A Sequence of Events in a Space

Janek Simon

20 Dec 2008
25 Jan 2009

Polish artist Janek Simon makes interactive installations, models and electronic devices based on information gathered on the Internet and in books. He seeks to collect a maximum of data in order to use or misuse them to his own ends. As these instructions are available to anyone and freely useable, the artist takes his own insatiable curiosity as his sole guide.

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Carpet Invaders by Janek Simon, from 2020.ro -

In 2004, Janek Simon took part in the project Re:Location Academy / Shake Society. At the close of this seven-week residency in Luxembourg, the artist presented his own hypothetical retrospective as a model at Casino Luxembourg.

Unlike this miniature retrospective, his latest project takes the shape of an “intelligent” installation. A sequence of events in a space provides a multimedia experience confronting the visitor with an assemblage of signs and messages, creating a universe bordering on subliminal and random phenomena.

At once manipulative, spectacular and irksome, the work shows a new facet of itself to every new entrant. All in all, you enter a pitch-black space, where nothing happens for some thirty seconds; then, a low hum makes itself heard from one of the speakers for about twenty seconds; then nothing again for another minute or so. You start to feel a certain frustration. Then, a blinking light appears at the far end of the room and something seems to appear on a wall, beckoning you closer… “

A surprising and deceptive device, the installation defies not only the visitor but exhibition conventions and practice at large.

From 20 December 2008 - 25 January 2009 at Casino Luxembourg.