Written and produced by Line Rosenvinge in conjunction with the Top Up salon featuring Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel, held at Rahbeks Allé 32 ISBN 978-87-994067-1-5

1. Line Rosenvinge introducerer:
Line Rosenvinge introduces:
Thierry
Geoffroy
/Colonel
"Katalysator." - "Catalyst."

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# 2
Skrevet og produceret af Line Rosenvinge
som opfølgning på Top Up salon med Thierry
Geoffroy Colonel afholdt Rahbeks Allé 32,
Frederiksberg, den 18. november 2010,
Oversat til engelsk af David Duchin.
1. udgave, 1. oplag, 250 eksemplarer.
Alle billeder kunstneren.
ISBN 978-87-994067-1-5
Written and produced by Line Rosenvinge
in conjunction with the Top Up salon featuring
Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel, held at Rahbeks Allé 32,
Frederiksberg, Denmark, 18 November 2010.
Translated into English by David Duchin.
250 copies, first edition.
All images the artist.
ISBN 978-87-994067-1-5

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Katalysator
Kunstneren er som en énmandshær. Men hvem er fjenden?
Måske virkeligheden, som den er. Kunstneren ønsker at rykke
noget og kunstneren kan gøre en forskel. Det kan Thierry
Geoffroy / Colonel i al fald.
Med utrættelig iver har han gennem årtier iværksat
begivenheder og afkrævet reaktion. Ofte en-til-en, andre
gange i stor skala via massemedier.
Til Colonel klassikere hører uannoncerede film om den
Aktive Immigrant, der er sendt i bedste sendetid på dansk tv
og set af over 400.000 mennesker. Det er, mildt sagt, flere end
der kommer på en gennemsnits udstilling med samtidskunst.
På Facebook har Colonel over 4000 venner, hvoraf mange
har været aktive deltagere i et Colonel projekt rundt om i
verden.
Det er ikke godt nok. Colonel har brug for et beredskab
og et Emergency Room, hvor kunstnere kan mødes hver dag
kl. 12.30 med deres respons til medier og virkelighed. Fordi
kunstnere bør være avantgarde og fungere som termometer
for samfundet. Fordi vi skal se på kunstnerne, som vi skal se
på elefanterne, der intuitivt søger længere ind mod land, når
en tsunami nærmer sig kysten. Colonel arbejder på at
etablere denne platform, så kunstnere ikke skal vente år og
dag på at udtrykke sig. Kunstneren bør nemlig ikke, som
kavaleriet i Lucky Look, altid ankomme, når slaget er afgjort.

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Emergency Room forudsætter at vi anerkender kunstneren er
særligt begavet, mere sensitiv og bedre til at kommunikere
end gennemsnittet.
Vi må gerne turde tro, kunstnerne er ypperstepræster. Vi
må gerne samtidig acceptere, at kunstens verden forudsætter
en vis biodiversitet. Yppersterpræsterne taler altså ikke med
én stemme. Vi møder kunstnerne som masse. "You will meet
an army of me". Vær beredt. Eller: vær netop uforberedt når
kunstneren fanger din opmærksomhed, for det kræver blot
dit nærvær.
Colonel er som kunstner ikke moraliserende og
fordømmende, han studser bare over tingene. Han studser
over avisoverskrifter og over kunstinstitutionens til tider
åbenlyse selvtilstrækkelighed.
En aktion i 1988 kan kaldes kunstnerens første. Her skaffede
kunstneren sig taletid på fem parisiske radiostationer for at få
folk til at møde op til kunstmessen FIAC med private fotos,
som de kunne påhæfte deres tøj og blive til omvandrende
udstillinger. En opfordring, som henved 30 mennesker fulgte.
Kunstneren udleverede papkroner fra Burger King og
aktivisterne vandrede omkring på messen som mobil
udstilling, med hver deres medbragte værker på ryggen.
{1}

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Her var kunstneren katalysator for en begivenhed, der
motiverede andre til deltagelse i en fællesytring (en
kommentar om at lade folk udstille egne billeder i
kunstinstitutionen) med rum for individuelle motiver (hver
aktivist havde frit valgt et billede).
En aktivist er en exhibitionist og hermed et menneske, der
er tilstede og viser sig i verden. Det er hensigten, at skabe
flere aktivister. Kunstneren arbejder på sagen og evner at
skabe rum for amatøren i professionelle rammer som
kunstinstitution og massemedier. Kunstneren ønsker nemlig
ikke blot at formidle en iagttagelse: kunstneren Colonel ser
verden for bedre at kunne motivere og engagere andre.
Kunstneren vil ikke have vi bliver ved med at gå rundt og
skjule os. Vi skal turde eksponere vore tanker og meninger.
Vi skal have modet til at være lidt pinlige, dét er kun
menneskeligt. Når vi viser hvem vi er og hvad vi mener, så
undgår vi attituder og overflader – og vi kan lettere finde ud af
at leve sammen.
Kunstneren mener alle kan udtrykke sig om alt altid.
Kunstneren udtrykker sig gennem eksponeringer via galleriet
og ambassaden såvel som supermarkedet og junglen.
Kunstneren er vagabond, når han rejser omkring med sine
udtryk og forstyrrer det offentlige rum eller lokalbefolkningen
i Thailand, der af Colonel blev udsat for moderne
samtidskunst, som en udlevelse af visionen om at kunst kan
være hvadsomhelst hvorsomhelst.

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Hvis nu bare kunsten kunne få os til at komme hinanden lidt
mere ved. I 1989 engagerede kunstneren en større gruppe
mennesker til at holde picnic på gulvet i udstillingsbygningen
Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Her diskuterede de begrebet hygge
og skrev personlige skilte, med deres ytringer, som de bar
uden på tøjet.
Kunstneren har ligeledes arrangeret udstillinger på ryggen
af sportsudøvere i en fægteklub, om halsen af racehunde til et
klubtræf samt diverse halv- og helprivate arrangementer,
fester og receptioner. Måske får han folk til at danse med en
fremmed og samtidig debattere et emne som "kommer der
borgerkrig i Danmark i din levetid".
Kunstneren forstyrrer altid på den gode måde ved at vække
opmærksomhedsevne og motivere mennesker til at ytre sig.
Så vi kan holde os vågne, mærke verden, se hinanden – og,
ikke mindst, reagere, når der er noget, der ikke er i orden.
For nogle gange er virkeligheden en fjende, vi skal
bekæmpe.

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{2}
{4}

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{5}

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MOVING EXHIBITION definition: Det er skaberen i evig søgen. MOVING EXHIBITION er
mobil i rummet og mobil i sin udtryksform, idet den tilpasser sig livet. Forkortelsen lyder
M.E., thi den er dybt forbundet med exhibitionistens jeg ('me' er fransk personligt
pronomen i akkusativ og dativ = mig; o.a.). M.E. er introspektiv og selvbiografisk. M.E.
omfatter i øjeblikket fotografi og performance. De forskellige former for M. E.:
BORGERLIG MOVING EXHIBITION: Det er skaberen i behagelige omgivelser. Alene
med sig selv i skjul for publikum eller i selskab med dem, der forstår ham.
HALV-BORGERLIG MOVING EXHIBITION: M.E. på et offentligt sted med
forhåndstilladelse til benyttelse af væggene (konstant skiftende udstillinger, idet
udstillingen forsøger at holde trit med skaberens skiftende sindstilstande overfor
publikum). Den halvborgerlige M.E. kan blive selvskabelig og indbyde publikum til at
udtrykke sig.
OFFENSIV MOVING EXHIBITION: M.E. på en skueplads for kunst (museum, galleri),
under en fernisering, som BZ-virksomhed. Benytter sig af guerilla taktikker. Tilladelse fra
den ansvarlige på stedet ikke fornøden. Eksempler på tilslutning såvel som bortvisning.
Den offensive M.E. er revolutionær og manifesterer sig for tiden i skikkelse af en
fodgængeragtig eller flyvende udstilling (FLYING EXHIBITION).
VAGABONDERENDE MOVING EXHIBITION: M.E. på kunst-fremmed sted, f.eks.
ambassade, metro, gade, supermarked ...
EXHIBITIONISTISK MOVING EXHIBITION: "VENNER" indbydes til at udstille et
billede af sig selv på egen ryg og bliver således "exhibitionister". De udstillede billeder
tilhører derefter FONDATIONEN, som påtager sig at "udødeliggøre" dem.
MOVING EXHIBITION definition: It is the creator in an eternal search. MOVING
EXHIBITION is mobile both geographically and in its form of expression, in that it adapts to
life. Abbreviated: M.E., an expression intrinsically bound to the exhibitionist’s ”I”. M.E. is
introspective and autobiographical. M.E. includes, for the moment, photography and
performance. There are other forms of M.E.:
CIVIL MOVING EXHIBITION: This is the creator in friendly environs. Alone with
himself, away from the public or in the company of those that understand him.
HALF-CIVIL MOVING EXHIBITION: M.E. in a public place with prior permission to use
the walls (constantly changing exhibitions in that the exhibition attempts to keep up with
the creator’s every changing state of mind in relation to the public). The Half-Civil M.E. can
be social, and encourages the public to express themselves.
OFFENSIVE MOVING EXHIBITION: M.E. in an exhibition space for art (museum,
gallery), during an opening, in a squatting-style occupation. Employs guerrilla tactics.
Permission from the individuals in charge of the venue unimportant. Examples of inclusion
as well as exclusion. The Offensive M.E. is revolutionary and manifests itself for the
moment in the form of a walking or flying exhibition (FLYING EXHIBITION).
VAGABOND MOVING EXHIBITION: M.E. at a non-art site, for example an embassy,
metro, street, supermarket...
EXHIBITIONIST MOVING EXHIBITION: ”FRIENDS” are invited to exhibit photos of
themselves on their own backs, turning them into ”exhibitionists”. The exhibited
photographs are then turned over to the FOUNDATION, which takes it upon itself to
”immortalise” them.

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Catalyst
The artist is a one man army. But who is the enemy? Perhaps,
it is reality as we know it. The artist wants to alter things, and the
artist can make a difference. At least, Thierry Geoffroy aka
Colonel can.
With unrelenting determination, Colonel has been creating
events and demanding reaction for decades, ranging in size
from one on one to large scale interventions via the mass media.
Among Colonel’s classics was a series of unadvertised films
under the title The Active Immigrant (Den Aktive Immigrant),
broadcast on primetime Danish television and seen by over
400,000 viewers. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this
is more viewers than one would expect at an average exhibition
of contemporary art.
Colonel has over 4,000 friends on Facebook, many of whom
have been active participants in Colonel projects around the
world.
But, that is not enough. Colonel is recruiting an action squad for
his Emergency Room, where artists meet every day at 12.30 to
present their responses to media and the world around us.
Because artists should be the avant-garde and function as
societal barometers. Because we should look at artists in the
same way we look at elephants; elephants tend to move inland
when there is a tsunami nearing the coast.

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Colonel is working to establish this platform so that artists do not
have to wait a year and a day to express themselves. Artists
should not, like the Keystone Cops, always arrive after the deed
is done.
Emergency Room requires us to recognize the artist as a gifted
individual, more sensitive and better at communication than the
average citizen.
We may dare to believe that the artist is the new high priest.
At the same time, we must accept that the art world presupposes
a certain biodiversity. The high priests do not all speak with the
same voice. We meet artists as a mass. “You will meet an army of
me”. Be prepared. Or, do not. You do not prepare yourself for
an artist grabbing your attention.
Colonel does not, as an artist, moralise or judge. He just
ponders. He ponders newspaper headlines and the arts
institution's at times quite unashamed self sufficiency.
A happening in 1988 could be called the artist’s first. Here, the
artist managed to obtain speaking time on five Parisian radio
stations so that he could put out a call for people to meet up at
the FIAC International Contemporary Art Fair with their own,
personal photographs, which they could pin to their clothes, and
in doing so become wandering exhibitions. It was a call that 30
people responded to.
The artist distributed paper crowns from Burger King to his
activists, who wandered around FIAC like mobile exhibitions,
each wearing their artwork on their backs.

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In this instance, the artist was a catalyst for an event that
motivated others to take part in a communal expression (a call to
allow people to exhibit their own images in an art institution)
allowing space for individual motivation (each activist chose
their own images without censure).
An activist is an exhibitionist, and thus a person who is present
and exposes himself to the world around him. It is the artist’s
intention to create more activists. The artist slaves away at his
task and his ability to create space for the amateur in
professional realms such as the art institution and mass media.
The artist does not solely desire to convey his own
observations; the artist Colonel looks at the world to find ways
he can better motivate and engage others.
The artist wants to free us from our habit of hiding ourselves.
We shall dare to stand up and speak our thoughts and opinions.
We shall have the courage to be embarrassed. After all, it is only
human.
When we show who we are and what we think, we avoid
attitude and two-dimensionality – and we have an easier time of
living together.
The artist believes we can express ourselves about
everything, always. The artist expresses himself through the
exposure of a gallery or an embassy in the same way as he
would via a supermarket or the jungle.
The artist is a vagabond when he travels around with his
impressions, upsetting the public space or, in one instance, Thai

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locals who were exposed to contemporary modern art by
Colonel in his effort to prove his vision that art can be anything,
anywhere.
If only art could bring us closer together. In 1989 the artist
engaged a large group of people to make a picnic on the floor of
the Copenhagen exhibition space Kunsthal Charlottenborg. At
the picnic, the Danish concept of hygge (approximately
translated as cozyness) was discussed and posters were made
with their conclusions – posters which were then pinned to their
clothes.
The artist has created exhibitions worn on the backs of
athletes in a fencing club, around the necks of racing dogs and at
a number of partly, or wholly private arrangements, parties and
receptions. The actions could take the form of encouraging
people to dance with strangers while debating issues such as
”will there be a civil war in Denmark in your lifetime?”.
The artist is always seeking to disturb, in a good way, by
invoking awareness and motivating people to express
themselves. It makes us more awake, more conscious of the
world around us, of each other – and most importantly, to react
when there is something wrong.
Because sometimes reality is an enemy against whom we shall
raise arms.

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{0} Screendump from the artist’s homepage (2011).
{1} L’art est un cadeau (action at FIAC Paris ,1988). The artist obtained radio
time on Europe 2, Radio Tour Eiffel, Radio Enghien, Radio Latino and Radio
Beaubourg in order to call a group of individuals to action.
{2} Flying Exhibition D-day (action, Copenhagen, 16 June 1989). The artist
and others – all with images of themselves attached to their backs – cycled
across Amalienborg Castle’s square, while teams distributed paper flyers
with selected images. The action took place to honour the historic WWII D-
day in which the allied forces invaded the Normandy coast, attacking the
German occupation force on 6 June 1944. D-day is also used as a
description for a secret military action. In this, there is a parallel for the
artist who attempts to keep his activities secret up to the point of their
unveiling – in other words these activities are realised in the public realm
without invitations or any connection to an institutional framework.
{3} Moving Exhibition Thailand (action and newspaper articles, 1990). The
artist journeyed by elephant through the jungle, carrying an exhibition that
changed daily.
{4} Media Penetration (newspaper advertisement, 1988). A bottle dryer, a la
Marcel Duchamp, offered for sale via newspaper advertisement to show the
banality of the ready-made genre, and to return the object to its normal,
every day use. Here, the artist is catalyst in a conceptual, institutional and
historic sense.
{5} Moving Exhibition Manifesto (stickers, 1989) with images of the artist as a
child. The original text was written by the artist in French.
Colonel is the name the artist adopted, and feels appropriately relevant as
the artist’s father was a high ranking French military man, stationed in
Algeria, where the artist spent part of his childhood.

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{0} Screendump fra kunstnerens hjemmeside (2011).
{1} L’art est un cadeau (aktion under kunstmessen FIAC Paris 1988).
Kunstneren skaffede sig sendetid på Europe 2, Radio Tour Eiffel, Radio
Enghien, Radio Latino og Radio Beaubourg for at samle en gruppe
mennesker til aktion.
{2} Flying Exhibtion D-day (aktion, København den 16. juni 1989).
Kunstneren og co. – alle med billeder af dem selv på ryggen – cyklede
henover Amalienborg Slotsplads alt imens de afsendte papirsflyvere med
udvalgte billeder. Aktionen fandt sted til minde om den historiske D-day
under Anden Verdenskrig, hvor de allierede styrker den 6. juni 1944
invaderede Normandiets kyster og angreb den tyske besættelsesmagt.
D-day bruges også som betegnelse for en hemmeligholdt militæraktion.
Herved er der en parallel til kunstneren, der ynder at hemmeligholde sine
aktiviteter før selve realiseringsøjeblikket, navnlig når disse aktiviteter
realiseres uden invitation i det offentlige rum eller i relation til en
institutionel ramme.
{3} Moving Exhibition Thailand (aktion og avisartikel, 1990). Kunstneren
rejste på elefantryg gennem junglen med dagligt skiftende billeder.
{4} Mediepenetration (avisannonce, 1988). Flasketørrestativ á la Marcel
Duchamp sat til salg via avisannonce for at banalisere ready made genren
og fører genstanden tilbage til sit oprindelige domæne som brugsobjekt.
Her er kunstneren katalysator i begrebslig, institutionel og historisk
forstand.
{5} Moving Exhibition Manifesto (klistermærke, 1989) med billede af
kunstneren som barn. Orignaltekst forfattet af kunstneren på fransk.
Colonel er iøvrigt et kunstnernavn, der virker påfaldende relevant,
eftersom kunstnerens far var højtrangerende fransk militærmand
udstationeret i Algieret, hvor kunstneren tilbragte en del af sin barndom.

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Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel (f. 1961, Nancy) er allevegne – på museerne,
gallerierne og de store kunstbiennaler, men også på gaden, i massemedierne
og sociale online netværk. Kunstneren arbejder via alle platforme og medier,
men bør ikke forveksles med anarkisten eller gøgleren. Kunstneren kan istedet
med rette kaldes velreflekteret katalysator, når han fungerer som Aktiv
Immigrant, Biennalist, The Sociolog og som skaber af formatet Critical Run,
Debate Rave og – navnlig – Emergency Room. Som katalysator engagerer
kunstneren mennesker, der normalt ikke er engageret i kulturliv og
samfundsdebat. Siden 1990erne har kunstneren arbejdet med tv og
massemedier som udstillingssted. Har desuden udstillet på blandt andet
Sprengel Museum Hannover, MoMA PS1, Liverpool Biennial, Cairo Biennial,
Friesmuseum Holland, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Haus Kulturen der Welt
Berlin, Shedhalle Zürich, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre Athen, ZKM
Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe og Manifesta Biennial # 8. Bidrog desuden i
katalogprojekt for Documenta 12 i Kassel via estiske Kunst.ee og var del af
kunstudstillingen i Hanoi i forbindelse med officielt royalt besøg. 2010 udgav
kunstneren, i samarbejde med Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakdemi,
Emergency Room Dictionary, der er et væsentligt dokument for de omfattende
og visionære Emergency Room debat format aktiviteter. / www.colonel.dk
Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel (f. 1961, Nancy) is everywhere – in museums,
galleries, the larger biennales, and also on the streets, in mass media and
online in social networks. The artist works via all platforms and media, but
should not be confused with the anarchist or the comedian. The artist can
instead be called a reflecting catalyst when he functions as the Active
Immigrant, the Biennalist, the Sociologist and as creator of the Critical Run,
Debate Rave format and – specifically – the Emergency Room. As a catalyst, the
artist engages people that would not normally be engaged in culture or societal
debate. Since the 1990s, the artist has worked with TV and mass media as his
exhibition space. He has also exhibited at, among others, the Sprengel Museum
in Hannover, MoMA PS1, Liverpool Biennial, Cairo Biennial, Friesmuseum
Holland, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Haus Kulturen der Welt Berlin, Shedhalle
Zurich, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre Athens, ZKM Center for Art and
Media Karlsruhe and Manifesta Biennial #8. Has also contributed to the
catalogue project for Documenta 12 in Kassel via the Estonian Kunst.ee and was
a part of the art exhibition in Hanoi in conjunction with the official royal visit by
the Danish queen. In 2010 the artist released, in collaboration with the Royal
Danish Academy of Art, the Emergency Room Dictionary, which is an essential
document for the comprehensive and visionary Emergency Room debate
format activities. / www.colonel.dk