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| "MAISON DE VERTU" | ||||
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| Maison de Vertu Exhibition - General Vue 1 | Maison de Vertu Exhibition - General Vue 2 | Maison de Vertu Exhibition - General Vue 3 | Crise Economique and the White Canvas | Fruit de la crise economique |
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| One Law for Me, Other Laws for Everybody Else -1 | One Law for Me, Other Laws for Everybody Else -2 | Awakening | You and Me | Virtual Fantasy |
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| Inachevé | Confession | Confession | Confessional | Confessional with Heaven and Hell |
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| La Maison de Vertu | La Maison de Vertu - Frontal View | La Maison de Vertu - Profile View | Paper Ladle and National Flag | Paper Ladle |
| ANITA'S DEVERNISSAGE SPEECH |
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"Everyone who knows me well enough, knows that, with every exhibition, with every major work I do; I say: "ENOUGH!" The kind of work I do is so demanding physically, emotionally, neurologically and financially that I always end up saying "What for?" "Why?" "For who?" …
In 1998, I was supposed to be doing my last work. I had started too soon to achieve anything in Lebanon, and it seemed to me that it was too late to achieve anything of international significance. That is why I had called my work "Beyond Obsession". It was a résumé about my obsession with Art and the nothingness I had faced. In that work I had placed a ballot box that had a slot but had no bottom. Spectators were asked to write and express whatever they wanted, yet, to their amazement, as they dropped the paper through the slot; it fell down on the ground. I was in a way placing the spectator in my shoes, making him or her say something and then observe the fall… I was saying: "I finally shut up; you speak and see it for yourself!" And then the unexpected happened, more than 920 papers fell through that bottomless box; the power of the interaction with the spectator turned my world upside down, I discovered the immense creativity of the spectator, the colossal magnitude of that silent potential. It seemed to me that this was a miraculously preserved treasure, a virgin mine for artistic exploration, and perhaps the only hope of the third millennium Art. Because, no artist, however sensitive or brilliant, cannot be more authentic than the authentic, cannot be more multiple than the multiple, cannot be more universal than the universe. Exploring the viewer's potential became my passion; approaching, exploring, involving total strangers and linking them to each other through a work of Art became my newest obsession. And I said: "This is no time to stop; I just have to change my tools". So, instead of paint, or bronze or ordinary everyday objects or even latest hi-tech devices; I took the viewer as my medium of expression, and the rest served as pretext. That is when the idea of "The Best Visitor's Prize" was born. This is the third generation of prizes I make. But, after four years of trial and failure, this is the very first time I have the opportunity to give them to their owners. The first two generations are still wrapped in a box at my house... I thank everyone related to Espace SD for having given me the opportunity to realize my irrational ambition. I thank everyone who took part in my experimentation or voted for the best among the visitors, or assisted me in any other way. Because this work is meant to be a collective venture, some of you are the doors whereas others are the hands that open it; and I am just the invisible handle. Thank you all, and excuse my desperate exaggeration. After all, Art is my only weapon, and in my hallucinations it seems to me that it can some day make the impossible happen. Thank you." Anita Toutikian 17 Nov 2002 Espace SD Beirut, Lebanon |