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Björk, Death Grips, Alles, Nu.

‘the experience of the visual artwork is conceived as being a one-on-one experience,
unlike e.g. theater, which addresses the individual as part of a collective audience.’

quote from The Societal Efficacy of Art

De introductie van The Societal Efficacy of Art zette me al dusdanig aan het denken over de ervaring die diverse kunstvormen kunnen geven en de geijkte ervaring die een expositiebezoek heeft, dat ik deze quote even simpelweg moest noteren, delen (of hier bespreken).

Wat is de een-op-een ervaring? Is dat degene tussen het werk, de kunstenaar of het werk-in-de-ruimte en het individu? Hoe erg is deze een-op-een ervaring? Zorgt deze een-op-een ervaring ervoor dat de kloof tussen het (sociaal) dagelijks leven en kunst in stand blijft? Of maakt deze individualisering de kunst persoonlijker en daardoor sneller een onderdeel van je persoonlijke beleveniswereld?

Hierover hoop ik de komende tijd gedachtes te noteren na te blijven denken en standpunten tegen te komen. Voor nu lees en denk ik even verder.

Via via kwam ik op internet ​David Mulder tegen, een jongen die een jaar lang (van begin tot eind 2011) zijn leven turfde  – al zijn dagelijkse handelingen en omstandigheden. Van de bulk data die al dat turven heeft opgeleverd maakte digitale lijstjes die hij voor geïnteresseerde online beschikbaar maakte met de oproep hier naar te kijken en bij voorkeur te visualiseren.

Vanwege mijn interesse in datavisualisatie besloot ik de exel-bestanden te downloaden. In de hoop er iets te vinden wat mijn interesse wekt of me een leuk inzicht verschaft.

Teven besloot ik al mijn verdere stappen rond dit project (hier) te delen. Of ik uiteindelijk wat met deze informatie doe weet ik nog niet maar op deze manier blijft de reis (of schipbreuk) van de data net zo inzichtelijk als het leven in 2011 van David. Voor nu is het downloaden van de drie bestanden klaar en zal ik deze zo openen. Wordt hoe dan ook vervolgt…

While reading about the avant-gardes of the 20th century and their ambition I found their idea about the museum quite interesting.

‘The museum in particular was seen as the embodiment
of art’s exclusion from social life’

Made me think of the museums nowadays and I think, despite all their effort, this is still the case. How common it becomes to have a coffee at the cafeteria of your favorite museum or to join special events organized inside museums I think the gap is still there. This of course is, more than ever, the case with contemporary music venues. Can we say this is, and will always be the problem with the avant-gardes? Or is that too easy? This will be something I will think about the coming months and will share my thought here. You’re more than welcome to join the discussion and post your two cents.

In preparation of Hear It #2 Non-fiction has compiled a Spotify playlist with some of the artists who participate coming Thursday.

More about the event

For n8.nl I wrote a short post about the coming night.

Will be something special. If you’re near Amsterdam this Thursday I suggest you drop by to experience it.

Netherlands Media Art Institue closes at the end of 2012
Read more >>

The sixth FIBER podcast, the premiere of Urkelle, turns out to be perfect sundaynight tune. Deep and rich.

FIBER Podcast 06 – Urkelle by FIBER Festival

“Steve’s versatility however, does not only show through his music. After finding modern midi-controllers on the market not suitable for what he intended to do with them, he decided to create his own controllers. You can see some of them on his website.

Expect crisp and clear sounds, experimental beats and well designed synths that will make you want to move. It is almost impossible not to get carried away by his hypnotic rhythms.”

He will preform during the DAY program of the Fiber Festival Saturday. A must see (and get to know) if you’d ask me.

I find that more than any other festival or (media art) exhibition the main goal should be to amaze, surprise (and ideally connect). The goal should be to create a surrounding where everything looks possible, every object a new discovery. - Florian, in reaction to a quote by Peter Weibel in ‘A brief history of curating new media art’

The second edition of the Fiber festival next month this goal will exactly be the thing we’re aiming for. With the theme ‘Sharing Signals; enacting the in-between’, where we plan to let new perspectives and experiences emerge. With a mixture between a expo, day program filled with talks and performances and a highly visual club-night and the broad group of visitors it will attract all is there to create the surrounding where everything seems possible and every object a new discovery. Time to amaze (and for you to be amazed). Feel free to drop by 24.03. Fiberfestival.nl

Sammlung Boros
#357 of 815 things to do in Berlin according to the Lonely Planet
#01 on my things to do-list.

During my last trip to Berlin i finally managed to get a tour through one of Berlin’s most treasured private art collections, Sammlung Boros.

Within a massive old bunker Christian Boros gained a 3,000-square-meter space which he converted to exhibit his extensive collection. Side specific and well placed.

The combination of a really interesting look into the architecture and structure of this old bunker and the amazing art collection -with a great collection of works by Olafur Eliasson, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Terence Koh and Wolfgang Tillmans- makes it a must visit if you’re heading towards Berlin.

“Kann ich jedem der sich für Kunst interessiert empfehlen.”
Sammlung-Boros.de

A little later than the start of the show I walk into the theater Hebbel am Uffer, to slide directly in to the collective dream world of Grouper and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, that they named ‘Circular Veil’. A ‘seven-hour audio hypnosis, mirroring one full sleep cycle‘ where they will try to close ‘the gap between our own inner worlds and those of others, the paradoxical nature of a private space populated by ephemera that we are universally united in experiencing yet experience alone, such as dreams, memories, and emotions‘.

The atmosphere affects me immediately. I feel I’m moving slower through the darkened venue with blue light to the nearest beanbag on the floor. When I get up to find a place closer to the performers an hour appears to have gone by without me noticing it. Sliding into this collective dream state feels somehow familiar, save and warm. During the performance I move a couple of times, every hour or so, to see things close or to lay down and let the music take me away, away into the dreamworld.
Certainly a highlight of the festival and a very special experience.

Being an active Foursquare user and checking in more than frequently some of my check ins are more interesting than other. The onces I do on citytrip for example, but that’s mainly because I use those to advise friends, and import them to GoogleMaps. Every now and then there are memorable moments, like my last check in earlier today. The first time in my life I walked over the ice in town canals of Amsterdam. One I had to share with you guys aswell.

With an extensive program of concerts, discourses and an exhibition spaces my week will all be about music, art and Berlin.
With acts like Ben Frost, Grouper, Mark Fell, Mohn, Eleh, Mouse On Mars, oOoOO, Pole, Tim Hecker, Sendai, Mika Vainio.
Will be an amazing week.

“It’s like the last minute of a basketball game, when everyone finds this extra energy, and everything becomes manic and overtly physical and desperate. I wanted to make a piece that explored that kind of moment, but also opened it up and stretched it out to prolong it.” Ben Frost

Ps van de week.

Thursday another hero set foot in Bimhuis.
Raw, sonic and one of the best concerts yet.

After Bring Your Own Screen, it’s time to dive into the deep again for a new edition of the experiment “Bring Your Own’ which promises to be a real visual spectacle.

Every first Saturday of November Amsterdam museums stay open from 7pm until 2am for the annual Museum Night.
In preparation for this event I’ve been asked to write a blog on the exhibition and ‘museumnacht’ program of the Netherlands Media Art Institute at n8.nl

Although I wasn’t able to join anycitywhatever at Picnic
I was able to follow it through twitter. By doing that I came across
Hammersley’s beautiful quote about the city, or world, I’d like to live in.

It made me wonder about goals and aims, and I agree. It’s worth so much more
to build or create whatever you build or create for memorable, special moments
than to prevent disasters or an apocalypse. Such a simple, loveable and honest idea,
and thereby a quote I had to share.

The Enemies Are Those Audio Guides
Jefferson Hack interviewes Hans Ulrich Obrist (p85)

The Enemies Are Those Audio Guides – I
“Besides agreeing that the beauty of an exhibition every situation is it’s nonlinear experience
and the importance of being able to walk freely and return as you please,
Audio Guides for me remain a frequently discussed topic.”

Apart from audio guides in museums, the possibility to discover the space between
audio guides and audiobooks is really something that should be interesting. By, for
example, creating a non-interrupting (non-linear) enriching audio guide – where one
can define or the route, or the time they’re planning to travel – could give the creator
of such guides the opportunity to make side-specific and time-specific (information-
or sound based) content. And by that improve or enrich these guides (like crazy).
Food for thought.

STEIM (Studio for electro-instrumental music) organizes the
Patterns + Pleasure Festival on 26, 27 and 28 September in
Frascati Amsterdam. For 42 years STEIM has helped local
and international artists to build their own dream instruments.
The Patterns + Pleasure Festival will feature some of the newest
and most adventurous approaches in today’s live electronic music.
Every artist brings their own unique rendition of musical styles and
genres – from Industrial Drone to Instrumental Hip-Hop and Tuvan
singing to Boogie-Woogie-Noise.

The music program includes first time Netherlands appearances
by acclaimed “Bio-feedback” Tuvan singer Fuyuki Yamakawa, a
collaboration project by composer Takuma Watanabe and noise
pioneer Hair Stylistics – both groups coming from Japan, and beat
wizard Edison from the U.S. Other exquisite acts such as Dutch
live-sampling-pilot toktek, Jessica Rylan, Moldover, Author & Punisher
from the U.S., voice virtuoso Alex Nowitz from Germany, a world
premier of composer Tom Johnson’s new piece for Gandini Juggling
group from England, and many more will be presented throughout
the program.

The symposium program includes internationally renowned artists,
writers and researchers from different fields. Steina Vasulka, David Toop,
Hans Boutellier, Jamie Allen, Joel Ryan, Peter Kirn and others will
discuss the future of new music, improvisation and the influence of
modern technology in music. During the Handmade Music session,
students and local artists will present their uniquely odd and
one-and-only handmade instruments.

During the festival my role will be a little more public as I’ll be live blogging
(about the concerts, symposium and about the discussions throughout
the festival) which will be posted here as well.

Patterns + Pleasure Festival
26, 27 + September 28
Theater Frascati, Nes 63 Amsterdam

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns.
There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

“As surreal as you can get.”

Finding this record on vinyl in my local (and soon to be only) records store in Amsterdam made my day.
By releasing this album Stetson brought us deep roaring, harsh edged beauty I never heard before. And by that the most exciting
album I heard in a long time. According to me this is already on of the best albums of 2011 #tip

Today one of the remaining records store giants, Fame, announced to close their doors in Amsterdam.
After loosing all of my favorite, specific and personal records stores Fame remained a big, stable store in
the center of the shopping district, on the corner of de Kalverstraat. Although I wasn’t a frequent visitor
loosing one of the last records stores in Amsterdam feels big. Another loud, noisy, crowded small shelved
music idolizing place that won’t be there anymore, it makes me wander how the next generation will find
their music. Browsing an online store just isn’t the same.
For now I hope the portable records store in the back of the -smaller- concert venues will remain…

The idea of experiencing sound projection, how this will feel and affect you, made think.
Fascinated by the form of the fourth dimension I’m wondering how it would be to enter a
certain space where the visitor could experience a wide variety of different sound
projections during a period of time. Not only will you be able to experience the diversity of
the room, really notice this ‘so-called fourth dimension’ it’s the most natural option to (like
Hans Ulrich Obrist often aims for) give a (sound-)artist a place in time -instead of space-
without making it into a concert. - Florian

The Enemies Are Those Audio Guides
Jefferson Hack interviewes Hans Ulrich Obrist (p85)

Besides agreeing that the beauty of an exhibition is it’s nonlinear experience
and the importance of being able to walk freely and return as you please,
Audio Guides remain a frequently discussed topic.

From having fantasized about exihibtion-specific soundscapes, experiencing
how oppressive it can be, to hearing how playfull big museums can be
(with hangover-monday tours for example) I came to the conclusion that I
never took an audiotour myself.  Did study groups of people listing to them for
hours. Seeing that it gets more common during art-tours in public space, even
on speakerphone, made me think. That it might be time to
try one to see if there’s a big world I’m missing, who can suggest me must-see
(or must-experience) audiotours in a European museum?

On January 15th the first edition of FIBER festival took place at De Verdieping.
A Dutch audiovisual network festival, concentrating on a new generation of artists with a focus on interdisciplinary experience of (visual) art and music. Divided into two parts, DAY with lectures, performances and an exhibition and NIGHT, our club night with electronic music with integrated visual performances. The result was amazing. A crowed DAY program and sold-out NIGHT made us happy. On to the next, un to 2012

Impression of FIBER festival ’11

More FIBER

Last Wednesday at De Verdieping I presented the experimental night Bring Your Own: Screen.
An evening were several artists, cultural institutions, galleries, art students and
collectors of film and video are invited to bring their work and their own screens for a one-night,
crowed-sourced exhibition. Where they could screen their work next to, and over, each other
on every possible place in the space. My goal was to combine all those different works and
create a layered and immersive viewing experience together. The result was amazing, walls
filled with videoart, many discussions and an overall inspiring evening.

A video impression  Bring Your Own: Screen in De Verdieping
Metropolis M about Bring Your Own: Screen (in dutch)