A SEMIOTICS OF ADMINISTRATION

/SEMIOTICS OR SEMIOLOGY IS THE THEORY OF SIGNS/ /> REFERS TO PENCILS, STAMPS, ERASERS, PAPER-CLIPS, BLOTTING-PAPER, INK, ETC./ /ALL THE ADMINISTRATIVE OBJECTS HAVING THE FUNCTION OF A SIGN/ /IN THIS INSTALLA-TION THE ARCHIVES BOXES FORM THE SEMIOTIC OR SEMIOLOGIC KEY-POSITION/ /THE QUES-TION "WHAT IS AN ARCHIVE-BOX?" CAN BE ANSWERED BY SHOWING A BOX/ /THE SEMANTIC ASPECT OF THE MEANINGS OF THE ARCHIVE-BOX HAS BEEN CHOSEN IN RELATION TO ITS FUNCTIONALISM/ /BUT ONE CAN EASILY CHOOSE NEW MEANINGS BY CHANGING THE FUNC-TIONAL CONTEXT OF THE BOXES/ /THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS HERE: THE ARCHIVE-BOXES FORM A BUREAUCRATIC WALL, A METAPHORICAL AND REAL OBSTACLE PREVENTING THE ENTRAN-CE TO THE "BELGISCH HUIS" (BELGIAN HOUSE)/

/THE ARCHIVE-BOXES RECEIVE NEW MEANINGS THROUGH THE FACT THAT THE CARDS (MEN-TIONING THE CONTENT) WERE CHANGED IN A NON-ADMINISTRATIVE MANNER/ /BY INTRO-DUCING EMOTIVE OR COGITATIVE CONCEPTS AS "ANGST" (FEAR), "SEHNSUCHT" (YEARNING), "UTOPIE" (UTOPIA), "SEELE" (SOUL), "KRITIK" (CRITICISM), "MYTHE" (MYTH), "GLUCK" (LUCK), "MACHT" (POWER), "GNOSIS" OR "PARADIGMA"/ /THE WALL BECOMES A STRUCTURE OR NET-WORK OF SIGNS REFERING TO ONE ANOTHER/ /AFTER THE FALL OF THE (BERLIN) WALL AND THE DECONSTRUCTION OF THE IRON CURTAIN, NEW (INVISIBLE) WALLS ARE CONSTRUCTED/

/FROM AN ECONOMIC POINT OF VIEW THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IS A GIFT/ /BUT IT'S ALSO A NEW NOVEL OF FRANZ KAFKA/ /A WALL BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN CITIZEN AND THE HOLY, INVISIBLE ADMINISTRATION/ /LIVING IN AN ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY, WE ARE IN WANT OF REGULATIONS, DRIVING LICENSES, TAXES, POSTAL CODES, ETC/ /ADMINISTRATION IS NEEDED TO SURVIVE/ /AND YET, WHO ISN'T AFRAID OF ADMINISTRATION/ /WE'RE OFTEN OVER-ADMINISTERED/ /THE RED TAPE OR BUREAUCRACY DOES NOT FUNCTION THOROUGHLY AND EFFICIENTLY ENOUGH/ /WHO IS TAKING THE GREY DECISIONS/ /WHO HAS THE ADMINI-STRATIVE POWER/ /BEFORE THE WALL OF ARCHIVE-BOXES THERE IS THE DESK/ /A SYMBOL OF THE AUTHORITY THAT AFFIRMS THE KAFKAIAN ASPECTS OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE WALL/

/APPENDIX/ /IF WE DON'T RE-THINK, RE-EXAMINE, ALTER THE EXISTING MORBID AND INHU-MAN ADMINISTRATIVE ARMAMENT - EAST AND WEST, NORTH AND SOUTH - THERE WILL BE NO AURORA, NO FUTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN/ /LIFE IS CODES, CYPHERS, SYMBOLS, ABBRE-VIATIONS, ...: ADMINISTRATION!/ /A FUNDAMENTAL DEMOCRATIC WORLD IS ONLY POSSIBLE WHEN EVERYBODY IS PERMANENT INFORMED AND INVOLVED IN THE POLITICAL - READ AD-MINISTRATIVE - ACTIVITIES/ /WHAT WE NEED IS THE DECENTRALIZATION OF POWER AND ADMINISTRATION SO THAT EVERYBODY CAN UNDERSTAND THE RULES AND PARTICIPATE THE DEMOCRATIC GAME/ /WE NEED A "HUMAN ADMINISTRATION" IN A WORLD WHERE "HU-MAN RIGHTS" SIGNIFY MORE THAN A HANDFUL OF DECLARATIONS ON A SHEET OF PAPER/

Exhibition: Belgisch Huis, Keulen, Germany, 1991.


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