exhibition view from Room Temperature at Robert & Tilton, Culver City, California, 2012

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detail from Room Temperature at Robert & Tilton, Culver City, California, 2012

work: <Gaston Chiquet and Pierre Gimonnet & Fils blanc de blancs bubbles no. 1, 2012
artist’s champagne bottle, pvc bucket, pvc hose, pigmented distilled water, weather stripping, electric air pump, and brass conduit

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Baguette pans Horizontal, 2012
aluminum baguette pans and hardware

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<Pierre Gimonnet & Fils blanc de blancs bubbles no. 1, 2012
Artist’s champagne bottle, pvc bucket, pvc hose, aluminum composite ring with pigmented cheesecloth, electric air pump, brass conduit and distilled water

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Let us consider the art of pairing… and persuasion, 2012
<Domaine du Moulin Bulle rose bubbles no. 1 and aluminum composite panel and steel

<Gaston Chiquet and Pierre Gimonnet & Fils blanc de blancs bubbles no. 1, 2012
artist’s champagne bottles, pvc buckets, pvc hose, pigmented distilled water, weather stripping, electric air pump, and brass conduit

<Larmandier – Bernier rose de saignee bubbles no. 1, 2012
artist’s champagne bottle, pvc bucket, pvc hose, aluminum composite ring with pigmented cheesecloth, electric air pump, brass conduit and distilled water

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detail from the exhibition Serial Poem at Tomorrow Gallery, Toronto, 2012

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exhibition view from the Serial Poem at Tomorrow Gallery, Toronto, 2012

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f(-)p ArrowInApple, 2011
in collaboration with KARIN SCHNEIDER – 15″ Macbook Pro and carbon fiber arrow

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exhibition view from Tails at Brand New Gallery, Milano, 2013
photo PIETRO SCAPIN

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Mr. Coffee Monkey, 2011
porcelain monkey, box, bow and arrow

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Mr. Coffee Monkey, 2011
porcelain monkey, box, bow and arrow

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exhibition view from Multiples at Tilton Gallery, New York, May-June 2013
image courtesy Tilton Gallery, New York

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detail from the exhibition Multiples at Tilton Gallery, New York, May-June 2013
image courtesy Tilton Gallery, New York
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detail from the exhibition Multiples at Tilton Gallery, New York, May-June 2013
image courtesy Tilton Gallery, New York

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exhibition view from Multiples at Tilton Gallery, New York, May-June 2013
image courtesy Tilton Gallery, New York

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Baguette and Crab, 2013
aluminum baguette baking pans with wax seal in artist’s frame

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details from the exhibition Multiples at Tilton Gallery, New York, May-June 2013
image courtesy Tilton Gallery, New York

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EGAN FRANTZ  in his Brooklyn studio, 2012
video courtesy kbest productions

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all images courtesy of the artist (unless otherwise stated)

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EGAN FRANTZ, whose work I discovered during Art Basel, is now presenting Tails at Brand New Gallery in Milano, it is his first solo exhibition in Italy. For those not familiar with EGAN FRANTZ, he is an American artist (Connecticut, 1986) who develops mainly sculptures and installations which are always made from objects already existing in the world such as buckets, baguettes or bottles…although he is making works that defy categorization, the works themselves possess a discrete and captivating clarity.

Novelty and advent ex nihilo are important subjects for art, and I’m working through them. The figure of the craftsman is a very interesting figure, because he supposedly works with pre-existing material, so it’s not conducive to drawing out of the void (“ex nihilo”), yet I think he’s in a “structural drama,” is what I call it. For me, what’s playing out that drama are the various characters. So the buckets, in that sense, are the speakers. They’re literally speaking in an onomatopoetic sense: they’re speaking “bubble.” When you hear a bubble, it’s saying “bubble.”

(…)

What I hope to demonstrate with the work is that theory and practice are essentially on the same level. The chair isn’t exhausted by looking at it; it’s also not exhausted by sitting in it. It’s got something of its own without us altogether, yet we’re also looking at it and sitting in it. That’s why I feel what’s important are intensities. Society rarely recognizes intensities, if you look at critical debates, there are no real intensities; it’s just ideological structures.

Because the bottle happens to be just the perfect length for the standard five-gallon bucket, subtle evaporation changes the intensity of the bubble, because the lip of the bottle is so close to the surface. It’s important to tune them. Get the volume and speed right. As the water evaporates, the sound changes. So there is no constancy, even though the appearance might be similar to Rob Pruitt’s “Eternal Bic,” it’s not “Eternal Bic.”

The champagnes that are in there, they’re not overly expensive, because the fact is, great champagne is really not that cost-prohibitive. Cristal is not the best champagne. Dom Pérignon is by far not the best champagne. These are major labels that are selling a brand, and their flavor is fake. They’re dosed with sugar; every country has a different version with more sweetness and less sweetness. The ones that you get in England are dryer than the ones you get here. They source their grapes from wherever in order to produce a signature flavor year after year. So people, when they buy Veuve Clicquot, they get “Veuve Clicquot.”

(…)

There’s something about an effusive arrogance that comes from the explosion, this celebratory overabundance when a guy wins the race and sprays the champagne all over everyone. I don’t believe in excess. I would never pop a champagne bottle like that. I might be searching for audacity, but these works are titled with the “less than” sign of inequality before the make of the champagne that was once consumed. So, they have the bubbles, but not the champagne bubble. They have the bubble that I love, but they don’t have the arrogance. It’s a kind of tuning. – EGAN FRANTZ for Interview Magazine

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And good news: Tails is running through July 31, 2013 at Brand New Gallery, Milano.

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