Saturday 24th November/ DAI Public presentations / CANCELLED OUT BY NOISES AND WHISPERS / two presentations of work in progress by Eva Olthof( DAI, 2011) and informal strategies (Geert van Mil + Doris Denekamp ( DAI, 2011))/ Location : Festival of Independents / Kunstvlaai 2012
Eva Olthof will give a performative presentation that will be a followup of, as well as a preview for, her ongoing project The image after- images of stolen objects rearranged which started in Beirut, April 2011. The presentation will depart from photographs taken by her in the depot of the Archaeological museum of American University in Beirut. These images depict (glass) negatives and photoprints of cylinder seals (cylinder shaped objects used to produce images onto a clay tablet in ancient times) and other objects that were stolen from the museum just after the ending of the civil war (1975-1990). During the presentation thoughts will be raised about the looting and destruction of cultural heritage, images of bodily protest and the idea of 'listening to' forbidden films.
Informal strategies will give an insight into their ongoing research on IKEA, this time addressing the company as a neighbor in the post-war neighborhood Kanaleneiland in Utrecht. By diving into the history of this once utopian and now deprived neighborhood, they unravel the relations between modernist efficiency in the kitchen, the introduction of migrant workers in Utrecht and IKEA's spaghetti spoon. This presentation forms the prelude of a new book, which will be published in the beginning of next year.
Eva Olthof is an artist based in Rotterdam and a member of the collective Het Wilde Weten. She obtained her MFA at the Dutch Art Institute in 2011. In her work she concentrates on questions concerning the photographic image in relation to the unseen, the unperceivable. Questioning probability of memory and history plays an important role in her work as well as raising thoughts and questions about the documentary image versus the imaginary. Last year she collaborated intensly with graphic designer Stefano Faoro on a project with several outcomes; an exhibition, a performative presentation and a publication. Her latest projects have been presented at Extrapool, Fort Vijfhuizen, Schloss Ringenberg and in 2013 she will start a new project at Crac, Valparaíso Chile, as part of the temporary artist-in-residence places offered by the Monderiaan Fund.
www.evaolthof.nl
Informal strategies is a collective founded by Geert van Mil and Doris Denekamp, both visual artist based in Rotterdam. Their collective work aims to construct new narratives on the current globalized economics and the workings of multinational enterprises. By tracking down the flows of capital and relating international economy to local historic events, they aim to subvert the logic of neoliberalism and make space for alternatives. For over a year they concentrate on IKEA as the main protagonist, thus combining 'democratic design', modernist ideology and late capitalist operation.
Geert van Mil teaches digital media on the art academy in Utrecht and has a background in video, installation and performances. Doris Denekamp finished her MA at the Dutch Art Institute in 2011 where she did research on informal economies and survival strategies in the Dutch cities. The projects of informal strategies have been presented in Platforma, Bucharest and BAK, Utrecht and currently they are working on a publication which will be published by Expodium.
www.informalstrategies.org