The third episode of the Parisian trilogy of dreams: Philippe Parreno at the Palais de Tokyo

The third episode of the trilogy about dreams currently on show in Paris is the epic Philippe Parreno’s retrospective at the Palais de Tokyo (until January, 12^th). If compared to episode one (Pierre Huyghe’s retrospective at the Centre Pompidou) and episode two (Renaissance and dreams at the Musée du Luxembourg) this third one is certainly the most ambitious and expensive, not to say also the most problematic one.

 

The basic info is that Parreno is the first artist invited to occupy the entirely of the Palais de Tokyo’s expanded space of 22.000 squared meters, and that he was given carte blanche by the museum. Nevertheless this is not enough to understand either the “dimensions” or the importance of the show. On the other hand, the chosen title could not have been more effective: “Anywhere, anywhere out of the world”. That is to say, the dimensions tend to the infinity and the importance attached to it is at the highest degree – as if the world wasn’t enough.

 

Furthermore Parreno declares that “his first problem was to stage seeing or attention”, as he did at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2012 presenting works by other artists, such as John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns or Robert Rauschenberg. Well, what does it mean? Weren’t he and his friend Pierre Huyghe who claimed that “there can be no objects without exhibition”?

If the artist had really believed it, then he should have tried to stage objects (as artworks are in the end), not human senses or mind attitudes. Also because objects, albeit sometimes complicated and over-technological, are what ultimately the visitors find today at the Palais de Tokyo.

 

Possibly the problem with this show is that you are bound to refer to the informative and primitive sheet of paper available at the entrance, in order to face what effectively looks like a necklace of technological devices. Otherwise you are likely to get lost in the unlimited meanings and unpredictable relationships, truly finding yourself “Anywhere, anywhere out of the world”.

 

Thus, it is only when you are well informed – and we suggest to read carefully all the instructions before entering the show – that you are ready to appreciate the beauty of Parreno’s seminal works of the last two decades such as “Zidane: a 21^st Century portrait” (2006) and “No ghost just a shell” (2000), out of any pretentious dialogue with the architecture of the museum’s space or a debatable idea of choreography. Yes, we are talking about a necklace, with just some pearls.

July 15, 2015