Side Magazine #3 – The Bonimenteur

The third issue of Side Magazine sketches a portrait of the Bonimenteur. Coming from the French word bonir (to tell stories in a nice way), their speech is exaggerated, and aims to please, convince, and seduce—illusionary tricks often achieving a means to an end. Seven contributors explore the soul of this talkative figure: Aurélien Gamboni analyses Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Conjurer (1502); Polly Wiesner discusses storytelling at night among the Ju/’hoansi (!Kung people); a reprint of Marion Baruch’s NAME DIFFUSION links commodity with cultural production; Helmut Draxler looks at the relation between art and its display; Deborah Bowmann harnesses neoliberalism’s individuation; Jean Breschand puts Pier Paolo Pasolini’s masterpieces in the frame; and finally, Jacqueline Barus-Michel explores belief and our desire for meaning. Seven issues of Side Magazine will be released in the run up to the opening of Bergen Assembly 2022. A special eighth issue will be published after the opening. In combination with the existing seven, this collection constitutes the exhibition catalogue.