“6,000 feet beyond man and time”
Alejo Duque and Kathy Slade
I shall now tell the story of Zarathustra. The basic conception of the work, the thought of eternal recurrence, the highest formula of affirmation that can possibly be attained—belongs to the August of the year 1881: it was jotted down on a piece of paper with the inscription: “6,000 feet beyond man and time.” I was that day walking through the woods beside the lake of Silvaplana; I stopped beside a mighty pyramidal block of stone which reared itself up not far from Surlei. Then this idea came to me.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, from Ecce Homo
Mónica Reyes Gallery is pleased to present “6,000 feet beyond man and time,” an exhibition by Alejo Duque and Kathy Slade.
In June of 2022 Duque and Slade travelled to Sils Maria, a village in the Swiss Alps where Friedrich Nietzsche spent most summers during the 1880s. Accompanied by the esteemed philosopher and Nietzsche scholar Avital Ronell, and the emerging artist/artist’s assistant Vitória Monteiro, the group journeyed to study the philosopher’s time spent in Sils Maria. In particular, the artists focussed on the pyramidal shaped boulder that Nietzsche claimed inspired his thought of eternal recurrence of the same—the idea that everything, all events, all thoughts, would repeat in a cycle or loop for eternity.
“6,000 feet beyond man and time,” features large black and white photographs of the Nietzsche boulder by Duque and frottage drawings by Slade made in graphite, charcoal, and wax pastel. In addition to images of the of the rock, Slade is presenting rubbings the floor of Nietzsche’s room in the Nietzsche Haus where he wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, Twilight of the Idols, and The Antichrist.
Alejo Duque is an artist based in Bogotá, Colombia. Duque’s individual practice is primarily based in analog photography and sound art. He also works collaboratively on participatory art projects that focus on crossing the boundaries of new, old, and unstable media. Duque works in network-based art and as an amateur radio operator under the call sign -HK4ADJ-. He is the founding member of networks such as Bricolabs, dorkbot, labSurlab, un\loquer and Pnode. He is currently active on Radiolibre and Coomunarte. Duque has participated in exhibitions and festivals throughout Colombia including at Museo de Antioquia, Centro Cultural Moravia, and Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín. He is the director of the CK:\WEB, an audiovisual experimental station at the Bogota Planetarium.
Kathy Slade is an artist, writer, curator, editor, and publisher. She works across mediums and has produced textile works, prints, sculpture, film, video, performance, music projects, and publications. Slade’s recent solo exhibitions include Wherever You Go, Monica Reyes Gallery, Vancouver (2020); This is a Chord. This is Another., Surrey Art Gallery (2018); and Blue Monday, 4COSE, London, UK (2017). Her work has recently been included in group exhibitions at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Fluc, Vienna; and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver. In 2009, Slade was awarded the VIVA Award from the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation for the Visual Arts. She currently teaches at the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. Slade’s exhibition As the sun disappears and the shadows descend from the mountaintop, continues at the Contemporary Art Gallery until May 7th.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, from Ecce Homo
Mónica Reyes Gallery is pleased to present “6,000 feet beyond man and time,” an exhibition by Alejo Duque and Kathy Slade.
In June of 2022 Duque and Slade travelled to Sils Maria, a village in the Swiss Alps where Friedrich Nietzsche spent most summers during the 1880s. Accompanied by the esteemed philosopher and Nietzsche scholar Avital Ronell, and the emerging artist/artist’s assistant Vitória Monteiro, the group journeyed to study the philosopher’s time spent in Sils Maria. In particular, the artists focussed on the pyramidal shaped boulder that Nietzsche claimed inspired his thought of eternal recurrence of the same—the idea that everything, all events, all thoughts, would repeat in a cycle or loop for eternity.
“6,000 feet beyond man and time,” features large black and white photographs of the Nietzsche boulder by Duque and frottage drawings by Slade made in graphite, charcoal, and wax pastel. In addition to images of the of the rock, Slade is presenting rubbings the floor of Nietzsche’s room in the Nietzsche Haus where he wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, Twilight of the Idols, and The Antichrist.
Alejo Duque is an artist based in Bogotá, Colombia. Duque’s individual practice is primarily based in analog photography and sound art. He also works collaboratively on participatory art projects that focus on crossing the boundaries of new, old, and unstable media. Duque works in network-based art and as an amateur radio operator under the call sign -HK4ADJ-. He is the founding member of networks such as Bricolabs, dorkbot, labSurlab, un\loquer and Pnode. He is currently active on Radiolibre and Coomunarte. Duque has participated in exhibitions and festivals throughout Colombia including at Museo de Antioquia, Centro Cultural Moravia, and Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín. He is the director of the CK:\WEB, an audiovisual experimental station at the Bogota Planetarium.
Kathy Slade is an artist, writer, curator, editor, and publisher. She works across mediums and has produced textile works, prints, sculpture, film, video, performance, music projects, and publications. Slade’s recent solo exhibitions include Wherever You Go, Monica Reyes Gallery, Vancouver (2020); This is a Chord. This is Another., Surrey Art Gallery (2018); and Blue Monday, 4COSE, London, UK (2017). Her work has recently been included in group exhibitions at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Fluc, Vienna; and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver. In 2009, Slade was awarded the VIVA Award from the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation for the Visual Arts. She currently teaches at the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. Slade’s exhibition As the sun disappears and the shadows descend from the mountaintop, continues at the Contemporary Art Gallery until May 7th.
Kathy Slade, Untitled (Nietzsche Rock) 1, Charcoal on paper, 50 x 36 inches
Photo credit: Rachel Topham
Photo credit: Rachel Topham