Photo Vogelvrij funktie I, 1969. Photographer unknown.

Photo of Roland Van den Berghe with Vogelvrij Funktie II, 1969. Photographer unknown.

Photo Vogelvrij funktie II, 1969. Photographer unknown.

Photo exhibition vogelvrij funktie event, 1969. Photographer unknown.

Poto Dutch Charter, 1969/1975. Photographer unknown.

Photo Vogelvrij funktie I and Operation Polish, 1975. Photographer unknown.

Photo Operation Polish, 1975. Photographer unknown.

Photo of Roland Van den Berghe with Operation Polish, 1975, Photographer unknown.

Publication of Vogelvrij funktie I and II in the publication Phoenix or Eagle, Which?, 1979.

Photo Roland Van den Berghe, 1969. Photographer unknown.

Design sketch of Vogelvrij Funktie I, 1969.

Free as a bird function I & II

“In 1969, ‘Vogelvrije Funktie 1 and 2’ were completed. With this ambiguous term (as free as a bird, outlawed), Roland Van den Berghe highlights what he calls the ‘anonymous power’ within the state and society. Who is responsible? Within the government, it is always the others who are responsible, and yet governments cannot function without people. They are complicit in war and violence. It is this untouchable structure, where everyone can hide behind everyone else, that Roland Van den Berghe attempts to depict in his ‘Vogelvrije Funkties’.”

From: Catalog Rug for Rent, by Wouter Kotte, Museum of Contemporary Art, Utrecht, 1974.

Photo Vogelvrij funktie I and II, 1969. Photographer Roland Van den Berghe.

Photo Vogelvrij funktie II, 1969. Photographer unknown.

“His unconventional work possesses not only a strong visual presence but also the power of a provocative idea (‘Instrument for Smoking Bombs into the Sky’) and the significance of a one-man statement—something one might actually expect from any artist living today. By comparison, most other entries make a frivolous or merely pretty impression. But then again, it is a work that one doesn’t really know what to make of in a gallery. More than a sculpture, it is actually a state of being.”

From: Cutout from an unidentified newspaper, Jeune Peinture Sculpture Belge, by Marc Callewaert, Roland Van den Berghe archive.

Timeline

1969
Creation of Vogelvrij and Funktie, and the associated project, The State Horse in Brussels.
In 1969, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam enabled him to realize The State Horse. The State Horse is an object consisting of a number of rods equipped with a bit, reins, and stirrups. Only the attributes that restrain the horse are present; the horse itself is absent. Van den Berghe drew parallels with the state as a restraining and restraining institution.
Bommen also fascinated Van den Berghe at the time with the “sculptures” titled “Vogelvrije funktie 1 and 2,” intended to expose the anonymous and invisible forces of power in our society.

March 7–28, 1970
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Prix Jeune Sculpture Belge.
“Vogelvrij en funktie” received an award at this Prix Jeune Sculpture Belge.

May 9, 1970
POGO exhibits four assemblages: “Beach Chair for an Unmarried Couple,” “Vogelvrij functie 1,” “Vogelvrij functie 2,” and 7 blueprints of a vocal fold.

December 19 – December 27, 1970
Vogelvrij funktie 1 and 2 exhibited at Galerie Margaretha de Boevé.

July 15 – September 15, 1971
Vogelvrij funktie 1 and 2 exhibited at the Second Bruges Triennial.

May 1971
“Vogelvrij” and “Funktie” 1 and 2 exhibited in Amsterdam at the Prinseneiland Action Committee and at Ulf Moritz.

March 18 – April 16, 1972
“Vogelvrij” and “Funktie” at the Contemporary Art Section.
Minister of Dutch Culture, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Leopold De Waelplein.

Photo Vogelvrij funktie I and II, 1969. Photographer Roland Van den Berghe.