Ulises Carrión "Gossip, scandal and good manners. An art. . . A scill. . . A technique. . . (lecture)"

Lecture by Ulises Carrión. Organisation: De Appel. Location: Main building of the UVA (Oudemanhuispoort), lecture-room 0.42. 'The project consisted of launching some gossip with the help of a group of friends, keeping so accurate track as possible of the evolution of the gossip in the city, and, as the final step, giving a lecture on the whole process. The lecture was to have a formal character - it was given in the Auditorium in the main building of Amsterdam's University - in order to counterbalance the informality with which gossiping is usually associated. I decided to take myself as the only subject matter of gossip in order to avoid misunderstandings as far as my intentions were concerned. In a later phase, it became clear that the gossip would have more chance of success if other people would also be taken as subject matter. Frank Gribling and Liesbeth Brandt Corstius volunteered. The gossip stories, eight in total, referred to our private lives (‘Ulises Carrión has inherited from a rich uncle...’, 'Ulises Carrión's ex-wife, whom he married years ago, while he was still living in Mexico, is at present in Holland...’, 'Ulises Carrión has a malignant cancer...’, etc.) and, on the other hand, to our professional or social lives ('Frank Gribling is fixing the details of Ulises Carrión's show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York...’, 'Frank Gribling has managed to block a subvention Ulises Carrión had applied for...', 'Liesbeth Brandt Corstius, a supporter of feminist initiatives, has manoeuvred to get a subvention for Karen Kvernenes' Art Something instead of Ulises Carrión' s Other Books and So Archive...’, 'The Other Books and So Archive is going to be annexed by the Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum...’, etc.). The following persons were asked to spread the gossip: Josine van Droffelaar, Wies Smals, André Minnaar, Rob Huisman, Helen van der Meij, Michael Gibbs, Theo van der Aa, Jörg Zutter, Harry Ruhé and Kees Broos. There was also a group of so called 'passive collaborators'. They had as only task to report whatever gossip they might come across. Active collaborators got notebooks in order that they keep record of any information or data relevant to the project. They were also instructed as to how to start a gossip ('mention always the source of information, whether it's real or fake') , how to react when being questioned ('when asked information on a gossip, never refuses it') , how to activate the information stream ('whenever you're told back a gossip, tell it yourself to someone else') and how to keep record of the events ('what you tell, what you keep yourself, whom you tell, how the others react, etc.'). The project covered a period of three months (March - June 1981).’ (Ulises Carrión, , pp. 5-6.)