You are warmly invited to the opening with performances, of the exhibition 

SONGS FOR A DEAF OX 

Florencia Almirón and Isabelle Sully, David Bergé, Sebastian De Line, Hu Wei, Nil Ilkbasaran, Pilar Mata Dupont, Valentina Miorandi, Avan Omar, Maja Renn, Peter Sattler, Helen Zeru

Curated by Dai Xiyun

June 3rd, 2016 18:00-19:30

June 4th, 2016 16:00-17:00

DAI, Kortestraat 27, 6811 EP Arnhem 

What is the necessity to think about a non-transmittable form in the context of contemporary art? It is an urgent question to consider in the current tendency, that art is moving from a heterogeneous present to a particular criterion defining what can be contemporary art. Then “What about a form that simply does not transfer? Or does not transfer simply?” asked Ruth Noack. In answering the first question, one has to consider whether a form is ever able to be a part of contemporary art within the context of globalization? Who holds the gaze? And who gives the criticism? The second question refers to a dialectic thought that perhaps non-transmittability always coexists with transmittability in terms of a cultural and social context shift, as well as of one’s capacity, subjectivity, misuse or misunderstanding.

This exhibition approaches discussions on questioning ‘how to define form’ along with ‘what is non-transmittability?’ Thirteen participants from various parts of the world present their interpretations on the subject through a range of perspectives. The exhibition provides a form for the artists to transmit their works to each other, and then to the viewer on behalf of each other. All the transmissions are archived in a publication. Questions, ideas, notes, and potentials surrounding the subject function as a navigational tool for the exhibition. Artworks and their transmissions are complementary to each other. Together they form a whole that becomes, in the end, a collective work.

Curated in the context of the year-long course Non-transmittable form the exhibition denotes nine-months of collective research on non-transmitttable form, which is the result of a year-long course curated by Ruth Noack at the Dutch Art Institute. The participating students engaged in a conceptual framework and the practical organization of the exhibition under the consultation of Ruth Noack, May Adadol Ingawanij, and Tina Gverović. 

Program 

Jun 3rd, 2016

18:10-18:20

Hu Wei & Astarti Athanasiadou

Mezzanine 

Break

(Maja Renn)

18:30-19:00

Peter Sattler & Kristinn Guðmundsson

Mezzanine

18:00-19:30

Pilar Mata Dupont (durational performance)

Ground Floor 

June 4th, 2016

16:00-16:30

Peter Sattler & Kristinn Guðmundsson

Mezzanine 

16:00-17:00

Pilar Mata Dupont (durational performance)

Ground Floor