The Big Nothing
01 May - 01 August 2004
Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)
University of Pennsylvania, 118 S. 36th St.
Philadelphia PA 19104
215-898-5911
www.icaphila.org
Opening Reception Friday April 30th, 6-8pm
The void, the sublime, the absurd, silence,
zero…in short, plenty of nothing fills the
summer, day and night. “The Big Nothing” is a
constellation of music, art, film, and talks
independently organized by 36 venues
throughout Philadelphia.
The Big Nothing
Summer 2004
“The Big Nothing,” includes an exhibition on themes of nothing in recent art at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, which initiated this city-wide project.
For information on the ICA exhibition and the 36 independently curated projects taking place throughout the city, please visit www.icaphila.org
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is pleased to announce “The Big Nothing,” a major group exhibition exploring themes of nothing and nothingness in contemporary art. Filling both main gallery spaces, the exhibition will include over sixty artists’ works from the 1970s to the present. ICA’s exhibition also initiates a Philadelphia-wide constellation of music, art, film, and talks independently organized by 36 venues throughout the city. Driven by a core-group of curators and organizers over the past year-from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Edgar Allan Poe House to The Fabric Workshop and Museum-the various independently conceived projects will occur throughout the summer all around the city.
The void, the ineffable, the sublime, refusal, nihilism, zero-all are encompassed by “nothing.” ICA’s first floor gallery will trace a number of distinct takes on the idea. The vacuity or reproducability of consumer image culture can be seen in works by Roe Ethridge and Andy Warhol. Metaphysical nothings-from Zen to an updated American sublime-are evident in works by Jack Goldstein, Heavy Industries and Yayoi Kusama. Yet another section, with works by Louise Lawler, Jutta Koether, and others, conceives of nothing as a kind of refusal or negation. A fourth grouping will document art projects that have sought to close or empty the gallery space. This surprisingly recurrent gesture in contemporary art-Yves Klein, Robert Barry and Michael Asher have all made signature works by removing or displacing art from its normative contexts-will be showcased in photographs, announcement cards, press releases and other ephemera. ICA’s upstairs gallery will be devoted entirely to film and video, and will include works by Bernadette Corporation, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Pierre Huyghe, John Smith, Nicolas Guagnini and Karin Schneider, and Charlemagne Palestine among others.
Artists in the exhibition: Bas Jan Ader, Ayreen Anastas, Richard Artschwager, Michael Asher, Michel Auder, Jo Baer, Robert Barry, Larry Bell, Bernadette Corporation, James Lee Byars, Maurizio Cattelan, Thomas Chimes, Bruce Conner, Day Without Art, Jessica Diamond, Roe Ethridge, Lili Fleury, Rene Gabri, Jack Goldstein, Katharina Fritsch, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Nicolas Guagnini, Heavy Industries, Richard Hook, Roni Horn, Pierre Huyghe, Gareth James, Ray Johnson, Yves Klein, Joachim Koester, Jutta Koether, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Lawler, Gordon Matta-Clark, Allan McCollum, Patrick McMullen, John Miller, Matt Mullican, Eileen Neff, Gabriel Orozco, Raphael Ortiz, Charlemagne Palestine, Philippe Parreno, William Pope.L, Doris Salcedo, Karin Schneider, Allan Sekula, Arlene Shechet, Santiago Sierra, John Smith, Robert Smithson, Paul Swenbeck, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Andy Warhol, James Welling, John Wesley, Steve Wolfe, and David Hammons and Sharon Lockhart (at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia).
Book a hotel package any weekend during the run of “The Big Nothing” and enjoy a host of “nothing” events, exhibitions, and happenings throughout the city. Ask for the “Big Nothing” package
All Hotel Packages include:
Hotel Accommodations
Two tickets to “The Big Nothing” at ICA
Free Parking
Participating Hotels
Hilton Inn at Penn 215-222-0200
Sheraton University City 877-459-1146
Holiday Inn Center City 215-923-8660
Visitors to “The Big Nothing” can save 10% on Amtrak® travel to Philadelphia on Northeast corridor routes. Visit www.amtrak.com or call 800-USA-RAIL and refer to code V285. Blackout dates and other restrictions may apply.
For more information visit www.gophila.com or www.icaphila.org
