Publications (by Rolf Hughes): on writing and research 2006-2009
Hughes, Rolf 2009. “Pressures Of the Unspeakable: Communicating practice as research” in Verbeke, J and Jakimowicz, A, ed. Communicating (by) Design, Proceedings of the colloquiem 'Communicating (by) Design' at Sint-Lucas Brussels from 15th-17th April 2009. Chalmers University of Technology & School of Architecture Sint-Lucas, pp. 247-259. ISBN 9789081323802 [PDF available].
Hughes, Rolf 2009. “A Different Set of Tools” in Hjemdal T I, ed. Conditions (Magazine for Architecture and Urbanism, Oslo). 2nd issue: on Copy and Interpretation, November 2009. [PDF available].
Hughes, Rolf 2009. “A Classroom Without Qualities: or, Where to begin this conversation?” in Martens, S, Verbeke, J and Jakimowicz, A, ed. Reflections 9, Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, Brussels, pp. 33-40. [PDF available]
Hughes, Rolf 2009. ”The Art of Displacement: Designing experiential systems and transverse epistemologies as conceptual criticism” in Doucet, I and Cupers, K ed., Footprint (Delft School of Design Journal), Issue # 4, Agency in Architecture: Reframing Criticality in Theory and Practice (Spring 2009), pp.49-63 [PDF available]
Hughes, Rolf 2007. “THE DROWNING METHOD: On Giving an Account in Practice-based Research” in Critical Architecture ed. Jonathan Hill and Jane Rendell (London and NY: Routledge, 2007) [PDF available].
Hughes, Rolf 2007. “The Hybrid Muse: Creative and Critical Writing in/as Practice-Based Research” keynote lecture from “The Unthinkable Doctorate” conference (NETHCA and Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, Brussels, April 2005) published in The Unthinkable Doctorate, Brussels: Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, 2007.
Hughes, Rolf 2006. The Poetics of practice-based research writing in Heynen, H ed.The Journal of Architecture Volume 11, Number 3 (London and NY: Routledge, 2006) [PDF available].
Hughes, Rolf 2006. “Room within a View: A conversation on writing (&) architecture by Katja Grillner and Rolf Hughes” OASE 70 Special issue on Architecture and Literature (ed. Klaske Havik, TU Delft Faculty of Architecture, Netherlands, 2006).
Hughes, Rolf 2006. “Creation Story” (prose poem rendered as an artwork by acclaimed graphic designer Laurie Haycock Makela) in SIMPLE: An exhibition of art, design, sound and literature (January 21-February 25 2006) exhibition organized by Ronald Jones and Laurie Haycock Makela for Milliken Gallery, Stockholm (featuring work by Hilma Af Klimt, Florian Böhm, Jonas Bohlin, Björn Hellström, Rolf Hughes, Reed Kram, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Clemens Weisshaar, Andrea Zittel) Milliken Gallery, Stockholm January 21-February 25 2006. [PDF available].
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Espresso Book Machine
The Espresso Book Machine (EBM), shown here on display at the London Book Fair, has been billed as the most revolutionary development in books for half a century.
See it.
The Espresso Book Machine (EBM), shown here on display at the London Book Fair, has been billed as the most revolutionary development in books for half a century.
See it.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Art Lies
Issue No. 61, Spring 2009
Second Acts
http://www.artlies.org
When Guest Editorial Contributor Stuart Horodner first approached me with his concept for this issue of Art Lies, "Second Acts," my first thought was that it would be a novel departure from the rigor and density of recent issues. Stuart proposed the commissioning of essays, projects, recipes, images—you name it—by artists, curators and writers who are deeply engaged in "other" acts, be they gardening, cooking, fishing, traveling or collecting. As our discussions continued, it became apparent that his concept was not as straightforward as it first seemed. People generally do not think of creative types—artists in particular—as being in need of respite from their work. This fallacy is either indicative of a romanticized notion of what it means to be an artist (or curator or writer) or systemic underappreciation of what it means to have a real studio practice.
Thus, as it turns out, the premise of Second Acts is a bit deceptive in its simplicity because it addresses the multifarious rituals of assigning value. Being a self-sustaining, full-time artist/curator/writer requires a set of skills not unlike those in other professional arenas. The endeavors chronicled herein may be deemed hobbies by some, but they could also be considered passions, social experiments—even coping mechanisms that counterbalance the often hermetic nature of artistic practice. And, highlighting the wonder, joy, recognition and satisfaction gained by "additional" endeavors offers insight into the complexity and/or contradictions involved in attempting to separate a person's primary and secondary interests—to dislodge what one does for money from what one does for love, for release, for relief—and what we are willing to risk in the process.
-Anjali Gupta, Editor
Feature Contributors:
Regine Basha
Zoe Crosher
Stuart Horodner
Scott Ingram
Jörg Jakoby
Germaine Koh
Dominic Molon
Chris Riley
Jacinda Russell
Joe Sola
Jack Whitten
With artwork by: Zoe Crosher, Adam Helms, Stuart Horodner, Matthew Lusk, Melaine Manchot, Rachel Owens, Adam Overton, Justin Parr, Lucy Raven, Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello, Stephen Schofield and Erin Shirreff.
Reviews Include:
Atlanta-Susan Richmond on Avantika Bawa
Austin-Kurt Mueller on Temporary Services
Boston-Evan Garza on Douglas Weathersby
Dallas-Noah Simblist on Olafur Eliasson
Houston-Garland Fielder on Soledad Arias
New Orleans-Erin Starr White on Prospect 1
New York-Riley O'Bryan on Artist as Troublemaker
Philadelphia-John Ewing on Field Reports
San Antonio-Wendy Weil Atwell on Alex Rubio & David Vega
And Alex Jovanovich on Doubt by Richard Shiff
Issue No. 61, Spring 2009
Second Acts
http://www.artlies.org
When Guest Editorial Contributor Stuart Horodner first approached me with his concept for this issue of Art Lies, "Second Acts," my first thought was that it would be a novel departure from the rigor and density of recent issues. Stuart proposed the commissioning of essays, projects, recipes, images—you name it—by artists, curators and writers who are deeply engaged in "other" acts, be they gardening, cooking, fishing, traveling or collecting. As our discussions continued, it became apparent that his concept was not as straightforward as it first seemed. People generally do not think of creative types—artists in particular—as being in need of respite from their work. This fallacy is either indicative of a romanticized notion of what it means to be an artist (or curator or writer) or systemic underappreciation of what it means to have a real studio practice.
Thus, as it turns out, the premise of Second Acts is a bit deceptive in its simplicity because it addresses the multifarious rituals of assigning value. Being a self-sustaining, full-time artist/curator/writer requires a set of skills not unlike those in other professional arenas. The endeavors chronicled herein may be deemed hobbies by some, but they could also be considered passions, social experiments—even coping mechanisms that counterbalance the often hermetic nature of artistic practice. And, highlighting the wonder, joy, recognition and satisfaction gained by "additional" endeavors offers insight into the complexity and/or contradictions involved in attempting to separate a person's primary and secondary interests—to dislodge what one does for money from what one does for love, for release, for relief—and what we are willing to risk in the process.
-Anjali Gupta, Editor
Feature Contributors:
Regine Basha
Zoe Crosher
Stuart Horodner
Scott Ingram
Jörg Jakoby
Germaine Koh
Dominic Molon
Chris Riley
Jacinda Russell
Joe Sola
Jack Whitten
With artwork by: Zoe Crosher, Adam Helms, Stuart Horodner, Matthew Lusk, Melaine Manchot, Rachel Owens, Adam Overton, Justin Parr, Lucy Raven, Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello, Stephen Schofield and Erin Shirreff.
Reviews Include:
Atlanta-Susan Richmond on Avantika Bawa
Austin-Kurt Mueller on Temporary Services
Boston-Evan Garza on Douglas Weathersby
Dallas-Noah Simblist on Olafur Eliasson
Houston-Garland Fielder on Soledad Arias
New Orleans-Erin Starr White on Prospect 1
New York-Riley O'Bryan on Artist as Troublemaker
Philadelphia-John Ewing on Field Reports
San Antonio-Wendy Weil Atwell on Alex Rubio & David Vega
And Alex Jovanovich on Doubt by Richard Shiff
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Book Works
We are looking for artists and writers interested in experimental prose fiction, who transgress all the boundaries separating art and literature. Think of the ways in which Paul Gilroy theorised the history of modernism through the rubric of the Black Atlantic, W.E.B. Du Bois and double-consciousness, and the inescapable links between race and class: Anthony Joseph, Kathy Acker, Amiri Baraka, Samuel R. Delany, Darius James, Ishmael Reed, Ann Quin, Clarence Cooper Jr, Claude Cahun etc. Above all we're looking for artists and writers willing to take risks with their prose and who demonstrate total disregard for the conventions that structure received ideas about fiction.
Semina takes its inspiration from a series of nine loose-leaf magazines issued by Californian beat artist Wallace Berman in the 1950s and 1960s. The series is commissioned and edited by artist and writer Stewart Home. The series will publish nine books, six of which will be selected from open submission, two commissioned by the editor, with Blood Rites of the Bourgeoisie by Stewart Home the final title in the series.
The selection from open submissions will be made by Stewart Home and Book Works. The series is designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio.
Deadline for applications is 29 May 2009.
Contact gavin@bookworks.org.uk or visit our website for more information http://www.bookworks.org.uk
Semina series:
No. 1 Index by Bridget Penney (2008)
No. 2 One Break, A Thousand Blows! by Maxi Kim (2008)
No. 3 Bubble Entendre by Mark Waugh (2009)
No. 4 Rape New York by Jana Leo (2009)
No. 5 To Whom Life by Ashkan Sepahvand (2009)
No. 9 Blood Rites of the Bourgeoisie by Stewart Home (2010)
We are looking for artists and writers interested in experimental prose fiction, who transgress all the boundaries separating art and literature. Think of the ways in which Paul Gilroy theorised the history of modernism through the rubric of the Black Atlantic, W.E.B. Du Bois and double-consciousness, and the inescapable links between race and class: Anthony Joseph, Kathy Acker, Amiri Baraka, Samuel R. Delany, Darius James, Ishmael Reed, Ann Quin, Clarence Cooper Jr, Claude Cahun etc. Above all we're looking for artists and writers willing to take risks with their prose and who demonstrate total disregard for the conventions that structure received ideas about fiction.
Semina takes its inspiration from a series of nine loose-leaf magazines issued by Californian beat artist Wallace Berman in the 1950s and 1960s. The series is commissioned and edited by artist and writer Stewart Home. The series will publish nine books, six of which will be selected from open submission, two commissioned by the editor, with Blood Rites of the Bourgeoisie by Stewart Home the final title in the series.
The selection from open submissions will be made by Stewart Home and Book Works. The series is designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio.
Deadline for applications is 29 May 2009.
Contact gavin@bookworks.org.uk or visit our website for more information http://www.bookworks.org.uk
Semina series:
No. 1 Index by Bridget Penney (2008)
No. 2 One Break, A Thousand Blows! by Maxi Kim (2008)
No. 3 Bubble Entendre by Mark Waugh (2009)
No. 4 Rape New York by Jana Leo (2009)
No. 5 To Whom Life by Ashkan Sepahvand (2009)
No. 9 Blood Rites of the Bourgeoisie by Stewart Home (2010)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Bob Cobbing was the first explorer of sound poetry in England and a long-time experimenter in visual and performance poetry. His activities beginning with the Hendon Experimental Art Club in 1951 eventually grew into his press, Writers Forum which began publishing in 1963. Within ten years he produced over a hundred small press publications of experimental writing with hardly no budget. His weekly Experimental Poetry Workshop and numerous performances of his own poetry, influenced a whole generation of English experimental poets.
More.
More.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Vision in verse from the bard of the boardroom
By David Honigmann
Published: March 17 2009 02:00 | Financial Times
Twenty years ago, David Whyte, a Yorkshire-born poet, was invited by a consultant into the world of business. Ever since, he has made it his mission, through corporate speaking tours and seminars, to help businesses harness the insights and metaphors that poetry can offer to broaden their language, improve interaction within the workplace and stir imaginations.
His first serious in-company work was with AT&T and, over the years, he has worked with corporations from Boeing to Microsoft and organisations from Nasa to Kaiser Permanente. He is an associate fellow of Saïd Business School in Oxford, and is about to talk to MBAs at Stanford.
A poet's craft, for him, is as "a maker of identity". Sometimes he is a guest speaker running through a conference; other times he will give seminars in-house. Typically, he has about five long-term clients at a timeand he works with their senior management.
He begins with poetry (his own and that of Rilke, Wordsworth, Yeats and many others), and then broadens out into conversation and reflection. "I do everything from 45 minutes to three days," he explains. He recites the poems slowly, repeating lines until he is clear that his point has hit home. He does not work in soundbites, but through a scrupulous precision over language, listening and talking to a group until he is able to articulate an uncomfortable and unspoken truth.
"All these organisations are like Shakespearean plays writ large, with the nobles telling their truths from the podium while the gravediggers are telling it like it really is in the bathroom. And every epoch ends with a lot of blood on the floor," he says.
More.
By David Honigmann
Published: March 17 2009 02:00 | Financial Times
Twenty years ago, David Whyte, a Yorkshire-born poet, was invited by a consultant into the world of business. Ever since, he has made it his mission, through corporate speaking tours and seminars, to help businesses harness the insights and metaphors that poetry can offer to broaden their language, improve interaction within the workplace and stir imaginations.
His first serious in-company work was with AT&T and, over the years, he has worked with corporations from Boeing to Microsoft and organisations from Nasa to Kaiser Permanente. He is an associate fellow of Saïd Business School in Oxford, and is about to talk to MBAs at Stanford.
A poet's craft, for him, is as "a maker of identity". Sometimes he is a guest speaker running through a conference; other times he will give seminars in-house. Typically, he has about five long-term clients at a timeand he works with their senior management.
He begins with poetry (his own and that of Rilke, Wordsworth, Yeats and many others), and then broadens out into conversation and reflection. "I do everything from 45 minutes to three days," he explains. He recites the poems slowly, repeating lines until he is clear that his point has hit home. He does not work in soundbites, but through a scrupulous precision over language, listening and talking to a group until he is able to articulate an uncomfortable and unspoken truth.
"All these organisations are like Shakespearean plays writ large, with the nobles telling their truths from the podium while the gravediggers are telling it like it really is in the bathroom. And every epoch ends with a lot of blood on the floor," he says.
More.
Monday, March 16, 2009
From the Green Box to Typo/Topography: Duchamp and Hamilton's Dialogue in Print
by Paul Thirkell
This paper examines Marcel Duchamp's use of the collotype printing process for publishing the contents of his Green Box and Boîte-en-valise in the 1930s. It subsequently traces the linguistic and graphic interpretations of this work by the British artist Richard Hamilton in his 1960 The Green Book and in his recent fusion of this work with the 'topography' of the Large Glass in the print Typo/Topography, published in 2003.
Read.
by Paul Thirkell
This paper examines Marcel Duchamp's use of the collotype printing process for publishing the contents of his Green Box and Boîte-en-valise in the 1930s. It subsequently traces the linguistic and graphic interpretations of this work by the British artist Richard Hamilton in his 1960 The Green Book and in his recent fusion of this work with the 'topography' of the Large Glass in the print Typo/Topography, published in 2003.
Read.
Between text and Image in Kandinsky's Oeuvre: A Consideration of the Album Sounds
by Christopher Short
Between text and image in Kandinsky's oeuvre: a consideration of Klange in relation to the synthesis of the arts Focusing on the album of poetry and woodcuts called Sounds (Klänge), published c.1912, this paper examines how Kandinsky understood and exploited the relationship between text and image. It shows how he conceived of the album as an example of synthetic art and explores the broader principles underlying his idea of artistic synthesis.
Read.
by Christopher Short
Between text and image in Kandinsky's oeuvre: a consideration of Klange in relation to the synthesis of the arts Focusing on the album of poetry and woodcuts called Sounds (Klänge), published c.1912, this paper examines how Kandinsky understood and exploited the relationship between text and image. It shows how he conceived of the album as an example of synthetic art and explores the broader principles underlying his idea of artistic synthesis.
Read.
Some Notes on Words and Things in Cy Twombly’s Sculptural Practice
by Kate Nesin.
Tate Papers Issue 10 2008. Read the essay here.
by Kate Nesin.
Tate Papers Issue 10 2008. Read the essay here.
Ekphrasis
One particular kind of visual description is also the oldest type of writing about art in the West. Called ekphrasis, it was created by the Greeks. The goal of this literary form is to make the reader envision the thing described as if it were physically present. In many cases, however, the subject never actually existed, making the ekphrastic description a demonstration of both the creative imagination and the skill of the writer. For most readers of famous Greek and Latin texts, it did not matter whether the subject was actual or imagined. The texts were studied to form habits of thinking and writing, not as art historical evidence.
from Writing about Art by Marjorie Munsterberg.
One particular kind of visual description is also the oldest type of writing about art in the West. Called ekphrasis, it was created by the Greeks. The goal of this literary form is to make the reader envision the thing described as if it were physically present. In many cases, however, the subject never actually existed, making the ekphrastic description a demonstration of both the creative imagination and the skill of the writer. For most readers of famous Greek and Latin texts, it did not matter whether the subject was actual or imagined. The texts were studied to form habits of thinking and writing, not as art historical evidence.
from Writing about Art by Marjorie Munsterberg.
Ekphrasis -- A Poetry Journal
We are looking for well-crafted poetry, the main content of which addresses individual works from any artistic genre. Please identify the specific work that is the focus of your poem. Because the source work will not be reproduced, the poem should stand on its own.
Acceptable ekphrastic verse transcends mere description; it stands as transformative interpretational statement.
All poems published in Ekphrasis within a given calendar year will be considered for the Ekphrasis Prize. The awarded poem will be selected by the editors of Ekphrasis. Currently, a $500 consideration will accompany this selection. No entry fees are required.
Ekphrasis is published twice yearly, and the annual subscription fee covering two issues is $12, payable to Laverne Frith in US funds. Send checks to the submission address listed below.
Submissions should include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for reply/return, a cover letter with bio, address, telephone #, and email address. Send 3 to 5 poems. No email or simultaneous submissions. We will occasionally consider previously published verse if properly credited. Send to:
Ekphrasis
P.O. Box 161236
Sacramento, CA 95816-1236
More.
We are looking for well-crafted poetry, the main content of which addresses individual works from any artistic genre. Please identify the specific work that is the focus of your poem. Because the source work will not be reproduced, the poem should stand on its own.
Acceptable ekphrastic verse transcends mere description; it stands as transformative interpretational statement.
All poems published in Ekphrasis within a given calendar year will be considered for the Ekphrasis Prize. The awarded poem will be selected by the editors of Ekphrasis. Currently, a $500 consideration will accompany this selection. No entry fees are required.
Ekphrasis is published twice yearly, and the annual subscription fee covering two issues is $12, payable to Laverne Frith in US funds. Send checks to the submission address listed below.
Submissions should include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for reply/return, a cover letter with bio, address, telephone #, and email address. Send 3 to 5 poems. No email or simultaneous submissions. We will occasionally consider previously published verse if properly credited. Send to:
Ekphrasis
P.O. Box 161236
Sacramento, CA 95816-1236
More.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Thomas Elovsson
Diamonds, Clown, Rock bands, Crayons
12 mars – 25 april 2009
vernissage 12 mars kl 18 -20
Roger Björkholmen Galleri
Kommendörsgatan 15
Öppet: Ti-Fre 13-17 Lö 12-16
För ytterligare information kontakta galleriet 08- 611 26 30
info@rogerbjorkholmen.com
A tip from Ron:
Det är med stor glädje Roger Björkholmen Galleri presenterar Thomas Elovssons fjärde utställning på galleriet,
Clowns, Diamonds, Rock Bands, Crayons.Det är en serie nya målningar baserade på texter, fotografier och abstrakt måleri som relaterar och refererar till olika typer av musik, underhållning, clowneri och konstnärliga strategier. Hela utställningen blir till ett färgtest där färgens betydelse - historiskt, politiskt, socialt prövas och undersöks. Texterna i målningarna kan vara direkta citat eller återgivningar men är handskrivna (målade) och har karaktären av en hastig minnesanteckning eller något upphittat. De kan anspela på en specifik situation eller händelse, men visar sig också innehålla en annan historia som sedan kan komma att gå igen i ett annat verk i utställningen.
Clowner är målningar i sig, deras ansikten dolda bakom smink och lösnäsor och peruk. Clownen blir därför en symbol för en snubblande, stapplande figur som ständigt försöker på nytt och aldrig slås ned. En slags överlevare
–som måleriet. En serie abstrakta målningar använder sig av utseenden och gestik som känns igen genom historien av abstrakt måleri. Här är de utförda som monokromer och befriade från all sentimentalitet. De tillåts rymma berättelsen om sin tillkomst och sina beståndsdelar.
I utställningen visas också verket ”The Red Krayola with Art and Language”, som består utav 96 teckningar där varje färg i krittillverkaren Crayolas serie av vaxkritor används. Verket är ett arkiv över alla kulörer men beskriver också ett samarbete mellan rockgruppen The Red Krayola och konstnärsgruppen Art & Language, och i förlängningen sig självt – vaxkrita, konst, språk.
I sammanställningen av olika verk uppstår betydelser och samband som inte funnits där tidigare. Elovssons metod är den fria associationen där kopplingar kan uppstå mellan olika berättelser.
Diamonds, Clown, Rock bands, Crayons
12 mars – 25 april 2009
vernissage 12 mars kl 18 -20
Roger Björkholmen Galleri
Kommendörsgatan 15
Öppet: Ti-Fre 13-17 Lö 12-16
För ytterligare information kontakta galleriet 08- 611 26 30
info@rogerbjorkholmen.com
A tip from Ron:
Det är med stor glädje Roger Björkholmen Galleri presenterar Thomas Elovssons fjärde utställning på galleriet,
Clowns, Diamonds, Rock Bands, Crayons.Det är en serie nya målningar baserade på texter, fotografier och abstrakt måleri som relaterar och refererar till olika typer av musik, underhållning, clowneri och konstnärliga strategier. Hela utställningen blir till ett färgtest där färgens betydelse - historiskt, politiskt, socialt prövas och undersöks. Texterna i målningarna kan vara direkta citat eller återgivningar men är handskrivna (målade) och har karaktären av en hastig minnesanteckning eller något upphittat. De kan anspela på en specifik situation eller händelse, men visar sig också innehålla en annan historia som sedan kan komma att gå igen i ett annat verk i utställningen.
Clowner är målningar i sig, deras ansikten dolda bakom smink och lösnäsor och peruk. Clownen blir därför en symbol för en snubblande, stapplande figur som ständigt försöker på nytt och aldrig slås ned. En slags överlevare
–som måleriet. En serie abstrakta målningar använder sig av utseenden och gestik som känns igen genom historien av abstrakt måleri. Här är de utförda som monokromer och befriade från all sentimentalitet. De tillåts rymma berättelsen om sin tillkomst och sina beståndsdelar.
I utställningen visas också verket ”The Red Krayola with Art and Language”, som består utav 96 teckningar där varje färg i krittillverkaren Crayolas serie av vaxkritor används. Verket är ett arkiv över alla kulörer men beskriver också ett samarbete mellan rockgruppen The Red Krayola och konstnärsgruppen Art & Language, och i förlängningen sig självt – vaxkrita, konst, språk.
I sammanställningen av olika verk uppstår betydelser och samband som inte funnits där tidigare. Elovssons metod är den fria associationen där kopplingar kan uppstå mellan olika berättelser.
...Each of these three organizations seeks to eliminate physical suffering by using words...
Atrocity and Interrogation
by James Dawes
To enter the headquarters for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey, you must pass through barbed wire gates and a security checkpoint. If you are applying for asylum (because, for example, you have escaped Iraq after being raped and tortured or because you will be executed if forced to return to Iran), you will be escorted through these gates and then taken downstairs into the holding chambers of the basement. There you will be required to answer a series of questions to determine whether you meet the specific conditions for refugee status under international law. If your answers do not suffice, you will be deported back to your country of origin. The interview rooms are small with poor ventilation. Larry Bottinick, eligibility officer for the UNHCR, explains that they will be moving to a new building soon. "Whenever you ask an Iraqi to describe the conditions of their detention," he says of refugees from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, "they answer: `It was like this room.'"
But this article is not about what it feels like to be interrogated. It is about what it feels like to interrogate someone. I visited the UNHCR in Turkey as part of a larger research project on organizations that intervene in humanitarian crises by using language instead of food, medicine, or weapons, organizations whose most important act is, finally, not delivering supplies but asking questions. Through a series of formal and informal interviews I documented the organizational dynamics and communicative practices of some of the world's most recognizable humanitarian inquisitors: the UNHCR, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Human Rights Association (HRA). I focused in particular on the everyday practices of activists in the field, hoping to better understand not only how we can use language to alter the operations of violence but also to see how, by using language in such ways, we might be altered.
More.
Atrocity and Interrogation
by James Dawes
To enter the headquarters for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey, you must pass through barbed wire gates and a security checkpoint. If you are applying for asylum (because, for example, you have escaped Iraq after being raped and tortured or because you will be executed if forced to return to Iran), you will be escorted through these gates and then taken downstairs into the holding chambers of the basement. There you will be required to answer a series of questions to determine whether you meet the specific conditions for refugee status under international law. If your answers do not suffice, you will be deported back to your country of origin. The interview rooms are small with poor ventilation. Larry Bottinick, eligibility officer for the UNHCR, explains that they will be moving to a new building soon. "Whenever you ask an Iraqi to describe the conditions of their detention," he says of refugees from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, "they answer: `It was like this room.'"
But this article is not about what it feels like to be interrogated. It is about what it feels like to interrogate someone. I visited the UNHCR in Turkey as part of a larger research project on organizations that intervene in humanitarian crises by using language instead of food, medicine, or weapons, organizations whose most important act is, finally, not delivering supplies but asking questions. Through a series of formal and informal interviews I documented the organizational dynamics and communicative practices of some of the world's most recognizable humanitarian inquisitors: the UNHCR, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Human Rights Association (HRA). I focused in particular on the everyday practices of activists in the field, hoping to better understand not only how we can use language to alter the operations of violence but also to see how, by using language in such ways, we might be altered.
More.
Friday, March 13, 2009
LAWRENCE WEINER, 'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC'
'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' is a major new exhibition by Lawrence Weiner, commissioned by The Power Plant. The project highlights the continuing vitality and currency of Weiner's sculptural practice through the commissioning of new work and by providing a striking architectural context in which to situate his works, including interior, transitional and exterior spaces and surfaces of The Power Plant building. For Weiner, the literal realization of a work is in many ways superfluous its existence. 'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' intentionally highlights this conceptual pre-condition by emphasizing opportunities for reception of the works in the exhibition beyond the gallery spaces of The Power Plant.
'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' consists of five works that function as fragments of a whole. The lobby of The Power Plant creates the entrance to the exhibition with Weiner's FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE (2001). Its attendant multifarious meanings lead into to the largest gallery on the ground floor of The Power Plant, which contains MORE THAN ENOUGH (1998). This alchemical work culminates, or explodes if you will, into a fragment MORE THAN ENOUGH, a work commissioned for the smokestack of The Power Plant. CUL-DE-SAC (2009), the newest work and produced expressly for the exhibition, responds to a culmination of sorts on the forty-foot high walls of the clerestory of The Power Plant.
The fifth element of the project is the forty-eight page hardcover publication THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC, which shares the title of the exhibition. Co-designed by Weiner and Hahn studio, Toronto, the publication re-configures the works within the book format, and includes texts by exhibition curator and Director of The Power Plant Gregory Burke and critic and poet Wystan Curnow.
His most substantial exhibition of new work in Toronto to date, 'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' also builds upon Weiner's long-term relationship with the city. This enduring relationship began in earnest in 1977 with an engagement at the Centre for Experimental Art and Communication (CEAC), where he created one of his earliest sound-work installations.
Curated by Gregory Burke, Director of The Power Plant
Lead Donor:
Albert and Temmy Latner Family Foundation
Smokestack Commission Support Donors:
Michael F. B. Nesbitt
Victoria Webster & Gabe Gonda
CAREY YOUNG, 'Counter Offer'
Drawing together works in video, photography, text and performance, 'Counter Offer' presents an overview of Carey Young's witty and insightful explorations of corporate and legal culture. For the past decade Young has investigated art's links with global commerce, together with legacies of Conceptual art and institutional critique. Immersing herself in the business and legal worlds, Young examines them from the inside out. As such Young makes no claims to an outsider status, but teases out her own, her viewers' and her host organizations' complicity with corporate values and processes as a way to discuss ideas of critical distance.
The video I Am a Revolutionary (2001) shows a motivational trainer coaching Young to sound like a convincing 'radical'. In Product Recall (2007) we see the artist in a psychotherapy session attempting to match advertising slogans about creativity with their respective global brands. Notions of listening, learning and speaking figure in other key works. For the public speaking project Speechcraft (2007 and ongoing) Young collaborates with a Toronto Toastmasters club. Meanwhile the video Everything You've Heard is Wrong (1999) shows Young trying to lead a corporate communication skills workshop at Speaker's Corner.
Carey Young (born in 1970, in Lusaka, Zambia, lives in London, UK) has exhibited widely, recently with a solo show at Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (2007) and Thomas Dane Project Space, London (2008). 'Counter Offer' is her first solo show in Canada.
Curated by Senior Curator of Programs, Helena Reckitt
Carey Young 'Counter Offer' Support Sponsor:
Aylesworth LLP
Carey Young 'Counter Offer' additionally supported by:
Charter Communications
Details.
'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' is a major new exhibition by Lawrence Weiner, commissioned by The Power Plant. The project highlights the continuing vitality and currency of Weiner's sculptural practice through the commissioning of new work and by providing a striking architectural context in which to situate his works, including interior, transitional and exterior spaces and surfaces of The Power Plant building. For Weiner, the literal realization of a work is in many ways superfluous its existence. 'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' intentionally highlights this conceptual pre-condition by emphasizing opportunities for reception of the works in the exhibition beyond the gallery spaces of The Power Plant.
'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' consists of five works that function as fragments of a whole. The lobby of The Power Plant creates the entrance to the exhibition with Weiner's FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE (2001). Its attendant multifarious meanings lead into to the largest gallery on the ground floor of The Power Plant, which contains MORE THAN ENOUGH (1998). This alchemical work culminates, or explodes if you will, into a fragment MORE THAN ENOUGH, a work commissioned for the smokestack of The Power Plant. CUL-DE-SAC (2009), the newest work and produced expressly for the exhibition, responds to a culmination of sorts on the forty-foot high walls of the clerestory of The Power Plant.
The fifth element of the project is the forty-eight page hardcover publication THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC, which shares the title of the exhibition. Co-designed by Weiner and Hahn studio, Toronto, the publication re-configures the works within the book format, and includes texts by exhibition curator and Director of The Power Plant Gregory Burke and critic and poet Wystan Curnow.
His most substantial exhibition of new work in Toronto to date, 'THE OTHER SIDE OF A CUL-DE-SAC' also builds upon Weiner's long-term relationship with the city. This enduring relationship began in earnest in 1977 with an engagement at the Centre for Experimental Art and Communication (CEAC), where he created one of his earliest sound-work installations.
Curated by Gregory Burke, Director of The Power Plant
Lead Donor:
Albert and Temmy Latner Family Foundation
Smokestack Commission Support Donors:
Michael F. B. Nesbitt
Victoria Webster & Gabe Gonda
CAREY YOUNG, 'Counter Offer'
Drawing together works in video, photography, text and performance, 'Counter Offer' presents an overview of Carey Young's witty and insightful explorations of corporate and legal culture. For the past decade Young has investigated art's links with global commerce, together with legacies of Conceptual art and institutional critique. Immersing herself in the business and legal worlds, Young examines them from the inside out. As such Young makes no claims to an outsider status, but teases out her own, her viewers' and her host organizations' complicity with corporate values and processes as a way to discuss ideas of critical distance.
The video I Am a Revolutionary (2001) shows a motivational trainer coaching Young to sound like a convincing 'radical'. In Product Recall (2007) we see the artist in a psychotherapy session attempting to match advertising slogans about creativity with their respective global brands. Notions of listening, learning and speaking figure in other key works. For the public speaking project Speechcraft (2007 and ongoing) Young collaborates with a Toronto Toastmasters club. Meanwhile the video Everything You've Heard is Wrong (1999) shows Young trying to lead a corporate communication skills workshop at Speaker's Corner.
Carey Young (born in 1970, in Lusaka, Zambia, lives in London, UK) has exhibited widely, recently with a solo show at Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (2007) and Thomas Dane Project Space, London (2008). 'Counter Offer' is her first solo show in Canada.
Curated by Senior Curator of Programs, Helena Reckitt
Carey Young 'Counter Offer' Support Sponsor:
Aylesworth LLP
Carey Young 'Counter Offer' additionally supported by:
Charter Communications
Details.
All Systems Go: Recovering Jack Burnham’s ‘Systems Aesthetics’
Luke Skrebowski
Extract:
I want to argue that we might think systems theory (as mediated to the art world by Burnham’s systems aesthetics) as a productive methodological framework for considering postformalist art as a whole. 14 As Pamela Lee has recently reminded us: ‘systems theory was applied to emerging forms of digital media ... but it also served to explain art not expressly associated with technology today: conceptual art and its linguistic propositions, site-specific work and its environmental dimensions, performance art and its mattering of real time, minimalism even.’15 Although Burnham used concepts drawn from technoscience in his theorisation of postformalist art, I want to insist that this is not the same thing as advocating art that simply dramatises scientific or technical development (a position he has unjustly, but perhaps to some degree understandably, come to be associated with).
More.
Luke Skrebowski
Extract:
I want to argue that we might think systems theory (as mediated to the art world by Burnham’s systems aesthetics) as a productive methodological framework for considering postformalist art as a whole. 14 As Pamela Lee has recently reminded us: ‘systems theory was applied to emerging forms of digital media ... but it also served to explain art not expressly associated with technology today: conceptual art and its linguistic propositions, site-specific work and its environmental dimensions, performance art and its mattering of real time, minimalism even.’15 Although Burnham used concepts drawn from technoscience in his theorisation of postformalist art, I want to insist that this is not the same thing as advocating art that simply dramatises scientific or technical development (a position he has unjustly, but perhaps to some degree understandably, come to be associated with).
More.
The Aesthetics of Intelligent Systems
by Jack Burnham
in On the Future of Art (New York: Viking Press, 1970), pages 95-122
Online here.
by Jack Burnham
in On the Future of Art (New York: Viking Press, 1970), pages 95-122
Online here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
