HELLO


                                                                                (painting by Kelly Fancher)

May 1-July 1 2006:

Dear friends, again, hello,
here fernández+szydlowski+navarro,
three heads in INSTITUTO DIVORCIADO.
Started in Brooklyn in 2005, a flexible group of three or more artists, thinkers, and the like, decided to put energy, time and some money
into planning, design and production of pseudo-ephemeral art venues
and their discussion.

“…last year we were all living in the same building in Greenpoint when we decided to start  this rather free-form art instance…”

we are now organizing a big group show in Berlin
(one ID member moved there for a year) 
THIS IS AN INVITATION FOR YOU AND YOUR ART
to participate in an independent art show organized and financed by
force of love and will, with no involvement of brands,
featuring works by featuring works by 70 international artists
that we’ve met on different grounds and battles.

WE DON’T NEED A PROJECT/YOU DON’T NEED TO SEND A PROJECT
(sure we will readily discuss whatever subjects you bring along).

THERE'LL BE NO CURATOR CONTROL ON THE WORKS
YOU WON’T BE ASKED TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF

the initial idea of the show is a failed attempt to kill Augusto Pinochet
(Operation XX Century) and, by extension, broken dreams, failure…
your everyday diet. 

“…the original idea of the show is just a starting point…
…a story which particularities are prone to be extended…”

you can relate to this premise in many different forms,
THIS HASN’T BEEN PLANNED TO BE A "THEME SHOW".

ID will build the show with artwork collected directly from the artists,
transported by hand, in regular luggage, brought into Europe by different hands (on different flights, from SCL, NYC and Europe)
always within a minimum budget (very close to NO-budget-at-all)
–which doesn't mean we couldn't sell-out.

THE WORK HAS TO BE TRANSPORTABLE, ALMOST DISPOSABLE
(works won’t be “thrown in the garbage”
this was just a way of saying about the low-cost operation)

if you end up in Berlin at the time of the show,
YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.

Here is a list of the artists participating in the show:

Francisca Benítez
Carlos Bogni
Marlous Borm
Lutz Braun
David Henry Brown Jr.
Angie Butler
Jorge Cabieses
Hugo Cárdenas
Juan Céspedes
Tomás Daskam
Andreas Diefenbach

Godfried Donkor
Solvej Dufour
Benjamín Echazarreta
Kelly Fancher
Claudio Fernández
Diego Fernández
Lars Friedrich
Francisca García
Cristina Gómez Barrio + Wolfgang Mayer
Mark Grubstein
Nicolás Guagnini
Tony Hamboussi
Barbara Hilski
Jackson
Steve Johnson
Thomas Kilpper
Ingo Kniest
Sali Landricina
Cristóbal Lehyt
Fabian Marti
Felipe Mujica
Iván Navarro
Mario Navarro
neuroTransmitter
Angel Nevarez
Nutria
Bettina Nürnberg
Itziar Okariz
Rodrigo Pereda
Katrin Pesch
Dirk Peuker
Pedro Pulido
Juan Cristóbal Pulido
Kimberly Reinhardt
Rodrigo Salinas
Giovanna Sarti
Martin G. Schmid
Karin Schneider
Thomas Schroeren
Kerim Seiler
Cristián Silva
Ania Siwanowicz + Ludovic Poulet
Courtney Smith
Peter Stoffel
Megan Sullivan
Emily Sundblad
Ian Szydlowski
Valerie Tevere
Claudio Torres (CTR)
Johanna Unzueta
Rodrigo Vergara
Manuela Vieragallo
Miriam Visaczki
Paulo Vivacqua
Peter Wächtler + Friedrich Lissmann
Axel Wieder
Klaus Winichner
Camilo Yañez
Mateo Zlatar

CONTRAGOLPE: REENACTING A FAILED OPERATION

Twenty years ago in Chile, on September 7th 1986, a group of
“at least 26 extremists”, most of them formed as part of FPMR, ambushed the convoy of General Augusto Pinochet, in the outskirts of Santiago, with the explicit objective of his death.

Strategically, the most direct way of mining the base of the dictatorship, established on the absolute authority of Pinochet (head of all military forces and government since coup d’etat happened on 9.11.73) creating dissidence and contradictions inside the military over the subjects of his succession, economical policies to follow and decisions about weather enduring repression or favoring aperture programs in the future. Tactically, it meant a repositioning of the FPMR, now fronting a morally renewed popular offensive, pushing to obtain a significant change in the correlation of forces, making evident the government’s vulnerabilities, strengthening for future negotiation.

As Pinochet had exiled his most determined detractors by the thousands,
the attack –code name Operation XX Century– was also planned by external agents, mostly in Cuba, some of them in former DDR.

The main reasons for the ultimate failure of Operation XX Century seem
to have been: bad timing, lack of training, lack of resources and too many people involved –everybody wanting to take part in the historical event.
Pinochet survived the attack and continued to rule for three more years.

For thousands involved in the subterranean initiatives against the regime,
the attack was to be the pivotal point where, once the government beheaded, the long awaited social revolution would begin. Failure and the following re-enforcement of Pinochet’s repressive apparatus produced an anti-climax, in time, a disenchantment of both leaders and followers, as future negotiations –well into the next decade (in full “return to democracy” aka “entrance to ultra-capitalism”)– would inexorably guarantee impunity to Pinochet’s excessive modus operandi, while constantly hindering key decisions towards abolishing the primordial inequities that ignited the whole process.

The unaccomplished revenge
The anti-climax
The human side of failure
The “southamerican” qualities of the occurrence
-
ContraGolpe is a Ransom Totale group-show to open in Berlin
at the end of September 2006, parallel to the Art Forum Fair.
The location of the show, still unfound, will exhibit a triad of Mercedes Benz cars with tinted windows parked outside, with sound/video works playing inside.

Art transportation from New York to Berlin will happen within the reach of two economy-class travelers’ normal luggage, other than that,
all production/transportation costs must be assumed by each participant.
Locals and those in Berlin for the occasion will be able to produce bigger
and more complex pieces if they please.

The show will be constructed by INSTITUTO DIVORCIADO in collaboration with
the participating artists, using works on the verge of being “disposable”,
which character can be contained in any formats and techniques.

Works will be displayed in all over fashion, with attention to their specificities, even overlapping, where audio and video work will be played simultaneously, through all different kinds of available equipment, at all volumes up. A local band (Die Band) will play a live set during opening night.

A postcard invitation designed by ID will be printed and made available in July in order to properly promote the event. Participants will be timely adverted about these and other related matters through updates on contra-golpe.org, where all information on the show will be posted every first day of the month.

Best regards and good luck from your friends at
INSTITUTO DIVORCIADO