Sabine Delafon T-Shirt, 2006

A follow up on from the search for her body double. She mades a series of white T-shirts with her name Sabine Delafon printed on the front of them. She asked at first to women, then to men and later to children to wear them. Reflections on trends, on the attribution and acquisition of a chosen and specific personality by wearing a garment, a brand. Identifying with a group of individuals through the written word, a name. In this case, by becoming a bit like Sabine Delafon, finding traces of her in oneself and vice versa.

"Photography takes your soul. This elementary truth knows even the most helpless of the models. But there are small defensive strategies in this voodoo trap. The name is the armor of the strongs and Sabine lends me his. With this apotropaic T-shirt I feel safe and the price I pay when I leave the container, is a small identity crisis. But then he passes."

Ronald Lewis Facchinetti, 2008.

Photographic documentation.
- 100 color photographs, 100 x 70 cm - edition 3
- DVD video/documentation 10 min - edition 5
- T-shirt numbered and signed S - M - L - edition 100
2012, Wanted, Edysion, Istanbul - 2009, Amsterdam Biennale, curated by Martin Butler and Jans Possel, Mediamatic, Amsterdam - 2008, Choice, Sabine Delafon Corporation, Artissima, Turin - Via Farini, workshop with Kim Jones, Milan - 2007, Expanded Unreal, curated by Camilla Boemio, Caricature International Museum, Tolentino - In love with Sabine Delafon, curated by Ronald Falconetti, ConternaiArt, Milan, 2007 Clearly Invisible - An(invisible), curated by Filipa Ramos, Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelone, 2006

Sabine Delafon Corporation, 2008 - NOW


It becomes logical to create in 2008 the Sabine Delafon Corporation (SDC). Those who choose to work with Sabine Delafon can enter into the SDC. Working together, under a common denominator, in a corporation.
© Francesca Tambussi

Press Release

S D C

Sabine Delafon Corporation

“Scelta”

Venerdì 7 Novembre 2008 dalle ore 12 alle 16– Artissima 15, Torino



The most fascinating aspect of participating in the Sabine Delafon Coporation - SDC - in this context is because the performance, that is an evolution of the ongoing work that the artist has pursued on identity since the beginning of her artistic career, shifts from personal identity to group identity. Nowadays is this a natural evolution, does it illustrate a trend in contemporary society? Certainly in virtual reality it does. In recent years the virtual space has witnessed the birth of boundless online communities, composed of individual identity with like-minded ideas, habits, customs, beliefs and causes. The potential of this phenomena is enormous and boundless. It is easier therefore to obtain information, understanding of the individual through their social network, interests and adhesions.
The lowest common denominator is in fact networking.
The underlying strength of this: knowledge and resource sharing.
As members of these groups can the missing qualities of individualism be compensated by a shared identity? Is this practicable in art?
Is it a provocation? A way of proving to the art cirlces that market rules don’t just apply but have taken over? Can art prove its flexibility by embracing and releasing the shackles of such an elite and closed circuit? If so, can other resources provide the lacking components that condition market demands?
Same, same but different.

During the Artissima contemporary art fair, members of the SDC wear, by choice, a white T-shirt with Sabine Delafon printed on the front and visit the fair.

Marcia Caines

. . .

“In un saggio del 1936 Heidegger si chiedeva se l’origine dell’opera d’arte si trovasse nell’artista o nell’opera stessa, per concludere che se l’artista è origine dell’opera, anche l’opera è origine dell’artista. Ma, ciò che è più importante, nessuno dei due può stare senza l’altro (cfr. Sentieri interrotti, 1950). Mai come oggi una domanda sull’origine dell’opera d’arte è così attuale. Il lavoro di un artista si compone di elementi anche tra loro disparati che vanno oltre l’opera: la critica, la galleria, fino agli aspetti mediatici e pubblicitari. Nessuno di questi elementi è da solo determinante, ma lo sono tutti. Ciò che fa il successo di un artista oggi ha infatti anche a che fare con la capacità di autopromuoversi: viaggiando, parlando lingue straniere e curando buoni contatti (umani o troppo umani che siano). In questo senso SDC coglie nel segno. L’artista qui mette in gioco la propria identità, trasformandola in un brand che produce magliette, biglietti da visita e quant’altro. Nella performance, preludio si spera di altri futuri lavori, i ruoli diventano interscambiabili, ai limiti – come dichiara Alberto Zanchetta– della “psicosi di massa”. Chiunque può mettersi nei panni dell’altro, oltre le rigide competenze professionali e le divisioni tra generi, fino a coinvolgere lo stesso pubblico. In che cosa? In un gioco, in un’opera o in un happening old style? Oppure in un’arte che funziona come i reality show, permettendo a ciascuno un po’ di “celebrità”? Di certo un evento da non perdere. “


Maria Cristina Strati


. . .

“Non c’è dubbio: l’arte contemporanea soffre di un disturbo bipolare! O sono gli artisti ad accusare i sintomi di un’incipiente schizofrenia? E se nella patologia venisse coinvolto anche il pubblico? E perché no, tutti gli operatori culturali? Si creerebbe una psicosi di massa? Da questa disgregazione della personalità emerge una “figura” [clinica]; “figura” dissociata che si cambia l’indentità come ci si cambierebbe d’abito. Le basterebbe indossare una t-shirt (camouflage) il cui valore nominale è in errore rispetto all’identità della “figura” e al nome che si è pronti a darle (rapporto di non-equivalenza). Cogito ergo sum, io penso quindi sono. Il pensare implica un libero arbitrio, quindi la facoltà di scelta: scegliere di dire e di [rap]presentarsi al pubblico. Cogito ergo me videre è invece ciò su cui rimugina lo spettatore: pensare -di vedere- senza credere -a ciò che si è visto- perché ogni atto di visione è un giudizio intellettuale.”

Penso come Alberto Zanchetta ma mi vedo come Sabine Delafon [?]


. . .

Sabine Delafon Corporation è un gruppo artistico che conta ad oggi circa 50 membri tra artisti, curatori, critici, fotografi, videomaker che formano la SDC (Sabine Delafon Corporation). La SDC prende nome dalla sua fondatrice Sabine Delafon, la cui ricerca artistica ruota attorno al concetto dell’identità evolvendosi nel tempo in un progetto collettivo: una “corporation” di persone che si completino attraverso visioni e competenze e possano talvolta sostituire la creatrice. Individuo che si moltiplica in tanti individui complementari tra loro. SDC come personalità plurima e marchio.
Ogni membro si presenta con la propria individualità sotto un comune denominatore – la Sabine Delafon Corporation – al servizio del quale mette le prioprie competenze e peculiarità. Completandosi, dividendosi, moltiplicandosi, cambiando ruoli e identità.


. . .

Da Sabine Delafon alla Corporation : Premessa 

1. Ex, progetto biografico - fotografico iniziato nel 1987. Questo lavoro comprende ad oggi 500 foto tessera.
2. I'm looking for myself, alla ricerca del mio sosia, di me stessa.
Nel 2005 l'artista mette circa 3.000 affissioni con il proprio ritratto in diverse città del mondo (Milano, Roma, N.Y, Paris) con cui cerca il proprio sosia. Non trovandolo, Delafon pensa e realizza il seguente lavoro :
3. Sabine Delafon t - shirt, 2006. Realizzazione di t-shirt con il nome SABINE DELAFON stampato frontalmente che l'artista fa indossare ad altre donne ritraendole poi fotograficamente. La documentazione si estende successivamente a uomini e bambini.
4. Questionari, lavoro iniziato nel 2002 e ancora in corso.
Distribuzione di schede questionario con i quali si cerca di indagare il concetto secondo cui il nome proprio di una persona ne possa influenzare la vita. Si tratta di un lavoro di comunicazione, di interazione, di accumulazione di dati nonché un'indagine calligrafica, dei nomi e dell'“Altro”.
5. Alléluia, 2008. Affissione di 1000 manifesti mortuari di Sabine Delafon sui muri di Milano, Torino, Roma e Napoli per festeggiare il decimo anno di attività artistica : 1998 - 2008 . Un percorso metaforico che lega l'inizio della “scomparsa” fisica dell'artista per approdare alla :
6. Sabine Delafon Corporation.


. . .

La Sabine Delafon Corporation è composta al giorno di oggi di:
Edoardo Acotto, Enrico Ascoli, Samir Baddi, Renata Bianconi, Giorgio Bartoli, Alice Belcredi, Camilla Boemio, Lorenzo Bruni, Martin Butler, Marcia Caines, Stefania Casiraghi, Claudio Cravero, Alessandro David, Diego di Caro, Roberto Maria Clemente, Elisabetta Dotta, Maximilian Ehrhardt, Alberto Falco, François Farellacci, Claudio Ferrarin, Diletta Forgnone, Chiara Graziosi, Eva di Jorio, Francois Krygier, Lucia Leuci, Giovanni Ludeno, Antoinette Luzza, Mad, Ernesto Mameli, Daniele Mari, Domenico Olivero, Cristiana Palandri, Irma Palmieri, Monica Piseddu, Domenico Quaranta, Francesca Referza, Scalfino, Miriam Secco, Barbara Siniscalco, Maria Cristina Strati, Nicolò Taglia, Francesca Tambussi, Simona Tamassia, Massimo Torrigiani, Tiziana di Troila, Gosia Turzeniecka, Daniele Valente, Bridget Ward, Alberto Zanchetta, Maristella Caramella e Sabine Delafon.


. . .

sabine@delafon.net
www.sabinedelafon.com
http://sabinedelafoncorporation.blogspot.com/
dear sabine
da marcel broodthaers a sabine@delafon.net

cc gianluigi.ricuperati@gmail.com

data 13 novembre 2009 11.57
oggetto dear sabine firmato da gmail.com 11.57 (42 minuti fa)

Sorry for my very poor anglais langue.
I was moved into this earth back again this very morning by a kind soul and fellow named Gianluigi because he was desperate at giving you some critical advice about your artist's path.
Je suis venue te dire que l'art conceptuelle est une affaire tres serieux.
Not only you have to deal with abstract ideas, but you have to deal with all the abstract ideas that have come before you.
It's not a matter of originality, simplement.
It's a matter of being counscious.
I'll try to explain what 'conscious' mean to me.
It means not to do things which have been done extensively during the last decade.
It means being tristement aware of what's going on around you.
It means cultivation extensive d'extreme, huge ambitions.
It means being subtler and sublter.
It means erecting a wall of die-hard self-counsciousness, at the risk of not having a grasp of breath to do your own things.
It means saying NO to the tempting needs of publishing, exposing, exhibiting all the time.
It means trying to climb that self-imposed barrière.
It means sayng NO to the demagogic tempations of 'talking to everyone' at the same moment. It means being brave and connected only to the bravest.
It means accepting not to be fully understood.
It means generating a vibrations d'ironie, but not an easy one.
It means - nowadays - disappearing discreetly from the scene, and getting back to work.
Tu suviens le finale de 8 e 1/2, Fellini?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdGrOjAQ_gs
"Ci sono gi troppe cose superflue al mondo, non è il caso di aggiungere disordine al disordine. Mi creda, non abbia nostalgie ne rimorsi, distruggere meglio che creare quando non si creano le poche cose necessarie"
Now it's time for me to get ghostly again, ciao,

yours,

Marcel.

Marcel Broodthaers (Bruxelles,1924 - Colonia, 1976)

QUESTIONNAIRE, from 2000 until now

Work started with the idea that the name of a person influences his or her life. Distribution of questionnaire to verify this theory. It’s a collective work. Various versions have been developed in search of the ideal questionnaire that would prove the initial statement. More than 1 000 files are organized in alphabetical order will fill up an archive cabinet.
FAQ / Sabine Delafon + Paolo Priolo

PP: Hello Sabine, How are you? Mediamatic is near...
SD: Well, thank you, yesterday I woke up at 04:00 to work on the fanzine that I’ll be taking to the Amsterdam Biennale 2009!
PP: The end of the year is fast approaching too: what are your good intentions for 2010? If your intentions are bad, better still...
SD: In recent years I’ve become very sensitive to dates: times, days, years, personal birthdays, collective anniversaries. Dates are symbolic because they help us to remember. With every date comes a small death. For 2010 I hope to change this rather melancholic sentiment in a jubilant celebration of birth and life.
PP: Speaking of birth and death with Alléluia in 2008 you played with an Italian obituary notice. Did you want to die and be reborn?
SD: That too. I toyed with death. It’s dangerous, both psychologically and realistically. A superstitious person wouldn’t have done that. I protected myself with a four-leaf clover! Alléluia was an intense project that marked the whole year of 2008.
PP: Along these lines, if you could reincarnate in an artist from the past, man or woman, whom would you choose? Would an artist really be your first choice?
SD: Today, Albert Einstein.
PP: What do you like about Einstein?
SD: His genius, his astounding modesty, and his humanity.
PP: Would you like to be a scientist?
SD: I am honoured to be an artist.
PP: What, in your opinion, can art achieve that science can’t?
SD: When I identify myself with a scientist, I’ve got my feet on the ground, connected to earth. When I visualize myself as an artist, my mind is projected upwards. This is the difference, in my opinion art should, in theory, have more freedom than science. Thus it should be science that guides art and not viceversa.
My equation could be: Science + Religion = Art
PP: I grant science primacy over art, and therefore I dislike the word art. I prefer to speak of creativity, applied to diverse disciplines, not confined to the so-called artistic sphere. Art in itself is a vague concept largely connected to its marketplace.
SD: The market value attributed to a work of art. Time is the only judge capable of affirming or discrediting this value. Money has a power similar to that of faith.
PP: Art doesn’t exist, except in a romantic or market context. Creativity, on the other hand does exist, but creativity is ubiquitous: in science, technology, business, theatre, literature, painting, music, performance, fashion... How do you define art? What does art represent to you?
SD: Having a reason in life and a good alibi for a myriad of things!
PP: Earlier you said: Science + Religion = Art. Do you believe in God?
SD: ...
PP: In 2005 with I'm Looking for Myself you started a hunt for your body double? Why? Did you find it?
SD: I was looking for a person I could swap with, or substitute, a twin. Is this a romantically or scientifically viable pursuit?
PP: Yes, of course. You’ve already told me who you would like to be. Now, I’d like to ask you - on the subject of body doubles - who would you like to be like?
SD: Right now, Barack Obama!
PP: What do you expect from a President Premier Noble like Obama?
SD: I don’t expect him to delude us. Belief is one of the most important ingredients for success. I believe in his honesty and good intentions.
PP: What do you like wearing?
SD: I’ve never worn a Sabine Delafon T-shirt for example!
PP: What do you like to be when you grow-up?
SD: I would like to be an Artist.
PP: How would you like the SDC to develop? Have you ever considered transforming it into a business?
SD: I’ll have to touch base with Andy Warhol on that one...
PP: What extreme would you go to for fame or success?
SD: I care to preserve to my integrity, that success and fame merit.
PP: Have you ever stolen anything?
SD: ... they are part of my Confessioni (2005 - 2010).
PP: What would be the first thing you would do if you had 3 million Euros?
SD: I would, for an instant, have the illusion of being happy, and I would do my best to exploit that happiness for as long as possible.
PP: In 2005 you dedicated the I LOVE TO performance to the city of Turin, then your home. Now you live in Milan, since when?
SD: Since 2006.
PP: What relationship do you have with Milan? Do you like it?
SD: I could like it...
PP: Would you dedicate a project to Milan?
SD: Anticipating a project kills it. Einstein said: “If A is success, then the formula is: A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.”
PP: Which is your favorite city?
SD: An Asian one, I think
PP: Your favorite film?
SD: Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001: a Space Odyssey
PP: Your favorite book?
SD: I’m currently reading Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo.
PP: You began to exhibit in 1998, in a collective hosted at the Galleria Massimo Carasi di Mantova. What have ten years of experience taught you about the contemporary art world?
SD: It’s a question of awareness and choice, talent and destiny.
- Unique installation of an archive of 1.000 A5 schedules total size: 40 cm x 25 cm x 35 cm

2009, Amsterdam Biennale, curated by Martin Butler and Jans Possel, Mediamatic, Amsterdam - 2008, In Love with Sabine Sabine Delafon, curated by Ronald Fachinetti, ContainArt, Milan - 2003, In.Vita.tion, curated by Marina Mojana, V.I.T.A, Milan