Little history of art: ça marche [māchi]

Part 1: 17.03.2018 – 3pm

Part 2: 24.03.2018 – 3pm

Following the workshop revolving around “the Chair” and the space it occupied in the history of arts, Beirut Art Center launches its second history of art class for children aged between 8 and 14. Ça Marche (Māchi), is a two-session workshop; the sessions will feature a tour of the exhibition followed by a discussion and a projection, as well as practical exercises and games.

Over the past three decades, Alÿs has produced numerous works based on individual or collective wanderings. Whether by dragging a conflicting matter within its environment (the bloc of ice) or by diverting a popular guideline, enforcing it literally (moving a mountain), Alÿs’ practice erupts in a consistent manner a very particular way to inhabit space. As a sequel of such gestures situations of conflict or daily routines become subject to unpredictable narrations. These strategies, spreading from a turn of events (bumping into a tree with a car as a sign of the end of a utopia) to a simple crossing of space in the aim of disrupting habits (taking a stroll with a gun in one’s hand), renew our perceptions of a site, a story, and the circumstances we live in.

Why are some artist using the walk as a medium? For this edition, the focus will center around the practice of walking and the impact it had on representation and on activation of space in the history of art. Mind is a muscle, the title of a significant piece by Yvonne Rainer, reminds us that walking, pacing, moving are not simply a matter of body movement.  

In the history of art, pharaoh Mikérinos’ step was the first known formal representation of walking. From there on walking has been assigned multiple interpretations and representations, in response to specific world views. The workshop will try to explore these, taking the discoveries of Muybridge and Marey as a tipping point.

Reserve a place on this workshop at education@beirutartcenter.org