Under theVienna Convention on Diplomatic RelationsArticle 9, ahoststate may at any time and without having to explain its decision declare any member of a diplomatic staffpersona non grata.It’s a mystery whyArte Povera –the political art movement from Italy which was myguestofhonour during Paris Mens’ shows – was sent to the United States, yet, progressively putrescent by nature, the lettucestructure that’s cropped upatCreatures of Comfortwill soon lose its diplomaticimmunity and bedeclarednongratalike any inedible lettuce in microwaved hamburgers. Consequently, in the States, organics will be replaced with mechanics:
Costello TagliapietraandDouglas HannantsetHenry Moorein motion.“Undoubtedly the source of my stringed figures was the Science Museum. Whilst a student at the Royal College of Art, I became involved in machine art, which in those days had its place in modern art. Although I was interested in the work of Lger, and the Futurists, who exploited mechanical forms, I was never directly influenced by machinery as such. Its interest for me lies in its capacity for movement, which after all, is its function.” tellsHenry Moore in the bookHenry Spencer Moore, New York 1968, p.105 .
AtLacoste, movement continues skywards withPanamarenko’s Aeromodeller. A close-up of its nacelle can be seen atEdun,whileTimo Weilandshowcases its would-beIBMflight log.”My projects are not exactly ideas, nor dreams.It isn’t a question of making a plane but of exactly producing something that is an ideal. It’s enjoyable, even if I never actually fly it. For me, its success lies in the realization of the dream, and it’s strangely tied to failure”,tellsPanamarenko.Indeed,Aeromodeller never managed to make it to the skies, but Roman Ondakhassuccessfully landed atDonna Karanwith his’After Return from the Orbit’. And as for that Arte Povera lettuce…Along with aBand of Outsiders,it’s currentlybeing driven back to JFK International airportonNam June Paik‘s Electronic Super Highway.
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