Short report on #Focus meets the “Bulb houses” in Den Bosch
Saturday 3 July we gathered at Den Bosch train station for a Focus meeting to the incredible “bulb houses" (=bolwoningen) by Dries Kreijkamp (1937-2014).
These homes in Den Bosch were designed in the late 1970s and built in the 1980s. Today they are still in use and breathing the future. It was a special encounter with the roundness of these homes.
If you are near you must experience their presence! They form a pleasant contrast with all the usual sharp edges in architecture. I wonder why we do not more often think out of the box.
Link -> https://www.bolbewoners.nl/
Ans Vianen found some videos:
After our visit Ans wrote a text about her experience in Dutch:
#Focus - walk to the 'bulb houses' Saturday 3 July
[ENG] #Focus - walk to the 'bulb houses' Saturday 3 July 2021
Now that the covid measures are being phased out, it becomes time to breathe new life into Focus. Focus started in 2014 as a way to easily meet different people in different locations and exchange ideas about a variety of topics.
I have wanted to visit the bulb houses in Den Bosch for a long time. These homes were designed in the late 1970s by Dries Kreijkamp (1937-2014) and built in the 1980s. At that time there were still subsidies for experimental housing and this is the last project that has been built within this funding program.
It is an hour's walk and we meet in front of the station at 10:15 am.
Let us know if you come and we'll keep in touch!
Best regards,
Edwin Stolk
email: info[at]edwinstolk.nl
Link -> https://www.bolbewoners.nl/
[NL] #Focus – wandeling naar de ‘bolwoningen’ zaterdag 3 juli 2021
Nu de covid maatregelen worden afgebouwd wordt het hoog tijd om Focus nieuw leven in te blazen. Focus begon in 2014 als een manier om laagdrempelig met verschillende mensen af te spreken, op uiteenlopende locaties en daar van gedachten te wisselen over een variëteit aan onderwerpen.
De bolwoningen in Den Bosch wil ik al langere tijd een keer bezoeken. Deze woningen werden eind jaren '70 ontworpen door Dries Kreijkamp (1937-2014) en gebouwd in de jaren '80. Toen waren er nog subsidies voor experimentele woningbouw en dit is het laatste project wat daarmee is gebouwd.
Het is een uurtje lopen en we verzamelen om 10:15 uur voor het station.
Laat even weten als je komt dan houden we contact!
Short report on #focus meets Vinkenzetten("finch sitting")
On the 25th of May we gathered at social and artistic center de Koer in Ghent. It was early morning in order to visit an old Flemish folk sport called “finch sitting”. Inspired by this sport Edwin Stolk is initiating 5 & 6 October “The Placing” in the Brugse Poort neighborhood in Ghent. Together with people who live in this area we want bring an ode to the diverse population with the sound of birds. Here you can read more about this art project: https://www.edwinstolk.nl/theplacing.html
A permit was asked at the Stad Gent for a “Finch Sitting” at the Vierschaarlaan near Borluut in Ghent, but unfortunately they were not there...
We meet someone who lives nearby this spot and is also surprised that they are not there for the game this morning. A little disappointed we decide to walk back to de koer but now we will take a different route.
Thank you Hristina Tasheva for making this photo report!
Would you like to know more about “Finch Sitting”?
On the 25th of May we gather at de Koer at 07:00 am for a walk towards a real “finch sitting” competition in Ghent. It is an hour and a half walk so make sure you are prepared for that. We organize this walk to see this old sport and talk about The Placing which is organized in October.
The Placing is a collaborative sound work organized by de koer in Ghent. They ask the people who live in the Brugse Poort to play the sound of a bird that suits their house in a way that you can hear it outside in the streets. For one hour on Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 October 2019 the streets will be filled with a poetry of birds sounds.
The Placing is inspired by 'finch sitting' which is part of traditional Flemish culture and shortly pronounced in Flemish as 'zetting' which means 'placing'. In a contest, a row of small cages, each housing a finch, is lined up along a street. Every time a bird sings a correct song ending with "suskewiet" a mark in chalk is made on a long wooden stick. In the Brugse Poort there used to be 'finch sittings' on the Groendreef and the Leiekaai.
The video below shows how it works and is made available by Huis van Alijn for the occasion of De Zetting, organized by de Koer.
#focus – From Competition to Compassion - 11 February 2017
Twenty-seven years ago - in 1990 - Louwrien Wijers initiated 5 panel dialogues at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam: Art meets Science and Spirituality in a changing Economy.
Today you are warmly invited to join our upcoming #focus in Ferwert. Saturday 11 February at 1 pm. we would like to watch some of the recordings of these conversations, eat something together and exchange thoughts about how this multidisciplinary exchange relates to contemporary society.
From Competition to Compassion?
• When: Saturday 11 February, 2017 - 1 PM
• Where: Hoofdstraat 12. 9172 MP Ferwert
• Entrance: Free (if possible let us know if you come eestolk[at]gmail.com)
• Subject: Dialogue about: Art meets Science and Spirituality in a changing Economy - From Competition to Compassion
• Initiated by: Edwin Stolk, Louwrien Wijers and Egon Hanfstingl
• Public transport: Train to Leeuwarden, from there take bus 54 (direction Holwerd via Stiens – step out at bus stop Vrijhof Ferwert
• Best traindeal: buy this special offer (retour 22.- euro to Bagel and Beans Leeuwarden) before 31 January and you can use it till the end of February https://www.spoordeelwinkel.nl/product/dagje-uit-bagelbeans
On a fresh and sunny afternoon - perfect weather for what we were going to do - we gathered for a walk from the Ede-Wageningen railway station all the way to PPauw, an experimental ecovillage in the woods at the fringe of Wageningen. One of our leading questions for this meeting was: how can we put our ideas on alternative living into practice? PPauw then seemed to be the right place to visit, since they really put their ideas into practice all the time.
In our previous #FOCUS-meeting (in Bodegraven) the subject had been 'this progress', after Tino Sehgal's work. We had our questions raised on the idea of 'progress', and on spending our lives chasing for - for what? During some after-talk we bumped into this subject of ‘systems’ and decided to take this theme for a next #FOCUS-meeting (this one!): It is hard, in this well regulated neoliberal context of which we are part, to find space for experimental living. We have freedom of expression, but to what extent can we be free to live how we want to live? How can we create space for experiment if we have limited financial means?
Walking with a group of people always gives a good opportunity to dwell on specific subjects of interest. That's what we had discovered in Bodegraven before. And as soon as we were in the woods, we found ourselves stopping all the time admiring funghi, trees and dead wood. To be honest: we also felt a bit lost now and then, but it turned out that we walked directly into PPauw - and just before we reached the premises some other people joined us for this meeting.
Erik Groen, the founder of this ecovillage welcomed us. We drank tea and wine in the sunshine in front of PPauw's community building 'the Moddership', meanwhile getting interesting background information of this initiative by Erik. Location of this ecovillage is a squatted terrain of an old hospital. Most of the old building is gone - the remains are happily integrated into the experiments of the residents of PPauw. Now there are vegetable gardens, living units and lots of space for children to play in the woods. And soon there will be all kinds of showers - every inhabitant is inventing his/her own type of DIY shower. That is what they are doing all the time: (re)inventing and experimenting. PPauw tries to reach the stage of being an ecologically self-sustaining community. It happens a lot that things fail to work - but that's the way this process works if you want to explore and come to new inventions. They keep on exchanging ideas also with other experimental communities.
Meanwhile the land is owned by a property developer. PPauw is on good terms with the owner. The way the people of PPauw use the soil and the environment, has to improve its quality. So both parties are served here, explains Erik. PPauw can use the land for now and the developer sees an improvement of his property. At the same time, their interests may diverge. On the long term most probably villa's will be built here and PPauw will have to leave. But before that, a new road will be rolled out in the midst of the ecological gardens.
In the middle of Erik's presentation we were all of a sudden surrounded by gusts of rain and we ran into the Moddership. A good occasion to admire some of the very innovative DIY inventions of Erik (a bicycle powered blender) and his fellow companions.
After the introduction Erik showed us around - we saw a.o. the greenhouse (partly watered by urine, which can contain a lot of healthy substances that make plants grow - it is not so easy to get good quality of urine though, as visitor's pee may contain artificial food-additive or residue from medicine), the tiny-house workshop and a studio in the old parking garage, made with bales of hay.
It was an elaborate introduction into permaculture. I am sure that Erik could have told us much, much more, but for most of us it was time to leave. Unfortunately there was no time left to discuss all the ideas and topics that Erik had raised. That would have been very interesting too. It seems that not all of us will follow the example of Erik, but he surely showed us how you can create a space for experimental living. I found it very inspiring to see how people like Erik put their ideas into practice, and to see that possibilities are vaster than one can imagine even if one stays where one is.
Leonie van der Plas
Tip! Permaculture gathering @PPauw 6 till 8 May 2016
http://www.leonievanderplas.nl/
http://www.groeninnovaties.nl/
(photos made by Nina Glockner, Leonie van der Plas)
(photos made by Nina Glockner and Leonie van der Plas)
A week ago on Sunday we visited Ppauw – Eco village in Wageningen and talked with founder Erik Groen about permaculture and making the difference in the society of control. Here some photos to get a nice impression of our discussion . Leonie van der Plas who took the initiative for this meeting will write a short report to be published soon on this website.
#focus - INQUIRY ON ALTERNATIVE LIVING AND PERMACULTURE @ PPAUW - 17 April 2016
INQUIRY ON ALTERNATIVE LIVING AND PERMACULTURE - #FOCUS WHILE WALKING BETWEEN WOODS AND VILLAS FROM EDE TO WAGENINGEN BEFORE GETTING AN INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE AT PPAUW - TEA AFTERWARDS AT THE MODDERSHIP - 17 04 2016
When: Sunday April 17, 2016 - 12:01 PM
Where: Trainstation Ede-Wageningen and we walk to Ppauw (Scheidingslaan 1, Wageningen), an ecovillage founded by Erik Groen on the grounds of an old hospital in Wageningen
Subject: an inquiry on alternative living and permaculture
Initiated by: Leonie van der Plas in collaboration with Erik Groen, Hristina Tasheva and Edwin Stolk.
Many of us may have been thinking, dreaming, talking and reading about living our lives in other ways than what is generally considered common sense. Probably we have been considering 'alternative' ways of living. Thinking of funny housing, other ways of organising our daily life. Maybe our lifes already are a bit out of sinc with the ordinary. We try to think independently. We keep on theorizing on social change. Maybe we see ourselves as captives of a contemporary neoliberal context. We may think and feel like activists, but do we dare to speak? Or is it enough to produce some art and then go on living as we always did? What happens if we have the chance to put our ideas into practice? How and where can we find opportunities to experiment? Be welcome to join #FOCUS for an afternoon on these topics.
#FOCUS invites you to come along for a visit to a place for experimental living. We gather at 12:01 PM at the station of Ede-Wageningen. After a short introduction we will walk from Ede to Wageningen and on our way we can already discuss issues on alternative living, permaculture and putting thinking into action.
Our walk will lead us along woods, villas and business complexes to Ppauw. There we will find an alternative space for a short program and to discuss things further. If you do not feel like walking, you can find us at Ppauw ± 2 o'clock (Scheidingslaan 1, Wageningen).
Ppauw is an ecovillage on the squatted grounds of an old hospital in Wageningen. It is a place for mobile, co-supporting experimental living and permaculture. Ppauw is in a process of continuous change. Erik Groen from Ppauw will introduce us to permaculture and to the possibilities of living in an experimental place like Ppauw. And we will see what is happening there right now. After the introduction we can drink tea at the Moddership. A good place for exchanging ideas about alternative living, permaculture and freedom.
For now a word on how anthropologist and activist David Graeber puts it: as long as we are not free, we can at least attempt to live as if we already free. (This is not a direct quote, it is a translation from Dutch).
#focus - This progress, while walking in The Green Heart of Holland, Saturday 14/11/2015
After visiting Tino Segals performance piece at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam I wrote a blog about his work. A few days later in a conversation with Marieke Coppens we both agreed on the importance of this topic for #focus. Together with Hristina Tasheva we invited participants to gather at the train station in Bodegraven for a walk. Segal’s performers were guiding the visitors from A, a teenager asking what progress is, to B where an older person let us out of the strictly bordered framework. This time the polder awaits for us and a cozy diner to end with.
While preparing that particular Saturday morning, we were doubting if it makes any sense to discuss an artwork after these terrible attacks in Paris and in several other parts of the world. At the same time, these attacks might have everything to do with today’s ideas of progress as well. After explaining the concept of #focus in a human circle at the station, we started our walk. Today’s progress was our trending topic.
In the eleventh century the Bishop of Utrecht started to organize this swamp to become the contemporary polder. Today there are discussions to give parts of this polder back to the water and return it into a swamp. A conflict where ideas of nature, meet the interest of cultural land. This polder model shows that ideas of progress are changing overtime. Progress depends on the most followers and their support, or is implemented by the ones in power. It could lead to a tunnel vision and violent acts to convince others, as we unfortunately witness today. Without an idea of progress there would probably still be a swamp here and that would make today’s walk impossible.
The conceptual ideas about a new progressive artwork seem to justify the programming of This progress by Tino Segal in the Stedelijk Museum. Performance in this case might look renewing and different then a painting, on the other hand it appeared to have the same restricted borders. The artwork for filled its role as artwork in a contemporary art museum, but was it able to reach beyond that role? Today, the shared information by the audience is lost and was obviously less important than its actual being; ‘a progressive artwork’. When the artist is using verbal contracts to avoid any registration of his work that could objectify it, we concluded that his fee is still registered on his bank account.
Looking back at this edition of #focus, the natural environment and its relation with progressive ideas became clearer to me. A book publisher might feel lucky to buy a large amount of cheap glossy paper because he believes that shiny books will lead to profit, he refuses to understand the emotional relation of paper with each different book. Progress might be driven by certain hopes and fears, as well as it might prove to fail, lead to blindness or not to exist at all.
“An Armenian tomato is simply not turning red in the shade on a windy balcony in Leiden.”
Thanks: Marieke Coppens, Nina Glockner, Ola Lanko, Daniele Marx, Sachi Miyachi, Leonie van der Plas, Edwin Stolk, Giorgi Tabatadze, Hristina Tasheva, Ans Vianen for their active contribution.
The September-#FOCUS meeting took place at The 5th Season, an artist-in-residency located in a psychiatric institution in Den Dolder, where I have stayed for three month.
Guided tour through an intransparent yet hyper-organized structure
We started with a tour discovering the psychiatric terrain, which rather appeared like an odd village: Several different houses built in diverse architectural styles and spread over a big forestal area. On a Sunday afternoon not many people are around and the silence of the forest takes over. From an outside perspective most of the units make it impossible to read the state of control imposed upon the patients of this institution. During this walk I shared the information I have been gathering during the previous two months and my questions, which have been rather increased than answered.
Returning to the pavilion of The 5th Season, we easily entered an intense discussion ranging from the microcosm of subjective experiences to the macrocosm of the power of systems. Which role does an artist play during a residency like this and how does he/she deal with the patients, the staff and the (art) institution he/she is invited by? How to translate the intense personal encounter with psychiatry to an art project accessible to public without objectifying the other?
After this discussion I zoomed in even more by showing my work in progress (video material) “Choreographed by the other”; an attempt to develop a dialogue with one patient by using performative tools. I created an “architecture” based on several objects where improvised verbal instructions were imposed on me by the patient and vice versa filmed with a camera on tripod. These performative sessions stressed the triangular relationship between the word, the human and the object. The formal actions empowered the objects and especially opened up an experimental space for us beyond shyness, prejudices and clearly defined positions.
By acknowledging this questionable yet not fully deniable hierarchical situation between the “normal” and “the other” I became interested in Huizinga’s definition of the play. He defines it as “a voluntary activity or occupation executed within certain fixed limits of time and place, according to rules freely accepted but absolutely binding, having its aim in itself and accompanied by a feeling of tension, joy and the consciousness that it is different from ordinary life” (Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens, 1938). Could this notion of the play be an applicable tool for meetings between Human Beings, which seemingly unchangeably lack an equal level of power? To be continued…
A documentation of my residency period including an essay on Huizinga’s notion of the play linked with the (potential) power of performance art practices, rehearsals and church services will be published in the beginning of next year.
Thanks to
Sayaka Abe (who co-hosted this meeting), Sachi Miyachi (also for creating an amazing dinner) and to the participating artists Marieke Coppens, Jikke van Loon, Jenny Lindblom, Marianna Maruyama, Alejandro Ramirez, Lena Soulkovskaia, Edwin Stolk, Giorgi Tabatadze, Hristina Tasheva for their active presence, to Alver for the collaboration and Het Vijfde Seizoen!
This progress - #FOCUS while walking in the Green Heart of Holland- 14 11 2015
When: Saturday 14 Nov. 2015 – 1.45pm
Where: Train station Bodegraven – The Green Heart of Holland
Subject: “This progress” by Tino Sehgal
Initiated by: Marieke Coppens, Edwin Stolk and Hristina Tasheva.
A discussion while walking in the Green Heart of the Netherlands, subject: “This progress” by Tino Sehgal.
Please visit Stedelijk before 31 -10 -2015 if you have the chance.
‘THIS PROGRESS, 1-31 OCTOBER. In October Tino Sehgal presents the next highlight of his overview A Year at the Stedelijk: Tino Sehgal. The work This progress is on view in galleries 1.1, 1.32 & 1.33. This phenomenal work has been executed all over the world, after New York and Athene it is now possible to experience it in Amsterdam. - See more at: http://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/a-year-at-the-stedelijk-tino-sehgal’
From Guy Debord in the early 1950s to Richard Long, Janet Cardiff, and Esther Polak more recently, contemporary artists have returned again and again to the walking motif. Stanford researchers found that walking boosts creative inspiration. They examined creativity levels of people while they walked versus while they sat. A person's creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when walking. Even Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple, was known for his walking meetings.
This time #focus invites you for a walk. We gather at the station in Bodegraven at 1.45pm on Saturday 14 Nov. From there we will start our walk at 2pm and discuss “This progress”, a work by Tino Sehgal.
Our walk will lead 8 km’s through medieval field patterns north of Bodegraven, a polder that is part of the Green Heart of Holland (no dogs allowed, bring warm clothes and boots). We will return at the station at approximately 4pm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groene_Hart
If you would like to stay for a drink and something to eat after our walk, please send us a short email before 11 November. ([email protected])
Where: Het Vijfde Seizoen - a residence for artists on the grounds of the psychiatric institution Willem Arntsz Hoeve in Den Dolder, between Utrecht & Amersfoort
Web: http://www.vijfde-seizoen.nl/en/
Initiated by: Nina Glockner
Choreographed by the other - Making art of/with the other
How do we relate to the other who often is stigmatized by and excluded of society? By positioning the other outside of our common social playground we try to banish their significant features as phenomena also from inside ourselves.
During my 3–month residency in “Het Vijfde Seizoen” (http://www.vijfde-seizoen.nl) located in a psychiatric institution in Den Dolder I explore the communicating potential of a performative practice to diminish pre-fixed hierarchic roles and to establish a dialogue with the other, captured in movement, words and images. Based on my intense encounters with several patients I am working on a score of actions (including a specific set of objects) that later on will be performed by myself and the audience...
Some questions which continuously appear to me due to the specific conditions of this residency: What is the relation between the artist and the patient(s), and how can it possibly evolve? How to deal with the responsibility towards this group - excluded/ isolated from society - by including them in an artistic working process or stronger: "using" them within the own artwork? When does the representation of the other works empowering, when stigmatizing? ...
Please be warmly invited to this #FOCUS - meeting in the forest!
Best regards, Nina Glockner on behalf of #FOCUS
Timeschedule
15:00 | Meeting at Het Vijfde Seizoen on GGZ Altrecht
15:15 | Walking Tour on the Terrain of Altrecht
15:45 | FOCUS at Het 5de Seizoen: Introduction to the Residency and sharing my work in progress, Open discussion
17:00 | Recreation: Food&Drinks
Adres: Het Vijfde Seizoen, Altrecht, Locatie Willem Arntsz Hoeve, Den Dolder
Dolderseweg 164, 3734 BN Den Dolder
Route: http://www.vijfde-seizoen.nl/en/contact
P.S. Please send me a short mail if you are going to join -> [email protected]
The image of you seemed to get all blurry, almost disappearing.
But after such long, long time of waiting (in standstill) you have grown.
You have become a clear form, a structure entangled in all my fibres.
You are me and I am you.
Locked in myself are you
and I am locked in this space.
Here, we are together and cannot escape,
And, if I could escape, I only could escape with you.
The other side is more promising.
More seems to be there than here and now.
But I stay with you, here.
Within this space - controlled by myself –
Our togetherness guarantees safety.
I have installed you, my enemy, within myself,
and we are waiting together.
You make me
to be what I am (inside here).
While waiting,
we have
to have a conversation
to analyse our relationship,
and discover that we have become symbiotic.
Our dialogue is a bipolar monologue.
Our common prison is a shelter of security, of a sense of well-being.
We cannot harm each other; we are attuned to one another.
You give me strength, Identity, the right to exist.
I fear the moment when I have to go out
and would have to encounter emptiness;
the emptiness remaining when I ‘d have to let you go.
So I stay, I better stay. And you, you ought to stay with me, my enemy,
as my comrade, as the only constant element I can hold on to.
In liberty I ´d be forced to be alone.
Sincerely,
Your Enemy
Text: Nina Glockner
Foto: Nina Glockner | Installation The other side is more promising | 2014
In the context of the last #FOCUS meeting at Fort Asperen on June 27 I started by reciting the text above as a footnote to my performative installation “The other side is more promising” which is on view at the current exhibition Letter to my enemy, one of the three locations of the art manifestation Gimme Shelter - Forten en Ficties. Based on my ongoing questions concerning the (un)readability of art I opened a dialogue with the participants taking my work as example. Hereby the differences between my predominant practice as performance artist including an (inter)action with a witnessing audience compared to the rather static installation - excluding me as protagonist, rather to be described as a recording of elapsed actions- was discussed. Within the installation the objects -someone stated - imply a more liberated meaning - in contrast to a performance, where the performer actually signifies the objects by particular actions. This leads on one hand to “more space” for the audience’s reading, on the other hand creates a gap of accessibility for other. “You disconnected this work from yourself, your actions, your movement and this allows the viewer to connect it stronger with himself/herself.”, one participant mentioned. “This makes it even more radical”, another added. One woman, who is for a long time connected to the Fort admitted openly that she could only find an entrance to this installation after seeing my performative work:”Still, I miss you as performer in there, the movements, the liveliness.” Indeed, I can identify with both positions considering the space in between, the GRAY - zone as something having the ability to recall questions. Yet I am convinced that the GREY should not become to light, meandering within the realm of pure aesthetic formalism. To be continued.
After visiting the exhibition accompanied by one of the curators, Lucette ter Borg, we continued the discussion outside, in front of the sculpture Pink JSF - a new work made by Stefan Gross for this exhibtion. In order to broaden the talk - away from my work, the question on (un)readability of art and its consequences led via several paths (eg. Is a written explanation accompanying a work helpful, necessary?) to a larger point: Which tasks should/ could an artwork potentially fulfil and which responsibility does the “production of culture” from the perspective of the artist and curator comprise? As this exhibition displays a wide, sometimes contrastive range of visual practices side by side - existing artworks, site specific artworks, documentary fragments - and furthermore deals with the strong parameter given by the military heritage of the building, we struggled to apply those questions directly to that concept. Is questioning the readability of art a priori a subjective issue and thus not discussable? However, a consensus was rather out of reach. What a relief - at least when I may consider Rancière’s definition of dissensus, ‘the essence of politics and aesthetics (...) a dispute over what is given and about the frame within which we sense something is given’ ( Jacques Rancière, Dissensus: On Politics and Aesthetics).
Longing for black, demonizing white (or vice- versa) we are apparently doomed by the dominance of GREY. The acceptance of the in-between seems to be inevitable yet would - to me - mean capitulation. I propose: Don’t surrender! Pull, stretch, bend, scribble on the tight sleeves of the GREY - regime! Black and white is no truth, but neither is GREY.
On behalf of #FOCUS I would like to thank all participants, especially Lucette ter Borg. Hope to see you next time.
Nina Glockner
P.S. Reflecting this discussion, I preserve the following rather rumbling notes for the next time: Do “neutral questions” exist? At which point does a contextualisation end and a “generalization” start? To what extend - speaking about experiencing art - can a subjective opinion be formulated in an objective way?
LETTERS TO MY ENEMY - #FOCUS AT FORT ASPEREN 27 JUNE
La trahison des images, René Magritte, 1928-29
Pink JSF, Stefan Gross, 2015 (text added by me)
When: 27 June 2pm
Where: Kunstfort Asperen | Art Manifestation Gimme Shelter
Web: http://www.gimme-shelter.nl
Initiated by: Nina Glockner
Guest: Lucette ter Borg, Curator of Gimme Shelter
Letters to my enemy - Questioning the potential readability of art
In June #FOCUS invites you to a meeting at Fort Asperen, a striking forts of the New Dutch Water Defence Line being one of the three locations of the art manifestation Gimme Shelter - Forten en Ficties.
Together we will visit the exhibition Letters to my enemy and discuss the notion of readability within the realm of art. Who is responsible for formulating the intention of a piece of art? Does the representation of war- related symbols imply a critique or does it eventually become part of propaganda? Furthermore we will have a close look at the historical significance of the location in relationship to the combination of presented artworks and documentary material.
P.S. Lucette ter Borg, one of the curators of Gimme Shelter will join our meeting.
Looking forward to see you there, best regards,
Nina Glockner on behalf of #FOCUS
Adres: Langendijk 60, 4151 BR Acquoy
Transportation can be organized from Leerdam Station to Fort Asperen, meeting at 1.45pm (please send us a mail if you are interested)
It was 16 May, a gray somewhat foggy Saturday morning when I took the train to The Hague. There at 11am sharp our next #focus meeting was scheduled. This time there was not a central discussion around one topic but a meeting where we experienced the celebration of visual interaction. I was following the Malieveld meetings online already for a long time but I never before attended myself.
These gatherings -where also you can join in- are held every Saturday between 11am and 12am and started by the artists Ton Schuttelaar en Machiel van Soest. This initiative carries on for quite some time already. Once in a while I checked the photo reports online and every time I was attracted by this idea. Artists that take the Malieveld as stage for their interventions. Today I feel the rain pouring from the sky and hear the traffic of the city. I am alive and maybe a little nervous who is going to show up and what will happen when #focus meets Malieveld.
Below a photo report of an intense experience, an art interaction between colleagues and passersby. It was an exchange of sensitivity and a touch of poetry. The attempt over and over again to reach out for otherness when at the same time being embraced by the environment. It has to happen as- and it happens, right here right now. This is for me what art should be all about, experience it yourself…
Best Edwin Stolk on behalf of #focus
http://www.malieveld.tk/
Not necessary | mr. and mrs. Gray
Not necessary | mr. and mrs. Gray
The ORiGinal and its copy | Edwin Stolk
Carry each other | Ellen Rodenberg
Carry each other | Ellen Rodenberg
Velvet Water | Topp & Dubio
Velvet Water | Topp & Dubio
Z.T. | Maarten Schepers
Z.T. | Maarten Schepers
Vierkanten | Loes Grotenbreg
Vierkanten | Loes Grotenbreg
Vierkanten | Loes Grotenbreg
Z.T. | Nina Glockner
In a lonely place | Kees Koomen
In a lonely place | Kees Koomen
In a lonely place | Kees Koomen
Not necessary | mr. and mrs. Gray
Thanks Nina Glockner, Kees Koomen, Aart Verheul, Topp & Dubio for making the photos!
Dear Focus friends we are happy to announce a new meeting!
Last year when we gathered at the Celestial Vault we met the artist duo Topp & Dubio and felt challenged to organize a meeting where #focus meets Malieveld.
About Malieveld meetings:
Every Saturday at about 11am, individual artists gather to do whatever they want on a field (Malieveld) in the city centre of The Hague. There are no rules. No obligations. No commitments. Everybody is welcome. As a visitor, as a participating artist or as a casual passer-by.
On the website of Jegens en Tevens are a few nice reviews (in Dutch) on Malieveld meetings written by Kees Koomen:
Review on #focus lab: ‘Into the Grid’: The artwork as place for discussion
“All artists are alike. They dream of doing something that’s more social, more collaborative, and more real than art.” Dan Graham.
The book Artificial Hells that is written by Claire Bishop starts with these words of Dan Graham, an interesting book on participatory art and the politics of spectatorship. In a #focus lab meeting that I organized on Saturday 28 February 2015, two of my main interests came together: the role of art in public space and the politics of spectatorship. We were heading that day towards the shopping mall Presikhaaf in Arnhem as the destination for our first #focus meeting in 2015. #focus is a bottom-up artist initiative that started in 2012, where the initiators create their own context for site specific debates.
In close collaboration with the artist Rob Voerman and curator and founder of Motel Spatie Claudia Schouten we met in Voerman’s installation ‘Into the grid’. His work is on show till the 18th of April 2015 and was subject for our meeting to research questions as: “what is the role and place for the artwork here?” and: “how does space and space related audiences connect to- and influence the actual outcome of the work?”
Here you can read my full review which was a little delayed because I had the the flu…
