Various Artists

Shervin Kianersi Haghighi & Various Artists

If This Then That was a solo exhibition by Shervin Kianersi Haghighi (Shiraz, 1983), curated by the Various Artists collective (Rio de Janeiro, 1993). The exhibition is part of a long-term invitational project called Q&A, a series of collaborations initiated by Various Artists with fellow artists active in different fields of the art world.(i)

Shervin Kianersi Haghighi deconstructs works by Trudo Engels (Roeselare, 1962 - Dubrovnik, 2009) from the 1980s and 1990s by applying a series of actions that are part of her performative language.

When Shervin Kianersi Haghighi proposed to performatively “destroy” the early/archived works of Trudo Engels, Various Artists saw the opportunity to finally and definitively draw a line in the sand of the past. Although some of Engels’ works predicted the dawn of a fragmented future, hinting at multiple accounts with Drib-, Martaque- and Omandichana-like pieces, the singularity was on the verge of extinction.

In January 1993 in Rio de Janeiro, an artist said to Trudo Engels: “What are you doing in the art world, heterosexual, white, male, European? Soon there will be no demand for you people. Get out!” Since then, the idea of a single, vertically oriented artist became more or less unattractive. Over the decade that followed, the fragmentation of “the artist” took root, the entity collapsed, and eventually resulted in the collective we now know as Various Artists.

The era of Western white male domination in art finally has come to an end, but many players in the art market have not received the memo. These are great times for WWM artists to reinvent themselves, to open up, make room for others and work collaboratively.

Shervin Kianersi Haghighi’s actions are poetically provocative, constantly infecting (or inspiring) V.A. to be the conceptual collective they are. Her performances question our Western attitude towards the preservation and archiving of contemporary art with its objectification of concepts and its desire to possess ideas. No idea is yours, no idea is safe! “Keep Cutting!”

Name Surname for Various Artists, Brussels 2022. Photographs by Loes Jacobs.

(i) previous Q&A’s:

I, Mango Discipline with Cildo Meireles, 2015

r, Metarealism with Dirk De Vos, 2020

z, Human Mathematics with Sarah Cale, 2021

One way to activate one’s timeline’s works is to activate one’s archive. A physical archive is wed to a linear timeline. Its ordered character brings us from the past into the present, following consecutive stepping stones through linear time.

Activating one’s physical archive by doing actions to deconstruct them, allowing both artist and visitors to re-frame the timeline. Time loses its linear character and becomes non-linear when bouncing back and forth through a maze of documents and dates that have been deprived of the physical quality of aging.

Framing is a question of constantly reframing one thing into another so that with each subsequent reframing, the thing becomes something new.

Actions can deploy the framing archive to create new multi-layered fictions. The fictions that we create give shape to new realities, new stories. Yet the new fictional stories become a way to help the other hidden stories stay alive by being retold.

Shervin Kianersi Haghighi, Brussels, 2022.

SET OF ACTIONS: executed during the opening of If This Then That.

While Various Artists gave an introduction to each of Trudo Engels’ works, Shervin Kianersi Haghighi started cutting up the artworks in an intuitive order. Each time she made use of another pair of scissors.

The order of these actions on the works, the duration of each action, and the number of pieces that were cut during the action were noted and recorded.

The art-chive of Trudo Engels was revisited, new stories were created, and in turn collected by the visitors who could pick up pieces of the works that fell on the floor during the performance. The pieces were carefully packed and signed by both artists.

List of Works

¤ 1 Trudo Engels, Drop Drop, 1998, 11.4 x 15.6 cm, pencil on envelope

¤ 2 Trudo Engels, Vn d Tbl, 1986, 9.2 x 11.7 cm, collage

¤ 3 Trudo Engels, O, 1991, 21 x 29.7 cm, typewriter on paper

¤ 4 Trudo Engels, Barney (study), 1993, 21 x 27.5 cm, pencil on paper, mounted on magazine

¤ 5 Trudo Engels, The first and the Last Five, 1987, 21 x 29.7 cm, pen on paper

¤ 6 Trudo Engels, Untitled, 1997, 8 x 11 cm, patch on paper

¤ 7 Trudo Engels, Dancing, 1985, 21 x 29.7 cm, pen on paper

¤ 8 Trudo Engels, innumerat, 1999, 21 x 29.7 cm, ink on paper

¤ 9 Trudo Engels, TdF, 1991, 21 x 29.7 cm, typewriter on paper

¤ 10 Trudo Engels, Pedestrian Vomit Show, 1989, 4x (21 x 29.7) cm, typewriter on paper

¤ 11 Trudo Engels, Untitled, 1998, 22.7 x 43.7 cm, pencil on paper

¤ 12 Trudo Engels, Condition, 1997, 42 x 29.7 cm, pencil on paper,

¤ 13 Trudo Engels, Je Serai Votre Femme, 1985, 27.4 x 34 cm, pencil and pen on paper

¤ 14 Trudo Engels, Radiatie Negatief, 1983, 48.5 x 31 cm, felt-tip pen on paper

¤ 15 Trudo Engels, Untitled, 1988, 84 x 117 cm, ink on tracing paper

¤ 16 Trudo Engels, Drift, 1987, 26 x 33.5 cm, acrylic on score

¤ 17 Trudo Engels, Deviation, 1989, 21 x 29.7 cm, pencil and pen on paper

¤ 18 Trudo Engels, Snap Stem, 1993, 136 x 100 cm, pencil and tape on paper

¤ 19 Trudo Engels, Klank Schema, 1987, 64.5 x 117 cm, ink on tracing paper

¤ 20 Trudo Engels, Untitled, 1995, 73.3 x 57 cm, dust on paper

¤ 21 Trudo Engels, 210 Niveaus, 1991, 70 x 97 cm, pencil on paper

¤ 22 Trudo Engels, Partituur, 1993, 45.5 x 81 cm, carbon

¤ 23 Trudo Engels, Untitled, 1986, 10.3 x 16.2 cm, felt-tip pen on paper

¤ 24 Trudo Engels, Carmella Giansoldati (score), 1992, 210 x 85 cm, pencil on tracing paper

¤ 25 Trudo Engels, Ring 13 (study), 1994, 108 x 96 cm, pencil on pattern paper

¤ 26 Trudo Engels, Partituur, 1991, 26 x 19.7 cm, acrylic on bookfragments

¤ 27 Trudo Engels, Klaprozen, 1998, 15 x 20.5 cm, poppies mounted on paper

¤ 28 Trudo Engels, Dog/Fox, 1991, 29.7 x 42 cm, annual report cover

¤ 29 Trudo Engels, Math Pig, 1991, 24 x 32 cm, dance carpet

¤ 30 Trudo Engels, The Anniversary, 1987, 21 x 29.7 cm, photocopy

¤ 31 Trudo Engels, Les Artistes du Coq, 1992, 21 x 29.7 cm, oilpaint on paper

¤ 32 Trudo Engels, Otto 151, 1993, 21 x 29.7 cm, alcohol pen on paper

¤ 33 Trudo Engels, Ars Musica, 1991, 31.6 x 43 cm, pen on newspaper

¤ 34 Trudo Engels, non own old, 1985, 21 x 29.7 cm, pen on paper

¤ 35 Trudo Engels, Bart Codes, 1994, 36 x 40 x 120, books, ink, pencil

¤ 36 Trudo Engels, Kuba-octaëder, 1995, 29.7 x 42 cm, pencil on paper

¤ 37 Trudo Engels, Collectors 1, 1990, 29.7 x 42 cm, collage and inkjet on paper

¤ 38 Trudo Engels, Martaque, 1998, 42 x 29.7 cm, computerdrawing

¤ 39 Trudo Engels, Barney (study), 1993, 21 x 27.5 cm, pencil on paper, mounted on magazine

¤ 40 Trudo Engels, ’s levens nevels, 1989, 29.5 x 27.5 cm, typewriter on paper

¤ 41 Trudo Engels, French Lessons, 1991, 21 x 29.7 cm, pen on photocopy

¤ 42 Trudo Engels, iiioioioio, 1986, 21 x 29.7 cm, ink on paper

¤ 43 Trudo Engels, Kaartspel, 1989, 27.5 x 43.3 cm, collage