& IL TOPO

FICTIONS CRITIQUES
03.03–04.09.2016

Fictions critiques, by the & IL TOPO collective, is the second instalment of an audio piece first presented at Frac Bretagne in 2014 as an audio-guide for the exhibition Collection. Un rêve d’éternité. For their presentation at CLARK, the collective has created a playlist that provides a surprising and irreverent commentary on E IL TOPO magazine’s 20 issues, published between 1992 and today. Fictions critiques offers a critical review of the history of this Naples-based magazine that rings forth like a poetic deconsecration. To do all this dirty work, & IL TOPO appointed its least prestigious members (David Liver, Frédéric Liver and Guillaume Clermont). But, so as not to disappoint its audience, the collective also enlisted the help of artists Iain Baxter& and Caspar is Caspar, providing the necessary level of Canaditude and Belgitude to the project. As for the rest of the collective, well, they’re probably at the beach.

Each issue’s proposed narrative is presented as a fanciful intervention (from a topoist point of view) that is founded and enlightened by the multiplicity of experiences that inhabit the very core of & IL TOPO. As an initiation to the mise-en-abîme that occurs in the translation of one language to another – and from publishing to audio – Fictions critiques is like clam digging at low tide: the catch may be great, but you’re still up to your ankles in mud. And the tide will always rise again.

– Fiona Darbon Van Maercke

In collaboration with Centre CLARK, the 21st issue of E IL TOPO magazine will also be launched. Plus, a series of blind videoconferences will be held with selected members of the collective.