Spiritofboz

When the biggest picture is not which it seems to be.

Jack Balance, during the debate, alongside Djidrov Krassimir (director of the Arts Academy of Sofia), Doctor Svetlozar Benchev (professor at the Arts Academy of Sofia and artist) and Stella Rouskova.

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Munich, March 1st, 2008.

On this first day of March, the Muenchner Kammerspiele theater is the setting for the videoperformance "Spirit of Boz-Around the Boz in 80 Years", as part of  the Toy Void/Doing Identity festivals (curated by Bo Christian Larsson) and the first of a series of BeBoz  events in Munich all along the year 2008.

Curated by Erno Vroonen, a "kurator" and art historian, this event was focused on Jack Balance and  Julien Friedler’s "Around the Boz In 80 Years" questionnaire. The metaphysical clown (and main character of The Book of Boz) was omnipresent : in video, first, in a movie directed by Yves Anchar, and "live", through about fifty incarnations of the clown character, of different ages, sexes, or races, (contrasting  with the simple "clones" in the Ostende performance) who have invited the public and the people in the street to participate in the "Around the Boz In 80 Years" project by answering the questionnaire.

Read also :

> Jack Balance’s gallery (on www.spiritofboz.org)

> The Scribe meets Jack Balance (in Julien Friedler’s Book of Boz, chapter 1 and Audiobook of Boz, episode 1)

> Jack Balance in a beach performance in Ostende, Belgium (August 2007)

> Jack Balance in Buenos Aires (Argentina), December  2007

Jack Balance has different representations : main character from Julien Friedler’s Book of Boz, sculpture or painting, comics character, he appears also on merchandising as for example T-shirts. Metaphysical clown, forced by his creator to be only a character, he seeks to act like a real man.

This picture shows a detail of the installation named The Innocents, exposed in 2002 at the Mudima Foundation in Milan, in 2003 at Espace de Retz in Paris and in 2004 during the Flanders Festival.

Jack Balance in action, performances, installations and works…

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The 4th Be Art Show in Latin America had something special. It took place on December 5, 2007, during the "noche de la exposicion" (Gallery Night), DacilArt Gallery, in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The star of the show was obviously Jack Balance, the famous character from Julien Friedler’s Book of Boz.

This colorful character was in the object of an auction sale, which would provide the buyer the right to bring him back home for 3 days and draw, paint, picture him,… Julien Friedler describes this process as "collector’s art", according this Be Art proposition : "To seek art in unexpected places." Besides, a lottery was organized, with this prize : a 10 minutes date with Jack Balance during the night.

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Ostende, Friday, August 3rd, 2007. Just in front of the beach, near the monument for the Sea Heroes, a strange cabin appeared.

Each side of the Boz Cabin is decorated with one of the 3 clowns from Julien Friedler ’s Book of Boz. There is the Scribe, Me the Mirror Man and of course Jack Balance.

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