Christopher Williams

How to start? A door opens. A cash register opens. A can of sardines is opened. A mouth opens. An unzipped zipper opens up a view. Four bottles of beer are opened, with a bottle opener. A picnic basket is opened, a packet of farmer’s cheese with cranberry is opened... That’s good but it’s not our story. Let’s try again. How to read a tire sidewall? Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio). Width of tire in millimeters. Maximum cold inflation and load limit. Load index and speed symbol. Tire ply composition and materials used. The Michelin rubber plantation at Dau Tieng, Vietnam was opened in 1925. The Michelin manufacturing plant in Saigon, Vietnam was closed in 1971. 75% of the tires used in the city of Paris in 1968 were composed of Vietnamese rubber… OK that’s too specific. Let’s try again. Cut an object in half, it becomes a model. A model is a representation of a system. OK OK. They are presenting models, prototypes, cutaways and dummies. Heavy German apples.

Square. Practical. Good. Bestätigt “Williams prefers to distance himself from the gestures typically associated with professional photographers, relocating his practice across a complex series of citations and diversions of modern photographic knowledge. Every camera predicts its user, who is already included in its program. So Williams goes to work on the program itself, confronting it with the potential of his own joblessness…” -John Kelsey OK. Let’s try again. Let’s try again and again. A camera opens. A cash register opens.

Open the door. Begin your descent down the ramp. To your right there are four shelves with approximately 40 catalogues representing the work of gallery artists. To your left you see the receptionist (Alexis) and the intern (Silva). As you approach the desk, you are greeted with smiles. On the desk, along with other printed materials, you find a press release, announcement card, etc. On the back of the announcement card for the present exhibition, you find a list, which reads as follows: No, but that’s New York, that’s another business and that’s another story. Try to be more specific. On the Karl-Marx-Allee. Within this space there are three free-standing walls. The measurements of these three walls are 4.2 x 5.7 m, 4.2 x 6 m and 4.2 x 6 m. These walls are examples of the Museum Wall System designed by the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, which was patented in the year 2000, at the German Patent Office in Munich, under Patent Number 19647332. This system is currently in use in the following German Museums: Zentrum für Kunst-und Medientechnologie ZKM, Karlsruhe; Neues Museum, Nürnberg; Kiasma, Helsinki; Sammlermuseum, Karlsruhe; Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen K20 K21,Düsseldorf; Hanseatische Veranstaltungsgesellschaft (Messe Bremen), Bremen; Pinakothek der Moderne, München. Was?

Square. Practical. Good. 1. Kodak three point reflection guide ©1968 Eastman Kodak Company, 1968 2. Release 3. Release 4. Archäologie 5. Michelin XZ, Plaubel, Makina 67 6. Ethnographie 7. Théâtre Verité 8. Varieties 9. Mozambique 10. Tokyo 11. La Palma 12. Bruxelles, van Laack 13. Release 14. Release 15. Release 16. Westkunst, Dziga-Vertov Group, Konrad Klapheck, Turkish moon, Kapitalistischer Realismus 17. The photographic industry that programmed the camera 18. The industrial complex that programmed the photographic industry 19. The socio-economic system that programmed the industrial complex 20. Christopher Williams 21. Couleur Européenne 22. Couleur SoviéLtique 23. Couleur Chinoise 24. Cartridge Replacement 25. Release 26. Release 27. Program: Views according to which this device and the various theories framing it will function for the artistic production the same way as the artistic production functions as advertising for the order under which it is produced. There will be no other space than this view according to which etc… 28. Cartridge Replacement 29. Release 30. Release 31. Release 32. Release 33. Release 34. Release 35. Release 36. Release 37. Reread this program again and again, become its author, correct and repeat it, distribute it, and when we are all its author, the old world will crumble to make way for… 38. Release 39. Release 40, 69, 70, 71, 72… Spring is here, heavy German apples. NO NO, Spargeltime. Square. Practical. Good.

Christopher Williams