Lecture No 2 ON PATROL – by Marc Bijl and Yucef Merhi

Bijl (1970, The Netherlands, lives/works in Berlin and Rotterdam). Bijl uses caricatural statements as a confrontation and creates a context in which clichés come to life again. He knows how signs and images can enlighten ingrained structures of belief and power and ignores any subtlety. Bijl aims his barbs at every organised form of seeing, thinking or doing. He makes art as a flag, not to march with but to burn. He misuses in order not to become a user. The artist as mistrustful guardian of the principle of immorality. His work has been included in 2004 in such exhibitions as 'Good Things', MOMA, New York (USA), 'Channel 0', Netherlands Media Institute, Amsterdam, '20/20 Vision', Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and 'Hit and Run', Smart Project Space, Amsterdam/Platform Garanti, Istanbul.

Merhi (1977, Venezuela, lives and works in New York). Merhi is aware of our dependence on computer systems and tries to focus attention on this reality in his work and also to criticise its negative aspects. In 1989 Merhi hacked the computer of Hugo Chávez Frias, currently the president of Venezuela. Until 2003 he intercepted thousands of emails which he then used for an enormous diagram. In 2004 his work was included in such exhibitions as 'The Crystal Land Revisited: New Art in New Jersey', Aljira, New Jersey, 'The Presidency', Exit Art, New York and 'Hypermedia', Orange County Museum of Art, California.