daniel buuren monumenta

Situated work produced several times between 1975 and 2011, in particular in Berlin, Geneva, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Grasmere, Tel Aviv and Seville.

This work always has two separate parts. In the first part, nine Optimistes (small sailboats for children and teenagers) are fitted with striped canvas sails (white with red, blue, yellow, green or brown stripes). The two white stripes at the edges are covered with white paint. The boats then race in a regatta.
In the second part, after the race, the sails are exhibited in a museum in the city where the regatta was held. They are presented in the order they crossed the finishing line, from one to nine and from left to right, as befits the exhibition area.