MANIFESTO

One day a man walked to his office and on his way he ran into another man who just bought a Polish baguette and was now on his way home.

And that was all.

Daniil Charms

Polish baguettes are the worst baguettes in the whole wide world:

- they are brown

- they smell

- their long shape is too long

- brown is the ugliest color

- smelling pollutes the nose

- with anything that is too long you are likely to hit people

The Awakening of The Bride

Arrival of the procession. Shouting

Get up! Guitars made out of old hats.

A dog dancing with her fiancé.

Erik Satie

Dogs are the most hideous animals:

- they are brown

- they smell

- when dancing with a human, their shape is too long

- brown is the ugliest color

- smelling pollutes the nose

-with anything that is too long you are likely to hit people

Diary assignment + visit Hayward Gallery, British Art Show, in the days of the comet

Diary

Wednesday

16 February 2011

When I woke up this morning, the two small marbles staring at me in the mirror told me this was going to be a long day. My bike ride to the University took me very long although my watch didn’t tell me anything different than normal.

During the class in the morning the subject ‘diaries’ made me think of a specific work of the artist Sophie Calle, the break-up letter, an email her ex-boyfriend send her to break up their relationship. This letter was hanging on the toilet door in my previous flat in Amsterdam. Everyone who ever visited me and used the toilet, made a comment about this piece of writing. Was it my own??

To me it is as if Calle surrenders herself to the world outside her ad involves you in it. But once you are involved, you ask yourself, what to do with it? Hang it on the door of the toilet…? That was my reaction, to have the opportunity to read the same text over and over, to unravel the words.

Also I found a note on the doormat today (written by hand):

MISSING: HUGE

BLACK + WHITE CAT

please check your

gardens/sheds/garages/

houses

his name is SANCHEZ

and he is MASSIVE

we are really worried

--

Flat 2, 85 Downs Road

077818 006665

There is a magazine that exists out of found notes, called Found. It's interesting to see what people leave behind and how others interpret and categorize it. This particular note for me is about the feeling of missing (one of the worst feelings, especially when you wait for the other to come back.)

http://www.foundmagazine.com

Thursday

17 February 2011

Today I received an email from an artist friend who is going to participate in a land-art project in France. She has just decided what work she will be installing there: a reproduction of a Dutch garden of 5.6x8 meters, this is typically included in the design of the newly built houses in specific residential area’s called Vinex. By placing a fence of specific measurements in a farmer’s field where the horizon is the curve of the planet, she plays with the experience of the open space and the changing perspective on a garden.

Friday

18 February 2011

After waking up in the early morning, I hopped on my bike to work and with a cheerful mood I finished 5 hours later. I decided to go to the Hayward Gallery on the Southbank. It took me about 15 minutes to get there and with big expectations I entered the gallery.

These big expectations have developed after seeing the show in the Royal Academy of Arts. Since the Hayward and the Royal Academy have a similar subjects of their current exhibitions: British Art Show, In the Days of the Comet vs Modern British Sculpture, it made me expect a similar approach. But nothing is less true. As the overview of Modern British Sculpture is well presented in a chronological way, throughout the Victorian halls of the Royal Academy, so are the art works in the big open halls of the Hayward Gallery curated without any apparent structure.

I can imagine, that the curators of the Hayward Gallery had no wish to do a chronological show, but it doesn’t hurt to create some kind coherence in a space that isn’t the easiest to show art in. I got lost in this show and I didn’t feel like staying there for long. I even started questioning why I liked the works of artists I adored long before this exhibition. Instead of the presentation of the show being a complement to the work, it seemed to be the opposite.

And WHERE did that weird smell come from?

Saturday

19 February 2011

The morning showed me nothing but grey clouds and drops of rain, so today the bikes were staying inside and my boyfriend and I decided to take the bus, down to St. Pauls to make a visit to the Tate Modern’s collection. I realized that I had never taken a close look to the collection of the biggest museum in the UK.

Entering the museum we decided to go to the 5th floor, where we weren’t disappointed by the famous artists names and works. But when walking through the room filled with sculptures, we disliked the amount that made the giant space feel small. The explaining tags on the wall next to the works weren’t our favorite either, though the ‘background information’ tags were written quite different from the general ones, interesting and useful.

The high point of this visit for me was when we stepped into the Hoffmann Gallery. Three sculptures were installed of which two from Luciano Fabro, it felt like seeing an artwork for the first time again, it was inspiring, surprising and amazing. As if I hadn’t been walking around for half an hour seeing all these other works, but this to be the only purpose for my visit.

Maybe it was meant to be, since the name of this room was Hoffmann, only two letters away from being a part of my surname.

Sunday

20 February 2011

The Sunday is very different from all the other days in the week. For example the traffic, the Sunday traffic. Cars drive faster than usual, less careful and do not pay any attention to cyclists at all. This made the uphill bike ride to the highest part of London, Hampstead Heath, not the most fun. But it was rewarding, this foggy, gloomy day gave the hills a mystique feeling. It covered the view of London and I can imagine artists being inspired by this place, the sublime of the nature. This mystical feeling made me and my boyfriend talk about death and love, which are probably the two most used subjects in every form of art.

Caspar David Friedrich- Monk by Sea

Hampstead Heath – Sunday 20 February

Monday

21 February 2011

Monday, the first day of the week, but not the first Monday when I wake up saying the words ‘stupid Monday’. But, after getting up on time and having to be at the Chisenhale Gallery at 10:30 which is just 15 minutes by bike, instead of at Uni at 10:00 (23 min. by bike) I felt quite relaxed. The Chisenhale Gallery in East London is now showing works of Daniel Sinsel, but our visit didn’t have anything to do with his work, but with what the director had to say about the gallery to give us a broader idea of what type of institute the Chisenhale is.

From there I cycled to Uni because at 2pm my class would meet and discuss the new developments of the exhibition we are curating in April. I wonder if working with 11 people on one exhibition will end up the right way. I might propose to work in smaller groups to discuss subjects quicker and more thorough, afterwards we can discuss the outcome in a bigger group meeting.

After being a bit drained of this meeting, the bike was my friend for emptying my mind and taking me to the Hayward Gallery, again. This time with the whole class and we would discuss the exhibition after viewing it. Funnily enough, there were more people with the same opinion about the exhibition as mine, what I wrote down on Friday. Others noticed even the weird smell.

Tuesday

22 February 2011

Today I have been working, all day. From 11 a.m. when my bike and me arrived in Soho until 10:30 p.m. when I left the same place called Humus Bros.

Modern British Sculpture - Royal Academy

10 February 2011

The exhibition in the Royal academy of arts was very enjoyable. The amazing gallery spaces definitely complemented the British sculptures. The wall texts guided you trough the exhibition with not too much text, but enough to learn and understand the context of the works. The same can be said about the amount of works in the exhibition, not too many but enough to have an interesting overview.

I do think it's a shame I couldn't take any photo's (as in most of the galleries), because I have forgotten what the lighting was like. I believe it was fairly classic, but did the job very well since the exhibition is an historical overview.

Phillipe Parreno - Serpentine Gallery

21 January 2011

The space of the inside and outside of the gallery was involved in this exhibition of Parreno's video installation, it was a part of it.

The spaces were modified for the purpose of the films, but in my perception also to show the space of the gallery.

There are resemblances between the South london Gallery, who was showing films of Manon de Boer, and the films of Parenno. The content of both works were about something more abstract, untouchable and not straightforward. The films were about something that wasn't literally imagined in visual or audio aspects.

The quality of the projections were both nearly as good as in the cinema. There seemed to be no limit on the technical quality of the display.

Another resemblance between these two galleries was, the fact that they lead you trough their gallery with films of approximately 10 minutes each. And even though the Serpentine is a bigger gallery, they showed about the same amount of films as the SLG.

To go back to the show of Parreno in the Serpentine.

The films seemed to complement the space, (or the other way around?)

The first film of the children demonstrating and shouting 'THERE IS NO REALITY' was shown in the smallest space of the 4, no windows near, no notion of the outside. By making this decision, showing images of the street in this particular space, the outside world enters the context of the inside.

The 3rd film (see photo's) was shown in a high space on a very big screen with alienating elements in the story. The space and size of the screen overwhelmed the viewer.

The 'straightforward' rectangle shaped rooms with windows of which the blinds closed before the film started, had screenings of films that had a kind of narrative to them. You were left in the dark, but in the end there was light again, with the snow outside and fake condensation spots on the windows which were actually glass engravings.

1st Thursdays - Melí Meló

January

Melí Meló

This gallery has opened recently and there are some young guys running the place. One of the guys gave me their email address when I seemed sincerely interested in the works they were displaying. I might contact them to ask more about who they are and how they work.

20 artworks of big variety were displayed, there were about 16 artists.

1st Thursdays -Studio 1.1. (Redchurch street)

3 January

Studio 1.1

The first space were the most people are drinking their 1,50 beers is where the paintings are displayed, almost covering the walls from bottom to top. There is another smaller space on you way to buy your beer, where the displayed works were more interesting.

1st Thursdays - Maurice Einhardt Neu Gallery, London

3 January

I WANT TO FUCK YOU

Maurice Einhardt Neu Gallery, London

I would not want to call this art. These works are entertainment, you can walk passed them and the image moves, in this case half naked woman in a sexy pose or saying something supposedly sexy. The space were it was displayed was too small, you couldn't take a distance without bumping in to someone else. I did like that the walls were painted black.

1st Thursdays - Tintype (Redchurch street)

3 January 2011

Tintype

Tintype on Redchurch street is back to just one small gallery space, which is a shame. I find their selection of artworks always quite interesting. This time they mainly had artists that made collages and drawings. It is the attention that is enclosed in this work that attracts me to them. When having a chat with the woman from the gallery she told me that she had selected the works and that they were all London based except for one, which could be useful for our own exhibition in April or other future exhibitions.

At the same time I am very aware that the type of works is brave, you will find a type of aesthetics return in most of the works. But in a street as Redchurch street with some other galleries that show more spectaculair works Tintype contains its own value.

Sheela Gowda - Rivington Place

3 February 2011

I always find it interesting how the small space before you enter the bigger gallery space in Rivington Place is used. This time photo's of carved stumps hang at the top of the walls touching the ceiling. The space was separated by small strokes hanging from the ceiling with leaving a decided space left to pass to the next space.

Sheela Gowda uses the entire big gallery space for her sculptures that form one installation work. Also upstairs, although that work wasn't as strong as the work downstairs. The reason for this could be because of the colours and lighting in the room.

Manon de Boer - South London Gallery

20 January 2011

There were 4 gallery spaces where video and audio works of Manon de Boer were shown. None of the works had an obvious narrative.

In each of the gallery rooms where the films were shown, was different device for projecting the film.

On the photo's below you can see the 8mm projector, the blurry photo is a projector inside a wooden box, the last 2 photo's are of the space downstairs where a new electrical projector projected the films on the screens.

The exhibition was not only about what you could see or hear, the display of the works was carefully done and added to the interpretation of the work.

Erik van Lieshout - Hayward Gallery

20 January 2011

Erik van Lieshout's work in the project space of the Hayward Gallery fitted very well. He had transformed the space, as far as possible, and his colour-full aesthetic signature was present as always.

Susan Philipsz - Surround Me (city of london), December 2010

The work of Susan Philipsz in the City of London during the weekends impressed me. It is a completion to the abandoned public space, for just 2 days before it gets busy again. An experience.

I wonder if the role of the curator is solely to provide the opportunity for the artist to use this part of the city, to sort out the practical elements in dialogue with the artist.

Essay - The Beloved Object

‘The beloved object’

Soapy Jesus

Soapy Jesus is a novelty bathroom toiletry, it contains a mix of bath and shower gel. Its packaging is in the shape of a figure with an image on one side. The image itself is an illustration of Jesus Christ, depicted in this case using a minimalist comic style of only a few colours and prominent outlines to give form to this iconic figure.

Over the course of the last two and a half years i have moved house several times, this object has accompanied me throughout the journey and as such holds a special place in my heart. As it is a novelty item and in an effort to exploit its ironic nature, i mainly kept soapy Jesus in the bathroom, either on the sink or near the shower head, not to be used, just to be seen.

In religious context, the Jesus figure is admired and worshiped by many. But i believe soapy Jesus in its current context, is not to be taken seriously at all. To support this i observe a two key features; the nature of the object itself is amusing and very out of context, also the style of the illustration creates a caricature of Jesus Christ himself and his iconic status in history.

As this soap packaging links the image of Jesus Christ with the mundane task of having a shower, it effects its biblical status. The image of Jesus Christ doesn’t evoke any deep religious thoughts or obligations within me, however i do respect his stature within religious context and its influence over our society. To enhance an objects or images meaning, it should be shown in a context that compliments it.

This can be compared with art. Some artists try to create a feeling of unease by changing the context in which an object is placed, in an effort to paint the object in a different light, for example, turning the image of Jesus Christ into a novelty toiletry.

This is why i have chosen this object. My soapy Jesus. It evokes all the above feelings in me every time it catches my eye in the bathroom. It inspires me to look out for more of those little novelty items that you would normally disregard as common tack!

Essay - The Object

14 October 2010

Sir John Soane Museum

My Object:

It’s a sculpture of a human figure, in my opinion a woman, roughly about 1m in hight. The width changes when looking from the front of the sculpture, getting wider from the feet to where the elbows touch her body, that being the widest point, from there it gets smaller again to the top of the crown she’s wearing. The eyes of the sculpture are staring openly into the distance. The face, neck, hands and a part of the feet are black, probably made from a very hard type of black stone or black marble. The rest of the sculpture is made from white marble with signs of slight aging.

The white marble part of the sculpture suggests a dress that is draped over her body, it covers the figure from neck to feet, her arms are covered until just after the elbow. The back of the sculpture or the back of the dress, has some folds that suggest a type of soft fabric as it is very smooth overall. The crown that she's wearing on her head, has a round shape like most crowns have and resembles closely the crown on the queen chess piece.

A veil is attached to the crown that rests on her shoulders, between the veil and the head are 6 miniature animals, 3 either side of her head. These animal shaped miniatures are about 3cm tall and protrude from the sculpture, they look like the gargoyles from the Notre Dame cathedral and make the shape of her veil look like a pair of wings resembling Dumbo the flying elephant.

Below the neck and around the chest area of the sculpture there is an oval shaped plate with an embossing of a crest on it. The crest itself is made up of several figures and the top of the plate on which it is embossed intersects the neck line of the dress by roughly one third. The boarder of the oval plate is made up of small beads that get bigger from top to the bottom. At the top of the crest, near the border with the neck, there are two lions leaping, one on the left and one on the right, their faces are pointed toward each other. Below this there are two human figures, their faces also point towards each other. In-between them there is a wreath which they are both holding, below that we see the last figure, a crab, viewed from the top.

Looking at the arms of the statue, we can see that they are held by her side. They are bent at the elbow so that the forearm is pointing forwards. There are two miniature lion figures standing up straight on each forearm. The heads of the lions are facing the same direction as the statue. Back to the torso we see that below the crest there are oval rivets coming out of the marble hanging in 4 rows under each other. The top row has the biggest rivets following the border of the necklace, the rest of them go halfway around her waist and get smaller with every row.

We are now at the suggested hips of this sculpture, another pattern of the dress starts here that ends near her ankles. There are 23 images in 5 vertical rows that protrude slightly. Almost all of them look like animals or mystical creatures and I'm not a 100% sure if I identify them correctly. The middle row is unique, the ones left and right from the middle are mirrored. To start at the top of the row in the middle we see 3 animals that look like deer, on the 2nd row from the top there are 3 monkeys, below that 2 roe deer, then 1 kangaroo below that 1 eagle and on the last row 1 antelope. Starting at the top on the 2^nd vertical row we see a woman with big wings coming from her shoulders. Below that an oversized insect that has wings like a moth, a flower form follows and the insect and the flower form repeat after each other until the bottom of the dress. The 3^rd lane from the middle starts with a deer, followed by a monkey, then by an aries, the 4th and 5th are too damaged to see what it could be, the 6th is the flower shape again. The very last bit of the dress is pleated till halfway her feet.

Truman Brewery - Bespoke Creative

13 November 2010

Bike frame designs displayed in a raw space. Big windows, concrete floor, tl-light.

Creative display, very open system to hang the frames on, you can walk through it.

Hackney Stables

11 December 2010

Shop, exhibition space and gallery in one.

Clothes on clothing racks, design and for sale. Exhibition space because of the placements and choice of all the items in this nook. Cafe and gallery because of the paintings for sale, hanging on some of the walls and you could go up a couple steps to a kind of relax room to drink coffee as if you went back in time.

I wasn't allowed to take photo's but definitely worth making a visit.

http://hackneystables.wordpress.com/

Address:

Regent Studios, 3rd Floor

Hackney Stables
8 Andrews Road
London, E8 4QN

ICA -Bloomberg: The New Contemporaries

11 December 2010

There was one animation that I will remember the best of this exhibition.

It was projected on the wall you look at when coming in, on the top right corner. The other works were interesting as well, but this kept on distracting.

This exhibition's display is comparable with the one I forgot the name and place of at 1st Thursday's of December. Several disciplines combined in one space, dimmed light, the pleasant distance between one work and the other etc.

ICA - The Trouble with Curating

9 December 2010

Being part of the student forum of the ICA and informed of the activities in this gallery, The trouble with Curating seemed as one I must go to. Big names were to show up and it was said to be sold out.

Invited were:

- Penelope Curtis, director of Tate Britain

- Emily Pethick, director of the Showroom

- Steven Playton, artists and curator (interesting exhibition in Camden Arts Centre in 2007)

- Pavel Buchler, artists, writer, lecturer, curator.

Head of the MA Curating at Goldsmiths was leading the talk, but instead of giving it some depth it didn't go anywhere and didn't answer or posed any interesting questions.

What the trouble of curating is, or even why that was the subject of the evening wasn't clear. Pavel Buchler commented interestingly about the question 'Do we need curators?' that we should look at this question against the background of ' What is that we need them for?'.

The rest of the discussion was more about all the things a curator can do, the relationship between the collector (of a museum) and the exhibition maker (curator).

I should have had a starting point of what a curator is or can be to ask other questions than these and to discuss what the trouble is with curating?

White Cube (Hoxton Sq.) - Rachel Kneebone

(photo's are from the gallery space upstairs)

8 December 2010

The white cube walls turned grey with white ceramic works on plinths. You were lead around the sculptures that looked very fragile and tough at the same time. The floor space was quite empty and therefore open, hence the pedestals were square's or circle's of no more than .5m section or side and about 1.30m high.

I do wonder why the white cube, as a very popular gallery space, often shows very classical works 'with and edge', but that edge never seems to interest me that much.