On Meteor Art, Landschape Porn and Artists as Guides
This workshop examines the complex structure of the urban/rural landscape and shows how contemporary art agitates and reacts with various tactics within that landscape to influence our perception of it. The workshop will also be directly linked to a real-life situation: the De Venen polder area and the ‘Zangsporen’ art plan, which will round off the project in the spring and summer of 2007.
Visual artists who work in public space are confronted with the complex relationship between the landscape and society. As a rule at the start of an assignment, artists are handed a ‘mental corset’ which they must don before developing their ideas. That is the first step in a dynamic group process in which the landscape is considered from many different points of view; residents, entrepreneurs, urban planners, historians, philosophers, and so forth discuss the maintenance of the past and the building of the future. These discussions ultimately find expression in the physical structures of the landscape. The community’s immaterial worldview, including the existing power relations, becomes visible and readable. This makes the landscape the holder of a collective reality in which the individual can feel at home culturally and emotionally and in which the prevailing order and mentality is confirmed.
On this complex and very exciting terrain contemporary art acts with various tactics and a diversity of goals. The workshop will investigate the different methodologies and approaches that art takes in public space. Several visual artists have been invited to give lectures and explain their work; landscape architects and philosophers will also present their views. This part of the workshop will be supplemented by literature on the subject.
The workshop will also be directly linked to a real-life situation: the De Venen polder area and the ‘Zangsporen’ art plan. Here participants will develop and realize work in the polder in the spring and summer of 07. Under the supervision of teachers, participants will work on a clear, good concept, sketch design and art project.
‘De Venen’ is a polder area in the so-called ‘Green Heart’ of the Netherlands, close to the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht and bounded by the Amstel River on the west, the Oude Rijn on the south, route A2 on the east and route A9 to the north. For some time now in this ‘development area’, groups have been investigating future possibilities for the landscape and its residents from different points of view. One result is the ‘Zangsporen’ art plan of 2005 developed by the CBK Utrecht (Utrecht Visual Art Centre). The aim of this plan is to have artists participate as important guides to the process of change in the area. Within the scope of this plan the Art and Public Space Lectureship was invited to organize a workshop. Students of the Sandberg Institute and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy are invited to participate in the workshop.
PROGRAMME/ GUESTLECTURES
Thursday 11/01/07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Henk de Vroom and Helmut Dick introduce the workshop
Info: laps-rietveld.nl and www.helmutdick.de
Thursday 18/01/07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Atty Bax
Artist, Advisor: works at KORT (kunst in de openbare ruimte Tilburg) where she is responsible for the realisation of works in the public space in the district / city of Tilburg
Info: www.kunstbuitenbinnentilburg.nl
Atty Bax explained her work as a free advisor (KORT – Kunst in de Openbare Ruimte Tilburg) and presented a selection of works in the public space where
she was or is involved in the realisation. Among others: John Körmeling’s. Roundabout House (draft).
Hans van Houwelingen
Artist: he made various projects in public space; oned of his works are the very well known reptiles on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam. He lives and works in Amsterdam.
Info: www.kunstenpubliekeruimte.nl
Hans van Houwelingen (artist) talked about his approach of working in public spaces and showed a number of works he made in the last years, including his temporary work ‘Lenin’.
Thursday, 01/ 02/ 07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Wapke Feenstra
Artist: works with different strategies in the public space, including the interaction between real space and virtual space (internet). In her lecture she will also present her project ‘Biblobox’: a travelling platform for different artists that made work in the rural environments. She lives and works in Rotterdam.
Info: www.bibliobox.org
Beside her travelling platform ‘bibliobox’. (www.bibliobox.org) Wapke Feenstra showed some examples of her onsite projects that work in interaction with websites: beside others the project ‘Woefwoef – uitgelaten in Arnhem’ (www.woefwoef.nl) and ‘Huisboomfeest’ (www.huisboomfeest.nl).
Thursday, 08/02/07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Paul Roncken
Landscape-architect: he is interested in the different perceptions of landscapes; that includes for example the relation between landscapes that are displayed in movies and our own perception of landscape. He lives and works in Utrecht.
Info: www.paulroncken.nl
Paul Roncken took his own travelling – strategy to get to know a part of the west cost of America as a starting-point for his lecture. Taking this as an example he looked further at our perception of landscape and he examined the contemporary values of three classical elements: the beautiful, the picturesque and the sublime.
David Bade
Artist: he works with different media like drawing, installation and sculpting. He made many autonomous sculptures for the public space. He lives and works Curaçao.
Info: www.osscultureel.nl/bade.htm, www.arteswa.com
David Bade showed several sculptures he made in the last years, including ‘Einkaufswagen’- a figure belonging to a group of sculptures he made in Bremen, Germany. Further he focused on the changes in his working process that resulted in different group – projects around sculpting.(www.arteswa.com and www.badeblog.wordpress.com)
Thursday, 15/02/07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Wim Cuyvers
Architect: together with STROOM in The Hague (Haags Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst) he published the book ‘Text on Text’ including different views on urban and rural landscapes where he claims for example that ‘graveyards should be brought back into the cities’. He lives and works between Lyon and Dijon.
Info: http://users.pandora.be/b-site/bsites.htm
In his lecture Wim Cuyvers presented a selection of text-, foto- and videomaterial that explains his definition of the term ‘Public Space’. In the same context he also showed his research project ‘Informal meeting places for gay and bisexual next to the Belgium highway’ that he did in collaboration with students of the St Lucas in Gent, Belgium.
Sylvia Winkler und Stephan Köperl
artist duo: part of the practice of these internationally active artists is working with simple and strong performances in the public space. They live and work in Stuttgart, Germany.
Info: www.winkler-koeperl.net
Sylvia Winkler and Stephan Köperl screened a selection of works they made in the last years in different countries. The main focus of their presentation was a series of actions and performances that interfere with ordinary daily life in public places like parking areas, supermarkets or a crossing (like in the work ‘entre dos luces’ in Mexico in 2004)
Thursday, 22/02/07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Christian Hasucha
Artist: for many years he made various interventions in the public space where different ways of perception of space and creating extraordinary meeting points played an important role. He lives and works in Berlin.
Info: www.haschua.de
Thursday, 08/03/07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Anne Reenders from CBK Utrecht (Centrum beeldende Kunst Utrecht) will introduce the project ‘Zangsporen. Maarten van Wesemael, co-ordinator culture projects ‘DE VENEN’.
Filmscreening: Sjaak Langenberg: ‘De uitbreiding van polder Mastenbroek / The extention of the polder Mastenbroek’.
Info: www.cbk-utrecht.nl, www.devenen.nl, www.zangsporen.nl, www.sjaaklangenberg.nl
Thursday, 15/03/07, 18 – 20 o’clock
Birthe Leemeijer
Artist: she made various works in the public space; for the ‘polder mastenbroek’ she developed and sold a perfume with the fragrance of this particular landscape. She lives and works in Amsterdam.
Info: www.skor.nl/artefact-296-nl.html
Bastiaan Jongerius
Architect: various projects; in his lecture he will talk about the long and interesting discussion-process before he planned and built a cheese factory for ‘Cono Kaasmakers’ in the ‘Beemsterpolder’. He lives and works in Amsterdam.
Info: www.bjarchitecten.demon.nl
March week 12
Introduction ‘De Venen’ including a guided tour by artist Marcel Blekendaal (the actual date will depend on the weather)
Info: www.polderwachter.nl
Henk de Vroom and Helmut Dick will participate the tour and announce the programme and the assignment for the second part of the workshop.
Associated media
