SIMON Anti-personnel Mines
Resin, hemp, pigment, poppy seeds
28 x 9 cm (16 pieces)
2004
Collection Museo Carillo y Gil, Mexico D.F., Mexico
Content
In recent years Ives Maes work has centered on his Recyclable Refugee Camp project, an ironic attempt to create an absolutely ethically correct work of art. Ives Maes tries to formulate a tangible response to the hyper-ethical tendency in the art world. He extends this tactic of exaggeration as he enters the controversy over anti-personnel mines. In response to this issue, Ives Maes devised a biodegradable landmine: the SIMON anti-personnel landmine, which casing and entire mechanism is made of organic polyesters that dissolve after a certain period of time. They could be called ‘human-friendly’ weapons, since they protect civilians against the psychological effects of prolonged fear. Mine clearance would become a thing of the past. The money saved could be used for development aid.
Excerpt from the text ‘SIMON anti-personnel mines’ by Beatrijs Eemans, 2006
PROJECT
With his RECYCLABLE REFUGEE CAMP project, Ives Maes probed the derailment of contemporary hyper-ethics. His latrines, wells, shelters and coffins, fabricated in a natural resin, raise ethics to a manic state. The Recyclable Refugee Camp tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself.
Excerpt from the text ‘An economy of truth’ by Wim Peeters, published in Flash Art nr. 235, 2004
Exhibitions
Enduring Freedom
Museo Carillo y Gil, Mexico D.F., Mexico
01/12/04 – 27/02/05
Curated by Laboratorio 060
Carlos Aguirre, Shepard Farey, César Flores & Gabriella Gomez-Mont, Ruben Gutierrez, Alex Hannimann, Ives Maes, Alfredo Matus, Mauricio Moran, Gianni Motti, Palomo, Jason Archer & Paul Beck, Richard Ross, Santiago Sierra
The Greenery Line
SMAK, Ghent, Belgium
08/04/06 – 04/06/06
Curated by Philippe Vancauteren
Solo exhibition
Installation view by Dirk Pauwels
Simon
Brigitte Weiss Galerie, Zürich, Switzerland
20/10/06 – 16/12/06
Solo exhibition
Emergency Biennale
Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey
04/09/07 – 06/11/07
Curated by Evelyne Jouanno
Adel Abdessemed, Dennis Adams, Maria-Thereza Alves, Francis Alÿs, Sylvie Blocher, Mark Boswell & Anton Kozlov, Santiago Caicedo, Cao Fei, Jota Castro, Paolo Chiasera, Hubert Czerepok, Allan De Souza, Marta Deskur, Jimmie Durham, Seamus Farrell, Alfredo Jaar, Neeme Külm, Gabriel Kuri, Ken Lum, Juan Pablo Macias, Ives Maes, Gilda Mantilla, Ahmet Ögüt, Jüri Ojaver, Lucy Orta, Damian Ortega, Adrian Paci, Römer + Römer, Julian Rosefeldt, Nedko Solakov, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Urban Subjects, Anton Vidokle, Cesare Viel, Luca Vitone, Yang Fudong, Zheng Guogu, etc.
Unter Waffen / Fire and Forget 2
Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
10/09/16 - 26/03/17
Curated by Ellen Blumenstein, Dr. Daniel Tyradellis, Matthias Wagner K.
Ron Amir, Michael J. Baers, Julius von Bismarck, James Bride, Roy Brand, Ori Scialom, Keren Yeala-Golan, Marcelo Cidade, Omer Fast, Robbert&Frank, Clara Ianni, Bernard Khoury, Shinseungback Kimyonghun, Korpys/Löffer, Barbara Kruger, Ives Maes, Kris Martin, Rami Maymon, Rabih Mroué, Time Nasseri, Neozoon, Jon Rafman, Tobias Rehberger, Julian Röder, Martha Rosler, Timur Si-Qin, Nedko Solakov, Philippe Starck, Viktor&Rolf, Sharif Waked, Ala Younis
Installation view by Anja Jahn