Bernar Venet
PRESENTS
VENET
EVENT
«LA VENTE
DE VENT
EST L'EVENT
DE VENET»
"THE SALE of WIND
IS THE EVENT OF VENET"
THE EVENT
EVENT is a long-form generative art collection by visionary conceptual artist Bernar Venet. Five hundred algorithmic digital outputs explore the interplay of chance and unpredictability in the digital realm in Venet’s signature style, building upon his seven-decade practice of probing these themes through sculpture, painting, drawing, poetry, sound, design, and photography.
EVENT (2024) embraces blockchain technology, allowing collectors to mint a never-before-seen output of his proprietary algorithm in a dynamic and interactive experience. This algorithm extends Venet’s relentless pursuit of transforming art history. By merging his profound understanding of sculpture with the languages of science and mathematics, he creates a unique and thought-provoking digital experience. This series marks a new chapter in Venet's oeuvre, inviting viewers to explore the captivating dimensions of long-form on-chain creativity.
Embracing the unexpected has been a hallmark of Venet's practice, and EVENT is no exception. Drawing inspiration from his earlier works like Pile of Coal (1963) and Accident (1996), which featured performative actions and the collapse of bars, EVENT (2024) melds sculpture with the algorithm, beckoning viewers to join a profound journey through his evolving creative landscape.
Bernar Venet - Performance: Domino Collapse | Retrospektive 1961-2021 | Kunsthalle Berlin. Flughafen Tempelhof
#1 INTRODUCING EVENT
EVENT is a collaboration between Venet, Sotheby’s, and NTENT, that intertwines Venet's iconic metal sculptures and his multiple decades-long exploration of systematic disorder (spanning from his first “Accident” in 1996 to his most recent Collapse sculptures in the 2020s). Combining his physical systems of generation with the unpredictable yet systematic nature of generative art algorithms.
#2 MONUMENTS OF CHANCE
Inspired by the Effondrements, EVENT moves Venet's work of sculptural composition and collapse into the digital realm, exploring chance through a hash deterministic generative algorithm. A challenging subversion of gravity and unpredictability, defining new boundaries of systematic chance that is only possible in digital space.
#3 A LIFE LESS ORDINARY
Throughout his career, Bernar Venet has developed systems that span mediums as seen in his work with straight lines, Curved lines, broken lines (angles), and indeterminate lines. For the last 30 years, his systems have included the exploration of gravity induced entropy.
Bernar Venet at the Marioni factory, les Vosges, France
THE ARTIST
Bernar Venet, born in Château Arnoux in 1941, is a master of art transformation. A New York resident since 1966, he now resides in Le Muy, where he opened the Venet Foundation in 2014. His artistic journey began with radical stances in Nice, evolving upon arrival in the US and aligning him with Minimalist and conceptual art pioneers.
Venet's acclaim spans monumental corten steel sculptures, painting, performance, poetry, sound, design, and photography. His work graces prestigious institutions globally, from Centre Pompidou to MoMA and the Guggenheim, with public commissions across Asia, Europe, and the United States, and global appearances at Versailles and the tallest public artwork in the world L'arc Majeur, all testaments to his influence and contributions to the world through his art.
Over the last six decades, Venet’s practice has responded to the contemporary moment, exploring new processes, materials, and technologies while staying true to his overarching exploration of order and disorder. Yet, what sets Venet apart is his unyielding exploration of lines, rejecting metaphorical expression, embracing literal decisions, and anchoring his work in science and mathematics. His art navigates the realms of monosemy, where everything is denotative, objective, and immediate.
Four Images. Executed in Tarascon, France, 1961
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris, 2024
1961
5 Images. The Artist installing Pile of Coal Exhibition: Musée d'Art Contemporain, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France, 1984
Photo: Muriel Anssens
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris, 2024
1963
Bernar Venet in studio, 1966
Bernar Venet’s studio, 1966
Calcul de la diagonale d'un carré, 1966. 130 x 130 Acrylic on canvas
Calcul de la Diagonale du Rectangle, 1966. 161.5 x 117 cm. Acrylic on canvas
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
1966
Stock Market TV Piece. 1970 Exhibition: "Information". The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA, New York, 1970
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
at MoMA
1970
Bernar Venet Shaped Geometric Canvas
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
1976
Position of an Indeterminate Line, 1979
Graphite on wood
231 x 166 x 4 cm
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
(relief in wood)
1979
Bernar Venet Random Deployment
of Points
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
1984
Random Combination of Indeterminate Lines, 2021 He Art Museum, Guangdong Province, China
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
1990
6 images. Bernar Venet Accident, Le Muy, France
Performed on January 1, 1996©
Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
1996
100 tones of straight lines in disorder: 2006 Le Muy, France.
Photo: Serge Demailly
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2006
Portrait of the artist Bernar Venet
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2008
Effondrement 200 tonnes, 2017, Le Muy, France ©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2009
Seven Angles of Random Sizes and Degrees, 2014. Photo: Pascal Hausherr
Disorder: 9 Acute Unequal Angles, 2015. Photo: Francesco Allegretto
17 Acute Unequal Angles, 2016. Photo: Peter Mallet
Effondrement: 24 Angles, 2017. Photo: Xinyi Hu
Corten steel Various sizes.
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2014
Domino Effondrements 2021 Performed on July 17, 2021 Le Muy, France.
Photo: Jerome Cavaliere
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2020
Bernar Venet. Retrospektive, Digital Capital NFTs 2022 Berlin, Germany.
Photo: E. Pisa
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2022
Perception Interior / Exterior
25 m
Photo: Maxime Bruyelle
©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2023
ISOTOPE Generative Multimedia Installation 2023 Le Muy, France | Two channel sound, projection mapping, Isotope generative algorithm, 7 m x 3 m | Photo: River Davis ©Bernar Venet, ADAGP Paris. 2024
2023
The first Long form Generative art collection in collaboration with Sotheby's, Violuks Projects,& NTENT.ART
2024
THE ART
Bernar Venet's intriguing fusion of mathematics and conceptual expression reaches into the fundamental principles of order, symmetry, and chaos. In the world of generative art, mathematics serves as both a guiding force and a source of creative inspiration built by systems of order and chaos. Through EVENT, we see a connection between Bernar's traditional systems and modern computational development.
One of the remarkable aspects of generative art is its ability to introduce chaos and chance into the creative process. Just as Venet's sculptures often surprise with unexpected twists and turns, generative art incorporates elements of randomness. Imagine taking the systems Bernar has developed through his artistic process and programming them into a generative algorithm to once again push the boundaries of creativity. EVENT bridges the realm of immateriality, akin to Venet's early conceptual work, with the monumental sculptural expressions found in pieces like "L'Arc Majeur" (2019) and leaves us with a new realm of artistic possibility.
Hear Bernar speak more on the concept here
Bernar Venet, !9 Angle Event, EVENT Algorithm Sample
Digital Paintings
Signed by Bernar Venet
EVENT provides a bridge between the digital and the physical the first 10 pieces from the algorithm will be delivered digitally to a mechanized painting facility in Nice, France. The never before seen compositions will be fed into an algorithmic painting system to produce large format paintings on hand selected canvas. Bernar Venet will provide signed, token-gated, 1 of 1, Fine Art paintings to the top 10 bidders of the auction.
Bernar Venet, Six Angle Event, EVENT Algorithm Sample
“Since his first purely conceptual pieces of 1966, Bernar Venet has passed through the crucial stages enabling art to make these developments. He is among the first to have originated a profound transformation of the function of art."
THE TEAM
BERNAR VENET STUDIOS
Bernar Venet, a visionary in conceptual art for over 60 years, has continually pushed boundaries with his innovative approach. Born in France in 1941, Venet gained international recognition for his exploration of mathematical concepts and their manifestation in art. His work delves into the abstract, challenging viewers to reconsider conventional notions of form and structure. From his early sculptures to his later installations and monumental works, Venet's oeuvre reflects a deep engagement with the intersection of philosophy, mathematics, and aesthetics. Throughout his prolific career, he has exhibited extensively worldwide, leaving an indelible mark on the art world and inspiring generations of artists to come.
Bernar Venet
VIOLUK PROJECTS
Viola Lukács is a time-based media specialist, founder of violuk projects. She is committed to explore the heterogeneity of human and non-human intelligence through art and digital technologies. In 2015, she curated MetaMetria, an expanded exhibition and public art project featuring the work of sculpture and conceptual artist Bernar Venet. The rapid dissemination of digital and optical virtual technologies urged her to find ways beyond curating to mediate between artists, academia, museums, collectors, communities, and corporations. In 2021, she co-founded NFT DEB, Europe's 1st generative hackathon and conference, which engages a broader audience to create art using ecological data and entails collective climate action.
Viola
Lukács
NTENT.ART [1]
S. Ryan O’Connor, aka Jiwa, is an American artist working with code, and co-founder of NTENT.ART. Jiwa's work often explores self through pixels, as seen in his Art Blocks Collection, Axo and his generative multi-chain collection PETLS weaving generative narratives through his solo exhibition at OBEY Art Space in Berlin. He has published work with NTENT, Bright Moments, fx(hash), and more. Collaborating with Bernar Venet, they produced Isomorphism, a generative audiovisual piece at the Venet Foundation, and continuing Venet's exploration of diffeomorphism, an now EVENT. With over 16 years of coding experience, Jiwa's expertise has touched startups and Fortune 500 giants like Sony Pictures and Uber.
Technology Director
S.Ryan O'Connor
NTENT.ART [1] [2]
River davis is American multimedia artist, creative director and co-founder of NTENT, known for exploring post-internet culture's impact on social consciousness. He has exhibited in New York, Berlin, Hungary, Portugal, and Tokyo. River's international presence is supported by his innovative approach to systematic art as well as his ability to craft compelling visual narratives across multimedia campaigns, identities, and experiential design has allowed him to produced projects for companies and personalities ranging from Amazon and DJ Khaled, to Mercedes Benz, Donate Attention and the Center for Human Dignity in HealthCare for People with Disabilities.
Director
River
Davis
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BERNAR VENET STUDIOS
Jacki Mansfield
Chanez Baali
Hélène Lombardo
COORDINATION
Studio
Team
ARTYKFILMs
Julia Sandor is a film director and co-founder of ARTYKFILM, an agency specializing in stills, motion, and digital content for art and fashion. Collaborating with museums, cultural institutions and private companies, ARTYKFILM pioneers image production in the art world. They also craft documentary films focusing on specific artistic themes. Their mission is to spotlight unique narratives and creative approaches, reflecting the richness of the human experience through individual sensitivity. In 2023, ARTYKFILM released a documentary about Bernar Venet's sculptures, offering an intimate portrayal of his artistic journey and revealing the meticulous process behind his renowned works.
Julia
Sandor
MARIMAKO
Mári Mákó is a sound artist and composer based in Rotterdam and Berlin. Her work has been described as avant-garde electronic and post-club, characterized by controlled yet abstract complexity in her music. She creates her own instruments to produce unique and unconventional sounds in her compositions.
These practices are informed by her research interests, which include the ecology of listening, experimental notations, interactive designs, and conducting processes. Currently, she is pursuing her Doctor of Liberal Arts program at MOME in Budapest while also participating in residencies between Rotterdam and Berlin.
Mári
Mákó
Anik Maiweg is a business graduate, photographer, and creative consultant. Fueled by her passion for creativity and community, she navigates the international art scene, leveraging experience in building community to provide strategic guidance to artists and institutions. She successfully introduced Bernar Venet’s countless real-world fans to his newly formed digital ecosystem, growing his social media presence through strategic social campaigns.
Anik
Maiweg
Jan Bichler is a Berlin-based analyst working at the intersection of business, art, and technology. Through cross-disciplinary research, he offers a comprehensive guide to strategic, technical, and conceptual decision-making processes. Jan leverages his experiences in venture capital and consulting to add technical excellence to creative matters. Excited by how novel technologies have so radically infiltrated certain art-making and art-distribution mechanisms, his current research focuses on tech-enabled business models within the art market.