EXPOS

BEN

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On the occasion of this eighth one-man show at the galerie Lara Vincy (the first was held in 1983), Ben has passed on his comments of the ambiguous nature of his chosen theme : madness
 
“I am not crazy”
I only pretend.
There will be a caddy I found in
the "Chiffonniers d’Emmaüs".
Seated in the caddy I will look crazy
 
But I am not crazy
I dreamed up three walls
A wall on freedom to...
A Fluxus wall
A wall of performances
 
I am not crazy
In fact, I find art boring
I find painters boring
 
I am not crazy 
I am jealous.
Jealous of Hawkins, of  Einstein, of  Freud
and I intend to show them
that the world is made up of ego
and that the inexplicable black matter
is only part of a forgetful brain
 
I am not crazy 
In truth, I work for the secret services.
I act as their pawn
to take the temperature
in Paris, rue de Seine
 
I am not crazy, but
I have invented an extraordinary WC
with a monitor and a camera, enabling
for the first time in the world,
humankind to see
its own shit falling into the WC
 
I am not crazy,
I am working on an ultra secret project,
regarding the transformation of the human species.
 
I am not crazy 
The world is  crazy
Dali was a not a crazy madman
Me, I am not crazy
 
I am not crazy
The spiral is underway
The weapons are ready:
Bacteriological weapons
Nuclear weapons
Climatic weapons
Technological weapons
And even an army of tamed
ticks trained to attack the enemy
 
I am not crazy
but I have over painted in black
a Renoir found in the flea market
 
I am not crazy
but if  you enjoy being whipped
I am at the Louisiane, room 19 or 36
 
I am not crazy
but I think that my mother
is playing cards 18 million
light years from here
with her chums: the Keysers
 
I am not crazy
I have set up a mattress
in the cellar of the galerie Lara Vincy
where I will cure the bipolars
of their anguish
on Tuesdays from midnight through 2 am
 
I am not crazy
The exhibition will take place on December 15
It is the time to purchase some Ben
and offer it for Christmas by letting them believe
that it is an investment
 
I am not crazy
but I had myself photographed
naked at the Hotel Louisiane’s window
 
I am not crazy
but convinced that one day in
the Basque Corsican Catalan Breton Occitan countries
they will replace in the city halls
Marianne’s bust
by mine with the saying
"no people without its language
no language without its culture"
 
I am not crazy
I have just been awarded the Croix des Arts et Lettres
I don’t know where to pick it up
 
I am not crazy
but convinced that 
in some circles
thirty million dead are foretold
like we foresee what there will be to eat
 
I am not crazy,
but I have over 2600 hours
of film cassettes, uncut
and by putting them back to back
that would enable me to undertake
the longest movie of the century
 
I am not crazy
But the time has come to drink
a glass of  “Jaja de Jau”
and to check out whether I am crazy
or not at the exhibition on December 15, 2012
in the galerie Lara Vincy
 
Ben
 
Translated by Ann Cremin.