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October 10, 2018 – Review
Camille Blatrix’s “Somewhere Safer”
Patrick J. Reed
![](https://images.e-flux-systems.com/aa_2018_10_14-2018_KVBS_Blatrix.jpg,1600)
Please consider this a compliment: Camille Blatrix’s solo exhibition at the Kunstverein Braunschweig is so spartan it teeters on the razor’s edge of not enough. Its vibe is expectant and hungry, and it leaves viewers feeling the same. The artworks, too, are cold, hard morsels. Their most prominent quality is want. One might anticipate these conditions from an artist who is known for his expertly machined, mystery objects, but possibly less so from an artist who also claims to make, in the most heartfelt sense, “emotional objects.” I cannot stop thinking about “Somewhere Safer.”
The show’s pervasive self-denial leads to descriptions in the negative. Unlike so many installations with a minimalist edge, “Somewhere Safer” does not recall a temple. There is nothing tranquil about its emptiness. There is nothing sacred about the cardboard boxes sitting on the floor, nor the harsh, flat light from the ceiling. There is nothing that does not deflect a head-on approach to what is presented. Hence, a caveat for what follows: the only recourse is a sideways path to understanding.
I read that Blatrix enjoys romantic comedies, so I am watching Pretty Woman (1990). The film is very charming; it sparks minor insight as I contemplate the …