Longitudes
Longitudes cuts across Latitudes’ projects and research with news, updates, and reportage.
Cover Story—April 2018: Dates, 700 BC to the present: Michael Rakowitz
Tue, Apr 3 2018
The April 2018 monthly Cover Story "Dates, 700 BC to the present: Michael Rakowitz" is now up on Latitudes' homepage: www.lttds.org
"As Michael Rakowitz’s fourth plinth commission is unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square, this month’s cover story image revisits Return (2004-ongoing) a related project by the artist that also speaks about the turbulent history of Iraq. And dates. In London, Michael has deployed thousands of date syrup cans to make a 1:1 scale recreation of Lamassu, the fantastic winged bull that graced the gates of the city of Nineveh from 700 BC until it was destroyed by Isis in 2015."
—> Continue reading
—> After April it will be archived here.
Cover Stories' are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes' homepage and feature past, present or forthcoming projects, research, writing, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial activities.
RELATED CONTENT:
- Archive of Monthly Cover Stories
- Cover Story – March 2018: "Armenia's ghost galleries" 6 March 2018
- Cover Story – February 2018: Paradise, promises and perplexities 5 February 2018
- Cover Story – January 2018: I'll be there for you, 2 January 2018
- Cover Story – December 2017: "Tabet's Tapline trajectory", 4 December 2017
- Cover Story – November 2017: "Mining negative monuments: Ângela Ferreira, Stone Free, and The Return of the Earth", 1 November 2017
- Cover Story – October 2017: Geologic Time at Stanley Glacier 11 October 2017
- Cover Story – September 2017: Dark Disruption. David Mutiloa's 'Synthesis' 1 September 2017
- Cover Story – August 2017: Walden 7; or, life in Sant Just Desvern 1 August 2017
- Cover Story – July 2017: 4.543 billion 3 July 2017
- Cover Story – June 2017: Month Light–Absent Forms 1 June 2017
- Cover Story – May 2017: S is for Shale, or Stuart; W is for Waterfall, or Whipps 1 May 2017
- Cover Story – April 2017: Banff Geologic Time 3 April 2017
Sharjah Biennial 8 (2007) part 2 publication with proceedings of the 3-day conference organised by Latitudes and the RSA, London
Mon, Oct 26 2009
Edited by Joseph R Wolin
Paperback
567 pages, 299 visuals. Softcover 350g. Art Matt Card
Paper: 80g. offset wood free and 135 g. Art Matt24 x 16 cm
English and Arabic
Published by Sharjah Biennial, 2008ISBN 978-9948-04-328-6 Part II
The recently published vol. II of the catalogue of the Sharjah Biennial 8 [25º 22’N, 55º 24’E] titled 'Still Life: Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change (Part II)' includes installation shots of the exhibition as well as proceedings 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) (+ info). The book is a companion to volume I, published to coincide with the Biennial’s opening.
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 broader questions of resources—water, energy, oil in the Emirate and beyond?
The symposium included focused presentations by keynote speakers such as Bruce Sterling (read his paper here), critical panels by biennial artists Sergio Vega or Peter Fend as well as by Van Abbemuseum director and Sharjah Biennial juror Charles Esche, or Smart Museum's Curator of Contemporary Art Stephanie Smith, as well as breakout seminars with biennial artists Tomás Saraceno and Michael Rakowitz.
You can download the symposium programme, the exhibition guide and view press-related materials in this archive.
The recently published vol. II of the catalogue of the Sharjah Biennial 8 [25º 22’N, 55º 24’E] titled 'Still Life: Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change (Part II)' includes installation shots of the exhibition as well as proceedings 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) (+ info). The book is a companion to volume I, published to coincide with the Biennial’s opening.
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 broader questions of resources—water, energy, oil in the Emirate and beyond?
The symposium included focused presentations by keynote speakers such as Bruce Sterling (read his paper here), critical panels by biennial artists Sergio Vega or Peter Fend as well as by Van Abbemuseum director and Sharjah Biennial juror Charles Esche, or Smart Museum's Curator of Contemporary Art Stephanie Smith, as well as breakout seminars with biennial artists Tomás Saraceno and Michael Rakowitz.
You can download the symposium programme, the exhibition guide and view press-related materials in this archive.
Cover and Back Cover, 'Still Life: Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change (Part II)'. Photos: Sharjah Biennial.
Lara Almarcegui's Wastelands
Wed, Oct 31 2007Last weekend we visited 2 of Lara Almárcegui's wastelands. One in the Rotterdam harbour (www.braakliggendterrein.nl) and the other one in Genk, Belgium. The Rotterdam wasteland (first 4 pictures) has remained untouched since 2003 and will be kept until 2018. The Genk wasteland's dates are 2004-2014 (following 12 images).
"Lara Almárcegui's work often explores neglected or overlooked sites, carefully cataloguing and highlighting each location's tendency towards entropy. Her projects have ranged from a guide to the wastelands of Amsterdam to the display, in their raw form, of the materials used to construct the galleries in which she shows. Her works are simple actions that belie the vast research process which she undertakes to achieve them." (Frieze Projects, 2006)
Ecology, Frieze, Land Art, Lara Almarcegui, Rotterdam, RSA, Sharjah Biennial 8, UOVO
"Lara Almárcegui's work often explores neglected or overlooked sites, carefully cataloguing and highlighting each location's tendency towards entropy. Her projects have ranged from a guide to the wastelands of Amsterdam to the display, in their raw form, of the materials used to construct the galleries in which she shows. Her works are simple actions that belie the vast research process which she undertakes to achieve them." (Frieze Projects, 2006)
Tue Greenfort & Piotr Uklanski, Secession, Vienna
Fri, Sep 28 2007
Piotr Uklanski 'A Retrospective' (main space) and Tue Greenfort's 'Medusa' (upper and lower galleries) at the Secession, Vienna, 20 September–18 November 2007.
All images: Latitudes | www.lttds.org
Bruce Sterling's Sharjah Biennial keynote
Wed, Aug 22 2007We have uploaded Bruce Sterling's keynote paper 'Ecology and the Politics of Change' presented in the Sharjah Biennial 8 symposium on 5 April. You can download the document on the SB8 archive (pdf, 404 KB).
Author, futurist and critic Bruce Sterling (b. 1954) is based in Austin, Texas and Serbia. Best known for his eight science fiction novels, he has also written short stories, book reviews, design criticism, opinion columns, and introductions for books ranging from Ernst Juenger to Jules Verne. His non-fiction works include 'The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier' (1992), 'Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 Years' (2003) and 'Shaping Things' (2005). He is a contributing editor of WIRED magazine. He also writes a weblog and runs a website and Internet mailing list on the topic of environmental activism and postindustrial design. In 2005, he was the Visionary in Residence at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He has appeared on ABC’s Nightline, BBC’s The Late Show, CBC’s Morningside, on MTV and TechTV, and in publications including Time, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, Nature, I.D., Metropolis, Technology Review, Der Spiegel and La Repubblica.
Bruce Sterling, Sharjah Biennial 8, symposium, United Arab Emirates
Author, futurist and critic Bruce Sterling (b. 1954) is based in Austin, Texas and Serbia. Best known for his eight science fiction novels, he has also written short stories, book reviews, design criticism, opinion columns, and introductions for books ranging from Ernst Juenger to Jules Verne. His non-fiction works include 'The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier' (1992), 'Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 Years' (2003) and 'Shaping Things' (2005). He is a contributing editor of WIRED magazine. He also writes a weblog and runs a website and Internet mailing list on the topic of environmental activism and postindustrial design. In 2005, he was the Visionary in Residence at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He has appeared on ABC’s Nightline, BBC’s The Late Show, CBC’s Morningside, on MTV and TechTV, and in publications including Time, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, Nature, I.D., Metropolis, Technology Review, Der Spiegel and La Repubblica.
Peter Fend ARABIAN GULF INTEGRATION ROOM
Thu, May 24 2007"To those interested in the Basin of the Gulf installation at the 8th Sharjah Biennial (2007), in the Expo Center: here is a plan of the installation, with items numbered, and a price list for realization of the items on site. The prices are based, for larger site projects, on satellite investigations into similar-scale constructions, and, for smaller site projects, on prior budgets which I had prepared. Inquiries are welcome on all modeled and budgeted projects. Contracts are welcome, too. I am ready to discuss these estimate prices and project schedules with engineering and regional-planning firms in the area. The large figures are based on consultations with engineers during the years of satellite monitoring of similar-scale projects in the Arabian Gulf Basin and elsewhere. The small figures given are based on earlier project budgets."
ARABIAN GULF INTEGRATION ROOM AGIR Meaning, in French, “to act”.
Displaying how to make a cohesive whole of the Arabian Gulf as a basin.
DRAFT PRICE LIST
1. Convex-Disc Ramp Stepdown, near Birecik, Turkey $300 MILLION
2. Wadi el Batin Cut-Through $800 MILLION (using aircraft)
3. Karun River Zig-Zags $1 BILLION (undershot waterwheels)
4. Nafuds cut with Multi-channel canals $300 MILLION
5. Sea-level Flushing, into UAE, or even to the Umm as Samim $1 BILLION
6. Offshore Biomass Rig: Gracilaria $100,000
7. Satellite assessment of marine bioproductivity using SeaWiFS data, through Global Feed $20,000
8. Cones, Cages and Wallows near Salt Pans (Sabkhas) $150,000
9. Flushing out Alluvial Fans at the Head of the Gulf Based on satellite assessment of Iraqi projects $2 BILLION
10. Convex-Disc Marsh Zig-Zag Strcture, for mountains $300,000
11. Wadi Yudayyah Hydrometric Area, site for projects Example: clearing the mouth to yield seagrass $20,000/month
12. Feather-Production Sequence, from urban wastes Example: keratin dispersion in swamps or oases $10,000/month
Dispersed throughout space. Undershot Waterwheels, to replace hydroelectric dams $20,000 per test
Inshore Biomass Rig: Microalgae $20,000
Sharjah Biennial (y Latitudes) en El País
Sat, Apr 21 2007Reseña de la Sharjah Biennial 8 por Ángela Molina publicado en el suplemento Babelia de El País: ‘Una mentira cómoda’, 21 Abril 2007, pp.16-17.
2007, review, Reviews, Sharjah Biennial 8, symposium, United Arab Emirates, Ángela Molina
Sharjah Biennial opening on Artforum Diary
Mon, Apr 16 2007Rafal Niemojewski wrote on the opening of the Sharjah Biennial 7 on Artforum Diary. Read the full account here.
Sharjah Biennial 8, symposium, United Arab Emirates
Sharjah Biennial 8 - part 3
Mon, Apr 9 2007Pictures from our excursion/roving seminar to Dubai Pivot Fields, Ras Al Khor wetlands (bird list below); and Al Khan, an abandoned village in Sharjah and the basis of Lara Almárcegui's UNESCO-prize-winning project for the Biennial. Participants: Michaela Crimmin, Max Andrews, Mariana Cánepa Luna, Mark Nash, Sarah Rich, Susi Platt, Stephanie Smith, Lara Almarcegui, Ignasi Aballí, Gulnara Kasmamlieva, Muratbek Kjoumakliev,Tea Mäpikää. Bird guiding: Clive Temple.
Birds we saw during the excursion:
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Lara Almarcegui, Sharjah Biennial 8, symposium, United Arab Emirates
Birds we saw during the excursion:
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Western Reef-egret (Egretta gularis)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Eurasian Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)
Grey Francolin (Francolinus pondicerianus)
Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Little Plover (Charadrius dubius)
Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)
White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Temminck's Stint (Calidris temminckii)
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis)
Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)
Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis)
Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
House Martin (Delichon urbica)
Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola)
Blue-headed Wagtail [sp] (Motacilla flava)
Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
White-cheeked Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucogenys)
Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)
Purple Sunbird (Nectarinia asiatica)
House Crow (Corvus splendens)
Asian Pied Starling (Sturnus contra)
Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)
Bank Myna (Acridotheres ginginianus)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Indian Silverbill (Lonchura malabarica)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Eurasian Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)
Grey Francolin (Francolinus pondicerianus)
Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Little Plover (Charadrius dubius)
Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)
White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Temminck's Stint (Calidris temminckii)
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis)
Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)
Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis)
Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
House Martin (Delichon urbica)
Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola)
Blue-headed Wagtail [sp] (Motacilla flava)
Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
White-cheeked Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucogenys)
Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)
Purple Sunbird (Nectarinia asiatica)
House Crow (Corvus splendens)
Asian Pied Starling (Sturnus contra)
Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)
Bank Myna (Acridotheres ginginianus)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Indian Silverbill (Lonchura malabarica)