31.5.10

Hanno Rauterberg: Protected by pictures (06/11/2009) - signandsight

Hanno Rauterberg: Protected by pictures (06/11/2009) - signandsight

Protected by pictures

An interview with Ai Weiwei in the cellar of Munich's Haus der Kunst, where the artist was preparing to turn the place into a battlefield. With Hanno Rauterberg

What would megalomaniac modesty look like? Is there such a thing as relaxed rebellion? A state of peace which is all get-up-and-go? Well Ai Weiwei certainly exists. An artist who is not afraid to take on the mightiest of enemies, the dictators in Beijing. Who demands democracy at the top of his voice, freedom of speech, equal rights for all! Who refuses to be silenced, even if they lock him up, even if the police break down his door in the middle of the night and beat him to the ground, as they did just recently. He kept up the protest , even as the blood pured down his face, pulling out his camera and photographing the the police as they carried him off. It looks likes a family outing. The whole world should see this image: the terror and the un-terrified.

China's unfinished ghost town - Video News Live

China's unfinished ghost town - Video News Live

9.5.10

Acconci en AI Wewei

Acconci Studio and Ai Weiwei: A Collaborative Project
8 May – 4 July 2010

Finissage: Saturday, 3 July 2010, 7pm

Para/Site Art Space
G/F, 4 Po Yan Street, Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
www.para-site.org.hk

Curator: Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya

Para/Site Art Space presents a collaborative new project by Acconci Studio and Ai Weiwei. This is the first time that both artists create a work together, and for this purpose they have been invited by Para/Site Art Space to use Hong Kong as the background of this exciting experience.

This exhibition engages two artists/architects with parallel trajectories, having both started from an interest in performance, and moved later on to architecture. These "touching points" in both of them will act as common ground to develop a new body of works. This innovative approach to exhibition making can only be practiced at an organization like Para/Site Art Space that operates independently without the constraints of larger organizations. Both artists have never met before, although they mutually admire each other, making this cooperative process a sort of "blind date" for the artists. The project transforms the gallery space into a 3D grid, where both studios develop a work in progress. The installation will be in constant mutation and accumulation during the two months that it is open to the public. New works, models, drawings and various materials are added through the period of the exhibition, and it is the result of the ongoing discussion between Ai Weiwei, Vito Acconci and their studios. The result is a multilayered installation that defies orthodox definitions and approaches.

Vito Acconci started writing in the 60s poetry in New York. In 1967 he founded the influential 0 to 9 magazine. He performed his "Following Pieces" in 1969. Throughout his career, text has been playing a pivotal role in his works. Performances were documented, filmed and registered as part of this process. In the 70s Vito Acconci's work explored the use of public space in order to search for a wider social context. In 1988 he founded Acconci Studio, an architectural practice that included architects and artists working under this framework. Acconci Studio works towards the development of public commissions constructing a critique of architecture and public space.

Ai Weiwei is widely recognized as one of the most influential artists from his generation. He has engaged in design, architecture, curating, writing and publishing. Ai Weiwei states "I'm my own readymade", with reference to Marcel Duchamp. He currently operates also with FAKE Design, his own company and works within a team. His political activism has made him a household name.

Public programme: Talk by Hans Ulrich Obrist on art and architecture.

A DVD with the conversation between Vito Acconci and Ai Weiwei is available at Asia Art Archive.

About Para/Site
Para/Site Art Space is a contemporary art space located in Hong Kong Island and founded in 1996. We host an ambitious programme of exhibitions, screenings, talks and events that bring into Hong Kong some of the leading practitioners in the international arena, encourage the visibility of artists from Hong Kong, and facilitate East-West dialogue. We have a satellite venue located at Hanart TZ Gallery which showcases a younger generation of artists.

Para/Site Art Space manages also a Curatorial Training Programme, generously funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. This is the only programme of this nature that focuses on East and Southeast Asia. Former lecturers have included Hu Fang, Jens Hoffman, Charles Merewether or Jun Yap.

Para/Site Art Space has organized the official representation of Hong Kong in Venice Biennial in years 2003 and 2009, has also participated in Gwangju Biennial, Guangzhou Triennial, among others. Para/Site Art Space exhibitions and programmes have traveled to Germany, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia.

Para/Site Art Space is run by a Executive Director/Curator, a Manager, a Programme Coordinator and an Education and Development Officer and governed by a board of directors. Para/Site is supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council as well as vital contributions from patrons and Founding Friends of Para/Site.

For media contact, please contact:
Dominique Chiu
Email: dominique@para-site.org.hk
Tel: +852 2517 4620

communication is not connection

Communication ≠ Connection

One of the great mysteries of our time—besides the reason why the United States is still in Iraq after seven years, the magical thinking that enabled banks around the world to sell bad debts as good investments, and perhaps we can add here the enduring significance of Jeff Koons—is how the ever-expanding methods by which we communicate with one another—from cell phones to SMS, from e-mail to Twitter, from Facebook to Chatroulette—are alienating us from others and ourselves. (...)

But having more social contacts has not made for stronger social bonds. All the texting and friending may expand the number of people in one’s life, but the links do not enrich the quality of the arrangements. Common interests bring people together. But what keeps them together is neither common nor easy. It takes an evolving awareness of the differences that naturally develop between two individuals, and a commitment to allow those differences to take root, so that common connections grow into singular bonds. The open secret to this process is time, the only dimension capable of registering the moments and ruptures that define the growth of an individual abiding an unbridgeable difference to become one for the other.

zie: Paul Chan
The Unthinkable Community

http://www.e-flux.com/journal/view/144

BETREFT ONDERZOEK

Dag allemaal,

Ik wil hier even kort ingaan op Samira's opmerking omtrent het werkweekend dat we voorzien in het verkiezingsweekend.
Samira's vraag lijkt me niet onterecht. Het is momenteel nog wat (te) vaag. Ik was trouwens van plan om deze week terug erin te vliegen (nu mijn huis eindelijk te koop staat... en de werf begonnen is) en de komende maand al converserend/met visuele documentatie te komen tot een sterk uitgangspunt voor samenwerking.
Dus hier volgt opnieuw een aanzet:

Ons project is een onderzoeksproject. Dat wil zeggen dat we iets onderzoeken in relatie tot Ai Weiwei (tot zijn werk, tot China) middels artistiek onderzoek: een conversatie met Ai Weiwei's werk die liefst 'diepgaand' is en de gelaagdheid (formeel/maatschappelijk/politiek/lokaal/globaal) 'meeneemt'. Misschien moeten wel letterlijk deze vragen aan onze eigen maaksels stellen: wat heeft dit vormelijk, maatschappelijk, politiek, globaal, lokaal (China/Belgische context) te vertellen?

Ons project is een groepsonderzoek. Dat wil zeggen dat interactie (op verschillende vlakken) een basisconditie is. Vraag is hoe deze alle potentie van de groep aanboort om te komen tot interactie die het onderzoek in relatie tot AI Weiwei versterkt.

Ik denk dat we momenteel in een faze zitten dat we verschillende werkwijzen moeten uitproberen. (Misschien moet ik daarbij meer coachend en instructiever zijn?)

Momenteel zijn we allemaal individueel aan de slag gegaan. Ik denk dat het visueel documenteren van die verschillende pistes zeer belangrijk is en ook zeker wat zal opleveren. Ook al omdat dit meestal processen, randinformatie en relaties (op visueel niveau) blootlegt. Het geeft de groep ook meer de kans om visueel en via schrift commentaar bij elkaars werk te leveren, aan te vullen, voorstellen te doen.(maar dan altijd met de link Ai Weiwei in het achterhoofd!?) Het lijkt me zeker mogelijk om te kijken of we op metaniveau de verschillende pistes kunnen kaderen (ook dit is een vorm van maken! eentje die mij wel aanspreekt maar ze is trager omdat iedereen ook een duidelijk individuele piste uitzet)

Letterlijk samen maken is een andere piste (zoals Johan voorstelde): werk van Ai Weiwei in groep interpretatief her/nieuw/maken (daar komt het voorstel van Johan eigenlijk op neer). Het interessante is dat je dan zeer expliciet met twee polen werkt (het werk van AI Weiwei - onze keuzen en de interpretatie die meteen opduikt).
Misschien is het interessant om tijdens het werkweekend zo een drietal gezamenlijke pistes te openen waarop we ons dan met de groep concentreren. Ondertussen zouden we met ons visueel documentatiemateriaal aan de slag kunnen gaan (groepen, annoteren van fotomateriaal, aanvullen: een soort van database uitwerken).
Ik denk dat dit zeker veel zal opleveren voor ons onderzoek.

Denk hier alvast eens over na en laten we hierover discussiƫren via mail of onze blog!
Ik vraag alvast een volmacht voor mezelf en Filip en begin de zoektocht naar een lokaal.
Veel groeten,

Lieve