Edited by Lawrence Kumpf with Joe Bucciero and Mark Harwood. Contributors include Henning Christiansen, Thomas Groetz, Diedrich Diederichsen, Dick Higgins, Lars Morell, Per Kirkeby, Bjørn Nørgaard, Helmer Nørgaard, Thorbjørn Reuter Christiansen, Anton Lukoszevieze, Hans-Jørgen Nielsen, Michael Glasmeier, Ute Wassermann, Stíne Janvin Motland, Mark Harwood, Lucy Railton, Graham Lambkin, Áine O’Dwyer, Lia Mazzari, Ursula Reuter Christiansen, Francesco Conz, and Emily Harvey. The third issue of Blank Forms’ journal is released in conjunction with Freedom is Around the Corner, a retrospective exhibition and performance series devoted to the work of pioneering Danish composer and artist Henning Christiansen (1932–2008). Perhaps best known for his collaborations and artistic affinities with notable artists such as Joseph Beuys and Fluxus members like Nam June Paik and Dick Higgins, Christiansen, who worked primarily on the remote Danish island of Møn, moved beyond his Fluxus roots to create a vast, often ineffable body of work that spanned music, performance, film, and visual art over the course of a fifty-year career. Yet Christiansen’s work has remained under the radar, even in the ten years following his death: only a few of his recordings were available until recently, and his prolific compositional and visual outputs have rarely been performed or exhibited in the United States. Freedom is Around the Corner—the exhibition, the performance series, and the journal—seeks to present Christiansen’s life and work in a holistic manner that befits his dynamic practice. Like previous issues of the Blank Forms journal, Freedom is Around the Corner collects a combination of newly discovered, never-before published, and newly translated materials; in this case, many of the materials were found in the Henning Christiansen Archive during the exhibition’s curatorial process. The issue begins with the first of four newly translated interviews with Christiansen himself, conducted circa 2006 by the German writer Thomas Groetz. Two others, conducted by Francesco Conz and Michael Glasmeier in the 1990s, come later in the issue; together these three interviews, which had only existed as audio recordings before, offer a well-rounded picture of the late-career Christiansen through his own, good-humored lens. The fourth interview, a more experimental text conducted by Helmer Nørgaard, was originally published in Danish in the magazine DMT, in a 1986/87 issue devoted to Christiansen. In this issue we’ve created a translated facsimile of that DMT issue, which also featured texts on Christiansen by his prominent Danish collaborators, the writer Lars Morell and the artists Per Kirkeby and Bjørn Nørgaard. We hear from other Christiansen collaborators through correspondence—including in transcribed letters from Emily Harvey and Dick Higgins, whose messages to and from Christiansen were recently discovered in the Archive—and through interviews, including newly conducted interviews with his wife and longtime collaborator, Ursula Reuter Christiansen; Bjorn Nørgaard, who spoke with Christiansen’s son Thorbjørn Reuter Christiansen; and later musical collaborators Werner Durand and Ute Wassermann. Except Nørgaard, these collaborators will all speak or perform as part of the Freedom is Around the Corner programming; a section of this issue features many of the other performers as well, younger artists who have grappled with Christiansen’s legacy. Represented through interviews (Lucy Railton), original artworks (Graham Lambkin, Áine O’Dwyer, Stíne Janvin), and essays (Mark Harwood, Anton Lukoszevieze of Apartment House), these artists demonstrate the lasting and diverse impact of Christiansen’s work on today’s musical landscape. Lukoszevieze’s essay introduces a newly translated libretto for Dejligt vejr i dag, n’est-ce pas, Ibsen, a 1964 opera with music by Christiansen and libretto by Hans-Jørgen Nielsen which Apartment House, commissioned by Blank Forms, will perform twice during the run of the exhibition. Taken together—and even more, in conjunction with the exhibition and performances—the texts in this journal provide an in-depth look, previously unavailable, especially in the United States, at a towering but overlooked figure in the postwar musical as well as artistic avant-garde. Support for Freedom is Around the Corner comes from the Nordic Culture Point, the Nordic Culture Fund, Snyk, the Danish Arts Foundation, the Royal Norwegian Consulate, Goethe-Institut, the Danish Consulate General, Music Norway, and Ultima Contemporary Music Festival

The collection of texts on contemporary art by Jean-Christophe Ammann, with essays on, among others, Alighiero Boetti, Louise Bourgeois, Miriam Cahn, David Claerbout, Marlène Dumas, On Kawara, Markus Raetz, Pipilotti Rist, Rosemarie Trockel, and Jeff Wall. Préface de l’édition française Chapitre I Qu’est-ce que l’art ? L’art commence là où s’arrête le goût Déterminer une position Créativité et innovation Tentatives d’unification Chapitre II Art et public Lire des images et penser dedans des images « Ça, je peux le faire aussi » Chapitre III Musées, collectionneurs, marché de l’art De la maison de l’art aux œuvres qui y sont logées Vademecum pour les commissaires Connaissez-vous Marbot ? Chapitre IV Espace et temps Le point temporel : la date – On Kawara A propos des cartes du monde (Mappa) de Alighiero Boetti et de quelques œuvres analogues L’insondable Francesco Clemente Méditer – Jürgen Krause Le monde avec la tête à l’envers – Markus Raetz Réciprocité – pas de réciprocité : Andreas Slominski Un autre regard sur l’œuvre de Franz Gertsch Anton Henning, le peintre Andy Warhol – Superstar Espérons que le magnétophone fonctionne – un entretien avec Matthias Weischer Paul Thek : transsubstantiation Chapitre V Femmes – Hommes, Erotisme – Sexualité Qu’est-ce qui distingue une artiste femme d’un artiste homme ? Trois artistes femmes et leurs perspectives : Zoe Leonard, Cecilia Edefalk, Miriam Cahn Les femmes de Bettina Rheims (avec des commentaires de Natalie de Ligt) Marlene Dumas – tendre, débauchée, clairvoyante et extatique La pornographie sous-estimée Traumatismes – presque comme dans un conte de fées : Sandra Vásquez de la Horra Homme et femme – Eric Fischl Max Mohr : pourquoi toujours dans un lit ? Masculin – féminin : Rosemarie Trockel Métamorphoses – Elly Strik Vagabonder – les bagues de Dieter Roth Le chien aimant : Johannes Hüppi Porter l’intime dans le monde – Lucie Beppler Les extases de Martin Eder Nobuyoshi Araki Tracey Emin parle d’elle-même Faire pipi – Pipilotti Rist Christoph Hein : Frau Paula Trousseau Antéchrist de Lars von Trier Chapitre VI Torture/Violence Des cuisines comme des instruments de torture – Louise Bourgeois Robert Gober : « La Vierge Marie » au Schaulager de Bâle Les sept dernières paroles Chapitre VII La société – Ordre/Désordre Les pilules miracle de Dana Wyse Fantasmagories : Single Wide – Teresa Hubbard et Alexander Birchler House with Pool – Teresa Hubbard et Alexander Birchler Fratricide : Whitehouse de David Claerbout Pièges – Andreas Slominski « Do it yourself » – Ceal Floyer Jeff Wall – The Storyteller Stefan Exler raconte Un réaliste : Philipp Hennevogl Jeux de rôles vécus – Slawomir Elsner Une merveille : les dessins, aquarelles et vases d’Anna Lea Hucht La clairvoyance intime d’Irene Bisang La perception nue – Judith Ammann Des portes, des portes d’immeubles et des entrées Des escaliers Fenêtres de rue – regarder dedans, regarder dehors, se taire Vérification : la photographie en tant qu’art reste à découvrir Références biographiques Liste et crédits des illustrations