Grand Tourists is inspired by the original Grand Tour. It starts with experiencing art or experiencing everything as art. It continues with blending the idea of watching and being watched into a double role in which we are all embedded: as much as we are visible, we can also look. We are audience and performer at the same time. It possibly ends with us guiding/tutoring the spectator, as if we become something to look at: art ourselves. We would like to document the Tour collecting and producing material for an archive, a sort of Wunderkammer (cabinet of curiosities).
"The primary value of the Grand Tour, it was believed, lay in the exposure both to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionable society of the European continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. A grand tour could last from several months to several years. It was commonly undertaken in the company of a knowledgeable guide or tutor."
"Dance is hard to see" Yvonne Rainer, in Being watched, 1966
"To invite being seen" Deborah Hay, Lamb at the altar, 1994
"The primary value of the Grand Tour, it was believed, lay in the exposure both to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionable society of the European continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. A grand tour could last from several months to several years. It was commonly undertaken in the company of a knowledgeable guide or tutor."
"Dance is hard to see" Yvonne Rainer, in Being watched, 1966
"To invite being seen" Deborah Hay, Lamb at the altar, 1994