Artipedia - Arts News

Sideshow

Side Show! Freak Show! Creep Show!

We’ve all heard the terms. What does this mean to you? What comes to mind? What do YOU consider a ‘Freak of Nature”? What constitutes this label?

This is an open call to artists of all mediums to challenge themselves to respond to the title of this show.

Who can participate: Anyone in the world, all artists welcome, all mediums.

Is there a fee: NO. There is no entry fee.

How many submissions per artist: Multiple submissions are welcome.

When is the deadline: All art must be received by October 15, 2008. Send anytime prior to the deadline.

What dimensions are acceptable: Anything that will go through the postal mail. Be creative! Be weird! Be a freak! Small, large, anything goes!

Where will the art be exhibited: All art and imagery will appear online with a grand opening on October 31, 2008. HALLOWEEN! FREAKY!

Will the show travel to various venues? YES! We are working on a traveling exhibition with multiple venues. You will be notified of the exhibitions and we wish to receive your permission to possibly make a Freak-Zine (a visual catalog of the submissions) that will be distributed to all artists (online version will be sent via email) and to others who request it. The ‘Freak-Zine” will be a vital part of the traveling exhibition and its visual historical documentation.

Will my art be returned? No. The body of work in this show may possibly be accepted as part of a Permanent Collection of a museum. Therefore, it would NOT be returned to the artist.

Need inspiration? THINK: sword-swallowing, circus, fortune tellers, palm readers, voo-doo, Coney Island, NYC, sideshows, magic, freaks of nature, siamese twins, the bearded lady…see link below.

Send in your art to the address below with the following information:

Name of artist, Address of Artist, Email Address, Title of Work

NOTE: email addresses will NOT be shared! This is for communication with the Exhibition Manager. It will be kept private!

Send art submissions to:
GM DESIGN
c/o Exhibitions Manager
3826 STEVE IKERD DR NE,
HICKORY, NC ,28601-9733, USA

Email questions to: ginmitch@yahoo.com

INSPIRATION:
[www.coneyisland.com]

Young Visual Artists Awards

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Joint Exhibition of Young Visual Artists
Awards Winners and Symposium
in Belgrade, July 2008

EXHIBITION
at Magacin, Kraljevica Marka 4, Belgrade
Opening: Sat, July 12 at 18:30 h

SYMPOSIUM
Borders/Common Ground // Bordering Common Ground
at Dom omladine Beograda, Makedonska 22/IV, Belgrade
Sat, July 12, 12-16 h

http://www.yvaa.net

The Young Visual Artists Awards program (YVAA) is an international award program for young visual artists in Central and South Eastern Europe organized by affiliates in ten countries in the region and The Foundation for a Civil Society (FCS). Since 1990 this annual program with national exhibitions and awards, which now includes residencies at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York, has been organized in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Albania, and was newly established in Bulgaria.

For the third time in the history of the YVAA program the artists awarded within this international program will be presented in a joint exhibition and on this occasion, the organizers prepared a symposium on common topics. The first two such events took place in Prague in 2005 and in Pristina in 2006. Both of the events in Belgrade will bring together artists and arts professionals from the countries of the region and guests from the rest of Europe and the United States. Among them are Christian Rattemeyer, Curator, Museum of Modern Art in New York, Miguel Amado, Curator and Contributor to Artforum.com, Francisca Zolyom, Board Member of tranzit.hu and Director of Institute of Contemporary Art in Dunaujvaros, Hungary, Amb. William Luers, former President of The Metropolitan Museum in New York, and Wendy Luers, President of FCS and former Board Member of the National Endowment for the Arts. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.

Information on the awards and awarded artists’ portfolios may be found at http://www.yvaa.net

JOINT EXHIBITION OF YOUNG VISUAL ARTISTS AWARDS WINNERS
at Magacin, Kraljevica Marka 4, Belgrade
Opening: Saturday, July 12 at 18:30 h
On view through July 25, 2008 - Gallery Hours: Mon-Sun 14-21 h

Participating artists: Irgin Sena (ARDHJE Award, Albania), Mladen Miljanovic (ZVONO Award, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Vedran Perkov (Radoslav Putar Award, Croatia), Barbora Klimova (Jindrich Chalupecky Award, Czech Republic), Bekim Gllogu (Artist of Tomorrow Award, Kosovo), Boris Petrovski (Denes Award, Macedonia), Katarina Zdjelar (Dimitrije Basicevic Mangelos Award, Serbia), Lucia Nimcova (Oskar Cepan Award, Slovakia), Luiza Margan and Miha Presker (OHO Group Award, Slovenia)

SYMPOSIUM BORDERS/COMMON GROUND//BORDERING COMMON GROUND
at Dom omladine Beograda, Makedonska 22/IV, Belgrade
Saturday, July 12, 12-16 h
Concept: Asja Hafner, Program Coordinator and Editor, SCCA/pro.ba Sarajevo

Session I
Art in Political Frame/Politics in Art Frame//Politics Framing Art/Art Framing Politics
Moderator: Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, 2008 Curator-in-Residence, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
Panelists: Dunja Blazevic, Director, SCCA Sarajevo; Antonia Majaca, Director/Curator, Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic, Zagreb; Zoran Pantelic, Director, kuda.org, Novi Sad

Which art can be called political and what is today’s attitude of people (both in the art world and outside of its frames) towards the phenomenon of political art and politicizing of art production and art messages? Is, and can all art be political? Where are the frontiers where art and politics clash and where they can work together? What is “political art” and who defines it? What are the experiences of artists developing and working in different ideological systems? Does art change its role in political world or does it stay on commentary and observation on the state of the world? Where are we in defining art and politics today?

Session II
Artist Residencies – Mobility, Perspective and Art Production
Moderator: Zoran Pantelic, Director, kuda.org, Novi Sad
Panelists: Vasif Kortun, Director, Platform Guaranti, Istanbul; Tina Finnas, Project Manager, TICA, Tirana; Antonia Majaca, Director/Curator, Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic, Zagreb; Alexandru Bounegru, Project Coordinator, Periferic, Iasi

To which extent do residency programs contribute to the quality of art production and the reflection of art practice of an artist? What does “residency work” mean? What are the prerequisites for various residency programs? What does the process of receiving residencies look like and who finances it? Who benefits from residency programs? Are residency programs places for the ‘educational’ advancement of artists or are they places for networking and allowing artists to be at the right time in the right place? Do residency programs offer a platform for critical thinking or are they merely platforms for commodification?

Organizer: The Foundation for a Civil Society, New York
Local coordination: Dez org and Kontekst, Belgrade

Main partner: ERSTE Foundation. Additional support by: Trust for Mutual Understanding, European Cultural Foundation, the Embassy of the United States in Serbia, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the City of Belgrade, and Dom omladine Beograda.

Awards and their organizers: ARDHJE AWARD – TICA – Tirana, Albania; ZVONO AWARD - Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Arts, Bosnia and Herzegovina; BAZA AWARD – Institute of Contemporary Art – Sofia, Bulgaria; RADOSLAV PUTAR AWARD - Institute for Contemporary Art, SCCA Zagreb, Croatia; JINDRICH CHALUPECKY AWARD - Jindrich Chalupecky Society, Czech Republic; ARTIST OF TOMORROW AWARD - Kosova Art Gallery, Kosovo; DENES AWARD - Contemporary Art Center Skopje, Macedonia; DIMITRIJE BASICEVIC MANGELOS AWARD – Dez org and Kontekst Gallery, Serbia; OSKAR CEPAN AWARD - Foundation/Center for Contemporary Arts, Slovakia; OHO AWARD - Zavod P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Gallery in Center P47, Slovenia.

Contact: info@fcsny.org

framework

framework: the finnish art review
ISSN 1459-6288, 136 pages

Issues 8 and 9 out now

http://www.framework.fi

Issue 9 /June ‘08
Arctic Hysteria: TranceState of Contemporary Finnish Art

framework 9 is a special issue that focuses on the exhibition Arctic Hysteria: New Art from Finland now on view at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York.

Using cultural clichés as a catalyst, this exhibition focuses on a label which has given cultural meaning to the specificities of a given region, Finland. Finland does not belong to the Arctic in any literal geographic sense, but the Finns are – as are, say, the French and the English – believed to have specific national characteristics.

Marko Tapio, a major Finnish novelist of the post-WW2 decades, considered Arctic hysteria a neurotic, irrational mood that held the Finnish people in its grip: “Arctic hysteria is not a disease. We don’t know what it really is. It is a phenomenon in our life amidst a harsh climate and unpitying conditions. It is a dejection that, when it breaks loose, knows no boundaries.—”

With regards to contemporary art, it is hard to say to which an extent cultural traditions contribute to it today. A persistent cliché often repeated, when discussing Finnish art, is its supposedly close connection with nature. In fact, and quite unexpectedly, the humanity-nature relationship emerges as a sort of connecting thread throughout this exhibition, also in the works of the earlier pioneers and those artists who embrace social and political themes.

In this exhibition the utopian optimism of the 1960s and 1970s concerning technological progress is confronted with an anxiety about the environment and future in the works of younger artists. Even if their sense of humour may give an impression of melancholy and self-irony, it offers help in reducing things to their essentials and shows way for others toward new inspirations. In today’s world the local can have multiple global significances.

Artists: Markus Copper, Veli Granö, Ilkka Halso, Huutajat – Screaming Men, Pekka Jylhä, Tellervo Kalleinen & Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, Reijo Kela, Erkki Kurenniemi, Tea Mäkipää, Pink Twins, Anni Rapinoja, Stiina Saaristo, Jari Silomäki, Sami Sänpäkkilä, Mika Taanila, and Salla Tykkä.

The exhibition is curated by Alanna Heiss and Marketta Seppälä.

The exhibition is organised by P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in collaboration with Artists’ Association of Finland and FRAME. The exhibition will be on view from June 1 through September 15, 2008. On September 15, The Museum of Modern Art will present a special screening of contemporary Finnish video works.

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Ave
Long Island City, NY 11101

Issue 8/April ‘08
In Need of Openness

framework 8 takes up the topical theme of openness – glasnost – in the sense it was introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1980’s as a third way for the then Soviet Union to react to the necessity of political transformation and new challenges of meeting the West. The inspiration for this theme was given by the international conference Revisiting Perestroika – Processes and Alternatives that was organized by the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki in November 2007. The aim of the conference was to reassess twenty years later the epoch that led to dramatic changes both in Russia and in the world politics at large.

The articles of the issue address the need and possibility of openness from different perspectives. The critical potential of the arts gives assets for promoting the need for openness at any given time. The same is true of philosophy and science, by and large. As regards political life, historical experience gives guidelines. The recent Finnish history concerning relationships with Russia offers an example.

The Raw, The Cooked and The Packaged - The Archive of Perestroika Art exhibition co-curated by Ivor Stodolsky and Marita Muukkonen, which took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA in parallel to the conference, provides material for the section FOCUS: Paths Not Taken. It poses such questions as are there not realistic and appealing historical precedents for alternatives - paths away from big-power geopolitics, cultural and political bondage and undemocratic economic ideologies? What are realistic prospects for alternative forms of globalisation?

Featured artists are Helena Hietanen, Anu Pennanen, and Kimmo Sarje.

To see the contents and information about the back issues, or to subscribe online, go to http://www.framework.fi or contact office@framework.fi

Publisher:
FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange
http://www.frame-fund.fi

Institute of
Contemporary
Arts (ICA), London

Dots on Demand, Jürg Lehni & Alex Rich, 2008

A Recent History of Writing and Drawing
A collaborative project by Jürg Lehni and Alex Rich

9 July - 31 August 2008

http://www.ica.org.uk/recenthistory

A Recent History of Writing and Drawing is an exhibition that explores the evolving relationship between technologies of communication and their users. It is a project by the programmer / designer Jürg Lehni and the graphic designer Alex Rich, curated by design historian Emily King, and involves a variety of interactive and non-interactive devices for writing and drawing.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is Viktor, a large wall-drawing machine that is controlled by an adapted version of ordinary design software and powered by small industrial motors. On Thursday evenings the gallery will host a variety of speakers – including designers, artists and musicians – who are themselves known for using technologies in more or less orthodox ways. During these events Viktor will trace accompanying material on the gallery wall, the image remaining in place for the following week.

Other exhibits include a machine for creating hole-punched posters, and a specially-adapted handheld printer, and all of the works will allow visitors to explore the relationship between technology and expression. Moving away from the blunt duality of man vs. machine, it is now possible to appreciate the particular qualities of various forms of mechanical and digital mark-making. Technologies can be enjoyed for their poetry and exploited for their spare capacity – their ability to undertake tasks not foreseen by their makers.

Lehni, the creator of Viktor, is interested in the nature of tools, and reworks technologies to suit his own needs, often defying the apparent closure of proprietary software. After seeing one of Lehni’s drawing machines at work, Rich – a deft observer of accidental meaning – opened a discussion with the designer about the machine’s historical and cultural context. Since this time the pair have had an ongoing exchange about the tools of communication and the potential of customised and corralled technology.

All furniture in the exhibition has been designed by Martino Gamper.

Thursday night events (7pm)

17 July: Paul Elliman

The London-based graphic designer Paul Elliman will collaborate with Viktor on a public performance of his recent whispering-gallery pod cast.

24 July: Ryan Gander

The artist Ryan Gander will employ Viktor to create a new piece from his extensive inventory of unrealised works.

31 July: Leila McAlister, James Alwyn and Caitlin Elster

Shopkeeper Leila McAlister will team up with sustainable materials and construction experts James Alwyn and Caitlin Elster, and Viktor, to propose new ways of distributing locally produced food.

7 August: Tuomas Toivonen

Helsinki-based architect and electronic composer Tuomas Toivonen will play a concert on the Hyalonium, an electronic glass harp, with Viktor creating a visual accompaniment.

14 August: Konstantin Grcic

German industrial product designer Konstantin Grcic will present his work accompanied by Viktor.

21 August: Michael Marriott

The product designer Michael Marriott will present a 3000-year history of technology and design told through the story of the chair, illustrated via Viktor.

28 August: Jason Evans
Photographer Jason Evans will discuss his abuse of basic analogue equipment, inviting happy accident and chance into his practice.

Catalogue

The catalogue will be produced at the end of the exhibition and will be available from the ICA Bookshop and via the ICA website.

The Institute of Contemporary Arts is a registered charity in England, No: 263848