Latitudes

'Portscapes' exhibition, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 30 January–25 April 2010. Reception: 5 February, 8pm

2010-01-29T13:02:00.004+01:00

Lara Almarcegui 'A Guide to the Wastelands of the Port of Rotterdam' (2009). Photo: Latitudes

Bik van der Pol, still of the film 'Facts on the Ground' (2009–10). Photo: Bik van der Pol

Jan Dibbets, Production stills while filming '6 Hours Tide Object With Correction of Perspective' (2009).
Photos: Latitudes, Paloma Polo/SKOR and Freek van AarkelMarjolijn Dijkman, 'Here be dragons' (2009), image presented on a billboard.
The second part of her project, the film 'Surviving New Island' (2009–10) will be premiered during the exhibition.

Fucking Good Art / Rob Hamelijnck & Nienke Terpsma 'Portscapes_ON AIR / Station Maasvlakte' (2009). Photo: FGAIlana Halperin, 'A Brief History of Mobile Landmass' (2009–10), audioguide. Photo: Chantal Karnaat
Paulien Oltheten, Great if two pairs of legs are synchronized for a moment, (2009). Photo: Ben Wind

Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller, 'The Postpetrolistic Internationale' (2009–10). Photo: Paloma Polo / SKOR

Jorge Satorre in collaboration with Jorge Aviña, 'The Erratic. Measuring Compensation' (2010). Courtesy of the artist.

Hans Schabus, 'Europahaven, Rotterdam, 17 juni 2009' (2009) (c) the artist

'Portscapes'
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
30 January–25 April 2010. Reception: Friday 5 February, 8pm.
Free entrance

Project website: www.portscapes.nl
Projects chronology: http://www.dipity.com/latitudes/PORTSCAPES

Works by Lara Almarcegui (Spain/Netherlands), Bik van der Pol (Netherlands), Jan Dibbets (Netherlands), Marjolijn Dijkman (Netherlands), Fucking Good Art (Netherlands), Ilana Halperin (US/Scotland), Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller (Switzerland), Paulien Oltheten (Netherlands), Jorge Satorre (Mexico), Hans Schabus (Austria), as well as work by the website collaborators Maria Barnas (poetry) and Markus Miessen (interviews).

'Portscapes' will present the results of works commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam realised throughout 2009 by 10 (inter)national artists on the occasion of the beginning of the construction of Maasvlakte 2 – the 2,000 hectare land supplementation project to extend Rotterdam's port, Europe's largest seaport and industrial area. 'Portscapes' has encompassed new projects of various scales under the leitmotif itineraries and destinations – artist-led tours, film screenings, billboards and the production of film and photographic works, audio-guides, radio broadcast and field guides. + info...

The films by Rotterdam-based artists Bik van der Pol and Marjolijn Dijkman, 'Facts on the Ground' (2009–10) and 'Surviving New Land' (2009–10) respectively, will be presented for the first time coincinding with the exhibition.

Overtreders W, the designers of the exhibition, have created semi-transparent display structures for the museum’s Richard Serra Hall, using industrial materials based on the format of cargo containers.

A catalogue (€12,50) and a special-edition catalogue (€50) designed by Ben Laloua/Didier Pascal are co-published by SKOR and the Port of Rotterdam Authority on the occasion of the exhibition. The special-edition includes filmed interviews with the artists as well as the DVD of '6 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective' (2009), the film produced by Jan Dibbets for 'Portscapes'. Publication available at the Museum Boijmans's shop or can be ordered via SKOR by writing to info@skor.nl or calling +31(0)20 672 25 25

Portscapes was commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) and was curated by Latitudes, Barcelona.

Serra Hall, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Museumpark 20 | 3015 CX Rotterdam, Netherlands
Opening hours: Tue–Sun 11–17h
Free entrance to the exhibition

Press enquiries: Nienke van Beers, Tel: +31(0)20- 672 25 25, nvanbeers@skor.nl

Re-designed Latitudes website / Nuevo diseño de la web de Latitudes

2010-01-24T22:21:00.005+01:00

www.LTTDS.org

-Redesigned and wider navigation interface with a drop down menu replacing the previous floating menu bar | Interfaz rediseñada, amplia navegación con un menú desplegable que sustituye a la barra de menú

-Full integration with Latitudes' flickr photos – all website galleries are now embedded from flickr. Improved 'Newsletter archive' and 'Press' pages | Integración completa de las galerías de fotos con los álbums en flickr. Nuevo diseño del archivo newsletters y de la página prensa

-Streamlined 'Projects' navigation – 'Conferences, Talks and Residencies' have been moved out of 'Projects' into an expanded 'About' section | Mejora de la sección 'Proyectos': 'Conferencias, charlas y residencias' se han movido a una nueva y ampliada sección bajo 'Acerca de'

- iPhone/Touch/Android enabled, and for the technical or typographically minded, the website now features embedded webfonts for titles! – to see these, you'll need at least Firefox 3.5; IE 4; Safari 3.1; or Chrome 3 | La nueva web es compatible con la navegación en iPhone, Touch o Android, y para los más técnicos o amantes de la tipografía hemos integrado webfonts en los títulos (para verlo necesitarás Firefox 3.5, IE 4, Safari 3.1 o Chrome 3).

Portscapes: Jorge Satorre returns an ice-age boulder back to Sweden

2010-01-18T22:54:00.003+01:00

Jorge Satorre's project for Portscapes had its beginnings in the eastern part of the Netherlands with a 3-tonne gneissic granite rock from the Svecofennian age, approximately 1.9 billion years ago. Following the artist’s fascination with the environmental compensation practices being instigated alongside the construction of Maasvlakte 2, his project consisted of returning the rock to where it once came from in Sweden – an act of synthetic restitution and transnational sculptural offsetting. The boulder has found a permanent home at the Wanås Foundation, near Knislinge in southern Sweden [1]. The boulder was transported from Erica, in the north east of The Netherlands, to Knislinge at the beginning of January (see report on the Swedish newspaper Kristianstadsbladet).

Not insignificantly, the celebrated Land art work 'Broken Circle' (1971) by Robert Smithson, sited in a working quarry near Emmen, incorporates such a seemingly immovable boulder at its centre. Satorre’s reverse geological gesture is also reflected in the fact that much of the existing and future sea defence in the port area will be made from rock brought from Scandinavia. The artists offers an account of the process through drawings, which incorporates both actual and imagined details. One such detail depicts an imagined protest at the beginning of the boulder’s homeward journey – see post 2 October 2009.

Jorge Satorre's project was produced in the context of 'Portscapes', an accumulative series of newly commissioned projects produced in the context of the 2,000 hectare extension to the Port of Rotterdam, the project Maasvlakte 2.

An exhibition with 'Portscapes' projects will be on view at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam between 30 January and 25 April 2010 (Reception: Friday 5 February, 20h).

Portscapes was commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and support from SKOR (Foundation Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) and was curated by Latitudes.

[FOOTNOTE 1] The foundation estate encompasses a medieval castle, an organic farm, and a sculpture park which since 1987 has hosted a number of permanent works by international artists.

Images: Journey and placement of the boulder from the newspaper Kristianstadsbladet; drawing 'The Erratic. Measuring Compensation' (2009), courtesy of the artist.

PAC Murcia 2010: 'Dominó Caníbal', a year-long 'cannibalistic' exhibition project

2010-01-12T13:09:00.014+01:00

The year-long exhibition project DOMINÓ CANÍBAL will use a single venue, the 18th century convent church Sala Verónicas, over a period of twelve months. Starting with the sculptor, essayist and poet Jimmie Durham, each successive artist [Cristina Lucas (March 26th), The Bruce High Quality Foundation (May 21st – see images of their 'temporary office' for Latitudes' participation in 'No Soul for Sale'), Kendell Geers (July 9th), Tania Bruguera (September 24th), Rivane Neuenschwander (November 12th) and Francis Alÿs (December 17th)] will create his/her work based on what was created by the preceding artist, either destroying it, appropriating or reinterpreting it.

Jimmie Durham's exhibition will open on Monday 25th January, and will be preceded by a conversation between him and Cuauhtémoc Medina, curator of 'Dominó Caníbal', on Friday 22 January, 6pm at CENDEAC. Below images of the artist during his recent site visits to Murcia and surroundings.

As PAC 2010 curator Cuauhtémoc Medina has stated “my starting point is the operation of the game of dominoes, which is a very widespread transcultural point of production. (...) From the ideological use of the so-called “domino effect” brings to mind the terrors of the Cold War and beyond”. Here "the creative process depends on observation and interaction with the previous moves, instead of viewing itself as the production of some unique and conclusive image." (1)

The ongoing creative process taking place in Sala Verónicas will be filmed in real time and on view at the PAC MURCIA website (www.pacmurcia.es).

As with the previous PAC in 2008 (see Latitudes' posts here and here) a series of activities are running parallel to PAC 2010: a seminar organised in collaboration with CENDEAC (Centro de Documentación y Estudios Avanzados de Arte Contemporáneo), a programme of exhibitions in art galleries in the region and series residences for artists from Murcia in Europe and America.

Coinciding with this edition of PAC, the European Biennial for Contemporary Art Manifesta 8 will also take place in Murcia and open on October 1st . The event is curated by three collectives Alexandria Contemporary Art Forum (Egypt), Chamber of Public Secrets (Denmark, Italy, Lebanon) and Tranzit (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia) (see Latitudes post here and here) with the "aim to engage with Europe’s present-day boundaries with Northern Africa and its interrelations with the Maghreb region." (2)

'Dominó Caníbal', January–December 2010, Sala Verónicas, Murcia
Artists: Jimmie Durham (January 22nd) Cristina Lucas (March 26th), Bruce High Quality
Foundation (May 21st), Kendell Geers (July 9th) Tania Bruguera (September 24th),
Rivane Neuenschwander (November 12th) and Francis Alÿs (December 17th).
Curator: Cuauhtémoc Medina
Project Management: Carlos Urroz
Production: PAC Murcia is an initiative of the Department of Education and Culture of the Región de Murcia through its Directorate General of Fine Art and Cultural Goods.
Organiser: Department of Culture & Tourism, Region of Murcia
Press & Communication: Urroz Proyectos, T + 34 915 648 856, info@urrozproyectos.com, www.urrozproyectos.com
Project website: www.pacmurcia.es

UPDATE - images of Jimmie Durham's installation. Photos: La Lobera

(1) Curatorial text, available on http://www.pacmurcia.es
(2) Manifesta website

Images: Graphic identity of 'Dominó Caníbal', portraits of Jimmie Durham during his site visits to Murcia and surroundings and interior of Sala Verónicas (Photos: La Lobera). Courtesy PAC Murcia 2010.

Newsletter #19 – January 2010

2010-01-11T13:38:00.000+01:00

Newsletter #19 – January 2010
English | Español

– Portscapes exhibition reception 5th February, 8pm, at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Exhibition runs between 30 January – 25 April 2010.

– Latitudes in the press: article by Teresa Sesé, 'De profesión, comisario, 'La Vanguardia', 2 January 2010, pp. 38-39. Read full article here (in Spanish).

If you would like to read previous newsletters, click here.

Check also our Latitudes' at www.lttds.org/blog for further news.
Facebook fan page here
Flickr photosets here

Latitudes en La Vanguardia artículo 'De profesión, Comisario'

2010-01-02T15:09:00.004+01:00

"Reflexiones entorno a una figura cada vez más influyente en el mundo del arte", artículo por Teresa Sesé, La Vanguardia, 2 Enero 2010, pp. 38-39. Incluye comentarios de Cuauhtémoc Medina, Tania Pardo, Valentín Roma, Rafael Doctor, Rosa Martínez, Latitudes (Max Andrews & Mariana Cánepa Luna) y Chus Martínez.

HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON 2009–10 | FELICES FIESTAS 2009–10

2009-12-22T14:08:00.009+01:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009–10
Happy holidays to you all!

FELIZ NAVIDAD 2009–10
Felices fiestas a todos!

Latitudes' web: http://www.lttds.org
Latitudes' blog: http://www.lttds.org/blog
Latitudes' facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LTTDS
Latitudes' photo albums: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lttds/sets
Latitudes' current project: http://portscapes.nl

Images of SUM#5 magazine featuring an interview with Marjolijn Dijkman

2009-12-20T18:06:00.004+01:00

Updating the 30 November blog post, here are images of the published interview between Latitudes and Marjolijn Dijkman appearing in the December issue of SUM# 05 magazine for contemporary art, pages 56–64.

If you would like to read the whole interview, please download the text from Latitudes' writing archive.

SUM is published twice a year in English/Danish by The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' Schools of Visual Arts. Issue #5 is published with support from The Danish Ministry of Culture's grant for culture magazines and The New Carlsberg Foundation.

ISSN 1902-8970
ISBN 978-3-86895-064-9
www.sum.kunstakademiet.dk

Haegue Yang's 'Symmetric Inequality' (Desigualdad simétrica) exhibition catalogue, sala rekalde, Bilbao

2009-12-17T17:10:00.000+01:00

The trilingual exhibition catalogue 'Symmetric Inequality' (Desigualdad simétrica), has just been published following the solo exhibition by Berlin-based artist Haegue Yang (1971, Seoul, Korea) which opened a year ago at sala rekalde, Bilbao (18.12.08–19.04.09 – see images of the exhibition on Latitudes' post from 20 December 2008). The catalogue is the second volume of a two-part publication project that began with the exhibition 'Asymmetric Equality: Haegue Yang', which took place at REDCAT, Los Angeles between 28 June and 24 August 2008.

This second volume documents the installation at sala rekalde and includes texts by Max Andrews of Latitudes; Prof. Jie-Hyun Lim, director of the Institute of Research in History and Comparative Culture of the University of Hanyang and a conversation between Melanie Ohnemus, curator of Portikus, Bart van der Heide, former curator of Cubitt, Pablo Lafuente, critic and editor of the journal Afterall, London/ Los Angeles, Asier Mendizábal, artist, Leire Vergara, former curator of sala rekalde and Haegue Yang.

'Haegue Yang. Symmetric Inequality'
Graphic Design: Katie Hanburger & Gail Swanlund
Publisher: sala rekalde, www.salarekalde.bizkaia.net
Distributor: AGD Libros, Bilbao, agdlibros@adglibros.com
ISBN 978-84-88559-58-6 (sala rekalde), ISBN 0-9749831-9-5 (REDCAT)
352 pp., colour, softcover

SUM#5 interview with Marjolijn Dijkman and Karriere#4 text on Renzo Martens and Mark Boulos's films

2009-11-30T13:12:00.005+01:00

In the forthcoming issue of Danish magazine SUM#5, Latitudes talks to Rotterdam and Saint Mihiel-based artist Marjolijn Dijkman (1978) about visions of the Earth, cartography, image categorisation, representations of the future and new lands. Marjolijn Dijkman is one of the artists involved in the year-long commissioning series 'Portscapes'. Her film 'Here be dragons' (2009–10) will be premiered in the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen exhibition, opening on the 5th February.

SUM#5 will be launched on the 9th December, from 17–19h, at the BKS Garage on Ny Carlsberg Vej 68, Copenhagen V.

SUM is published twice a year in English/Danish by The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' Schools of Visual Arts. Issue #5 is published with support from The Danish Ministry of Culture's grant for culture magazines and The New Carlsberg Foundation.

Another Denmark-based magazine Karriere#4 (Autumn issue), has published the text 'Big Things: Crunch, Crisis, Change we can believe' by Max Andrews from Latitudes which discusses Mark Boulos' two-screen film installation 'All that is Solid Melts into Air' (2008) and Renzo Martens' feature-length 'Episode III: Enjoy Poverty' (2008). You can download a pdf of Karriere text from Latitudes' writing archive.

Karriere is published 3 times a year. Karriere is a free newspaper on contemporary art and social life. Distributed in all major Danish cities, Germany and England via the Walther Koenig Bookstores.

[Image: Marjolijn Dijkman, Maasvlakte, 2009, Courtesy of the artist. Below: pdf of Karriere. Courtesy of Karriere]

Hinterland Symposium: 'The evolving relationships between artists, the changing climate and new responsibilities', 26 November, Nottingham, UK

2009-11-24T11:44:00.005+01:00

Hinterland Symposium: The evolving relationships between artists, the changing climate and new responsibilities

Hinterland are inviting specialists in the field of commissioning temporary site-specific art to present their practice. Alongside informal discussions with artists currently engaged in commissions for Hinterland, this one day event will question the responsibilities of artists when creating work in the public realm. Biographies of the speakers here.

Timetable for the day

[Registration starts at 9.30am promptly so talks can begin at 10am in Screen 2.]
10.30am Joy Sleeman
11.10am Latitudes (Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna)
12.20pm Lunch
1.20pm Wallace Heim in conversation with Rebecca Beinart
2.05pm Richard Grayson in conversation with John Newling
3.30pm Neil Cummings in conversation with Annexinema (Emily Wilczek and Ian Nesbitt)
4.15pm Jonathan Griffin in conversation with S Mark Gubb

Film Screening 6pm onwards
Mark Harasimowicz and Tristan Hessing invite symposium delegates from Broadway to One Thoresby Street studios in Sneinton for the preview of a new film installation.

Harasimowicz and Hessing spent time cycling around Europe exploring contemporary and abandoned industrial space. Hinterland has commissioned a new work, which marks a new artistic partnership between the two artists.

Bookings: Contact Broadway Box Office, Tel. 0115 952 6611 or book online www.broadway.org.uk

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Hinterland is a project led by independent curator, Jennie Syson. Working together with artists, Hinterland closely examines the areas that surround the River Trent in Nottingham which make up a ten mile car free cycle route around the city known as the Big Track. As we head towards economic depression and society becomes increasingly aware of issues surrounding global warming and the natural environment, Hinterland pays tribute to the geographical locations and the industrial halo that surrounds Nottingham’s city centre.

'Foro de expertos' Máster On-line de 'Arte Actual: Análisis y Gestión' de la Universitat de Barcelona

2009-11-22T13:57:00.005+01:00

Latitudes participa el 23 y 24 de Noviembre en el 'foro de expertos' del Máster On-line de Arte Actual: Análisis y Gestión organizado por el Instituto de Formación Contínua de la Universitat de Barcelona dirigido por el comisario y crítico David G. Torres y la gestora cultural Ester Prat dentro del módulo dedicado al 'Coleccionismo y Arte Actual' coordinado por la crítica y comisaria Montse Badia.

[Imagen: 'Self-Help', publicada en la compilación Helguera’s Artoons: Cartoons about the Art World de Pablo Helguera, via www.artworldsalon.com/blog

* HOY/TODAY/AVUI * Vena (porla) y Latitudes presentan: charla con el comisario y crítico Willy Kautz, Viernes 13 Noviembre, 7pm, La Central, Barcelona

2009-11-13T12:55:00.000+01:00

Librería La Central del Raval | c/ Elisabets, 6 | 08001 Barcelona |
Metro: Liceu (L3), Pl Catalunya (L3, L1, FGC) | MAPA

Tickets: 4€ *, se adquirieren en la caja de La Central

Willy Kautz hablará de su experiencia como comisario en el Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo en México D.F. (2001–4) y se centrará en su último proyecto, la exposición colectiva 'Yo uso perfume para ocupar más espacio' inaugurada recientemente en el Museo Carrillo Gil (7 octubre 2009 – 3 febrero 2010) que cuenta con la participación de los artistas Gabriel Acevedo Velarde, Daniel Andujar & Rogelio López Cuenca, Julieta Aranda, Carles Congost, Ximena Cuevas, John Bock, Dustin Ericksen & Mike Rogers, Paul MacCarthy, José Clemente Orozco y David Alfaro Siqueiros – imágenes exposición.

Willy Kautz (1975) fue comisario del Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, México D.F. (2001-4) y desde el 2006 está cursando un doctorado en estética en la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Entre sus exposiciones destancan: "Cuasi-corpus. Arte concreto y neoconcreto de Brasil", Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, México D.F., MARCO, Monterrey, México (2002); "Gordon Matta-Clark: proyectos Anarquitectónicos", Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, México (2003); "Mira Schendel Continuum amorfo", Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, México D.F., MARCO, Monterrey, México (2004); "Simplesmente elas exalam", Galería Leme, Sao Paulo, Brasil (2005); co-curador de "Transitio_MX, Festival internacional de artes electrónicas y video 01, Imaginarios en tránsito: poéticas y tecnología", Centro Nacional de las Artes, México D.F. (2005); "Yo uso perfume para ocupar más espacio", Museo Carrillo Gil, México D.F. (2009).

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(*) Vena (porla) y Latitudes organizan esta serie de charlas sin ánimo de lucro. La compra de tu ticket se invierte íntegramente en la realización de futuras presentaciones. Gracias por tu colaboración.
http://venablog.wordpress.com/charlas
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Portscapes bus tour: Lara Almarcegui wasteland tour and Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller's 'Postpetrolistic Internationale' choir performance

2009-11-10T16:47:00.005+01:00

On Sunday 8 November, SKOR and the Port of Rotterdam Authority organised a bus tour around the Port of Rotterdam coinciding with the 4th International Architecture Biennial Rotterdam and the culmination of 'Portscapes' projects, a year-long series of commissions in and around Maasvlakte 2, the 2,000 hectare ongoing extension of the port.

Over 80 visitors enjoyed the 'The Postpetrolistic Internationale' choir performance, a project by the Zurich-based artists Roman Keller & Christina Hemauer as well as the tour around four wasteland sites included in the research publication of the guide 'Wastelands of the Port of Rotterdam' by Rotterdam-based artist Lara Almarcegui.

During the tour, visitors were also able to see and listen to other 'Portscapes' projects by Marjolijn Dijkman, Fucking Good Art, Ilana Halperin (audio here), Jorge Satorre, Hans Schabus and Paulien Oltheten.

A exhibition of the projects will take place at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen from 5 February, coinciding with Art Rotterdam. Exhibition on view until end of March 2010.

Portscapes is a series of newly commissioned art projects initiated by the Port of Rotterdam Authority on occasion of the construction of Maasvlakte 2, with advice and support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) and is curated by Latitudes (Barcelona).

Roman Keller and Christina Hemauer's participation has been made possible thanks to the support of Pro Helvetia.

'Portscapes' page updated with new flickr slideshows and announcement of a forthcoming exhibition at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, February 2010

2009-11-04T13:05:00.011+01:00

Latitudes' 'Portscapes' page has been updated with new flickr slideshows for each project (see under each artist name) and incorporating a new page for the 'Portscapes' exhibition which will be on view at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, from the 5 February until the end of March 2010 (date TBC).

The opening will coincide with the art fair Art Rotterdam (4–7 February) and 'Divided Divided', a solo exhibition by the Stockholm-based artist Carsten Höller also opening at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen on February 5th.

The Museum Boijmans exhibition will present the year-long commissioning series with works that have been produced in and around Maasvlakte 2, the ongoing extension to the Port of Rotterdam, with works by 10 artists: Lara Almarcegui, Bik van der Pol, Jan Dibbets, Marjolijn Dijkman, Fucking Good Art, Ilana Halperin, Roman Keller & Christina Hemauer, Paulien Oltheten, Jorge Satorre and Hans Schabus. 'Portscapes' also involved artist Maria Barnas and the London and Zurich based architect, researcher, educator and writer Markus Miessen as website collaborators.

The films commissions by Rotterdam-based artists Bik van der Pol and Marjolijn Dijkman will be premiered coincinding with the exhibition.

Project website: www.portscapes.nl (Dutch/English)
Other Latitudes' flickr photo sets here.

We have also updated the 'Portscapes' projects timeline:

Portscapes is a series of art projects commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) and is curated by Latitudes.

Latitudes speak at seminar on Art and Ecology, 21 October 2009, The Wanås Foundation, Knislinge, Sweden

2009-11-02T14:51:00.004+01:00

Coinciding with the end of the 'Footprints' exhibition (17 May–25 October 2009) organised by The Wanås Foundation (presenting works by Tue Greenfort, Henrik Håkansson, Tea Mäkipää (with Halldór Úlfarsson), Tomás Saraceno and Nilsmagnus Sköld) this one-day seminar hosted by the foundation on the 21st October included three presentations from different areas of expertise and a panel discussion around the relationship between contemporary art practice and ecology, the language used by the media on climate change, individual and collective environmental efforts, etc.

Speakers included: Folke Tersman (Professor of Practical Philosophy at Uppsala University, author of 'Tillsammans: en filosofisk debattbok om hur vi kan rädda vårt klimat' (2009)); Joanna Yarrow (media commentator and expert in the field of ecologically sustainable lifestyles, founder of Beyond Green in London) and Latitudes, who presented projects including the group exhibition 'Greenwashing Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities' (2008), the publication Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook (2006) and the commissioning series in the port of Rotterdam 'Portscapes' (2009).

Images: Latitudes and The Wanås Foundation

Hemauer & Keller's 'Portscapes' project begins: transportation of a wooden stage along the Rhine from Basel to Rotterdam

2009-10-30T16:03:00.013+01:00

'Postpetrolistic Internationale', the project by Zurich-based artists Christina Hemauer (1973) & Roman Keller (1969), started today with the transportation of a wooden stage along the Rhine from Basel (the most upriver navigable point of the Rhine), near the artists’ home, to Rotterdam (where the Rhine joins the sea).

Keller & Hemauer's project emerges from the medium of the collective human voice, the tradition of the aspirational social anthem alongside the artists’ long standing interest in energy use. Upon arrival of the stage, a Rotterdam-based choir will perform the 'Postpetrolistic Internationale', an anthem of hope-in-action on the stage, against a backdrop of local industry, to mark man’s changing relationship with fossil fuels and energy use.

Performances:
Saturday 7 November, time TBC, Maritime Museum, Rotterdam – MAP
Sunday 8 November, 13.30h, Futureland, the Maasvlakte 2 visitor center – MAP

The 'Postpetrolism' project (2006-ongoing) was launched with a performance in Zürich in April 2006 in which a new manifesto of hope for the future reality of energy was declared and a plaque erected to mark the end of one energy era (‘peak oil’ was passed in 2005, according to Kenneth S. Deffeyes) and the beginning of another beyond oil.

Images of the journey and arrival of the stage to Rotterdam's port on 2nd November:

Keller & Hemauer's project is part of 'Portscapes', a series of art projects commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and financial support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amterdam) and curated by Latitudes.

Portscapes' timeline: http://www.dipity.com/latitudes/PORTSCAPES

Keller and Hemauer's participation has been made possible thanks to the support of Pro Helvetia.

[Photo: Above, (1) taken by the artists on the 30th October 2009, (2) taken by the artists en route and (3) upon arrival to Rotterdam's port]

London's Frieze Art Fair 2009 and Fia Backström's project 'Studies in Leadership - The Review'

2009-10-27T18:10:00.001+01:00

On Sunday 18th October and as part of Frieze Projects, Max Andrews of Latitudes participated in Fia Backström's project 'Studies in Leadership - The Review' at invitation of Filipa Oliveira and Miguel Amado. Four art critics and writers – Amado, Michele Robecchi, J. J. Charlesworth and Andrews – worked with a professional voice coach to publicly read one of their recent exhibition reviews, and together consider the implications of performance and the author's 'voice'. See images above.

Above a selection of images of some of the exhibitions and events that took place during Frieze week – 'How it is' Miroslaw Balka's enormous steel chamber for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, the Serpentine Gallery pavilion by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA pre-poetry marathon, Nils Norman and Dave Hullfish Bailey 'Surrounded by Squares' exhibition at Raven Row and of course Frieze Art Fair itself.

All images Latitudes | www.lttds.org

Ignasi Aballí's exhibition catalogue 'Nothing, or Something' available now

2009-10-26T15:00:00.000+01:00

Ignasi Aballí's exhibition catalogue 'Nothing, or Something' is finally out and available via Suitcase Art Projects' website.

The catalogue follows his recent project at the project space run by Beijing's Today Art Museum placed at the Yintai Center, which took place between 22 May and 22 July this year. The exhibition catalogue includes an essay by exhibition curators Latitudes as well as numerous installation images of the project which spreads throughout eight window displays in three floors. Aballí's project responded to the retail context of the commercial center as well as an artistic history of absence, nothingness and invisibility.

To see images of the exhibition, see here
Description of the exhibition, read here

'Nothing, or Something'
Softcover, 88 pages, colour
Essay by Latitudes
English/Chinese publication
Published by the Today Art Museum

All images: Latitudes | www.lttds.org

Sharjah Biennial 8 (2007) part 2 publication with transcripts of the 3-day conference organised by Latitudes and the RSA, London

2009-10-26T14:34:00.002+01:00

Above images of the recently published catalogue of the Sharjah Biennial 8, United Arab Emirates [25º 22’N, 55º 24’E] titled 'Still Life: Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change (Part II)' which includes installation shots of the exhibition as well as transcripts of the 3-day conference Latitudes organised in collaboration with the Royal Society of Art's Arts & Ecology programme (today the RSA Arts and Ecology Centre) back in April 2007 (+ info).

The symposium (images here) considered today’s uses and abuses of the ‘eco-’, notions of artistic agency and critical practice, as well as the role of the public realm in today’s artistic and institutional practices. How has it become fashionable (or profitable) to be seen to be eco? How has what we mean by ecology been transformed and evolved through the uses of terms such as ‘environmental’, ‘green’, ‘ethical living’, and so on?; How do some artists desire palliative results, while others offer strategies of friction or resistance? How far are the sources of materials a consideration for artists, designers and architects? And how does this relate to wider questions of resources—water, energy, oil in the Emirate and beyond?

The symposium included focused presentations by keynote speakers such as Bruce Sterling (download his paper as a pdf here), critical panels with participating artists Sergio Vega or Peter Fend as well as Van Abbemuseum director Charles Esche, or Smart Museum's Curator of Contemporary Art Stephanie Smith as well as breakout seminars with participating artists Tomás Saraceno and Michael Rakowitz.

You can download the symposium programme, exhibition guide and view press-related materials in this archive.

'Sharjah Biennial 8. Still Life: Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change (Part II)'
568 pages, 233 x 165 mm, softcover 350g. Art Matt Card
Paper: 80g. offset wood free and 135 g. Art Matt
Publisher: Sharjah Biennial, www.sharjahbiennial.org
ISBN 978-9948-04-328-6 Part II

'Portscapes' news: Bus Tour around the Port of Rotterdam, Sunday 8 November 2009, 10–15h

2009-10-25T20:41:00.018+01:00

–ENG–

Bus Tour – Portscapes public art projects on the Maasvlakte, Rotterdam

On Sunday 8 November SKOR and the Port of Rotterdam Authority are organising a tour coinciding with the 4th International Architecture Biennial Rotterdam. The tour is programmed in the context of Portscapes, a series of art projects related to the construction of the Maasvlakte 2 commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority. The Maasvlakte 2 project is the ongoing extension of the port by 2,000 hectares, which will be constructed in the North Sea in the next five years.

SKOR invited the duo Latitudes from Barcelona, who has curated a series of projects reflecting on the architectural, political, social and ecological aspects of the past, present and future of the Rotterdam port with a focus on the new Maasvlakte 2. Portscapes consists of ten new commissions in and about the Maasvlakte by Dutch and international artists, including interventions, films, performances and mobile seminars.

Bus tour bookings: write to ad [at] skor.nl by 2 November 2009
Free tour. English spoken

An exhibition of the Portscapes projects will be on show at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam from 5 February, until late March 2010.

Programme on 8 November
(please note: programme subject to changes)

09.45 am –  Leave from NAI Rotterdam, Museumpark 25 3015 CB, Rotterdam
 On the way to the port you can listen to interviews by Fucking Good Art on mp3 players in the bus. Amongst others, Hans Aarsman, an industrial ecologist, a botanist and an archaeologist, will describe his vision of the Maasvlakte on the basis of his field of expertise. The artistic duo FGA broadcast this and other conversations from a temporary web radio station in a container united placed on the Maasvlakte between 21 August and 21 September.

10.45 am – Visit to wastelands by artist Lara Almarcegui and botanist Remko Andeweg
The Spanish-born Rotterdam-based artist Lara Almarcegui has published a free newspaper research project concerning the ‘wasteland’ areas which can be encountered throughout the Port of Rotterdam. Almarcegui and botanist Remko Andeweg will describe these areas characterised by an apparent lack of human intervention.

12.00 am – Arrival at Futureland, the Maasvlakte information centre
On the way we pass the billboards by the artists Marjolijn Dijkman, Jorge Satorre, Paulien Oltheten and Hans Schabus.

Lunch in Futureland, provided by the Rotterdam Port Authority.
Introduction by Latitudes, curators of 'Portscapes'

1.00 pm –  Tour of the artworks in and around Futureland
You can view work by Paulien Oltheten and Hans Schabus and explore the nearby area picking up Ilana Halperin’s audio tour. Halperin created a compelling narrative of fragments which draws on fact, fiction and personal fieldwork – as well as site surveys by volcanologists, geologists and the experts involved in the construction of Maasvlakte 2.

1.30 pm – Performance 'Postpetrolistic Internationale'
The project by Swiss artists Roman Keller & Christina Hemauer  emerges from the medium of the collective human voice, the tradition of the aspirational social anthem alongside the artists’ long standing interest in energy use. The project starts with the transportation of a wooden stage along the Rhine from Basel (where the Rhine begins), near the artists’ home, to Rotterdam (where the Rhine joins the sea) – see post 30.10.09. Upon arrival a local choir will perform this anthem of hope-in-action (composed by the artists in collaboration with musician Mathias Vette) on the stage, against a backdrop of local industry, to mark man’s changing relationship with fossil fuels and energy use.

2 pm – Return to NAI Rotterdam with a number of stops at various art projects along the way: wastelands by Lara Almarcegui and works by Paulien Oltheten

3 pm –  Arrival in NAI Rotterdam. End of the journey.

Portscapes is commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amterdam) and is curated by Latitudes.

–CAST–

Bus tour entorno al puerto de Rotterdam, Domingo 8 Noviembre 2009, 10–15h, organizado por SKOR y la Autoridad Portuaria de Rotterdam coincidiendo con la 4th International Architecture Biennial Rotterdam. Tour organizado en ocasión de Portscapes, la serie acumulativa de proyectos públicos que en el Puerto de Rotterdam

Presentación de dos nuevos proyectos: performance de los suizos Roman Keller y Christina Hemauer (7–8 Noviembre) y publicación de la guía 'Wastelands of the Port of Rotterdam' realizada por Lara Almarcegui. Durante el tour se podrán ver y escuchar los proyectos realizados por Marjolijn Dijkman, Fucking Good Art, Ilana Halperin, Jorge Satorre, Hans Schabus y Paulien Oltheten.

Para reservar tu lugar, escribe a ad@skor.nl antes del 2 November 2009.
Accesso gratuito, tour será en inglés.

Exposición de los proyectos de Portscapes tendrá lugar en el Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, a partir del 5 de Febrero y hasta finales de Marzo 2010.

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PROGRAMA 8 NOVIEMBRE, 9.45-15hs (Nota: programa sujeto a cambios de última hora)

09.45 am – Salida desde NAI Rotterdam, Museumpark 25 3015 CB, Rotterdam
Durante el recorrido se podrá escuchar mediante auriculares una entrevista al ecologista, botanista, y arqueólogo Hans Aarsman realizada por el duo FGA durante su residencia en un container emplazado en el Maasvlakte, desde donde recogieron conversaciones temáticas y exploraciones de campo. + info... 

10.45 am –  Visita de terrenos baldíos por Lara Almarcegui y el botanista Remko Andeweg.

La artista española afincada en Rotterdam Lara Almarcegui ha publicado una guía en formato periódico en la que se recoge su investigación entorno a los actuales terrenos baldíos que pueden encontrarse a lo largo de puerto de Rotterdam. En contraste con la gran planificación que circunda el futuro Maasvlakte 2, Almarcegui se interesa por los espacios definidos por la aparente falta de diseño y desarrollo. El público navegará el puerto como un territorio interconectado con la ayuda de esta guía que, como ha manifestado la artista, "actuará como una herramienta para conocerlo mejor (...) para ver cómo el territorio está cambiando. En el futuro, cuando la mayoría de estos terrenos se vean modificados, la guía actuará como un documento histórico que describirá cómo fue el puerto en el 2009".

12.00 am – Visita del centro de visitantes Futureland y almuerzo
Durante el viaje se podrán ver las vallas publicitarias de los artistas Marjolijn Dijkman, Jorge Satorre, Paulien Oltheten y Hans Schabus. A la llegada Latitudes, comisarios de 'Portscapes', introducirán los proyectos.

1.00 pm – Visita de las obras presentadas en Futureland y alrededores
Visita de las obras de Paulien Oltheten y Hans Schabus así como la audioguía 'A Brief History of Mobile Landmass' realizada por Ilana Halperin. La audioguía narra fragmentos reales y ficticios recogidos a partir de la investigación de la artista y expertos entorno a volcanes y estudios de campo relacionados con la presente construcción del Maasvlakte 2 – escuchar capítulos o descargar archivos aquí

1.30 pm – ' Postpetrolistic Internationale', performance de Roman Keller & Christina Hemauer 
El proyecto de los suizos Roman Keller & Christina Hemauer  comienza con el transporte de un escenario a lo largo del Rin, desde Basilea (donde el Rin abandona Suiza) y cerca de donde viven los artistas, hasta Rotterdam (donde el Rin desemboca en el mar) - léase post 30.10.09. A su llegada un coro cantará la 'The Postpetrolistic Internationale', un himno social compuesto por los artistas en colaboración con el músico y compositor Mathias Vetter, que proclama el comienzo de una nueva era donde el petróleo pertenece al pasado. Los días 7 y 8 de noviembre un coro local interpretará este himno de esperanza sobre el escenario en pleno paisaje industrial, para poner en perspectiva la historia evolución de hombre y su relación con los combustibles fósiles y el uso de la energía. Ésta será la primera vez que se cantará en inglés.

2 pm – Regreso al NAI Rotterdam con varias paradas durante el recorrido a los terrenos valdíos seleccionados por Lara Almarcegui y obras de Paulien Oltheten

3 pm – Llegada a  NAI Rotterdam. Fin de trayecto.

Portscapes es un encargo de la Autoridad Portuaria de Rotterdam con el consejo de SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) y comisariado por Latitudes.

The Bruce High Quality Foundation y Latitudes en MOUSSE magazine (#20 Septiembre 2009)

2009-10-25T20:06:00.002+01:00

En el número 20 de la revista italiana MOUSSE la crítica y comisaria Cecilia Alemani entrevista al grupo de artistas neoyorkinos The Bruce High Quality Foundation, quienes hacen referencia a dos proyectos en los que Latitudes colaboró con el grupo: la oficina temporal que crearon para nuestra participación el festival 'NO SOUL FOR SALE' que tuvo lugar el pasado Junio en X Initiative en Nueva York y la obra exposición colectiva 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities' en la Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo en Febrero–Mayo 2008.

Fotos de la oficina temporal durante el festival 'NO SOUL FOR SALE' aquí
Fotos de la exposición colectiva 'Greenwashing...' aquí

Lawrence Weiner, 'Under the Sun', Espai d'Art Contemporani de Castelló

2009-10-25T18:36:00.006+01:00

A year after 'THE CREST OF A WAVE' at Fundació Suñol in Barcelona, New York artist Lawrence Weiner opened on Friday 23rd a new exhibition in Spain at the Espai d'Art Contemporani de Castelló (www.eacc.es). 'Under the Sun' includes an exhibition in EACC (on view until 28 March 2010) as well as a public piece in a city centre park which will open in a second phase, in early February 2010. Below Weiner's text from the exhibition invitation:

THE MARKING OF A SPACE WITHIN A PUBLIC PARK THAT IS DEPENDENT UPON MEANING NOT MEANS
THE PLACING OF A CLUSTER OF STRUCTURES THAT AFFORD A PLACE DEMARKED AT THAT MOMENT
BY THE RESULT OF A FLICK OF A WRIST
A FORM THAT CAN FLY A KITE OR KILL A BULL WITH GRACE
THAT SETS ASIDE A PLACE FOR THE MOMENT THAT IS YOURS
BEING ONLY ONE METER HIGH THEY AFFORD NOT PROTECTION BUT A DEMARCATION OF SOVEREIGN
TERRITORY WHEN OCCUPIED
TWISTED & TURNED UNDER THE SUN

All photos: Latitudes | www.lttds.org

Reduce Art Flights leafleting campaign by Gustav Metzger at the Serpentine Gallery, London

2009-10-21T19:10:00.003+02:00

The Reduce Art Flights (28.02.08, Turin) leafleting campaign has been included in the exhibition 'Gustav Metzger, Decades 1959–2009' at the Serpentine Gallery in London (on view until 8 November). The leaflet was produced in occasion of the Latitudes-curated exhibition 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities' that took place between February and May 2008 at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, Italy. For the occasion the invitation mailing was accompanied by the pamphlet encouraging visitors to arrange alternative travel to the exhibition.

For further info check http://www.reduceartflights.lttds.org

Latitudes in Kult Magazine (#10, October 2009)

2009-10-08T19:02:00.005+02:00

Milan-based Kult Magazine has published an article on art and ecology in their October issue written by art critic and curator Daniele Perra. In the section, Perra interviews curator Francesco Manacorda (curator of the exhibition 'Radical Nature: Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969-2009' on view at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, until 18 October), as well as English artist Simon Starling and selects a few ongoing exhibitions and events that analyse the relationship between art and nature.

In page 88 (see detail above) Perra mentioned Latitudes' ecology-related projects such as the 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities...' exhibition at the Fondazione Sandretto in Turin in 2008, the guest-edition of UOVO #14 in 2007 and the publication 'Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook' in 2006, to introduce our participation in the forthcoming The Wånas Foundation seminar on Art and Ecology taking place on the 21 October in Knislinge, Sweden and in the symposium organised by Hinterland Projects on 26th November titled 'The evolving relationships between artists, the changing climate and new responsibilities'.

[Above: Detail of page 88 of the magazine. With thanks to Daniele Perra]