Social
Spaces

Z33 – ZEBRA DELUXE

KUNST IN DE OPENBARE RUIMTE: donderdag 23.09

19u00: Vertoning “Nearly Present, Just Past” met inleiding door Cel Crabeels

20u15: Vertoning documentaire over ‘Innercoma’ aansluitend gesprek met kunstenaar Philip Metten en Jan Boelen (artistiek directeur Z33)

Met ‘Innercoma’ transformeert de Limburgse kunstenaar Philip Metten (°1977) vleugel ’58 van Z33 in Hasselt tot een gigantische sculptuur. Naar aanleiding van deze tentoonstelling staat ZEBRA DELUXE volledig in het teken van ‘kunst in de openbare ruimte’. De publieke ruimte bevat de belofte van het paradijs, maar blijft steeds een slagveld. Beheerst door politici, ontworpen door urbanisten en gestoffeerd door kunstenaars, vormt ze een utopisch voorstel tot de ideale democratische omgeving. Het publiek heeft slechts drie opties om met dat voorstel om te gaan: accepteren, negeren of reageren. Dit kan de vorm aannemen van beschaafd protest (petities), verbeteringen (graffiti) of vernietiging (vandalisme).

Het laatste overkwam het kunstwerk Funhouse for Children (1998) van de Amerikaanse kunstenaar Dan Graham (°1942). Speciaal geconcipieerd voor het heraangelegde Sint-Jansplein, overleefde het zijn inhuldiging niet lang. Kort daarop werd glazen paviljoen met zwaar beschadigd, en nog tijdens de herstellingswerken definitief vernield. De ruïneuse restanten van de minimalistische constructie werden daarop verwijderd en tijdelijk opgeslagen. In samenspraak met de kunstenaar werd vervolgens een alternatieve locatie gezocht. Het gehele proces van opstanding tot val en wederopstanding werd gedocumenteerd door Cel Crabeels in zijn artistiek documentair project: Nearly Present, Just Past.

I discovered this very interesting article about the meaning of Participatory Art and how it relates to concepts like space and time. Paul O’Neill - currently also investigating the art in public space landscape in Flanders – makes a difference between three stages of Participatory Art, being relational, social and durational art. While the first relates to what Bischop described as the authored tradition (expert vision), “social art” relates to a more community oriented and de-authored tradition (participatory vision). The third term “durational ” that O’Neill introduces is quite interesting. It gathers the first two terms in one concept (and in that way is able to go beyond a dichotomy) and adds one additional trait, namely time. Durational art produces “work” that keeps on generating social interactions after the artist has left the project site. This is of course very important when artists try to create work for a participatory culture (for more discussion around the concept of participatory cultures, join the discussion online, next wednesday!).

Our Social Spaces collegues Virginia Tassinari and Nik Baerten were part of Designing household energy practices. A “non-conference” bringing together designers, companies and academics “.…beyond awareness raising and formal education for sustainability, how could the affordance of products support new and more sustainable ways of living? After giving visibility to energy flows, how can design help to rethink the basic interactions with our domestic environment to scripting practices that requires less energy?” More information on this event, you can find here.

It has been an exciting week with the Cumulus conference coming to Genk. I will report on this conference more thoroughly soon, but first I want to congratulate our collegue Virginia Tassinari that she has been elected to be part of the Cumulus board. Two times a year she will, together with designers and thinkers all over the world, meet and exchange practices and knowledge.

The Waag Society, a Dutch organisation that investigates social applications of networked technology, designed a “Story table” (“Verhalentafel”) a few years ago with film, music and spoken word fragments which date from the period between 1920 and 1980. Old people can digitally leave their comments on this table, so it requires an active attittude. It is a risky design, since it introduces quite advanced technology and a very hybrid collage of media in a elderly home. At the same time it plays with trust, through de design of a classical, wooden table. This table aimed at older people overcoming their fears about new technologies and breaking down their social isolation (www.waag.org/project/verhalentafel). In the meantime a mobile version, in the form a wooden suitcase, is designed adapted to changing life circumstances of elderly in Dutch society (http://www.waag.org/project/mobieleverhalentafel). We are very curious about the sequel!