Unfortunately, this launch is cancelled due to the covid-19 restrictions. We plan to re-schedule this in February. Please check this page for updates.
Location: VU Art Science Gallery, Amsterdam
In this issue of Kunstlicht, the reader is invited to investigate how zero has captured the imagination of scientists and philosophers alike. This issue of Kunstlicht compliments the exhibition 0 Starting from Zero, which features the artworks of Jennifer Tee, Jan Robert Leegte, Evelina Domnitch & Dmitry Gelfand and Nicky Assmann, who visualise various aspects of the number zero. The contributions in this issue philosophically expand on the concept of sūnya and zero even further, whilst simultaneously interpreting this concept as a void and /or a fullness.
The contributors to this issue delve into the complexity of zero from several perspectives, enquiring about social structures, digital constructs, systems of perceptions, and the fields of contemplation and observation. The reader is thus encouraged to approach the concept of zero as a liminal space that overcomes the boundaries between art, philosophy, and science, opening to interdisciplinary analysis.
Please join us for an afternoon in the VU Art Science Gallery, amidst the exhibition that inspired it all. This launch is hosted by the guest editor of this issue, Maria Chiara Miccoli, and Kunstlicht’s editors-in-chief, Joyce Poot and Anna Sejbæk Torp-Pedersen.
JENNIFER TEE, ATOMS SERIES #2, 2016, HAHNEMÜHLE MUSEUM ETCHING PAPER, 350 GMS (FRAMED), 66,5 X 66,5 CM (EACH). EDITION OF 3. COURTESY GALERIE FONS WELTERS, AMSTERDAM. PHOTO GERT JAN VAN ROOIJ. RISO RENDER FOR KUNSTLICHT COVER BY RISOWISO.
We’re happy to announce the launch of the new issue of Kunstlicht at Framer Framed on October 16th at 19:30. The issue is titled The Worldliness of Oil: Recognition and Relations, and delves into how oil continues to shape individual experiences and national identities, propelling conflict and creating disparate economic opportunities.
Date: Saturday October 16th Time: 19.30h Register here for free
In this double issue of Kunstlicht, the reader is invited to investigate the (parallel or displaced in time) relations between, and experiences of, oil nations, or petrostates, if you will. These are countries that are marinating in resources, but also deeply entrenched and engaged in resource conflicts and wars. Those who live on and support themselves off the lands and oceans are directly impacted by this industry, and consequently its economy and politics. The contributors to this issue delve into these complex cultural fields from a wide range of perspectives relating to the past, present and future.
During this launch Kunstlicht will present a reading from Clementine Edwards, and speak with artist Tanja Engelberts and writer Niloufar Nematollahi, all introduced by the guest editors and curators Anne Szefer Karlsen and Helga Nyman. Please join us for an evening in the name of the experiences of oil hosted by Kunstlicht’s editors-in-chief, Joyce Poot and Anna Sejbæk Torp-Pedersen.
Clementine Edwards is a Rotterdam- and Naarm/Melbourne-based artist who works across sculpture, film, performance, writing and jewellery. Her ongoing research line is material kinship, which she locates in the context of climate colonialism. Soon Clementine publishes The Material Kinship Reader, co-edited by Kris Dittel. clementineedwards.com.
Tanja Engelberts is currently a resident at the Rijksakademie voor beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. She graduated from a master fine art at Chelsea College of Art & Design after studying sculpture and monumental arts in both the Netherlands and Japan. Her works are included in the collections (a.o.) of Clifford Chance (UK), Nationale Nederlanden (NL) and the Ucross Foundation (USA).
Helga Nyman is an art historian and curator at Stavanger Art Museum, Norway.
Niloufar Nematollahi is a Rotterdam-based artist and researcher currently studying Middle Eastern studies and international relations. Intrigued by the intersections between culture and politics, Nematollahi studies artifacts such as stories and propaganda in order to construct a truthful representation of people’s entanglements with political dynamics of all sorts. Currently, Nematollahi’s research focuses on the links between the Iranian oil industry, labor movements, and resistance literature in the south of Iran.
Anne Szefer Karlsen is a curator, writer, editor and Professor of Curatorial Practice, currently programme director for MA Curatorial Practice at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen, Norway.
Ruby de Vos is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen, where she is finishing her PhD “Living with Toxicity: Toxic Temporalities in Contemporary Art and Literature”. She writes about art for various platforms, and has curated, among others, Mngrv by Susanne Kriemann at Galerie Block C in 2020, and After Hiroshima: Cultural Responses to the Atomic Bomb, a cultural week about nuclear weapons at various locations in Groningen in 2019.
With thanks to Felix Meritis and their Cultural Emergency Hospital. Felix Meritis opens their doors to make their corona-proof facilities available to other cultural institutions or artists who are also struggling due to corona, but want to keep creating. To support that, they are offering our facilities free of charge. That way, Felix Meritis allows others to catch their artistic breaths right in the beautiful center of Amsterdam.
We are very excited to announce that on June 11, we will host a livestreamed launch of our newest issue Spellbound as part of Felix Meritis’ program Cultural Emergency Hospital.
This issue focusses on rituals and magical practices within contemporary art and visual culture. Join us online for an evening full of artists’ performances, a studio visit and two presentations from contributing writers, and hopefully a bit of enchantment.
The Magical theme related to ‘spells’ is understood in the widest interpretation possible, as something supernatural, something which goes beyond traditions of rationale or logic. And importantly, Magic also is understood in this issue as something which is at the heart of rationale and logic itself, undermining these epistemologies’ promised security. Why, when, and how do we cast spells? What spells do we need right now? The issue is filled to the brim with contributions answering, nuancing, and broadening our scope.
The language of this program is English. The link to the livestream can be found on this page on the day of the event.
This program is part of the Cultural Emergency Hospital of Felix Meritis: Felix Meritis opens their doors to make their corona-proof facilities available to other cultural institutions or artists who are also struggling due to corona, but want to keep creating. To support that, they are offering our facilities free of charge. That way, Felix Meritis allows others to catch their artistic breaths right in the beautiful center of Amsterdam.
Femmy Otten, detail of “Ontklede dagen”, 2015-2016. Riso print by Riso Wiso, Arnhem.
Off the back of the publication of Kunstlicht 41.4: Assessing Risk: Strategies for Health, Safety and Welfare Within Arts practice, guest editors Eloise Sweetman and Isabelle Sully bring an audiojournal to the airwaves—a play on the audiobook given that, in this case, the form is a peer-review journal and the audio translations of the original content are journalistic and journal-esque in nature. This audiojournal has been made in collaboration with Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee. Listen to it here or scroll down to find it embedded. It was launched on May 3 to the the testing sound of the Dutch national nation-wide alarm.
When Sweetman and Sully published the open call for the issue in August of 2020, the aim was to propose different definitions of ‘safe’ and ‘risk’ to work with. For example, within the field of art, how might we come to a mutual and workable understanding of these two terms across so many different agendas and personal experiences and needs? Yet since October 2020, when the first contributions were submitted, a lot has changed. And even before that, back when they first set to work on the topic, neither the editors nor the contributors could have foreseen how timely the topic of safety would become in our lives.
As such, by taking into account the developments of recent events—both locally and internationally—this podcast reflects on what has happened since the issue went to print, translating different forms of contributions to their aural counterpart and inviting you to listen along to what has since been written between the lines. Given that a very real threat to our safety—that of Covid-19—prevented a more traditional launch event, what is presented here could be heard as a launch of sorts. Alongside reflections from the co-editors, the episode includes contributions from artist Anna Daučíková, artist and technician Mark Friedlander, researcher and educator Tom Clark, curator and philosopher Srajana Kaikini and artist Lee Kit.
Image: A pair of medical grip socks (photo taken by Isabelle Sully)
Artist / Organisation: Kunstlicht
Location of the show: Rotterdam, Birmingham, Melbourne, Prague, the west coast of India and Hong Kong
Host: Collette Rayner
Producer: Monty Mouw, Radna Rumping, Joshua Sweetman
Length: 40 min
Language: English
Our brilliant guest editors, Isabelle Sully and Eloise Sweetman, have joined our editorial board guiding us through concerns and issues regarding the structures of the art world and their impact on the production of works of art. Under the banner of ‘risk and safety,’ we have discussed how such measures are mended to protect or challenge a variety of actors and circumstances of this small universe. This issue was proposed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic rendering our realities unrecognizable and it does not consider the impact this has had on the many labourers of the ‘art world.’ However, the questions it raises pertains to past and current streams of critical thought on this topic. Whose safety do we protect? At what ‘cost’ do we take a risk?A postcard insert with a photograph by the artist Lee Kit will accompany the first 100 copies of the journal. On this image, a soft fabric flag wavers in the wind during a protest in Hong Kong, and the same flag has been reproduced on the cover of this issue of Kunstlicht.
p. 9. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN REPRESENTATION AND DOMINATION, OR… WHY WE DO NOT WANT A GOVERNMENT THAT SAYS WHAT IT MEANS, AND MEANS WHAT IT SAYS – Elizabeth Newman
p. 16. GUIDANCE NOTE 3: MARK FRIEDLANDER
p. 17. RISK DIALOGUES – Mark Friedlander
p. 24. GUIDANCE NOTE 4: ANNA DAUČÍKOVÁ
p. 25. ARTIST CONTRIBUTION: UNTITLED [FIRST AID] (1995) – Anna Daučíková
p. 30. GUIDANCE NOTE 5: AMY GOWEN
p. 31. TO PERMEATE THE WALLS AND FLOORS: THE COHABITATION OF VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE INFRASTRUCTURES IN SMALL-SCALE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS – Amy Gowen
p. 40. GUIDANCE NOTE 6: JOSEPH GRIGELY
p. 41. ARTIST CONTRIBUTION: FUCK YOU (2020), BE NICE (2020) – Joseph Grigely
p. 44. GUIDANCE NOTE 7: SRAJANA KAIKINI
p. 45. THE AESTHETICS OF RISK IN ARTISTIC PRACTICE: WHAT IS AT STAKE? – Srajana Kaikini
p. 54. GUIDANCE NOTE 8: VALENTINA CURANDI
p. 55. ARTIST CONTRIBUTION: THIS LABOUR (THAT) IS NOT MEANT TO BE SECURED: A PROPOSITION OF BEQUEATHMENT (2020) – Valentina Curandi
p. 64. GUIDANCE NOTE 9: LEE KIT
p. 65. ARTIST CONTRIBUTION: HAND-PAINTED CLOTH USED AS FLAG (2004) – Lee Kit
p. 66. GUIDANCE NOTE 10: TOM CLARK
p. 67. THE MAINTAINER AND THE ROGUE READER – Tom Clark
