"Domestique"
STANDARD (OSLO)
PRESS RELEASE
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KNUT H. HENRIKSEN / KIM HIORTHØY / MICHAELA MEISE /
CHARLOTTE WANKEL / PAE WHITE
”DOMESTIQUE”
Curated by Eivind Furnesvik and Salome Sommer
08.06.-08.07.2006 / PREVIEW: THURSDAY 08.06.2006 / 19.00-21.00
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STANDARD (OSLO) is pleased to announce its summer exhibition “Domestique”, with contributions by the artists Knut Henrik Henriksen, Kim Hiorthøy, Michaela Meise, Charlotte Wankel and Pae White. Taking the term ‘domestique’ from the bicycle sport as a starting point, the exhibition revolves around notions of triumph and the suspension of self.
”Under whatever guise, team work is rooted in the efficacy of pacing. In the early days of bike racing, riders were artificially paced by other cyclists who were not taking part as competitors, and then by cars or motorbikes; later in the twentieth century, ’Derny-paced’ bike races enjoyed some popularity, with the cyclists following a little moped-like machine, a cross between bicycle and motorbike, a form of competition which had shocking results on one occasion involving Eddy Merckx. It team racing the pacing is both continuous and subtler. It can be seen in pure form in team time trials, of which there is now one in each Tour, when the lead endlessly rotates between riders, each setting th pace for no more than twenty seconds at a time. On road stages, the same thing happens in less structured form, with riders lending on behalf of their team, one rider pacing others, and domestiques serving their leaders like worker bees serving the queen. They literally wait on him, fetching and carrying bidons of water, they faithfully stay with him if he punctures to relay him back to the peloton, they accompany him if he attacks, and, if a rival rider attacks, they set off and stick to his wheel: all in the service of the team and its leader.”
Wheatcroft, Geoffrey: ”Le Tour: A History of the Tour De France ”
Simon & Schuster, London, 2005, p 82
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Installation photography: Stein Jørgensen
