23 Jun 2009

Mousse Magazine at X, New York

Held at X, from June 24 through June 28, NO SOUL FOR SALE – A Festival Of Independents will bring together the most exciting, creative and respected alternative institutions, artists' collectives and independent enterprises around the world that contribute to the international art scene.

Mousse is among the 30 participants – from Berlin, Milan, Dublin, Barcelona, Paris, Reykjavík, Hong Kong, Rabat, Trinidad, New York, Los Angeles, and many other locations – taking part in this unique convention, where organizations will exhibit alongside each other, without walls or partitions.

For this occasion, Mousse is proud to present a special project by Ian Tweedy. The artist will produce, day by day, a wall piece that recalls the propaganda images of posters used during the two world wars. The work hints at the pressure on the artist to effectively manage his work and career in a fast, risky, economy-driven art system.

Mousse is also delighted to be launching its new publication: Peep-Hole Sheet, a quarterly of writing by artists. Conceived by Peep-Hole – a curatorial project space founded in Milan by Vincenzo de Bellis, Bruna Roccasalva and Anna Daneri – each issue is dedicated solely to one artist, invited to contribute an unpublished text. Peep-Hole Sheet is printed in a limited run of 1000 numbered copies available at selected bookshops worldwide or on the www.peep-hole.org / www.moussemagazine.it websites. Issue #01 features Liam Gillick. His contribution is titled /Stories/.

X has invited more than 30 art spaces to travel to New York City to present themselves, their programs and the artists they support. With a gesture of radical hospitality, X will provide free space to all participants within the premises of the X building. The participants will be allowed to show whatever they choose, be it art, performances, publications, videos, or simply themselves. In addition to the exhibition space, X will make available to each participant, for a one-hour period, a dedicated performance area on the ground floor in which participants can organize performances, presentations, discussions and music programs. Neither a fair nor an exhibition, NO SOUL FOR SALE is a convention of individuals and groups who have devoted their energies to keeping art alive. The Festival will be an exercise in coexistence: organizations will exhibit alongside each other without partitions or walls. As on the set of the legendary Lars Von Trier’s movie Dogville, participants will be assigned spaces that are only marked on the floor, creating a map of an imaginary city of art, where distances and hierarchies are abolished. With associations and groups coming from Berlin, Milan, Dublin, Barcelona, Paris, Reykjavík, Hong Kong, Rabat, Trinidad, New York, Los Angeles, and many other locations, NO SOUL FOR SALE provides a unique occasion to foster creative exchange and to connect with international organizations that aren’t usually accessible in New York City. With free entrance and a rich program of daily activities, NO SOUL FOR SALE will be a celebration of the independent forces that animate contemporary art.

For further information: www.x-initiative.org/