LabforCulture - Community : Blogs

False Ceilings and the Distribution of Knowledge

Last week I spent a few days in Istanbul, in preparation of a media art project I am organising at Garaj Istanbul, September 20th and 21st. Istanbul …

9 1/2 Weeks: Body Counts and other Statistics

The solution to finding a snappy title is always to steal someone else’s. Preferably one relating to a blockbuster Hollywood flick. After 9 1/2 weeks …

Of Visual Occupations, Appropriations and Resistances: Roundtrip Tel-Aviv-Ramallah.

The economy of fear is a strange beast: it sneaks up on you without you noticing it. You internalise its sweaty paws, its irregular heartbeats, and …

18.000 Words Please: On the State of Contemporary Art in the Middle East

SICA (The Service Centre for International Cultural Activities) invited me to write an 1800-word article for their Magazine about the state of …

And Then There Were Only Two: On the Evacuation of Art

I have recently pondered how to write about war – or armed conflict for that matter – and art, and I have come to the conclusion that I simply cannot …

Doing the Cairo Crush

I am celebrating my 10-day anniversary in Cairo. There’s much to celebrate because till now I haven’t been run over by insane traffic (yet), did not …

Iraqi Dates, Looted Artefacts and Architectural Parasites: The Redirective Practice of Michael Rakowitz

The Home Works IV Festival, organised by Ashkal Alwan – the Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts - in Beirut was still in full swing at the time of …

Territorial Phantom haunts Phantom Territories

Last week, on April 1st no less, I had my last event for a while in the Netherlands, before moving to the City Victorious, or rather the city of …

Form, Video Art and funky One-liners: Global Art Forum at Art Dubai 2008

The Global Art Forum is to Art Dubai what the quintessential (and by now obligatory) symposium and panel debates are to biennales and art festival: …

Stiletto Heels, Free Champagne, and Missing Artworks: Art Dubai 2008

Dubai is much reviled as the Planet’s largest building site (the amount of cranes per capita manned by cheap South-East Asian migrant labour in this …

To Breathe or not to Breathe: That is the Conspiratorial Question

Last week the Transmediale08’s exhibition drew to a close. A nice opportunity to mention a few highlights of the show. Guest-curated by Natasa …

The Politics of Fear: A Walk on the Conspiratorial Side of Life

As far as I am concerned the session “Embedding Fear. The Internet and the Spectacle of Heightened Alert” on January 31st, was the star panel of this …

Imag[en]ing the Conspiratorial: Transmediale08 “Conspire”

Just back from Berlin where I wallowed in artistic conspiracies and others for a good 5 days. A loyal visitor to the Transmediale since 2000, I was …

Stagnating Politics, Power Cuts, and Teaching Media Art in Beirut

So I am in back in Beirut: city of daily 3-hour power cuts, checkpoints, crazy traffic, the best bars and restaurants in the Middle East, political …

Interview with Gemak’s Robert Kluijver

The Hague, home to the Netherlands’ seat of government and to the International Criminal Court, does not immediately conjure up an image of a …

Syntax or Architecture: Musing on Models of Interaction

December really is the festive season! It seems every arts and culture venue has pushed and shoved as much programming in the month of December as …

When everything else fails, there’s always the sales! Be[com]ing Dutch #2

In my previous post I summarised Dick Pels' position on the big question how to relate critically to issues of identity, nationalism and citizenship …

I am Weak, Therefore I am Righteous: Be[com]ing Dutch #1

Be[com]ing Dutch is the ambitious two-year project of the Van Abbemuseum, comprising debates, reading groups, artist's projects, exhibitions, …

Tongue-twisting your way into a new fund for the arts and culture: Arts Collaboratory

It seems that whomever works in arts and culture – at one point – will come up with a name for an institution, art collective, project or event …

Interview with Erden Kosova

Erden Kosova is a critic and curator based in Istanbul. He contributes to two independent Istanbul-based magazines, Siyahi (post-anarchist politics) …

Interview with NOMAD's Basak Senova

September 9th saw the “soft opening” of NOMAD’s 3rd edition of their ctrl_alt_del sound art festival. As a digital art collective, with Istanbul as …

Interview with Justin Bennett

The practice of The Hague-based artist and composer Justin Bennett often takes on an explorative character: whether he is relating sounds to various …