For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isn’t there

For the blind man in the dark room
looking for the black cat that isn’t there

This group exhibition celebrates the experience of curiosity and speculation as a form of knowledge. In that spirit, the contributing artists each pursue a better understanding of the world, but also insist that an artwork isn’t an explanation and that art is not a code that has to be unlocked.

The title was taken from a remark attributed to Charles Darwin (1809- 1882), the father of the theory of evolution, who apparently compared mathematics to research by a blind man. In his scientific discipline Darwin attempted to categorise the natural world in a comprehensible way, while he maintained that mathematics was merely concerned with abstractions and was not related to reality in any way. In contrast with Darwin, this exhibition chose to take the part of the proverbial blind man who had the courage to seek in the dark for what may be unfindable. It is an argument for curiosity and speculation as a way of understanding the world and acquiring knowledge. Artists can help us with this. In contrast with science and philosophy, art teaches us that it can be productive to occasionally let go of the knowledge and certainty that have been acquired.

13 February – 28 March 2010
de Appel Boys’ School, Amsterdam

picture : For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isn’t there catalogue