The commission was to create a mobile exhibition unit to present changing exhibitions of artworks, contextualised by discursive events.
The unique nature of this commission arose out of the seminar Art Prod Lab, taken by a group of students on the Masters course CEAC ‘Visual Arts, Exhibition / Production strand’ at the University of Lille in France.
The commission was funded by the ‘Nouveaux commanditaires / New Commissioners’ programme of the Fondation de France who, since 1969, has been supporting concrete and innovative projects that meet the needs of the problems posed by the rapid development of society. Active primarily in three areas, its aims are to support vulnerable people, the development of knowledge and the environment, and to promote the development of philanthropy.
The commission, produced and facilitated by artconnexion, Lille was specifically to create a mobile exhibition unit that would host a changing array of artworks, contextualised by discursive events.
As part of their training the Masters students seek new ways of thinking about, designing and presenting exhibitions.
Tracy & Edwin’s key objective for Vagabond Flux was that it should be both an artwork and a mobile physical structure that would enable the students to initiate collaborations with organisations and places beyond their University programme, both using and expanding the traditional circuits of contemporary art, while putting the students into contact with a broad range of publics.
Vagabond Flux consists of multiple white cardboard boxes based on the form of a cube. The box playfully refers to the ‘white cube’ identity of a conventional gallery yet with each new site that Vagabond Flux temporarily inhabits, the concept of the ‘white cube’ is turned on its head. The first presentation hosted Micromegas, the ongoing publishing project, edition and exhibition that Tracy & Edwin curate. A series of posters by 7 artists and a designer, and a commissioned text, respond to Voltaire’s 1752 story of the same name.
The students are actively engaged in brokering relationships with a wide variety of organisations and locations for Vagabond Flux, each far removed from the neutral space of a gallery. The structure’s physical form is re-invented for each new venue, demonstrating an endless range of possible spatial arrangements. With each public outing it supports and presents new artworks and events, and stimulates new encounters.
The 2016 publication, Vagabond Flux documents the commissioning process and presentation of the mobile exhibition unit.
The Nouveaux commanditaires:
Bruno Swist
Manon Lesage
Katya Shamova
Ana-Maria Vladutescu
Sébastien Deltombe
Marine Allibert
Emmanuelle Ducreu
Flavie Leleux
Laïla Soultana
Caroline Lamarque
Roxane Camus
Mihaela Cretu
Utilised to date at the following locations:
Galerie Commune, Université Lille, MIC FEST, Université Sciences Po Lille, Bibliothèque Centrale Université Lille, Maison de la Culture de Tournai, Belgium, Musée des Beaux Arts (MUba) Tourcoing, Musée Louvre-Lens, Primary Schools in Lille, Collège Saint Joseph Neuville-en-Ferrain, artconnexion, Lille, France.
Funded by Fondation de France.
Supported by Université de Lille, art prod lab, artconnexion, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee.