The exhibitions Urgent Conversations: Athens–Antwerp and Urgent Conversations: Antwerp – Athens are a collaboration between EMST and M HKA, a theoretical and visual dialogue, based on works from the collections of both museums, which includes more than 70 works structured in 22 topics.   

28.04.2017 - 07.01.2018        

M HKA, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen - Leuvenstraat 32, 2000 Antwerpen

EMST, National Museum of Contemporary Art - Kallirrois Avenue & Amvr. Frantzi Str., Athens 11743

Jimmie Durham

Heisenberg Principle, 1989
Sculpture
mixed media

"Mathematicians look for elegance in a new equation; when they find it they realize that it is poetry that has been found. One would not say that ∆E∆≥h/4π. (this is Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle) is “art” without being insulting. But it is poetry, and it is highly useful." [full text here]

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle is a theory that basically states that position and momentum of a particle cannot be simultaneously known. In other words, the fact that you are able to observe something already influences your findings and renders the result of observation useless. To demonstrate his theory, Heisenberg said we should imagine a box with has a kitten inside; as long as the box is closed we will not know what is happening inside it and the kitten can be only potentially dead or alive.