{"id":1553,"date":"2010-02-15T11:46:05","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T19:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp\/2010\/02\/isabelle_pauwels_-_art_as_a_de\/"},"modified":"2010-02-15T11:46:05","modified_gmt":"2010-02-15T19:46:05","slug":"isabelle_pauwels_-_art_as_a_de","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/2010\/02\/isabelle_pauwels_-_art_as_a_de.html","title":{"rendered":"Isabelle Pauwels – art as a default network"},"content":{"rendered":"

Default network<\/b> cognition<\/b>:<\/p>\n

It’s an
\ninterconnected and anatomically
\ndefined brain system that preferentially activates when individuals
\nfocus on internal tasks such as daydreaming, envisioning the future,
\nretrieving memories, and gauging others’ perspectives….Its subsystems
\ninclude part of the medial temporal lobe for memory, part of the medial
\nprefrontal cortex for mental simulations, and the posterior cingulate
\ncortex for integration, along with the adjacent precuneus and the
\nmedial, lateral and inferior parietal cortex….The default network has
\nbeen hypothesized to generate spontaneous thoughts during mind-wandering
\nand believed to be an essential component of creativity. (more<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\"isabellepausolider.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Vancouver
\nB.C.’s Isabelle
\nPauwels<\/a> is the first winner of the Brink
\nAward<\/a>. Administered by the Henry Gallery<\/a>, the Brink was conceived and funded by Seattle collectors\/art
\npatrons
\nJohn and Shari Behnke. It’s intended to offer encouragement to a Northwest artist who might be poised at the beginning of a substantial career. Besides the honor of it all, winners get $12,5000 and a solo exhibition at the Henry. Pauwels’ installation is now on view and titled, Incredibly, unbelievably\/ The complete ordered field. <\/i><\/p>\n

The title itself is unbelievable. If hers is an ordered field, chaos has competition. Her work appears tossed off – notebook entries, not novels. Instead of dipping into her subject matter – reality TV, talk shows, candid snapshots, family films and cultural documentaries – she lets it flow around her. Should she fashion a figure, it will have no spine. The viewer who is looking for a narrative thread can find it, but probably not without cue cards, otherwise known as background information.<\/p>\n

\"isabellepauwelsnote.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Pauwels:<\/p>\n

\n

My
\nwork attempts to interrupt the audience’s familiar reading of a genre in
\norder to alter its expectations of what content should do, and what its
\nreaction should be.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Born in Belgium herself, Pauwels’ grandparents were part of the last generation of that country’s colonials.<\/p>\n

A little history:<\/p>\n

\n

Belgium itself had only been independent since 1830, prior to that it was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. By the time independent Belgium might have been in a position to consider an overseas empire, major imperial powers
\nalready had the most economically promising territories for colonisation within their spheres of influence. Leopold II tried to interest his government in establishing colonies but it lacked the resources to develop the candidate territories and turned down his plans.
\nLeopold II <\/a>exploited the Congo for its natural rubber which was starting to become a valuable commodity. His regime in the Congo operated as a forced labour colony, with murder and mutilation as punishment for villagers who did not collect and supply the rubber quota they were given. It is estimated that millions of Congolese died during this time, although many of these could be attributed to the introduction of new diseases. (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

History, of course, is that nightmare from which Stephen Dedalus is unable to awake. Joseph Beuys confronted his Nazi past with personal myth. Unlike Beuys, Pauwels was not a direct participant in a time notable for its horror. Neither were her grandparents. They were post Leopold II – paternalists, not murderers. They existed in a still poisonous aftermath, and she was born long after that. If she doesn’t bring it up her connection to the colonial past, nobody else will.<\/p>\n

Her touch is so light, her subject is barely there. The gallery includes notes and fragments of notes, a grass hut with a flickering film inside, another stuttering film and other detritus. She can be unexpectedly funny. A series of postcards framed blank-side out feature only a line drawn as a cross, meant to separate the space between address and message. These crosses become a series of backs – victims of colonialism lined up and disappeared on postcards no one sent. <\/p>\n

\"isabellepauwellshut.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Salman
\nRushdie, from The Moor’s Last Sigh<\/i><\/b>:<\/p>\n

\n

The
\ntrouble with the English is their history happened overseas, so
\nthey don’t know what it means.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My first encounter with this installation triggered  an instinctive and stubborn hostility. Her work struck me as glib, coded in-group and embedded with a vast sense of its own entitled worth (how blind and ignorant be our detractors).  By the second and third visit, however, I began to lose faith in my reaction. I relaxed a little inside the mental default mode of her fragile vessel.<\/p>\n

Instead of purposefully seeking connections, I disengaged, slipping out of gear to see where viewer passivity might get me. In the end I got a kind of acceptance, an admiration for her truth to materials.  She promised no greater revelations. How close can we get to her grandparents? How close can we get to our own? For most of us, there’s nothing left besides romanticized anecdotes, a few photos, a letter or two; maybe a suit, a hat or a wedding ring. If her film stutters in its projection, so does memory’s.<\/p>\n

Ezra Pound, from Hugh Selwyn Mauberly<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

These fought, in any case,<\/span>
and some believing, pro domo, in
\nany case ..<\/span>
<\/span>
Some quick to arm,<\/span>
some for adventure,<\/span>
some
\nfrom fear of weakness,<\/span>
some from fear of censure,<\/span>
some for love of
\nslaughter, in imagination,<\/span>
learning later …<\/span>
<\/span>
some in fear,
\nlearning love of slaughter;<\/span>
Died some pro patria, non dulce non et
\ndecor” ..<\/span>
<\/span>
walked eye-deep in hell<\/span>
believing in old men’s lies,
\nthen unbelieving<\/span>
came home, home to a lie,<\/span>
home to many deceits,<\/span>
home
\nto old lies and new infamy;<\/span>
<\/span>
usury age-old and age-thick<\/span>
and
\nliars in public places.<\/span>
<\/span>
Daring as never before, wastage as never
\nbefore.<\/span>
Young blood and high blood  <\/span><\/font><\/a><\/span>
Fair
\ncheeks, and fine bodies;<\/span>
<\/span>
fortitude as never before <\/span>
<\/span>
frankness
\nas never before,<\/span>
disillusions as never told in the old days,<\/span>
hysterias,
\ntrench confessions,<\/span>
laughter out of dead bellies.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>
V. <\/span>
<\/span>
There
\ndied a myriad,<\/span>
And of the best, among them,<\/span>
For an old bitch gone
\nin the teeth,<\/span>
For a botched civilization.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\nBack to the Brink Award: The selection committee included Henry director
\nSylvia Wolf and
\ncurators Elizabeth Brown and Sara
\nKrajewski; Seattle artist Joe Park; Portland artist Harrell Fletcher;
\nVancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery director, Christina Ritchie; and
\nthe Behnkes.  <\/p>\n

Pauwels continues through May 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Default network cognition: It’s an interconnected and anatomically defined brain system that preferentially activates when individuals focus on internal tasks such as daydreaming, envisioning the future, retrieving memories, and gauging others’ perspectives….Its subsystems include part of the medial temporal lobe for memory, part of the medial prefrontal cortex for mental simulations, and the posterior cingulate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}