large that influence vision and perception.
Married by Powers revealed the hidden aspects of collections: transport, storage, presentation, documentation, mediation, and personal interpretation. It aimed to create a “literal tank” of cultural production, where objects become active participants in shaping contemporary understanding.
Invited to work with the collection of FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais, Bik Van der Pol approached the task with a critical eye toward cultural production. They view museum collections not as static treasures but as tools with potential for social resistance or commercial exploitation.
Their perspective aligns with the idea that collections are “activated” and “revitalized” only when taken into operation, transforming them from dormant storage into “working papers” at large that influence vision and perception.
Married by Powers revealed the hidden aspects of collections: transport, storage, presentation, documentation, mediation, and personal interpretation. It aimed to create a “literal tank” of cultural production, where objects become active participants in shaping contemporary understanding.
Married by Powers (with Frac Nord-Pas de Calais)
Married by Powers featured around 150 works by 73 different artists, selected based on criteria such as widespread recognition and the ability to spark dialogue. Van der Pol sought works that aroused personal dialogue between them, and that they were eager to see in real life, sometimes having only known them through media images or stories.
Some practical constraints limited their choices: when works were unavailable due to concurrent exhibitions, or too large or complex to transport or install. Also, the total exhibition length was limited to 30 days. This highlighted the tension between the theoretical unlimitedness of a collection and the logistical realities of curation.
Bik van der Pol also invited nine partners, all young colleagues, active in the wider art world. They – the cultural creators of tomorrow –made a selection from the 150 works and were asked to motivate their choices. Each selection is exhibited over three days, resulting in nine individual exhibitions.
Some pieces are shown more frequently, in a different context and certainly with a different rationale.
Their motivations have been recorded on video and shown, creating an ever-expanding discursive ‘shadow collection’ that engages in dialogue with the collection as a whole on display in the storage, whilst creating links with the exhibited selections that constantly changing each three days.
Some practical constraints limited their choices: when works were unavailable due to concurrent exhibitions, or too large or complex to transport or install. Also, the total exhibition length was limited to 30 days. This highlighted the tension between the theoretical unlimitedness of a collection and the logistical realities of curation.
Bik van der Pol also invited nine partners, all young colleagues, active in the wider art world. They – the cultural creators of tomorrow –made a selection from the 150 works and were asked to motivate their choices. Each selection is exhibited over three days, resulting in nine individual exhibitions.
Some pieces are shown more frequently, in a different context and certainly with a different rationale.
Their motivations have been recorded on video and shown, creating an ever-expanding discursive ‘shadow collection’ that engages in dialogue with the collection as a whole on display in the storage, whilst creating links with the exhibited selections that constantly changing each three days.
