MONUMENTA 2012 Daniel Buren «EXCENTRIQUE(S)», work in situ

Transcription

1 MONUMENTA 2012 Daniel Buren «EXCENTRIQUE(S)», work in situ At the Grand Palais, Paris 10 May - 21 June 2012 Press Contacts Department of information and communication Press department Tel. : (0) service-presse@culture.gouv.fr France Heymann, Renoult associées Tel. : + 33 (0) Fax : + 33 (0) a.renoult@heymann-renoult.com e.grau@heymann-renoult.com International Agenda Tel. : + 33 (0) pbousquet@agendacom.com mbradbury@agendacom.com

2 CONTENTS Editorial by the French minister of Culture and Communication p.3 Press release p.4 Daniel Buren: key concepts p.6 Daniel Buren: milestone artworks p.15 A commitment to the public p.20 Publishing at the occasion of MONUMENTA 2012 p.24 Events programme p.26 Daniel Buren - biographical guide p.27 Daniel Buren bibliographical guide p.28 Visitor information p.30 The french ministry of Culture and Communication and its operators p.32 The Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) p.33 The Réunion des musées nationaux - grand palais p.34 Corporate sponsors p.35 Partners p.40

3 Editorial by the French minister of Culture and Communication MONUMENTA 2012 DANIEL BUREN «EXCENTRIQUE(S)», work in situ Each year since 2007, MONUMENTA has invited the most important contemporary artists on the international scene to create a site-specific work for the Nave of the Grand Palais. Each year a surprise awaits: Anselm Kiefer, Richard Serra, Christian Boltanski, Anish Kapoor have all produced masterly works for the Grand Palais, acclaimed by both the public and the critics. With a record turnout last year for Kapoor s Leviathan, MONUMENTA has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the cultural calendar of the French capital, alongside events at the Centre Pompidou, the Palais de Tokyo, the musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris, the musée du Louvre... To create a work in situ on a monumental scale in a public space, Daniel Buren was an obvious choice for this fifth edition of MONUMENTA. Daniel Buren has already tackled some of the most complex public spaces in the world. He has transformed iconic sites such as the Guggenheim in New York and the cour d'honneur at the Palais-Royal. He will therefore find the Grand Palais an ideal space for consideration. Through a direct relationship with the exceptional architecture of the nave, the work of Daniel Buren will, once again, shake up our perceptions beyond all measure. His intervention will extend to the entire system given over to the event: signage, reception, mediation, refreshment area and bookshop. In his installation, the artist will reinterpret a major public space which has become a modern chapel of contemporary art. Reflecting the vitality of the French artistic scene, MONUMENTA will take place this year at the same time as the third edition of La Triennale. La Triennale will open in the enlarged and renovated spaces of the Palais de Tokyo, which is re-opening especially for the occasion. It will also show at numerous venues in the French capital and its surroundings. It will be a great moment of the spreading of contemporary art across the nation. MONUMENTA and La Triennale are now fixtures in the panorama of major artistic events, which are held in Europe at the end of spring, notably Art Basel and documenta at Kassel. I am happy and proud to be able to say that, thanks to ambitious events like MONUMENTA, France is assured of its place in the first rank of artistic creativity on the international stage. Frédéric Mitterrand Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication 3

4 Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication Press release MONUMENTA 2012 Daniel Buren at the Grand Palais «EXCENTRIQUE(S)», work in situ 10 MAY 21 JUNE 2012 An artistic interaction on an unparalleled scale, MONUMENTA invites an internationally renowned artist each year to transform the Nave of the Grand Palais with a new, site specific work filling the 13,500 metres squared, 35 metre high space. This year marks the fifth edition of the event. Daniel Buren, one of France s most internationally renowned and honoured artists, has been selected for the challenge. MONUMENTA 2012 will be on show between 10 May and 21 June. The first four editions of MONUMENTA were hugely successful, dedicated to German artist Anselm Kiefer in 2007, American sculptor Richard Serra in 2008, French artist Christian Boltanski in 2010 and Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, whose work in 2011 attracted over 270,000 visitors in 6 and a half weeks. Daniel Buren has realised almost two thousand exhibitions across the world. Born in 1938 in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris, he lives and works in situ, responding above all to the space in and for which he is making the work. Examples include his transformation of the Guggenheim in New York and the cour d honneur at the Palais-Royal in Paris. In 2012 MONUMENTA invites Daniel Buren to respond to the Nave of the Grand Palais and all its beauty, luminosity and history. For the past 50 years, Daniel Buren has been producing highly innovative works, based on a range of outils visuels ( visual tools ). These elements, apparently minimal, nevertheless metamorphose the spectator s perceptions and, despite their simplicity, have a profound effect on the viewer. Artwork and space become one, the former revealing the hidden dimensions of the latter, leading the viewer to suddenly look differently. Daniel Buren s artistic work, his theoretical approach and his physical interventions have altered the understanding of contemporary art. At the same time the artist s fascination for the sensation of sight, for colour as a pensée brute ( pure thought ) and the freedom and experimentation he offers to spectators, have assured his great public success. For MONUMENTA 2012, Daniel Buren will plunge visitors into a Grand Palais that has been metamorphosed. Spectators will become active participants in the unveiling and creation of a brand new artwork and space. This creation will be true to the rigorous approach of this renowned artist whose careful use of materials creates a maximum effect. Daniel Buren s subtle visual tools will reveal the space s hidden dimensions, invisible potential, past and present. The instant impact of Daniel Buren s work chimes with MONUMENTA s aim to democratise access to contemporary art. At each edition of MONUMENTA the French Ministry of Culture and Communication creates an education programme aimed to welcome a diverse audience. This programme is run by the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP). In order to ensure that contemporary art is open to all, the CNAP ensures that everyone has free access to specialised mediators who can enrich the visitor experience through their artistic knowledge and educational skills.

5 In collaboration with the French Ministry of Education, a schools programme has been created to compliment MONUMENTA. The programme is multidisciplinary, designed from children at nursery up until sixth form. A series of dance workshops are a particular highlight, created thanks to a partnership with the Théâtre National de Chaillot. Incorporating a strong digital element, the educational programme will help communicate the artist s work to pupils. Thematic visits for all ages are also available, enhancing the visitor experience for all. In addition MONUMENTA offers visits especially designed for disabled visitors to make their access to the heritage of today easier. Throughout the duration of MONUMENTA, a special evening events programme will stimulate dialogue between word, music and dance and the work of Daniel Buren, allowing a continual discovery of new aspects. Upon the artist s request, a curator has not been appointed to assist with the realisation of the project. The CNAP will therefore take on the role in supporting the artistic production. In addition, Daniel Buren has asked Patrick Bouchain and Loïc Julienne from the architecture practice Construire Reconstruire to oversee the project management. The construction work as a whole is led by Art Project, directed by Patrick Ferragne, who has worked with Daniel Buren over twenty years, helping him realise numerous projects at home and abroad 1. Daniel Buren also aims to continue his ongoing exchange with Jean-Louis Froment, who will support him throughout the gestation of the exhibition. The entry fee for MONUMENTA is 5 Euros, with a reduced rate of 2.50 Euros. The cultural programme (complimentary with the ticket) will include concerts, shows, lectures and special visits linked to Daniel Buren s work. A bilingual website will serve to enhance the visitor experience. Press Contacts Department of information and Communication Tel. : +33 (0) service-presse@culture.gouv.fr France Heymann, Renoult associées Tel. : + 33 (0) Fax : + 33 (0) a.renoult@heymann-renoult.com e.grau@heymann-renoult.com Several publications accompany the show. An album, co-edited by the CNAP and the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais (bilingual French/English), a monograph, co-edited by the CNAP and Flammarion (edited in both French and English), Daniel Buren, Les Écrits , a collection of written works by Daniel Buren comprising over 3,000 pages, essential for understanding his work in depth, co-edited by the CNAP and Flammarion (French edition), and an educational booklet of educational resources, edited by the Centre Régional de Documentation Pédagogique in collaboration with the CNAP (French edition). MONUMENTA 2012 is organised by the French Ministry for Culture and Communication / Direction générale de la création artistique, commissioner, with the Centre national des arts plastiques, associate commissioner, and produced by the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais. Paris, February 17th, 2012 International Agenda Tel. : + 33 (0) pbousquet@agendacom.com mbradbury@agendacom.com Le Musée qui n existait pas at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, recently at the Centre Pompidou Metz, and also in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Mexico, Lyon, Tours, England, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland

6 DANIEL BUREN: KEY CONCEPTS Extracts from the album of MONUMENTA Daniel Buren Author: Jean-Marie Gallais The work in situ The notion of the work in situ, which Daniel Buren has used to define his artistic activity since 1965, signifies that the work is born out of the space in which it is created; it can only be considered in the context of the site, in which and for which it is conceived. This guiding principle is refined as the artist carries out his pictorial experiments; he rapidly decides that "the environment of the painting...always seems more rich and important than the painting itself." 2 But the crucial nature of the setting is very often forgotten, ignored or accepted without discussion, in the name of the "so-called autonomy of the work of art" (the idea that the artwork has an intrinsic content, which has the same effect at all times). Daniel Buren has refuted this notion, asserting that the environment acts upon the work, in a way that is both extremely powerful and yet unspoken, and that museums submit artworks to their own constraints and underlying implications, which are almost always profoundly at variance with the works displayed. Through the concept of the work in situ, Buren attempts to reverse this relationship, so that it is work which transforms the setting or, at least, reveals its essential nature, its specific qualities, and thus the impact that it has upon the work. To achieve this, the work must obey a simple principle: its conception, its manufacture, its method of display must all be worked out and realised on the spot. This is a method which implies the abandonment of the studio and traditional formats (canvases transported from one gallery to another, photos, films, threedimensional objects, etc.). In this way, Daniel Buren goes from place to place without knowing in advance what he is going to create. His official biography limits itself to the phrase "lives and works in situ": the essential thing is to make, to see, to experiment in the place itself. In each case, the elements are unique and are destroyed at the end of the exhibition (with the exception of permanent commissions), since they can never be installed elsewhere (sole exception: works situés). Each of Daniel Buren s works is thus inseparable from its location, either working in osmosis with it or fashioned against it. Working in situ 3 questions the supposed liberty of the artist and reveals, above all, the hidden but significant specifics of places, offering a new vision of the site itself and of the work which "blossoms" there. Travail situé - the located work The work in situ, because it is intimately connected with the site in which, for which and through which it was conceived, cannot by definition be moved. However there is a second category of works which can be circulated, provided that each time they follow the rules that have been laid down: Daniel Buren called these works travaux situés. 2 - Daniel Buren, "Limites Critiques", Les Écrits, Volume 1, page The expression in situ has often been reused, sometimes quite incorrectly, since the definition was coined by Daniel Buren. 6

7 From the outset, the works on striped canvases, although bearing little more than the title of the painting, were still always accompanied by a notice indicating succinctly how these works were to be displayed when exhibited in another space. More precisely still, it was in 1975, because of a physical constraint, that the notion of the "travail situé" was born. The museum at Mönchengladbach in Germany, where Daniel Buren had just been exhibiting, was obliged to move and transport his work into a new building. The question then arose: how to move the works? Just as certain pieces of conceptual art can be "re-staged" in different contexts according to a protocol, so the travaux situés can be installed in different places, on condition that the principles laid down by the artist are followed. However, contrary to conceptual art - and this is a fundamental distinction - the work cannot be reduced to a set of instructions; it only exists physically, in a space. Most of the Cabanes éclatées, for example, are travaux situés, impossible to separate from their original environment, but with the capacity to be adapted to any number of different settings. In these, the works themselves changed each time, just as they transformed the site. This is not to say that the works can be hung up "just anywhere", insists Daniel Buren and this is the crux of his opposition to the "so-called autonomy of the work of art"; there are still rules to be followed and a certain type of space to adopt; these are mobile works that can be seen in different combinations, different versions. The metaphor of the theatre corresponds well to the principle of the travaux situés. Each installation is a theatrical production that is performed anew. The text does not change but the staging, the décor have nothing to do with the original performance and they alter considerably our understanding of the production, just as they change the appearance of the stage. The visual tool Vertical stripes, with alternating white and coloured bands, each 8.7 cm wide, may appear to be the signature of the work of Daniel Buren. Rather than a signature, they are a trademark. Stripes are the only immutable element in his oeuvre which includes numerous other elements, which are varied and constantly changing. The artist has been using this trademark for more than forty years and for very precise reasons. In 1965, when he had started painting and was already interested in the stripe motif, Daniel Buren noticed the regular stripes on some fabric at the famous market of Saint-Pierre, in Paris. They immediately seemed interesting to him, as a revelatory background for his painting: "This pattern has two advantages: firstly because it stands out and cannot be confused with a neutral background; and also because it acts as a guide to the elements that will appear on the canvas." 4 These reflections led Daniel Buren to decide that the environment of painting had become more fruitful than painting itself. The motif of the alternating stripes struck him as a powerful and revealing instrument to deploy in space, and he described it as his visual tool. This tool, used judiciously at a given site, could catch the eye while also blending in with the place. It is this balance which has enabled Daniel Buren to retain the tool, as its effectiveness has never been compromised. Rather like punctuation marks, the vertical stripes highlight the specifics, the dimensions of a site (they function like a measuring instrument). They also prompt the spectator to look with fresh eyes at a familiar place; they are a call, a sign, the only unvarying element in a vocabulary which, down the years, has been revitalised at each new site. 4 - Daniel Buren, "Au sujet de...", Interview with Jérôme Sans. Flammarion, Paris, 1998, p.24. 7

8 However, it is also a decoy employed by the artist: the visual tool should not be considered as a motif in itself, repeated just for the sake of it. The essence of the work is not there, but in that which the sign shows and reveals to the attentive spectator. The motif must be read in relation to its context, just as a single, unique word, used in different phrases for centuries and centuries by millions of people, never says exactly the same thing and only takes on its precise meaning from the different contexts in which it is spoken. Colour Colour is present from the outset in the work of Daniel Buren. Yet, at the moment when he emerged on the international scene, its use was curiously restricted. The avant-garde (mainly minimal art and conceptual art) contented itself with white and black, neutral colours such as greys and ochres, or even the natural colour of the materials they were using, as a would-be demonstration of their serious intent. Daniel Buren distanced himself from this by a use of colours that could emphatically be deemed decorative, an adjective that he accepts without demur as "in a certain way, art has never ceased to be concerned with decoration." 5 When he made works using striped fabric, Daniel Buren relied upon the few colours available. Then he began to print or have his own materials made: at this stage, an infinite range of possibilities opened up, which he eagerly exploited while also experimenting with the natural colours, the effects of his materials, the light, and so on. Colour now played an ever increasing role in his work. Without a doubt, it offers peerless qualities: it shines, it reflects, it adds volume. It can be applied to the tool, but also to other elements in the scheme: walls, partitions... Spectators can find themselves swept up in the colour, which has conquered three-dimensional space. The selection and arrangement of the colours in a work are governed by chance, with only a few, rare exceptions (often to make them more prominent). In this way, the personal taste of the artist does not play a part in the composition. Alphabetical order, the order of the colours in the rainbow, drawn by lot: the colours do not make an impact through their arrangement, but as an essential part of an overall scheme and with their own characteristics. "I use colour in the knowledge that it is a fundamental element in the visual arts. It is one of those rare elements that artists can tackle and touch and yet which, after a fashion, is pure thought. It is impossible to transcribe it into music, or speech, of philosophy, or anything else! It is a force of nature!" 6 Colours are probably one of the most intriguing and important features of visual art, a key element in the philosophy of Daniel Buren. Light Light, a crucial factor in perception, plays an integral part in the works of Daniel Buren. Every bit as intangible and indescribable as colour, it plays with certain materials, reflective, translucent or transparent, just as it does with forms, shadows and colours, transforming the work and its environment with every passing moment. Through an infinity of configurations, in a manner that is more or less evident, light always plays a part in the installation. This is hardly a surprise, given the logic of the work in situ, as our appreciation of the site can be totally transformed by its light, or its lighting. 5 - Interview with Maurice Ulrich, Paris: L'Humanité, 9 december Marion Chanson, L'atelier de Daniel Buren, Paris: Thalia éditions,

9 Through his works in institutions, Daniel Buren has often brought to the fore questions about the proper lighting for museums: natural light from directly above blocked out in favour of stable artificial lighting, glass roofs and wells of light poorly utilised, or lighting that manipulates the perception of artworks. Daniel Buren has equally had recourse to artificial lighting, most notably when he needs to light up a space at night. For example, "Les Deux Plateaux", in the cour d'honneur of the Palais-Royal in Paris, present an entirely different spectacle at dusk, when the lighting is switched on. There are two separate ways of appreciating the work, by day and by night, which underlines the power and the influence of light on our perception. From the simplest versions (natural daylight), traditional and ancestral forms (lamps, lanterns, stained-glass windows), right up to the most recent technological innovations (fibre optics), the sensation of light, which affects the appearance of both objects and spaces, is one of the basic components that figure in the interventions of Daniel Buren. It passes through, it transforms, it colours; it can be extremely bright or subdued, natural or artificial: in every instance, it exerts a powerful, unstoppable effect on our vision, at any hour and in every season. Reflection Reflection is a key element that Daniel Buren incorporates into his projects, by means of mirrors, reflective materials and water installations. The inclusion of the outside space around the work is inevitable, since it is impossible to reflect the work alone. This enhances the artistic idea of the inter-relationship between object and context. A reflection is never fixed; it is always dependent on the position of the spectator. Here, one encounters another idea argued by Daniel Buren: no single viewpoint can ever assume priority. Thus, the mirror "contextualises" the object through the mobility of the spectator. There are an infinite number of possible viewpoints, and these are always fragmentary. In certain cases, the use of the reflection offers a "special effect": the impression of infinity when two mirrors are positioned facing each other, the multiplication of the reflection in the angles, the removal of boundaries, or even a periscopic view, which creates a spectacle that is both original and surprising. Beyond these effects, Daniel Buren entrusts the mirror with a genuine role, that of a "third eye", which enables the viewer to see, at the same time, what is before their eyes and behind their head. In this way, the mirror "does not necessarily just reflect whatever is there, but may rather show very specific things, those that only mirrors can show. I would even go so far as to say that a mirror never works in a purely mimetic manner, but that it shows something else. In addition, it transforms space and enables the spectators to see more things and in a different way." 7 To reflect is to provide another way of seeing, a dynamic way; it also always sends the work back to something else, outside, to its spectator. Of course, the use of the mirror fascinated many artists in the 20th century, but Daniel Buren took his references much further back than that, evoking the Renaissance with his regret that the "reflecting pieces which could be found on some of Uccello's battle scenes" 8 had not survived. 7 - Ombre-Lumière-Reflet, Cluny, Écuries de Saint-Hugues, Du volume de la couleur. In Daniel Buren, Du volume de la couleur, Bernard Marcadé, Enfilade et face à face, suites et vis-à-vis, trucs et patacs..., Cadillac: Centre d'art contemporain de Cadillac, may

10 Viewpoints How does one look at a work? And its environment? How does a work hold our gaze? How does one place view another place? What is there to see through a window? In the history of art, the questions about viewpoints 9 are manifold and fundamental. Daniel Buren substitutes the single viewpoint generally employed by artists, in favour of a multiplicity of viewpoints. His work offers spectators the freedom to choose their own perspective and to change it as they please. This is why, without doubt, the best approach to his art is to walk round it. Every step offers a new view of the work and of the site that incorporates it. Daniel Buren thus contrasts the "monocular, univocal and dictatorial" 10 viewpoint of pictures that utilises the linear perspective of the Renaissance, for example, with the "real perspective", which comes into play all the time with an active spectator. "There are no longer one or two viewpoints fixed in advance, but a multitude, with no hierarchy or commandment, which echo, interfere, induce, enrich, and contradict each other. Each viewpoint has its own direction, which does not reduce the others to nothing." 11 As for the Italian frescos, the Nymphéas of Claude Monet or the Merzbau of Kurt Schwitters, the visitor orchestrates his or her own perception of the work and the site. Their experience is unique, progressive and active (in contrast to that offered by the vast majority of pictures displayed in museums, which compel the visitor to adopt a single viewpoint - a frontal one - or risk seeing nothing at all). Furthermore, there is often a virtual work involved in synthesising several viewpoints: a plan to imagine, lines to connect visually and mentally. Set against this freedom, the vision that one has of the work is always fragmentary - something that is also of interest to Daniel Buren. There is no way of having an all-encompassing understanding of it, except by walking round it, a dynamic link to the personal viewpoint of the work, but also of the exterior, the context. Revealing "Revelation" is one of the challenges in the art of Daniel Buren. There is no question here of a revelation in the mystical sense, nor a prophetic one, nor some claim to absolute truth, but a revelation that is critical and sensible. In some ways, it is similar to the revelation that is achieved with optical instruments: we see in a different manner, we understand that our perception may be unclear, the invisible is revealed to us. Taken as a whole, the art of Daniel Buren may be considered as a "tool for seeing", a tool placed at the disposal of the spectator. From the late 1960s, when Buren started putting up his unauthorised posters in the street, he has been concerned with revealing the rules, whether implicit and/or subconscious, which govern our field of vision, the conditions placed upon the visibility of art and the false assumptions made about the artist. Daniel Buren was to continue developing these ideas, when the institutions commissioned him. 9 - In addition, these terms were used by Daniel Buren for his exhibition at the ARC in may 1983: "Point of view or the Corridorscope", work in situ Daniel Buren, "Au sujet de...", Interview with Jérôme Sans, Flammarion, Paris, op.cit. 10

11 Each of his interventions thus reveals the constraints that have been hidden: "Just because the constraints are not obvious at first glance, that does not mean that they do not exist. A large part of the work that I do is a struggle to flush them out and then, ideally, to unmask them" 12 When he is tackling an environment or a specific site, it is the unsuspected or forgotten elements that emerge, thanks to his intervention: it was the sunken area at the Palais-Royal and the convex form of its courtyard, for example, that were revealed in "Les Deux Plateaux". With each of his interventions, Daniel Buren attempts to educate our sense of sight and enlarge our field of vision. The artist is a revelator and, in every case, his methods are reinvented, according to the requirements of the site. Generally, it takes the form of a scheme where the only fixed point is the visual tool, those alternating stripes, 8.7 cm wide, instruments of measure, rhythm and "revelation", a sign that has become a signature, a sure indicator of artistic enquiry. Movement For Daniel Buren, the spectator must be active and explore a work from all its different viewpoints; the work itself must take this factor into consideration: some of its elements can only be appreciated through movement, and it may itself be mobile. Daniel Buren has explored in depth the possibilities offered by movement. In 1975, he staged a ballet in the streets of New York, throughout the city (Seven Ballets in Manhattan). For seven days, seven actors carried placards at arm's length displaying the visual tool: alternating white and coloured stripes, in place of the usual slogans, advertisements or demands. Every day, they walked round the streets of a different district, following the precise choreography and instructions of the artist. It was a strange ballet, which posed questions, shook up the usual scene, raised many eyebrows, mingled with the unceasing movement of the city, a work in constant motion. This brings us back to the idea of walking round a work, of the inevitable relationship between an object and its context, and of the instability, the multiplicity of viewpoints and perspectives. This time, though, it was the work itself that took responsibility for the movement and imposed it on the spectator. Daniel Buren has orchestrated a number of works that involve performance or development. Here, colours are revealed, there they change with the passage of time or movement. These proceedings remind us how closely his work is linked to the methods of the theatre or even the circus (for around a dozen years, Daniel Buren has participated in a venture with a multi-disciplinary circus company, the Buren-Circus). The work of art is no longer fixed in its frame, hung up on a museum wall; it goes roving past the window. Movement is its motor: the wind stirs the flags and banners, like the sails on a boat 13, buses and trains carry art on their routes 14, escalators become waterfalls, colours and forms flowing away and shifting all the time, nothing is permanently set. The sight and the body must get moving, in their turn A force de descendre dans la rue, l'art peut-il enfin y monter? Paris: Sens & Tonka, Voile/Toile - Toile/Voile, work in situ, 1975, Berlin, 2011, Istanbul See, for example, Watch the doors please! work in situ, Chicago, USA, Art Institute,

12 Sound The visual arts were obsessed with the question of sonority in the 20th century, just as the devices for recording, broadcasting and creating sound were developing constantly. Even so, this path remained private and largely unexplored by numerous artists. Daniel Buren has experimented with sound from the start of his career. In 1967, when he exhibited with three other artists at the Salon of Young Painting, the four of them fixed up a loudspeaker, in the room where they were executing their paintings, and delivered this message in three languages: "Buren, Mosset, Parmentier, Toroni advise you to become intelligent!" The artist is no longer content just to paint. He speaks directly to the spectator and this is integrated into the work. This is not the only time we will hear the voice of Daniel Buren, who will describe his actions or read out texts, just as in some of his videos and performances. But his use of sound does not solely consist of a vocal address. Sometimes music is involved, whether through collaborations (with the experimental group Loupideloupe) or selections of existing music 15. Regularly, sound intervenes in the works of Daniel Buren as an element of measure (the sonority of a space gives an indication of its volume) or revelation (sounds can attract the eye towards other elements: that is the case with the noise of the water flowing beneath "Les Deux Plateaux", revealing its sunken area, or again with the circuit of water which flows through the space at the mill in Albi: A contre-courant, travaux in situ et en mouvement, in 2008). Sound, an instrument for revealing the invisible, helps above all to add an extra dimension to the work of art. That which is heard completes that which is seen; the one cannot diminish the other 16. Recorded sound (the voice of the artist or those close to him), music, the sound of the elements and the materials: to this must be added a fourth sonorous presence, one that is constantly changing in the work of Daniel Buren: that of the sites of the interventions, where the ambiance, inevitably, always becomes integrated with the work in situ. Photos-souvenirs Daniel Buren has always paid particular attention to photography, and to the confusions and paradoxes that it can spawn in the art world. When he has finished a work, he takes photographs of it himself which, since 1967, he has called "photo-souvenirs" ( photo-memories ), as he wants to indicate that these images, fragmentary by their very nature, are neither the work, nor a copy of it, nor its equivalent in any way. They are nothing more than aide-mémoire, tools. Photography removes irremediably some crucial properties of the work: it adopts and imposes a single viewpoint - that chosen by the photographer; it reduces depth; it prevents spectators from walking round it. Their gaze thus becomes passive and "manipulated" For "Les Guirlandes" on the occasion of documenta VII (Kassel, Germany) in the Summer of 1982, Daniel Buren accompanied his work with a sonorous broadcast, made up from pieces of classical music (from Purcell to Offenbach), played in chronological order - his response to the listing of artists by their date of birth in the catalogue, an idea that he found utterly absurd cf La cabane implosée, work in situ in "Le Musée qui n existait pas", 2002, Centre Georges-Pompidou, where the sonorous ambiance of the esplanade was transmitted directly into the room. 12

13 Photos-souvenirs are an absolute necessity however, since the works in situ are ephemeral and, with rare exceptions, they disappear: only the images of the work remain. And the only form that a retrospective of the works of Daniel Buren could take, in the traditional sense of the term, would be a printed collection of all these photo-souvenirs. Why create a book? Firstly, because it would not be possible to re-install a work in situ after taking it down, but also because these images, with a name that has deliberate connotations (photos-souvenirs makes one think of the holiday snaps taken by amateurs), can be printed in books, as postcards or posters, or published on the internet, but in any event they cannot be exhibited or even commercialised. The danger would be to consider them as works of art, to frame them, to hang them on a wall, to sell them as unique, artistic "traces" of the work. Many artists of ephemeral works have done this, but they run the risk of adulterating their original works. Daniel Buren formally refuses to allow this function for photography. For him, nothing can replace the visual and three-dimensional experience of the work of art. Photography, although necessary as proof 17, must thus be contented with its role as photo-souvenir. It calls to mind, witnesses, evokes, and betrays, all at the same time. It is an "image with no pretensions" 18. Written works Writing is an important activity for Daniel Buren. His "Les Écrits, ", first published in 1991, with a second edition in 2012, obviously bear witness to this. Contrary to the popular idea that, on the one hand, the artist makes while, on the other, the critic and the historian write, Daniel Buren pursues both activities side by side. To scan his texts is to follow the evolution of a work, a thought, his questions, his contradictions sometimes, his development and his increasing depth over the course of time. However, Daniel Buren requires his reader to re-contextualise the texts: these are the writings of an artist, produced at a certain time and in a certain context, nothing more, nothing less. It is important to remember that, unlike other artistic texts, these reflections are exclusively produced by his labours. The impulse comes from the works, from the act of "making"; they are not - with certain exceptions that prove the rule - manifestos that have subsequently led to the creation of works. Indeed, reading these numerous writings cannot excuse the spectator from seeing and experiencing the works at first hand. To the question "Why write?" Daniel Buren has responded with precision 19. Along with necessity, urgency, a desire "to remedy the shortcomings and the mediocrity of the critics", cool consideration, commands or pure pleasure, writing "enables one to say what painting cannot say, because the latter can be taken in at a glance and is incapable of holding a conversation with itself." 17 - "in order to avoid any mythologising" says Daniel Buren On this subject, the text "Au fait" in Daniel Buren, Photos-Souvenirs, Pourquoi écrire? ou: une fois n'est pas coutume, in Daniel Buren, Les Couleurs: sculptures, Les Formes: peintures, Paris: Centre Pompidou, Halifax: Les Presses du Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, And Pourquoi des textes? ou le lieu d'ou l'interviens, in Five Texts, London: Jack Wendler Gallery, and New York: John Weber Gallery, All the quotations are taken from these two texts. 13

14 Seeing and writing: two systems with their own specific qualities. One cannot be reduced to the other; nor can it contradict it. "One can admit," says Daniel Buren "that although the fundamental visual "statement" is essentially "mute", that does not prevent one from speaking of it, in the same way that one can speak of a good meal but that alone will not provide you with nourishment." From early group tracts to technical methods of the works, together with interviews, reviews, open letters and responses to the critics, the collected writings of the artist provide a remarkable tool for analysis and a permanent incentive to experience the work. 14

15 DANIEL BUREN: MILESTONE ARTWORKS Extracts from interpretative texts on key artworks, written by Daniel Buren Papiers collés blancs et verts work in situ 1968 glue, paper Work in situ created for the artist's solo exhibition at the Galleria Apollinaire in Milan, in October It was in this Milan gallery that Daniel Buren first staged a solo show, using bands of paper 8.7 cm wide as his "visual tool". The artist blocked access to the gallery, completely sealing off the entry door with green-and-white striped paper. The finishing touches thus took place on the exterior of the gallery and access to the interior remained impossible throughout the entire duration of the exhibition. By ignoring the internal walls of the gallery, which are traditionally used for the display of artworks, the artist questioned the actual function of the gallery, while at the same time focusing attention on one of its architectural features. Within and Beyond the Frame work in situ 1973 textiles, paint, steel cables Work in situ executed for the artist's solo exhibition at the John Weber Gallery in New York, in October and November The work entitled Within and Beyond the Frame was composed of nineteen pieces of material adorned with black-and-white stripes. On each side, the outer white stripes were covered in white paint. The pieces of material were suspended from a cable, which extended across the entire space of the gallery and beyond it, onto the street outside the windows. Nine pieces were inside the gallery, nine pieces were outside. A middle piece, binding together the interior and the exterior, straddled the opening of a window, which had its frame removed for the duration of the exhibition. The work was thus composed of nineteen identical elements, installed in two different "frames": one of them cultural, an art gallery, and the other urban, the city of New York. Voile/Toile - Toile/Voile work situé boat sails, paint Work situé created several times between 1975 and 2011, notably in Berlin, Geneva, Villeneuve d'ascq, Grasmere, Tel Aviv, and Seville. This work is always composed of two distinct sections. The first part consists of fitting out nine optimists (tiny boats for children and adolescents) with striped sails. The stripes are white and coloured (red, blue, yellow, green and brown) and, in each case, the outer white stripes are covered in white paint. The boats then race in a regatta. At the end of this contest, the second part takes place: the sails are installed in a museum-like space, located in the town where the 15

16 regatta has been held. They are arranged in the order in which the boats arrived, from one to nine and from left to right, effectively serving as the finishing line. Watch the doors, please! work in situ and in motion adhesive vinyl paper in five different colours; the support: the doors of the carriages of trains in Chicago. Work in situ and in motion created for the group exhibition "Europe in the Seventies", at the Art Institute of Chicago from October 1980 to March The Art Institute of Chicago was built across a railway line and features a very large bay window looking out onto this track. Normally hidden from sight, this window was completely open throughout the exhibition, thus becoming the only place in the museum with a view of the exterior. Near the window, a timetable indicated to visitors the precise times when the trains would pass by, with their doors covered in white and coloured stripes. This work, entitled "Watch the doors, please!", was not only visible from the museum, but also in the city, all along the route used by the trains. Couleurs superposées performance in situ/work in situ wood, glue, paper Performance and work in situ, presented in various settings (museums, theatres, exhibitions). It was first staged at Genazzano in Italy in 1982, within the framework of the collective project entitled "La zattera di Babele" [The raft of Babel]. Work created in public, lasting for one hour, and consisting of the successive actions of fixing and removing pasted papers. For around forty minutes, five actors stick a series of papers, with white and coloured stripes, onto a wall. Following the instructions of the artist, they superimpose the papers precisely on the white bands. The spectators observe colours and forms, which appear and then disappear with each new superimposition. During the remaining twenty minutes, the actors, still following the directions of the artist, tear down the papers which have just been pasted up, revealing the earlier layers once more in a fragmentary way. The spectators witness the evolution of the work, in a picture which is never finished and whose different stages are only retained in the memory. Everything is destroyed after the performance. Points de vue ou le Corridorscope work in situ 1983 white paint, pictures from the museum's reserve stock, wood, mirrors, steel tubes, textiles, sound Work in situ created for the artist's exhibition at l'arc, Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, in May and June A long corridor was constructed in the curved space of the museum, zigzagging from its entrance to its exit and masking the surrounding architecture. Openings were fashioned at several points in the partition walls, which were made out of striped, black-and-white material. Through these, the spectator could see: the walls of the building, fragmented sections of corridor, projecting and 16

17 suspended in space, pictures brought out of the museum's reserve collection, diagonal lines crossing the structure of the corridor, a large glass window admitting daylight from the top of the corridor like a well, the building facing the museum, the dome of Les Invalides. La cabane éclatée n 2 work situé 1984 wood, textiles, white fabric, paint A work situé and construction created in situ for the artist's exhibtions at l'arca in Marseille in 1984, and at the Centre de la Vieille Charité in Marseille in This hut consists of a parallelepiped with rectangular sections that are 4.2 metres long, 2.8 metres wide and 2.8 metres high, installed in the middle of the reception room on the site. The internal ceiling consists of a white cotton awning, while the walls of the framework are covered in striped, blue-and-white material. The framework is assembled with screw clamps and the joins of the strips of fabric are composed of a white band, which is covered in white paint. On each of the partition walls, the geometric forms of "doors" and "windows" are cut out and projected onto the walls surrounding the hut. Les Deux Plateaux permanent work in situ Cour d'honneur of the Palais-Royal, Paris cement, marble, stone, galvanised steel, water, electricity Work in situ, a public commission for the cour d'honneur of the Palais-Royal in Paris. Occupying the entire cour d'honneur at the Palais-Royal, "Les Deux Plateaux" consists of an installation of faceted columns, which forms a relationship with the architecture of the site, the position of the colonnades, the convexity of the ground, and the slope of the subterranean section. The tops of the columns positioned in the central space are aligned, forming the first "level". Trenches were dug, into which columns of equal height were placed; their varying depths emphasised the slope of the subterranean area, where water was circulating, thus revealing the second "plateau". The work creates a dialogue with the site, displaying it, unveiling it and bringing it to life. In spite of a national outcry, a halt in building work, threats of destruction, uncomprehending objections epitomised by the graffiti on the fencing around the construction site, the work was finished in July Dominant - Dominé, coin pour un espace, m 2 à 11 28'42" work in situ 1991 mirrors, wood, PVC, Chinese ink Work in situ created for the artist's exhibition at the CAPC musée d'art contemporain in Bordeaux, from May to September The internal planes and curves of all the vaulting - arches and windows included - of the two large naves of the museum hall (a former warehouse for wool) were covered with panels of white PVC. These were marked with bands of black ink, emphasising the specifics of the architecture. Wooden planking, placed on tilted scaffolding, was covered with strips of mirror along its entire surface, namely m². The inclined plane of this mirror, which was set at an angle of 17

18 11 28'42", linked the ground level of the building with that of the ambulatory on the first floor, and faced the public entrance into the space. It reflected, from one end to the other and from top to bottom, all the architectural elements, doubling them, prolonging them, inverting them, while bringing together the two extremities of the large arches, reuniting them in a single, enclosed curve. Effet/Contre-effet work in situ 2004 wood, white paint Work in situ created for the group exhibition "Versailles Off" in the park of the château of Versailles, in October The work was conceived around the spot chosen by Louis XIV to admire his gardens. This was located in the common axis of the château and the view where, through a masterly piece of trompe-l'oeil created by Le Nôtre, the fountain of Leto appears as grand as that of Neptune, the Green Carpet resembles a relatively modest trapezium even though it is actually 350 metres long, and the Grand Canal seems to "fly above" the other lawn. The finished work consisted of a large, trapezoidal frame with green-and-white stripes, laid out on the Green Carpet. From this viewpoint, it looked like a square, set up vertically in front of the Great Lawn; however, if one moved to the right or left, or went closer, it assumed its real form once more. This work revealed the trompe-l'oeil devised by Le Nôtre, giving back the fountains, lawns and watercourses their real proportions: "Effet/Contre-effet". Around the Corner work in situ 2005 lead weight, medium, mirrors, tubular scaffolding, daylight, adhesive vinyl paper Work in situ created for the artist's exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, from March to June The work consisted of placing inside the Guggenheim Museum a towering, rectangular mass, extending from the ground to the top floor, penetrating each ramp as far as the external wall and encompassing the entry to the museum, the cloakroom, the foyer and the ticket office. Its core was placed precisely in the centre of the museum's rotunda. This construction was festooned with mirrored panels, reflecting all the architectural forms. Its orientation corresponded with that of the roads and avenues of Manhattan. The interior of the construction, darkened by its covering, had artificial lighting, while in the remaining three quarters of the rotunda, the light, which could literally be dazzling, was further accentuated by the mirrors. Vertical green stripes were fixed onto the upper part of the spiral staircase, and magenta filters were placed over half the panes of the upper window. When it was sunny, this colour was projected into part of the museum where objects were normally on display, but which, in this instance, was deliberately left empty on every floor. One Thing to Another works situés fibre optic material on aluminium, electroluminescent diodes, electricity 18

19 Works in situ created for the artist's exhibition "One Thing to Another" at the Lisson Gallery in London, from November 2011 to January The installation consisted of three separate works, closely linked by colour and light. A vault with a transparent top was covered with coloured filters, which lit up the ground below. A horizontal frame, suspended above the walls, ran around the entire perimeter of the space. This frame consisted of transparent panels made out of coloured plexiglas (blue, yellow, red and green), which delicately "coloured" the walls; after dark, electric lighting continued this effect. In the other rooms, the installation consisted of new luminous pieces, made out of extremely fine, woven fibre optics, and connected to white and coloured electroluminescent diodes. When they were lit up, the diodes gave colour to the work and lit up the space; when they were switched off, the pieces had a plain white, monochrome appearance. 19

20 A COMMITMENT TO THE PUBLIC, A DESIRE TO PASS ON THE KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING Each and every day, contemporary artists create the heritage of tomorrow. So that each may access this richness, the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), at the request of the French Ministry for Culture and Communication (Direction générale de la creation artistique), has established a policy of educational and outreach programmes aimed at receiving and accompanying the most diverse audiences, responding to and going beyond visitor expectations. This organisation consists of four services: - a large staff of specialised cultural educators - targeted learning initiatives - a constantly updated website - multidisciplinary events programme throughout the event The Centre national des arts plastiques is faithful to its aim of public service in offering an educational programme, crucial to understanding the art of today. KEY POINTS Learning through discovery Facilitated cultural learning is above all key to education. Everyone should be able to experience the discovery, surprise and amazement artwork can produce. Art can open up new horizons and overturn assumptions. Individuals change and evolve constantly according to the encounters and experiences they have. Familiarity with contemporary art, by definition unique, is ideal for developing a sense of discovery and open-mindedness. But this familiarity is not always immediate; it must be prepared and built up. Facilitated cultural learning seeks to do all that is necessary to ensure that this happens successfully. The key to understanding art must be passed on. By presenting it in its context, so it may be felt and lived authentically. Facilitated cultural learning is part of the democratic notion of the right to continued education : in other words, throughout one's existence, the right to be helped and stimulated, to understand the emotional impact of art that invents - and reinvents - our daily lives. CULTURAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES ON TWO LEVELS MONUMENTA s learning methods and activities are not about learned discourse or hierarchically imposed knowledge. The team of 50 cultural educators - enthusiastic, passionate about contemporary art, token to pass on tools for understanding - is there to inform, create dialogue and respond to questions. With a wealth of in-depth knowledge on Daniel Buren s work, the cultural educators want more than anything else to share their knowledge and learn together. In the end, the cultural educator in this context is not the depositary of an innate science, but rather the person who seeks to enrich a concrete dialogue, ready to be surprised by the variety and perspicacity of viewpoints expressed by those with whom they engage. MONUMENTA seeks to make engagement with Daniel Buren s work an enjoyable, surprising discovery, an experience touching the individual in the depths of his humanity. 20

21 SCHOOL GROUPS The importance of art education Children s spontaneity and their powerful imagination make them an especially receptive public. Based on exchange between teachers and students, learning activities are open to the needs and requirements of all. This event offers the material and spatial conditions for concentration and reflection, with special areas set aside and indicated in the exhibition layout. Relying on its exceptional context, MONUMENTA seeks to offer each student the opportunity to think and position himself freely as an individual. In this way school groups can understand how important the view is that the artist has of the world, opening themselves up to the future perspectives it offers. In 2011, the most recent MONUMENTA welcomed over 5,900 students, from kindergarten to high school, coming for special tours from the 19 regional school districts throughout France, and even from the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. This success proves that offering learning activities, through dialogue with the school districts and teachers as well as creating pertinent school program circuits can meet and anticipate expectations. Workshops for all levels Through the workshops, students learn to understand Daniel Buren s work within its wider context. "Perambulations", dance studio visit in partnership with the Théâtre National de Chaillot LEVELS: FROM CP [1 st year of primary school] TO HIGH SCHOOL Daniel Buren s art requires spectators to be active, and to constantly look and walk around the site. Pupils are encouraged to discover multiple viewpoints in exploratory, choreographic ways, organised in symbiosis with the dancers of the Théâtre National de Chaillot. Dance will allow children to explore and appreciate physically the full intensity of the artwork. The workshop will demonstrate how contemporary art encourages the visitor to take an active role, rather than simply to contemplate. "Photos-souvenirs"/Attention "this is not an objet d'art" 20, photographic studio visit LEVELS: FROM THE 6 TH TO THE UPPER 6 TH (FORMAT CAN BE ADAPTED FOR PROFESSIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS) Photography is a key practice for Daniel Buren, who systematically photographs his works. He calls these snapshots "photo-souvenirs" and these photos become witnesses of a state, a moment, a site, a viewpoint. Subtitled in this way, they force us to question the status of the work of art and its reproduction, so that a distinction can be made between the two. Once this has been established, the studio takes the pupils on a creative walk, looking for viewpoints. Mounting snapshots requires the pupils to make a personal choice between the play of light, framing and perspective In "Au fait" Daniel Buren, Photos-souvenirs

22 "Colours, Light", studio visit in partnership with the Palais de la découverte LEVELS: FROM CM2 TO UPPER 6 TH Studio visit to "Colours, Light" offered by the CNAP in partnership with the Palais de la découverte, with an animated talk by two "artistic mediators" and one "scientific mediator", encouraging pupils to study colour through the dual approach of physics and art. These two aspects, one more scientific, the other more aesthetic, complement each other and open up different perspectives. Studio visit, writing LEVELS: FROM THE 6 TH TO HIGH SCHOOL (FORMAT CAN BE ADAPTED FOR PROFESSIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS) This studio visit encourages pupils to play with words, colours and forms, to compare their own efforts with the work of Daniel Buren. In this way, pupils themselves participate in a creative adventure, devoting themselves to a writing exercise that is also carried out by the artist, as his works are always accompanied by a descriptive or theoretical text. From fiction to descriptions and crititiques, pupils are encouraged to write and share their experience. THEMED TOURS "Showing", from the visual tool to the decorative tool "Showing" encourages pupils to consider Daniel Buren's work as a whole, from the creation of the visual tool, consisting of the stripes, 8.7 cm wide, which he has used since 1965, right up to the work which he has created for MONUMENTA. In tackling the history of the visual tool, this themed visit will enable them to study the history and the role of the stripes which identify the work of the artist, along with the other methods that he employs in order "to show" the site. Beyond the occasionally critical position of the artist, this tour will prompt pupils to contemplate the artist's approach to decoration. The work in situ Daniel Buren is the inventor of the term "work in situ". The concept of the event, inherent in his works, marks a break from the traditional concept of the work of art which is created in historic time; the work-event insists on the importance of experience in art. The construction of the work in situ is affected by the constraints connected with the site, its physical space, but also its history and its current use. Part of the artist's work consists in rooting out these constraints and revealing them; they become a factor in the act of creation. It was because of this logic of working with the site, or occasionally "against" the site, that Daniel Buren abandoned, in 1967, the use of a studio as the production space for his work. The issue of the work in situ modifies the relationship between the reproduction of the work, and of the souvenir that one keeps of it. This visit will immerse pupils in the problem of location, which lies at the heart of Daniel Buren's work. The movement of the work, the challenges of the work in vivo The work of Daniel Buren is conceived as a totality, and the artist invites visitors to penetrate the work, as if it were a space to explore, to move into. Light, whether natural or artificial, constitutes another source of movement in this work, changing our perception of its colours over a period of time. This themed visit will broach the question of movement, a recurrent element in Daniel Buren's work, the temporality of the work, and will reflect on the status of the work of art, when it is not kept at a distance as in museums. 22

23 "The volume of colour" 21 Colour - sometimes material, sometimes immaterial - is one of the essential elements in the work of Daniel Buren. Purely sensory, the experience of colour cannot be put into words, and the artist likens it to a form of "visual thought". He has often emphasised his belief in the primordial role of colour in his works, in stark contrast to the hostility which certain artists of his generation have shown towards it. This visit will enable pupils to understand the way that Daniel Buren uses colour as a system, and will trace a brief history of the role of colour in contemporary art. The notion of the work of art, the notion of Beauty What is a work of art? How do you define Beauty? So many questions of this kind are recurrent in the art of the 20 th century, and in the work of Daniel Buren. This themed visit proposes to analyse the essential definitions in the history of the arts, contrasting them with Daniel Buren's approach and paying particular attention to the notions of the happening, the work in situ, and the work in vivo. DISABLED ACCESS For the 5 th edition of MONUMENTA, the CNAP has maintained its policy of welcoming members of the public with disabilities, seeking to make the exhibition space, the Internet site and the mediation service accessible to all. Visitors with a visual disability will have at their disposal books in Braille and in large print as well as a relief plan. These items will be duplicated and adapted so that mediators can reserve them. Several services have been put in place to welcome members of the public with hearing difficulties, notably visits in French signing (LFS) and Cued Speech (LPC). Finally, in accordance with the general philosophy of MONUMENTA on mediation, the CNAP will organise group visits to meet the needs of people with mental or psychological disabilities. INTERNET: A REAL-TIME WEBSITE Conceived in the form of a news site, is enhanced in real time with new texts and filmed interviews. In addition, photo galleries document the work of Daniel Buren, while reviews of works and extracts from his writings will enable everyone to discover new things about the artist "Du Volume de la couleur", Daniel Buren, 1985, Les Écrits III, page

24 PUBLISHING AT THE OCCASION OF MONUMENTA 2012 Album MONUMENTA 2012 DANIEL BUREN An essential album for the visit of the exhibition. Fully illustrated, this book includes an exclusive interview with Daniel Buren, a group of commented and illustrated artworks, the key concepts of the artist's work, preparatory sketches and photographs of the exhibition. Authors: Daniel Buren, Jean-Marie Gallais, Marc Sanchez. Preface from the French Minister for Culture and Communication. Language: bilingual edition (French and English). Price: Euros, 80 pages. Co-edition: The Centre national des arts plastiques and the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais. Monograph DANIEL BUREN A new version of the monograph on Daniel Buren will be published in the Nouvelle Création contemporaine collection, created by the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) and Flammarion. The 2012 edition includes texts by Guy Lelong, updated and reviewed by the author, as well as numerous photographs of works, mainly the one presented during MONUMENTA 2012 Author: Guy Lelong. Language: bilingual edition (French and English). Price: 45 Euros, 240 pages. Co-edition: Centre national des arts plastiques and Flammarion. Book Daniel Buren, Les Écrits, " Essential for an in-depth understanding of the work of Daniel Buren, the book is made of two volumes containing more than 600 reference texts by the artist, open letters, leaflets, interviews, documents, etc. > In exclusivity, on the occasion of MONUMENTA 2012, the first volume of the book will be sold at the MONUMENTA bookshop. The two volumes will be available in September/October Author: Daniel Buren. Director of the publication: Marc Sanchez, CNAP. Language: French. Price: 70 Euros, around 4,000 pages. Co-edition: Centre national des arts plastiques and Flammarion. Booklet, Daniel Buren, Teaching resources A booklet of teaching resources for the use of teachers and pupils will be produced by the Centre Régional de Documentation Pédagogique Centre National de Documentation 24

25 Pédagogique, in collaboration with the CNAP. It brings together some keys for understanding the work of Daniel Buren. Adapted to the different school levels, the booklet can also be of high interest to the wide public that is looking for a better insight into Daniel Buren s universe. Price: 5 Euros, 48 pages. Edition: CRDP/CNDP. Book Daniel Buren, Excentrique(s), Esquisses graphiques Published specifically for MONUMENTA 2012, this book includes most of the sketches, preparatory drawings and plans, designed by Daniel Buren for MONUMENTA. Arranged chronologically, showing the evolution of thinking, the sketches are reproduced at actual size. The document also presents the projects that were not retained by the artist. Price: 25 Euros, 96 pages. Edition: Dilecta, with the support of MONUMENTA. 25

26 EVENTS PROGRAMME Daniel Buren s art is characterised by encounter, emotion and surprise. In response, MONUMENTA will present a series of rendez-vous with artists, musicians, dancers and creative people from every field. Aimed at inciting dialogue, the events will each respond to Daniel Buren s artwork from different perspectives, creating bonds with diverse languages, expressions and movements. Once a week, throughout the entire event, Daniel Buren s artwork will resonate with the universe of a different artist and different mode of expression. Each event will be created especially for the exceptional space. Full programme to be confirmed. Accessible with the entry ticket. 26

27 DANIEL BUREN - BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE Born in 1938 at Boulogne-Billancourt, Daniel Buren developed, from the start of the 1960s, a radical style of painting which experimented with an economy of means in the work and explored the relationship between the ground (the support) and the form (painting). In 1965, while he was painting pictures which combined rounded forms with stripes of varying colours and dimensions, he decided to use an industrial fabric, with alternating vertical bands, both white and coloured, all 8.7 cm wide. Starting with the countless possibilities suggested by this support, he revised his thoughts about painting, about its modes of presentation and, on a broader scale, about the physical and social environment in which the artist operated. Soon, his works were examining systematically the sites which received them and for which they were conceived. Initially, from 1967, he worked in the street, then in galleries, museums, landscapes or architecture. He invented the term "work in situ" and this has since characterised a large proportion of his interventions. The alternating stripes, which he named the "visual tool", enabled him to reveal the significant peculiarities of the site in which he was working, as he deployed them at the heart of his specific and often complex schemes, amidst painting, sculpture and architecture. His interventions in situ playfully explore viewpoints, spaces, colours, light, movement, the environment, cutting away or projecting, assuming their decorative power or radically transforming the sites. Incisive, critical, committed, the work of Daniel Buren, which has continually developed and diversified, always provokes comments, whether admiring or polemical. In 1986, he produced his most controversial public commission, "Les Deux Plateaux", for the cour d'honneur of the Palais-Royal in Paris. This was also the year when he represented France at the Biennale in Venice and won the Golden Lion. He is one of the most active and acclaimed artists involved in the international scene, and his work has been welcomed by major museums, galleries and a diverse variety of art spaces throughout the world. In 2007, Daniel Buren received the Praemium Imperiale from the Emperor of Japan, an award that is generally regarded as the Nobel Prize for the Visual Arts. 27

28 DANIEL BUREN BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE "Daniel Buren, Position-Proposition", Städtisches Museum, Mönchengladbach, "Daniel Buren, Sanction of the Museum", Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, "Daniel Buren, Five texts", John Weber gallery, New York / Jack Wendler gallery, London, "Daniel Buren, À partir de là / Von da an", Städtisches Museum, Mönchengladbach, "Daniel Buren, Rebondissements", Daled & Gevaert, Brussels, "Daniel Buren, Les couleurs : sculptures, Les formes : peintures", Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris / Les presses du Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Halifax, "Daniel Buren : points de vue", Daniel Buren, Suzanne Pagé, Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, "Daniel Buren, De la Couverture", XLII e Biennale de Venise, AFAA, Paris, "Daniel Buren Entrevue. Conversations avec Anne Baldassari", Musée des Arts Décoratifs / Flammarion, Paris, "Daniel Buren", Daniel Buren, Catherine Francblin, Art Press, Paris, "Photos-Souvenirs " Daniel Buren, Art Edition, Villeurbanne, "Les Ecrits ( )", Daniel Buren, capcmusée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux, "Daniel Buren, Arguments topiques", Daniel Buren, Marc Sanchez, capcmusée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux, "Propos délibérés", Daniel Buren-Michel Parmentier, interviews with Anne Baldassari, Art Edition, Villeurbanne / Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, "Daniel Buren, Erscheinen, scheinen, verschwinden", Daniel Buren, Doris Krystof, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, "Daniel Buren, Transparence de la lumière, Travaux in situ", Daniel Buren, Shimizu Toshio, Art Tower, Mito (Japon), "Daniel Buren, Images du Japon", AFAA, Paris, "Au sujet de", interview of Daniel Buren by Jérôme Sans, Flammarion 4, Paris, "A force de descendre dans la rue, l art peut-il enfin y monter?", Daniel Buren, Sens & Tonka, Paris, "L'ineffable, à propos de l'oeuvre de Ryman", Daniel Buren, Jannink, Paris,

29 "Daniel Buren Cabanes éclatées " (catalogue raisonné thématique, volume 2), Annick Boisnard/Daniel Buren, Alex Alberro, Editions 11/28/48, Le Bourget, "Daniel Buren " (chronological catalogue, volume II), Annick Boisnard/Daniel Buren, Christian Besson, Musée d art moderne Lille Métropole, Villeneuve d Ascq / Editions 11/28/48, le Bourget, "Daniel Buren, Les Couleurs Traversées", Daniel Buren, Eckardt Schneider, Kunsthaus, Bregenz, "Daniel Buren", Guy Lelong, Flammarion, Paris, "Mot à mot", Daniel Buren, Bernard Blistène, Alison Gingeras, Laurent Le Bon, Julie Pellegrin, Editions Centre Pompidou / Editions de la Martinière / Editions Xavier Barral, Paris, "Daniel Buren " (chronological catalogue, volume XIII), Annick Boisnard/Daniel Buren, Bernard Blistène, Editions Centre Pompidou, Paris / Editions 11/28/48, Le Bourget, "Daniel Buren, In situ", Bruno Corà, Testo & Immagine, Turin, "Daniel Buren, Transitions: works in situ", Daniel Buren, Odate Natsuko, Kitagawa Tomoaki, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, "Buren Times", Bernard Blistène, Daniel Buren, Susan Cross and Alison Gingeras, Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Daniel Buren, Intervention II works in situ", Daniel Buren Jérôme Sans, Suzanne Cotter, Modern Art Oxford, "Le Musée qui n existait pas, Daniel Buren", Bernard Blistène, Laurent Le Bon, Dorothea von Hantelmann, Editions Centre Pompidou / Editions Xavier Barral, Paris, "Histoire du Palais-Royal, Les Deux Plateaux, Daniel Buren", Michel Nuridsany, Daniel Buren, Patrick Bouchain, Jean-Christophe Denise, Edith Hallauer, Actes Sud, Arles, "Daniel Buren & Alberto Giacometti, œuvres contemporaines ", Bernard Blistène, Daniel Buren, Véronique Wiesinger, Editions Kamel Mennour, Paris, "Daniel Buren, Allegro Vivace", Daniel Buren, Karola Kraus, Doris Krystof, Cora von Pape, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden / Walther König, Cologne, "Daniel Buren", David Palterer, Gli Ori, Pistoia, "Daniel Buren, Travaux in situ ", Centre Pompidou-Metz, MUDAM Luxembourg,

30 VISITOR INFORMATION MONUMENTA 2012 Daniel Buren Installation open to the public from 10 May - 21 June 2012 Address Nave of the Grand Palais North entrance Avenue du Général Eisenhower PARIS Opening times Daily except Tuesday From 10am to 7pm, Monday and Wednesday From 10am to midnight, Tuesday to Sunday Admissions close 45 minutes before exhibition closing. Entry up until 30 minutes before closure for ticket holders. Access Subway: lines 1, 9, 13 / stations: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau Bus: lines 28, 32, 42, 72, 73, 80, 83, 93 Information: public@monumenta.com Admission Admission to the exhibition gives free entrance to the day s events programme Standard admission: 5.00 Euros Concessions: 2.50 Euros Recipients of French State benefits, job-seeker s allowance (RMI / RMS /RSA), young people aged 13 to 18, art students (exc. auditeurs libres), holders of France's Carte Famille Nombreuse, job-seekers, Sésame subscribers (GNGP), vocational/professional pupils at Centres de Formation d Apprentis, holders of valid tickets for the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, holders of valid La Triennale tickets for the Palais de Tokyo, the beneficiaries of certain exceptional initiatives and partnerships negotiated for the exhibition. Free admission Under 13s, employees or retired employees of the French Ministry for Culture and Communication (plus one guest), curatorial staff of French and international public museums, journalists including the art press), members of IACA and the Syndicat de la Presse Artistique, professional artists (painters, sculptors, print-makers) affiliated with the Maison des Artistes, wounded war veterans, civilian disabled people (in accordance with conditions laid down by the Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées), professional teachers accompanying school groups, official French national and regional tour guides/ lecturers, members of ICOM / ICOMOS, educational and youth groups (leisure activities centres, holiday activity centres, MJC, CFA, etc.) taking part in a workshop or activity with a MONUMENTA cultural educator, the beneficiaries of certain exceptional initiatives and partnerships negotiated for the exhibition. 30

31 Admission and guided tour: 9.00 Euros Access to a 90 minute tour of the exhibition, with a cultural educator. Guided tours departures every day except Tuesday at 10:30am, 3pm, 5pm, + Thursday to Sunday at 7pm. Pass: Euros (unlimited access for the entire event period). Group admission: Euros (up to 30 people, self-guided tour) Groupe guided tour: Euros (up to 30 people) Tour and dance workshop, for adults or in family, 1 hour: Euros (free admission for children under 13) In partnership with Théâtre National de Chaillot. School visits: Tour and workshop (2h): Euros per group (up to 30 children) Tour (1h30): Euros per group (up to 30 children) Student tour (IUFM, Higher education) 1h30: Euros per group (up to 30 persons) Adapted for the disabled. 31

32 THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION AND ITS OPERATORS MONUMENTA has taken place every year since 2007 and is an initiative of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. Every year, a major international artist is invited by the Ministry to take up the challenge, transforming the monumental space of the Nave of the Grand Palais with a unique work of art. Dedicated to an ever-expanding national and international audience, MONUMENTA now holds a vital place in the roll-call of key artistic events. The Direction générale de la création artistique (ministry of Culture and Communication) defines, coordinates and evaluates the policy of the State relating to the performing arts and the plastic arts and determines the way that it should be implemented. It supports artistic creativity in all its fields of expression, encouraging the diffusion of works and extending the widest possible access to artistic productions. Among its duties, it is entrusted with the task of coordinating events of national and international significance, which will enhance the value of the artistic scene in France. This led to the setting up of "La Force de l Art", which was succeeded by "La Triennale", presented at the Palais de Tokyo and at other sites in Paris and the surrounding region in 2012, and "MONUMENTA". The common purpose of these events is to encourage the public to engage with contemporary creativity. The education programme run by the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) will provide the key to understanding the work of today's artists. MONUMENTA 2012 is organised by the ministry of Culture and Communication (Direction générale de la creation artistique), the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) and the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais. Press contacts: Department of Information and Communication service-presse@culture.gouv.fr Tel: + 33 (0) Direction générale de la création artistique Marie-Ange Gonzalez marie-ange.gonzalez@culture.gouv.fr Tel: + 33 (0)

33 THE CENTRE NATIONAL DES ARTS PLASTIQUES (CNAP) The Centre national des arts plastiques, a public body, is the principal operator of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in the domain of contemporary art. In its cultural capacity, it supports artists for the production and diffusion of their works to the public at large; in its economic capacity, it attends to the professionals in the French artistic scene; in its artistic capacity, it co-produces the great events of the ministry of Culture and Communication (MONUMENTA and La Triennale). For MONUMENTA DANIEL BUREN, the Centre national des arts plastiques is the associate commissioner for the event. In this role, it is responsible for the direction of the artistic production, the scheduling of the cultural programme, the editions, the overall programme for educational activities, the public reception, the dealings with partners and sponsors, the communication and relations with the press. With Flammarion, it is producing a co-edition of "Daniel Buren, Les Écrits, ", a monograph devoted to the artist, and the catalogue of the event with the Réunion des musées nationaux Grand Palais. The Centre national des arts plastiques acquires and commissions works of art on behalf of the State, and circulates them in France and abroad through loans and storage and by organising exhibitions, in partnership with museums and cultural institutions of all kinds. It commissions public art for the nation and directs the production of works created for the French Pavilion at the Biennale in Venice, in collaboration with the French Institute. Finally, it operates several aid facilities for art professionals, such as assistance with début exhibitions, assistance with the production of catalogues, research grants and help with the editing of art books. It also offers practical answers to professionals in the field of contemporary art through the resources available online at its internet website Press contact: Perrine Martin Tel: + 33 (0) perrine.martin@culture.gouv.fr 33

34 THE RÉUNION DES MUSÉES NATIONAUX - GRAND PALAIS Every year, the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais presents around forty, very diverse cultural events in Paris, the regions and internationally. It is one of the principal organisers of exhibitions and events in the world. Most of its exhibitions are national or international coproductions with the greatest museums. The Grand Palais is one of the French public s most loved monuments, a prestigious showcase right in the heart of Paris. Created for the World Fair of 1900, it has become in a century a site that symbolises the patrimony and creativity of France. The programme schedule at the Grand Palais, both demanding and popular, alternates events in the Nave (FIAC, MONUMENTA, Saut Hermès, Paris Photo, etc.) and extraordinary shows, such as the exhibition 6 billion Others by the photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the exhibition-sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé and the concert of Prince and the dance Festival of Blanca Li. Exhibitions, concerts, parades, salons, performances all are accessible to the entire public as culture becomes democratised and is accompanied by a wealth of education programmes. The Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais, producer of this new edition of MONUMENTA, is in charge of the coordination of transport and the installation of the work, the edition of the catalogue of the event, the arrangement of the reception zones and the bookshop and management of security and surveillance. Beyond the organisation of events, the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais is also one of the leading art publishers in Europe. Thanks to its network of more than 40 boutique bookshops in museums, the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais distributes its creations and selections on an international scale. Its photographic agency is one of the world leaders in the museum world. More information can be found at and Press contact: Florence Le Moing Tel: + 33 (0) florence.le-moing@rmngp.fr 34

35 Sponsor LVMH / Moët Hennessy. Louis Vuitton, partner of MONUMENTA since 2007, supports Daniel Buren exhibition in 2012 A loyal supporter of all five editions of MONUMENTA to date, LVMH is a partner of the 2012 creation by Daniel Buren Following the Group s support for the first four editions of MONUMENTA featuring works by Anselm Kiefer (2007), Richard Serra (2008), Christian Boltanski (2010) and Anish Kapoor (2011) LVMH is delighted to be a partner of the 2012 exhibition by Daniel Buren, who will create a monumental work designed specially for the glass-roofed nave of the Grand Palais in Paris. LVMH s corporate patronage enables a broad public to experience the creation at the Grand Palais by Daniel Buren, one of the most widely recognized French artists on today s international art scene. LVMH corporate patronage: promoting access to contemporary art LVMH s ongoing support for MONUMENTA is a natural continuation of over 20 years of corporate patronage for culture, heritage and artistic creativity. Thanks to LVMH, millions of French and foreign visitors around the world have been able to rediscover major artists in the history of art and enjoy the work of contemporary artists whose creations offer powerful resonance with modern times, from Cézanne to Klein, Bonnard to Richard Serra, and including Matisse, Van Gogh, Chardin, Picasso and other masters. LVMH s commitment also enables young audiences to experience the best of culture, bringing children, students and young artists opportunities to nurture their knowledge and talent. Through its continued collaboration with Monumenta and the works exhibited, LVMH enables the public, and young people in particular, to experience works by prominent contemporary artists. The guest artist for the 2012 edition at the Grand Palais in Paris is Daniel Buren. Press contact: Catherine Dufayet / Anne Samson Communication Tel. : +33 (0) / +33 (0) catherine.dufayet@wanadoo.fr leopoldine@annesamson.com 35

36 Sponsor Steelcase is proud to sponsor Daniel Buren s creation for the 2012 edition of the MONUMENTA exhibition in Paris. For 100 years, Steelcase has helped create great experiences for the world s leading organizations wherever work happens. Steelcase s view on creating high performance work environments resonates with Daniel Buren s artistic approach taking into account all architectural, functional, social, emotional and cultural aspects. By supporting this unique artistic adventure, Steelcase wishes to share a source of inspiration with a majority and help create another great experience! Steelcase will renew its support for the next edition of MONUMENTA in 2013 so that Art can continue to inspire everyone of us for as long as possible. About Steelcase: For 100 years, Steelcase Inc. has helped create great experiences for the world s leading organizations wherever work happens. Steelcase and our family of brands including Steelcase, Coalesse, Designtex, Details, Nurture, PolyVision, and Turnstone - offer a comprehensive portfolio of furnishings, products and services designed to unlock human promise and to support social, economic, and environmental sustainability. We are globally accessible through a network of channels, including over 650 dealers. Steelcase is a global, industry-leading, and publicly traded company with fiscal 2012 revenue of approximately $2.7 billion. Press contact: Agence Design Project Benjamin Girard Tel. : +33 (0) Benjamin.Girard@design-project.net 36

37 Sponsor Neuflize OBC consolidates one again its position of reference sponsor for visual arts in France by reaffirming, for the fifth consecutive year, its support to the ministry of Culture and Communication and to the Centre national des arts plastiques for the 2012 edition of MONUMENTA, the biggest French event of contemporary art. A lasting support which illustrates perfectly its sponsorship policy characterized by dynamism and innovation in the service of the contemporary creation and the valorisation of cultural heritage. Bank Neuflize OBC is the main sponsor of MONUMENTA from the very beginning. The bank bet on this unique artistic challenge, as simple as ambitious, which aimed to demonstrate that contemporary creation could be appreciated not only by the critic but also by a large public. Neuflize OBC is now particularly proud to continue this partnership in 2012 with the totally new work of Daniel Buren, who will face himself with the hugeness, the beauty and the light of the glass and steel vault of the Grand Palais. The artist, for whom the place is inseparable from the work that reveals its hidden dimensions, will immerse the visitors in a transfigured Grand Palais. As in 2011, Neuflize OBC supports especially this year the original operation of mediation set to make this work of art accessible to all kind of audience. A banking institution of convictions, Neuflize OBC is sensitive to this very ambitious and unique artistic confrontation, giving pride of place to works of art, contributing to move the contemporary artistic creation closer to the largest public and illustrating the peculiar and innovative way in which the bank looks at the lively world. The Neuflize OBC sponsorship policy sets out to combine the culture of the past with that of the future, to associate the visual arts and the cinema, and to coordinate its actions with those of Neuflize Vie, its insurance company. The bank s sponsorship policy Neuflize OBC, one of the leaders in private banking in France, is often quoted as a reference in cultural sponsorship, notably for visual arts and the cinema. Its field of intervention includes partnerships with prestigious institutions, both for exhibitions and for major artistic events. Its choices get organized around supports in the creation as in the development of the cultural heritage. Choices reflecting the values of a private bank The actions carried out by Neuflize OBC are at one and the same time proof of a rigorous, long-term commitment to quality projects and an open-minded and innovative encouragement of promising creative initiatives geared to the future. The priorities enshrined in the bank s sponsorship policy also illustrate the appropriateness to its clients, with a special focus on families with roots in the French industrial sector and often with a reputation as art lovers, or on professionals from the world of cinema and communication drawn from all parts of the country. A coherent sponsorship policy Neuflize OBC also shares its engagements with its insurance company, Neuflize Vie, which has opted to focus on contemporary, photographic and videographic images through partnerships of various kinds, like its durable contribution to Jeu de Paume and MEP museums. Some examples of actions in 2012 : Major Sponsor of the Cinémathèque française ( Tim Burton, the exhibition March-August 2012), Pavilion Neuflize OBC, creation laboratory of the Palais de Tokyo, Exhibition «Dessins contemporains surréalistes de Rotterdam» at the Netherlands Institute (March-May 2012), Contemporary drawing prize - Foundation Daniel and Florence Guerlain (March 2012), Restauration of Edouard André s antechamber at the Jacquemart-André museum, «Nuit européenne des Musées», Direction générale des Patrimoines, (May 2012), MONUMENTA 2012, Daniel Buren (May-June 2012), Forum of Avignon (November 2012) Press contact: Carole Tournay, Events and sponsorship manager Tel. : +33 (0) carole.tournay@fr.abnamro.com 37

38 Sponsor illycaffè, Italian coffee maker since 1933, produces a single blend of premium quality coffee. A perfect mix of taste and excellence. To illy, the coffee break is synonym of a wide-ranging experience of all senses: the art of coffee joins the talent of emerging and already famous contemporary artists, who have been working with illycaffè for more than 20 years. The company has committed itself to actively spread and support contemporary art, by organizing major international exhibitions and working with of well-known artists as well as emerging ones. In 1997, and in the following editions of 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011, illycaffè has been partner of the Venice Art Bienniale. It has also been partner of the most important and well-known international art fairs and exhibitions, such as Armory Show, Frieze, Arco, Artissima. Among all the art projects, Galleria illy represents a major event. As a real salon, Galleria illy is a temporary space that welcomes internationally renowned personalities from the art world: Julian Schnabel, Marina Abramović, James Rosenquist, Sebastião Salgado, Michael Lin, Patricia Urquiola, Ross Lovegrove, Ron Arad, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Peter Greenaway, and Matteo Thun. Galleria illy has already been staged in New York, Milan, Trieste, Berlin, Istanbul, and London. In September 2012, Galleria illy will be in Beijing. Given that art has always been such an important part of the brand identity, the current logo was created in 1996 by Rosenquist, who ten years later designed a limited edition of the 250 gr. coffee can, Coffee Flavours Ideas. In the spirit of living art on a daily basis, in 1992 illy created its first illy Art Collection: since then several worldwide famous artists have used their talents to create special signed cup collections in limited editions. This major project, now at its 20th anniversary, represents one of the most beautiful and clearest expressions of the relationship between the brand and contemporary art. Among the 70 artists who have collaborated to the illy Art Collection project, illy has worked with Michelangelo Pistoletto, Marina Abramovic, Jeff Koons, Bob Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Anish Kapoor, Daniel Buren This year, illy s passion for art is enhanced by a new collaboration, the partnership with the 2012 MONUMENTA edition. The love for art and the desire to support international exhibitions have led the brand to be part of this collaboration. An illy bar decorated by Daniel Buren will be opened at the Grand Palais all along the event. Daniel Buren, who had already created an illy art collection in 2004, has designed a new one dedicated to MONUMENTA Press contacts: illycaffè Anna Adriani /Christine Pascolo, illycaffè Trieste Tel.: Agence Hopscotch Press department illycaffè Laurie Berthe Tel. : +33 (0) lberthe@hopscotch.fr 38

39 Sponsors The company PASCON is known for over 60 years in the market of thermoplastic products. We sell PVC, Polyurethane, EVA films and laminates. From research and development of a new film type, to its production in small batches or higher volumes, up to its delivery, with the possibility to cut sheets or slitted rolls, we provide products into several market segments like medicine, nuclear, childcare, event management, leisure and many other industries. Today our powerful industrial European partners offer us the opportunity to be active in fields where sustainable development, fire certification, food supply, biocompatibility are needed or requested. We are pleased to be associated, as a sponsor, to MONUMENTA 2012 exhibition for which the artist Daniel Buren has selected crystal clear coloured and flame retardant films from RENOLIT, produced especially for our company in order to realise a unique artwork which can be seen at the Grand Palais in Paris. The RENOLIT Group is a leading international manufacturer of high-quality plastic films and related products for technical applications. RENOLIT thermoplastic films provide furniture, building components and consumer electronics with a decorative surface finish, they seal roofs, underground structures and line swimming pools. We produce films and tubes for medical applications and recyclable composite panels incorporating natural fibres for the building sector and automotive industry. RENOLIT film is also used as a key material for office management supplies, in the interiors of vehicles, in self-adhesive products for the graphic design and labelling industry and in technical products. Since its foundation in 1946, the German family business with his head-office located in Worms, has developed into a global market leader in PVC and PP films. The RENOLIT Group employs today at more than 30 production plants and distribution companies in over 20 countries a workforce of approximately 4,000 people. The international brand RENOLIT and its claim "Rely on it" are embodied in products offering the highest levels of reliability and quality. RENOLIT is proud to be associated with its films to the MONUMENTA 2012 exhibition, focused on Daniel Buren s artwork. Press contacts: Pascon Stéphane Bouts, General manager Tel. : +33 (0) stephane.bouts@pascon-sa.com Renolit Regine Koudela, Corporate Communications Tel. : regine.koudela@renolit.com 39

40 Each year MONUMENTA, organized at the initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Communication (Direction générale de la création artistique), invites an internationally-renowned artist to turn their vision to the monumental space of the Grand Palais Nave. From this encounter, a unique work is born, illuminated by the spectacular setting. MONUMENTA 2012 is organized by: The Ministry of Culture and Communication (Direction générale de la création artistique), commissioner, the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), associate commissioner, and the Réunion des musées nationaux Grand Palais, producer. a Monumenta 2012 has the generous support of: Main sponsors: LVMH / Moët Hennessy. Louis Vuitton, Steelcase, Neuflize OBC, illycaffè, Pascon, Renolit Media partners: Le Monde, Metro, Paris Ile-de-France Tourist Board, Metrobus, France Culture, France Info, France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5, France Ô Corporate sponsors and partners: Millenium SAS, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Universcience, DADA, CRDP de l académie de Versailles, Académie de Versailles DAAC et Inspections pédagogiques, Direction des services départementaux de l éducation nationale des Yvelines, DAAC du Rectorat de Créteil