Daumenkino (The Flip Book Show)
7th May - 17th July 2005
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
Grabbeplatz 4
D-40213 Düsseldorf
T 49 (0)211 8996243
F 49 (0)211 8929168
mail [at] kunsthalle-duesseldorf.de
www.kunsthalle-duesseldorf.de
A flip book is a book that becomes a cinema for a short space of time; it is a sequence of images that reveals its narrative as you look at it, an object that you have to touch in order to get it to tell its story.
In the worlds first comprehensive exhibition on the subject, the thematic and contextual convergence of art, animation and film in the 20th Century is charted, placing the flip booka well-known and yet scantly regarded mediumsquarely in the public eye. Simultaneously both book and pocket cinema, picture sequence and narrative, the flip book has elicted wide-ranging artistic interpretation over the years and provided fascinating insights into the anatomy of the moving image ever since it was patented in 1868 by the English printer John Barnes Linnett.
Included in the presentation are flip books both from the past and the present, experimental films and artists books, which in turn derive their effect from the sequential order of their pictures and as such, share a certain commonality with the flip book by virtue of their mediumnot every flip book can immediately be recognized as such. Harnessing its formal parameters, artists have regarded the medium as a challenge, used it and interpreted it anew.
The exhibition comprises flip books gathered from more than 170 artists and filmmakers and divides them up into different categories: from monographic retrospectives (Ruth Hayes/George Griffin), surveys of particular forms of image (portrait/short film), thematic references to the history of erotic animation, specific eras (1960s, 1970s) to current artistic positions which extend the range of the flip book.
The vast majority of the flip books can actually be touched or »thumbed-through« by visitors to the exhibition. In addition, alternative methods of presentation have been developed to accommodate rare or historic specimens focusing on the specific attributes of the flip book, such as its diminutive size and the way it is individually perceived.
The main focus of the exhibition is upon flip books by contemporary artists and filmakers, such as John Baldessari, Robert Breer, Tacita Dean, Elliott Erwitt, Julia Featheringill, Jårg Geismar, Volker Gerling, Gilbert & George, Douglas Gordon, Keith Haring, Sabine Hecher, William Kentridge, Sigrun Köhler, Eric Lanz, Jonathan Monk, Bruce Nauman, Stephanie Ognar, Tony Oursler, Dieter Roth, Miguel Rothschild, Jack Smith, Beat Streuli, Andy Warhol and Janet Zweig amongst others.
The exhibition is curated by Christoph Schulz and Daniel Gethmann. The Cologne architect Meyer Voggenreiter is responsible for the exhibition design. There will be an extensive catalogue and DVD to accompany the exhibition published by snoeck Verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne.
Press conference: Friday, 6th May 2005, 11 am Opening: Friday, 6th May 2005, 7 pm Opening times: Tue Sat: noon 7 pm; Sun and public holidays: 11 am 6 pm
Guided tours in German free to the public: Sundays at 12.30 pm
In parallel at the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen: Rafal Bujnowski
Participating artists and filmmakers:
Pedro Almodóvar, Francis Alÿs, Holly Anderson, Katrin Anliker, Giovanni Anselmo, Guillaume Apollinaire, Darren Aronofsky, Karl Baden, John Baldessari, Carel Balth, John Barnes Linnett, Robert Barry, Gregory Barsamian, Gottfried Bechtold, Harvey Benge, Gary Beydler, Branko Bily, Anna und Bernhard Blume, Shi Bo, Anton Bogaty, Derek Boshier, Joseph Brajcki, George Brecht, Robert Breer, Ken Brown, John Canemaker, Malcolm Carder, Ulises Carrión, Emile Cohl, Coleman & Powell, Norman B. Colp, Paul Cox, Douglass Crockwell, Shamus Culhane, François Dallegret, Alec Dann, Tacita Dean, Gene Deitch, Giuliano Della Casa, George Denniston, Henri Dhellemes, Kristine Dikeman, Paul Dopff, Isobel Dowler-Gow, Peter Downsbrough, Markus Dreßen, Paul Driessen, Eric Durst, Tony Eastman, Thomas Edison, Lisa Eidt, Elliott Erwitt, Luitgard Feck, Julia Featheringill, Alain Fleischer, Elein Fleiss, Ceal Floyer, Peter Foldes, Hollis Frampton, Taku Furukawa, Léon Gaumont, Kendell Geers, Jarg Geismar, Volker Gerling, Gilbert & George, Paolo Gioli, Paul Glabicki, Conrad Gleber, Douglas Gordon, Edward Gorey, Roy Grayson, George Griffin, Keith Haring, Ruth Hayes, Sabine Hecher, Isabell Heimerdinger, Birgit und Wilhelm Hein, Dick Higgins, Cornelia Hoedeman, Warja Honegger-Lavater, Berwyn Hung, Jun Ito, Imaginary Forces & Greg Lynn, Tom Jackson, Sylke Janetzky, Patrick Jenkins, Spike Jonze, Toni Jordan, Daniel Jubbs, Wong Kar-wai, Patrick Kelley, William Kentridge, Miroslaw Kijowicz, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Sigrun Köhler, Roger Kukes, Yoji Kuri, Karl Lagerfeld, Eric Lanz, Vladimir Lehky, Jan Lenica, Sol LeWitt, Liliane Lijn, Peter Lindbergh, Todd Lown, Baz Luhrmann, Hassan Massoudy, John Matthews, Craig McDean, Steven Meisel, Albert Mertz, Otto Messmer, Angela Metge, Zdenek Miler, Jim Miller, Moebius, Jonathan Monk, François Morellet, Bruce Nauman, Louise Odes Neaderland, Hartmut Neubauer, Marv Newland, Ann Noël, Eberhard Norden, Stephanie Ognar, Yoko Ono, Luciano Ori, Kevin Osborn, Tony Oursler, Eduardo Paolozzi, Sara Petty, Kaj Pindal, Robert Pistilli, Joanna Priestley, Patrick Procktor, Markus Raetz, Laercio Redondo & Birger Lipinski, Helge Rieder, Kathy Rose, Dieter Roth, Miguel Rothschild, Gail Rubini, Harry Saffren, Taro Sakamoto, Mieko Schiomi, Peter Schmidt, Barbara Schmidt-Heins, Anja Schulze, Gary Schwartz, Richard Serra, Roman Signer, Max Skladanowsky, Jack Smith, Snorri Bros, Stephen Spera, Haim Steinbach, Beat Streuli, Sonja Studer, Daniel Szczechura, Shizuko Tabata, Chic Taylor, Gideon Tearle, Shirley Temple, Mario Testino, Jean-Pierre Trépanier, Tim Ulrich, Stan VanDerBeek, Jan Voss, Bob Walters, Andy Warhol, William Wegman, Emmett Williams, Heidi Willkomm, Giacomo Zaza, Stefanie C. Zürn, Janet Zweig, Richard Zybert
The exhibition »Daumenkino« is funded by:
Kulturstiftung Des Bundes and Medion
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf is funded by Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf
