INSTITUTES

EPO 1964


Pieter Engels, was the first Dutch artist to present himself as an entrepreneur, he founded the company EPO: Engels Products Organization.
A company that made products instead of art. Products made of smooth, immaculate materials, reminiscent of the luxury decorative objects and utensils of the time.
The company and its products were marketed through leaflets, posters and flyers as was common practice in advertising.
EPO was immediately picked up by the Dutch art world and became a successful company.
Typical EPO products are prototypes, restored furniture, assemblages, curtain pieces, girls coat pieces (1966) letter pieces and connection plate.
Some EPO key works from the late sixties with art as subject: Weight of a modern art piece(1968), Clothes of the Emporer a modern art piece(1967), Golden Fiction(1968), Bad Constructed Canvas(1967, homage a english)
With EPO Pieter Engels, not only questioned the values of uniqueness and authenticity and the idea of art as individual expression, but he also ironized the market mechanism of the art apparatus.
Art instead of individual expression, to art as a mass product.
Instead of a unique work of art, with a value that cannot be expressed in money, the work of art becomes a brand name article with the accompanying price tag.
Pieter Engels made the economic laws the subject of his art at a time when mentioning art and commerce in one sentence was still taboo, in order to mercilessly expose the flat market mechanism in art. Looking at today, it is clear that art has not been able to escape the unrestrained power of the market and its ridiculous excesses.
A key position of Engels was, “Style as dogma is the vehicle of standstill. As a result, Engels did not keep repeating the same trick and soon founded another company: ENIO.

S H O W
GALLERY 845
Engels Products
NEW CAPTIVATING SENSATIONAL AWESOME EXCEPTIONAL INSANE SEXY EXTRAORDINARY STREAMLINED ATTRACTIVE MORE BEAUTIFUL BETTER FUNCTIONAL UNIQUE NEW NEW NEW NEW ALWAYS NEWER ALWAYS NEWER ALWAYS NEWER! ALWAYS BEST!!!!!
TAKE EPO IT’S AN ENGLISH PRODUCT
WHAT ENGELS DOES IS ENGELS DOES WELL!
Do you already have a Jaguar – chinchilla for your wife – a private pool – air conditioning throughout the house? Then now is the time to buy EPO! SURPRISE YOUR ROOMMATES – YOUR FRIENDS WILL ENVY YOU! YOU ARE SO NEW TO HAVING EPO IN YOUR HOME!
ATTENTION
free 1 Philishave or blender with purchase of 1 EPO cat. A/ free 1 refrigerator with 3 EPO cat A free 1 flight to the Canary Islands with the purchase of 6 EPO cat A (cash payment) and also EASY PAYMENT TERMS
Both for individuals and businesses in any shape or color available specially made for your home or business from 400 guilders per m2
EPO cat A / from 1500 guilders per m2
EPO cat B/ from 800 guilders per m2
EPO cat C/ from 500 guilders per m2
EPO cat D/ from 250 guilders per m2 etc. such as: (wall) furniture – obstacles – reliefs etc.
EPO suprisingflasks cat: Z
1 fl oz ENGELS EXHAUSTED AIR (unblended) a 25.- guilders
1 fl unblended English air (mixed) a 25.- guilders
1 fl fl MIXTURE ENGELS (various used products) a 50.- guilder
1 fl ENGELS HAIR limited supply a 99.- guilder
1 fl fl oz. of finnish limited available at 99.- guilders
Orders
ENGLISH PRODUCTS AGENCY
109 valeriusstraat – amsterdam – holland – phone: 020-734811

ENIO 1967


ENGELS NEW INTERNMENT ORGANIZATION
An important position of Engels was, ‘Style as dogma is the vehicle of standstill. As a result, Engels did not just keep repeating the same trick, and soon founded another company: ENIO.
In 1967 Engels founded his second institute after EPO:
ENIO, Engels New Interment Organisation. A company that deals with new developments in the funeral industry.
There is a connection between these two companies. In both an intangible phenomenon is central, in one the art and in the other death, creation and death drive. Although Engels’ offerings in the as always copious, ironically stated advertising texts with which he presented ENIO were mainly concerned with the burial of persons, for obvious reasons he had to limit himself in the work he executed to provisions for dead things such as ‘Coffin for 10.2 L of drowned water and Coffin for a broken piece of wood. Sometimes the sublimated aggression was directed not at the object itself but through the object at the audience, as in the electric suicide pieces from 1968. Art until death, suicide as a decadent pastime! The moral bankruptcy of art and the total failure of the art world as a whole!

ETI 1969

Then came ETI, Engels Third Institute for research in subcultural brainbuilding (1969).(research in subcultural brainbuilding). ETI, sold ideas rather than products. The most striking action he carried out for this institute is the Strike Project from 1971, in which he offered the Dutch state, through minister Marga Klompé, a lifelong strike as a visual artist in exchange for a sum of fl 25,000000.
In addition, there were a number of visualizations of inactivity periods and denial projects(project for visible negation, place for no chair)and art-fiction(sky-event) and transfunctional projects

Strike project ——————————————————————————————————————-

By stating as an (in)correct formula that to produce an (anti) work of art is not important, but the preliminary conception – with, as final conclusion of results the visualization or making auditive of an (anti)work of art and/or (in)activity is (not) stated in the right way, that the supply of that idea is sufficient and this idea can be seen as an individuality and in this case as an (anti) work of art or (in)activity ———————————————————————————————————————–

Actually one is committing exactly the same fact as the making of, for instance, an ‘orthodox’work of art ( made after the preliminary idea): the thinking-out of an idea is nevertheless the supply of a product – as an auxiliary reason: the idea is (at least) made known by discribing ito rally or in writing ———————————–

Neither can the idea be made known – but it can merely be present as a potential power of ideas. In this frame I will oblige myself to go on strike as, amongst other things, a plastic artist from march 1, 1971 – december 1, 1971 —————————————————————————————————-

This strike of pieter engels is visualized by the purchase and/or showing of some 4 blocks or some 4 poles, with which a certain area on the wall is marked out, or with which a certain capacity in space is marked out. The area or measure of capacity thus made indicatest he size of the work of art of what engels would have made during the period of his strike ————————————————————-

VISUALIZATION OF AN INACTIVITY PERIOD OF PIETER ENGELS—————————————————–

MARCH 1, 1971 – DECEMBER 1, 1971 ————————————————————————————

This visualisation has been purchased by: ——————————————————————————-

NAME (person/institution) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

ADDRESS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

DATE ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

SIZE ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

PRICE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

AS A HOMAGE TO A STRIKE BY PIETER ENGELS FROM MARCH 1, 1971 TO DECEMBER 1, 1971, WHO WILL PLACE NO WORK OF ART HERE OF THE ABOVE SIZE, WHICH HE MIGHT HAVE MADE DURING THE ABOVE PERIOD OF STRIKE ———————————————————————————————

Price of assembly for a minimum of 1 m2  3.000.-. guilder

Price of assembly for a minimum of 1 m3  4.000.-. guilder

Bakunins Barricade Ahmet Ogut

transfunctional projects ——————————————————————————————————

A/ I select as a work of art an object which I call a work of art and give it a function not usually normal for a work of art – or

B/ I select as a work of art an  object which I call a work of art and allo wit tob e subject to a function not normal for a work of art

e.g. Aa/ a cube measuring 750 – 750 – 750mm (the said modern work of art) is dressed by me in a coat ( with buttons etc.) specially made for a work of art – I call it: DRESSED-UP WORK OF ART WITH I WORK OF ART IN THE POCKET – the coat has a pocket in which the work of art carries a work of art

( to enhance the association in the picture of, for instance, a dressed- up man with one hand in his pocket)—————————————————————————————————————————

of the cube or the work of art one may also say, for instance: non-smoking work—————————

of art, work of art returning from a walk, etc—————————————————————————-

e.g. Bb/ NAKED MODERN WORK OF ART TO STIMULATE DRESSED MODERN WORK OF ART PLACED OPPOSITE –  a cube measuring  500-500-500mm (called a modern work of art) is not ‘dressed’ and  the second cube opposite is dressed by using the word stimulate I transplant the behaviour of two human beings into 2 works of art——————————————————————————————

Engels Third Institute For Subcultural Brainbuilding

ANTI-DATING 1969

Since December 3, 1969 (31 years of pieter engels), pieter engels ANTI-DATES all his work(s) created after this date on December 3, 1951 (13 years of pieter engels)he sees the quality and quantity of his work and activities as all-embracingly linked to the potencies of his mind (and his body at the service of the mind and vice versa)-: his specific types of thinking, character, physic, motor, his specific reactions in response to 1001 situations, his specific reactions and actions in response to his 1 person situation, his specific reactions to his personal actions and vice versa-: and he thus states: that his thinking potential is predetermined and that theoretically he can predict what kind of conclusions and (in)activities he will be able to come to in this connection squeaky engels no longer sees it as necessary to date an activity which (not) coincidentally takes place on e.g. 12 november 1983 with that date theoretically engels will produce nothing more, as he has already produced everything. The only thing that will remain for your benefit is the continuous materialization of engels’mind

ENGELS GENESIS FOUNDATION 1974

14th september 1974 / pieter engels establishes his fourth institute in succession – :

(for which we find the reason and explanation in the thus defined description of his new endeavours – :  ‘RESURRECTION OF ART ‘

(for jim that is to say: the heart-felt realization of the undeniable, uncommunicable and strictly individual (necessarily: controversial) exuberant ARTIST in himself)

-by among other things the esthablishment of  ‘genesis foundation’ pieter engels dissociates himself emphatically from (1) any anti-art movement ( art-historically and from any movement against art (partically)(2)

-(1) to pieter engels it is obvious that anti-art movements such as dada, fluxus, (usually) american art both in theory and in practice are movements which are brought about and are adhered tob y people, who disguised unrecognizably are uncapable in activities and thinking of being creative (sic)

-are uncapable of being an artist and are proclaimed great seers by congeners and other limited persons despite their powerless uncreative activities.

-that is so to say: ( an arbitrary sample from the horn of plenty)  – dada for instance is afundamentally powerless movement, among other things by the fact that marcel duchamps – a complete non-artist and good-for-nothing – has weakend its ranks too.

-for an anti-art movement can only be a real anti-art movement if it  results from a real  realization and penetration of what art essentially is, can be or can bring about.

this possibility of realization slumbers with a real artist only. marcel duchamp (e.g.) is astute but no artist is astute.

-(2) as pieter engels phrased it before (1972): ‘ the academicism of our present time is the so-called vanguard’

-(as pieter engels phrased it before (1966): ‘ after engels comes the vanguard)

-it is unreal, proud and at the same time obtuse if one maintains to activate theory and practice that in the twentieth century – and that in contrast with previous centuries –  the academicism is not venerated.

-pieter engels says: go and visit a museum or gallery of modern art and have a look at a warhol for instance – you see a meissonier of the twentieth century.

-(tip from and to an alert visitor: is an artist always a european, an american and no wand then a japanese?)

BAMM 1976


In 1976, Engels & Es founded, Brain Squad against mass communication and mediocrity,
(BAMM). BAMM’s most important projects: Project Owlglass, and Es’ Worldwide wondering Gallery. Owlglass: Publication project against academism in the so called avangarde (minimal and conceptual art) artists and their critics. Owlglass consists of a series of 8 prints on poster size. Which, among others by The Worlwide Wandering Gallery of Es, were distributed worldwide.
One of the threads running through the work of Pieter Engels is the questioning of images and writing – or rather, the undermining of dogmas, values, legality
valuations, legality and stylistic notions ( in a narrower sense ) in the areas and peripheries of contemporary visual art.

Owlgass was initially going to be shaped by means of purely linguistic publications, but eventually it became a combination of text and image, followed by a series of artworks.
The strength of Pieter Engels’ texts often lie in their ironizing, relativizing and perhaps badmouthing (yet paradoxically: with great seriousness), the visual work is often a combination of these elements with which he continually stimulates the dogmatic in the visual arts.
A GOLDEN BARD AMONGST ARTISTS OR DISTURBER OF THE BALANCE OF MEDIOCRITY

PARALELL LANDSCAPE 1981- 1995

Paralellandscape 1980, series of landscapes in black and white because Engels was purely about the painterly actions derived from the movement of the landscape. Black and white is according to him a very pure form of expression, it is very minimal and therefore much more expressive. (He finds drawings e.g. by Rembrandt more exciting than paintings).
The hanging beam emphasizes and kicks in an open door because a painted image of a landscape is not a landscape but a parallel reality of a landscape (a painted pipe is not a pipe, Magrite).
An essential part of my work is that I always involve the viewer (because without the viewer there is no work of art). By using text, among other things, I talk to the viewer, as it were. Such a bar with text gives the viewer something to hold on to or, on the contrary, he slips away. (Engels)

INTRINSICAL ARTWORKS 1983

Painted gold is more gold, a painted car is more car.

GOLD AS AN INTROSPECTIVE MIRROR 1984-1985

Paintings made with a golden blindfold and objects transformed into introspective objects sheathed with a golden blindfold.

REMEMBRANDT 1987-1989

Remembrandt (ahead of the roots), drawings and paintings about Rembrandt as a paraphrase and tribute to the first painter who painted beyond painting and or the painting materials themselves.

ECONOMIC SCULPTURE 1990-2019

In 1989 Pieter Engels founded: Economic Sculptures(revaluation).
As with the work: Golden Fiction, an EPO product from 1968, soft mirrored aluminum plates with underneath on a hatch: on may 1968 this piece costs fl 4344,- $ 1200,- ₤ 502,92,- DM 4777,30,- Thats why it’s an art piece, it’s not the artistic value that’s the economic value here
determines but the other way around. Twenty-two years later, Engels says it again with his Economic Sculputers, in which sculpture refers not only to his own work but to the economy in its totality. They are assemblages of art painters and or sculpture materials and the receipts of the materials arranged. The prices of the artworks are the sum of those receipts, increased by a hefty mark-up. After all, this is about art.

LINGUIMAGE 1991-1995

Linguimage are a series of works that are a fusion of language and image.

ABSTRACTION ABSTRACTED 1995

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DOUBLE CROSSED 1996

Double crossed, a series of considerable size takes Engels further in playing with words.

PORTRAITS AND LANDSCAPES 1998 – 2005

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After a long period of illness: ART ABOUT ART 2009 – 2017

Whereas Engels previously denounced the art apparatus in a broader sense, in this series he refers to specific artists. In Defontanara he quoted Lucio Fontana (1899 – 1968), who like Engels made destruction the subject of his art, by making cuts in the canvas. But also Marcel Duchamp (1887 – 1968) was quoted in What is in a name R.MUTT (poverty) Marcel Duchamp re- invented (2010). R.MUTT is written in marker on the back of a canvas: the name with which Duchamp signed his famous urinal as early as 1917, Engels here associated with poverty, a phonetic translation of his name. It is possible that Ebgels was making a value judgment about Duchamp’s work here or that he was referring to the fact that Duchamp was also concerned with the economic aspects of art. (Fleur Junier,PIETER ENGELS the rrrolls – royce among artists, pag 39,40 )

DISTORTED VIEW 2016 -2017

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WORKS ABOUT ENGELS 2016 – 2018

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FINAL WORK: THE BILL IS THE ARTWORK 2018

The bill is the artwork