A Distinct Effort is an installation by artist David Bergé. It centers on a collection of photographs taken in 1911 by Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (the future Le Corbusier) and August Klipstein, while on their “Voyage d’Orient”. During the last years of Ottoman Empire, the two Swiss art students traveled eastward and southward beyond Europe. They embarked on a trip in order to shape themselves, to learn from forms they encountered in places foreign to them – a voyage to formulate and ultimately define their modernity. In this work, David Bergé creates a narrative that extends our negotiation of foreign territories through the camera lens, creating an imagined conversation between the viewer and these three authors.

A Distinct Effort, 2017
installation by David Bergé
single screen slideshow synchronized with voice, 17 min, looped
1911 photos Charles-Édouard Jeanneret and August Klipstein
commissioned by Z33 at Atelier Bouwmeester, Galerie Ravenstein, Brussels
curator Laura Herman
with the support of Z33 and Platform 0090
acknowledgments: Gaia Carabillo, Katrien Reist, Donia Shahali, Fondation Le Corbusier

further presentation (2018) at Archiv der Avantgarden (AdA) at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)
curator Marcelo Rezende