Installation view of Erick Beltrán's works: 'Euridice' (ink on gold leaf on oak leaves, text on paper); 'Creusa' (ash from Vesuvius, text on paper); 'Sybil of Cumea' (inscribed tufo stone, text on paper); 'Ildeth' (carved salt from Spiral Jetty, text on paper). All works from 2009. Photo: Danilo Donzelli.


'Provenances'
Erick Beltrán, Jordi Mitjà and Simon Fujiwara
Umberto di Marino Arte Contemporanea, Naples, Italy
until 14 September 2009

'Sequelism Part 3: Possible, Probable or Preferable Futures'
Arnolfini, Bristol, United Kingdom
until 20 September 2009
Free admission
 

As announced during ARCO last February (see press release at the bottom of our 27 November 2008 post) "Manifesta 8 will explore the idea of Europe in the 21st century at the edges of the continent. More specifically, the aim of Manifesta 8 will be to engage with Europe’s present-day boundaries with Northern Africa and its interrelations with the Maghreb region."

Following Manifesta's invitation to "existing curatorial groups, artistic and interdisciplinary collectives and/or existing institutions to be part of the Curatorial Team of Manifesta 8" they have announced the appointment of the Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, Chamber of Public Secrets and Tranzit.org as the curatorial collectives in charge of Manifesta 8, which will open 1 October 2010 during 100 days in Murcia and Cartagena, in the south-east of Spain.

Following are their CV's taken from e-flux, 4 September 2009. Hopefully this and further information will soon be uploaded on the (ancient) Manifesta website:

ALEXANDRIA CONTEMPORARY ARTS FORUM
Curator/Team Executive: Bassam El Baroni
Associate Curator: Jeremy Beaudry

Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum (ACAF), founded in Alexandria (Egypt) in December 2005, focuses on contemporary art, new media and discursive practice, cultivating a deeper awareness of art in relation to all aspects of contemporary life and culture. Central to its mission is an ongoing engagement with projects that bring together established and emerging artists, university students, and diverse practitioners, in contexts that recognize the value of an informal, non-hierarchical, open-ended circulation of information and experience. The ACAF is in a constant state of flux and incorporates innovative activities, guided by its socio-cultural compass.

CHAMBER OF PUBLIC SECRETS
Curators/Team Executives: Khaled Ramadan / Alfredo Cramerotti

Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS), based in Copenhagen (Denmark) and the Middle East, works as a network of artists, curators and thinkers who have been collaborating since 2004 in the organization, production and circulation of film and video festivals, art exhibitions, TV and radio programs, political fictions and documentaries. CPS also develops forums for debate and publishes books and articles about socio-political and cultural issues such as migration, mobility, representation, colonialism, gender and difference. CPS wishes to stimulate the role of debate, while reconstructing the role of art, its responsibility and its relation to society.

TRANZIT.ORG
Team executive: Vít Havránek
Team assembly: Zbyněk Baladrán, Dóra Hegyi, Boris Ondreička, Georg Schöllhammer

tranzit.org is a network of autonomous art associations, existing since 2002 in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, who cooperate working across borders - between nations, languages and histories. Each tranzit group operates independently from each other, using different formats and methods - such as discursive platforms, exhibitions, publications and research initiatives - but always aiming to generate a deep involvement in the local artistic and intellectual context. At the same time each tranzit group carries out a re-assessment of contemporary history, challenging the canons, geography and master-narratives of post-war European (art) histories. The aim of tranzit is to act trans-locally, in constant dialogue with cultural narratives on a local and global scale.

+ info:
http://www.manifesta.org

Images of the 'base camp' and surroundings where the editors of Rotterdam-based printed and online art magazine Fucking Good Art will be until 21 September. All images courtesy FGA.
Initiated and edited by artists Rob Hamelijnck and Nienke Terpsma in 2003, Fucking Good Art is a Rotterdam-based printed and online art magazine which publishes reports, interviews, critical writing and observations with a non-academic, freestyle and do-it-yourself attitude. The editors of FGA explores creative communities by residing in particular local contexts for extended periods, and specific magazine issues have grown out of residencies in cities including Munich, Berlin, Copenhagen, Riga, Zurich and São Paulo.

Adapting their embedded approach for Portscapes, the editors of FGA are living and working in a ‘base camp’ on the Maasvlakte for 5 weeks, starting 20 August while producing Portscapes_ON AIR. Comprising a series of audio walks, field recordings and conversations with guests from different disciplines Portscapes_ON AIR will be broadcast on the internet (www.portscapes.nl).

Inspired by their camp’s proximity to the pipeline which carries sand from the Yangtzehaven to the future Maasvlakte 2, the editors of FGA approach their endeavour both as inhabitants of an industrial and man-made territory and in relation to the redistribution and displacement of knowledge. Alongside other grand movements of transportation and trade taking place in the port, FGA’s broadcasts take shape through encounters with others and consider the role that art and artists have in other registers of exchange. Starting from the principal that in order to really understand a place one needs to really inhabit it, and the question of how to represent a place like as Maasvlakte 2 which does not yet fully exist, the editors of FGA also aim to stimulate discussion about the representation of Dutch landscape. They hope that their project could be pilot for a further research residencies.

Participants contributing to Fucking Good Art's research on Maasvlakte and webradio:

Frank Bruggeman: Designer, artist and one of the editors of 'Club Donny', a strictly unedited journal on the personal experience of nature in the urban enviroment.

Hans Aarsman: Former photo journalist, and currently columnist for the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant" and playwriter. In 1988 he travelled for one year in Holland in his camper van - a Citroën HY - to produced the book 'Hollandse Taferelen'. He has published several publications: the photo book 'Aarsmans Amsterdam' (1993), his first novel 'Twee hoofden, een kussen' (1995) and in 2003 the autobiographical book 'Vrrooom! Vrrooomm!'. Some of his photos are free for download at the Nederlands Fotomuseum.

Remko Andeweg: Botanical analyst, City biologist of Rotterdam and author of the book 'Vreemde Planten in Rotterdam' [Exotic plants in Rotterdam, 2002], about the migration of plants that are considered foreign and endanger domestic vegetation.

Lino Hellings: Errorist! Recently founded the press agency P.A.P.A, an international network of artists and correspondents that creates news by taking action. Co-author of the publication "An Architecture of Interaction", and one of the founders of Dogtroep (1975), a self-styled form of visual theatre.

Gijsbert Korevaar: Industrial Ecologist.

Aurélie Barbier: A French urban planner specialised in emerging cities. Currently working for Urbaplan, an urban planning firm based in Switzerland. She has worked on various projects in Southern Europe and sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Niger, Ghana). Over the past five years, she has focused on the definition of master plan, regulatory plan and slum upgrading projects through a comprehensive approach that includes both social and technical dimensions of urban development.

Martin Blum: Swiss artist and farmer. Works together with Haimo Ganz under the name GANZBLUM. In their art projects they focus on (life)cycles. Martin recently started public art projects on his farm "Frohe Aussicht" outside Zurich.

Marjolijn de Kok: Theoretical archeologist specialised on settlements and the wetlands of Holland. Also co-publisher of LIMA.

John Lonsdale: Architect. In the last years he has begun mapping the ‘Mudscapes of the Netherlands’ whereby he strives for the reconciliation of architecture with landscape.

Achilleka Komguem: Artist from Duala. Editor of journal 'Diartgonale' and worked on a radio show in Bessengue. He is in visiting Holland for 'Talking about!' a project by curators Zoë Gray and Lucia Babina that brings six artists and cultural producers from Cameroon to the Netherlands. FGA are hosting Achilleka during his visit.

CLUI: The Centre for Land Use Interpretation is a research organisation based in Culver City, Los Angeles, involved in exploring, examining, and understanding land and landscape issues. The Center employs a variety of methods to pursue its mission - engaging in research, classification, extrapolation, and exhibition. http://www.clui.org

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. Read more on completed projects and projects in production.

During our participation last June in the X Initiative’s NO SOUL FOR SALE - Festival of Independents in New York, James Merle Thomas, a San Francisco-based team member of L’APPARTEMENT 22 from Rabat, recorded a short interview for Radio Apartment 22 between us and Massimiliano Gioni, Director of Special Exhibitions of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York. Gioni briefly talks about the 'introspective' (intead of retrospective) the museum dedicating to Zurich-born, New York-based artist Urs Fischer, opening 28 October.

The interview is part of Appartement 22's 'R22 Universe - Live From NYC' programme available online here.

Following the demise of the photo sharing site Bubbleshare, we have transfered our blog albums with over 1,000 images to Flickr so that you can enjoy slideshows in a bigger format on our blog. Take a tour to this year Venice Biennial (see Arsenale, Giardini or the Collateral Events), the 2008 55th Carnegie International in Pittsburgh or through the Port of Rotterdam in our first site visit in May 2008. 33 further photo sets here.

Photo documentation of Latitudes' projects can still be found as usual on each of our projects pages under 'photo gallery' – see this and this or this galleries as examples.

We welcome your (sensible) comments!

As the 2008–9 artistic cycle turns for many towards a holiday exodus and 'out of office' autoresponders, below is a selection of some unseen and 'behind the scenes' moments from our projects since last summer.

A big thank you to everyone involved in our 2008-9 projects y felices vacaciones!

– Latitudes


(Three images above): Mariana with Lawrence Weiner during the installation of Lawrence Weiner's exhibition 'THE CREST OF A WAVE' at the Fundació Suñol, Barcelona, in October–November 2008; during the press conference; Lawrence, Latitudes and Fundació Suñol team (Sergi Aguilar, Maga Ruiz, Xavier De Luca, Mireia Arnau and Jaume Brunet) photographed by Pierre-Jean Moulis after tossing a horseshoe upon the crest of a wave.

16–19 October 2008: presentation of the Danish artist Tue Greenfort 'transparent' bins outside Frieze Art Fair, London, commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts' 'Arts & Ecology' programme.



5–9 November 2008: Leaving the 'X, Y, etc!' Videolounge in Artissima Art Fair, Torino, Italy; admiring the phenomenal long table arrangement Artissima dinner hosted at the equally phenomenal Venaria Reale.



November 2008: fourth visit to Rotterdam – evening boat trip with some of 'Portscapes' artists, site visit to the port with the Port of Rotterdam's Sjaak Poppe (Hans Schabus and Roman Keller alongside) and discussions in Marjolijn Dijkman's studio (Roman Keller and Christina Hemauer – with Ilana Halperin on Skype)

November 2008: ‘La, la, la, la: on winning and losing’ co-curator Aimar Arriola arranging a work with artist Verónica Aguilera and (below) selecting images with Fermín Jimenez Landa and Oriol Vilanova.


8 February 2009: SKOR curator Theo Tegelaers and Jan Dibbets during the filming of Jan Dibbets' '6 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective'; some of 'Portscapes' artists including Bik Van der Pol and Marjolijn Dijkman visit the beach while waiting for the tide to go up; Christiane Bosman (SKOR press coordinator) and curator Theo Tegelaers from SKOR at 'Portscapes' during Art Rotterdam opening evening.


18 February 2009: Vena (por la) talk with (the then) Walker Art Center associate curator Doryun Chong (now Associate Curator at MoMA in New York).


April 2009: The Associació d'Art Crítics de Catalunya awards Fundació Suñol for their exhibition programme (Latitudes-curated projects Lawrence Weiner's 'THE CREST OF THE WAVE' and the Land Art film programme 'A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel. Land Art's Expanded Field, 1968–2008' were part of this season). 

(7 images above): First Neapolitan lunch with Simon Fujiwara and Jordi Mitjà on May 8, 2009: deep-fried maccheroni; Erick Beltrán installing during 'Provenances', Umberto di Marino, Naples; preparing Simon's 'Museum of incest'; subtitling session with Nicoletta Daldanise; delightful Sicilian cuisine at Umberto's house, documenting Erick's work during the opening night and audience during Simon's performance 'The Museum of Incest: A Guided Tour' (publication here).

(3 Above): During the installation of 'The Garden of Forking Paths', Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, May 2009; installation instructions for Rosalind Nashashibi & Lucy Skaer's photographic pieces and post-opening beer landscape at Maisterravalbuena office, 29 May 2009.


15 June 2009: Hans Schabus, Port of Rotterdam team and curators mulling over the location options for Hans's photo shoot of his 'Portscapes' project 'Europahaven, Port of Rotterdam, 17 Juni 2009'.


24–28 June 2009 (2 above): At our temporary office during the non-profit festival 'No Soul for Sale', in New York [Note Michael Jackson's 'breaking news' on screen!].



The Bruce High Quality Foundation in full (we are indebted to them for their fantastic 1983 Burger King set up)



(3 above) Installing Graham Gussin work during 'Sequelism Part 3. Possible, Probable or Preferable futures' in Arnolfini, Bristol (July 2009); hanging around with participating artists Francesc Ruiz and Haegue Yang as well as Nav Haq (Arnolfini curator) before dinner; and knitting lessons from Haegue at Arnolfini's bar.

[All photos: Latitudes | www.lttds.org]

We have uploaded a slideshow with installation shots (CLICK HERE) of the recently inaugurated exhibition 'Sequelism Part 3: Possible, Probable, or Preferable Futures' on view at Arnolfini, Bristol until 20 September 2009.

'Sequelism, Part 3: Possible, Probable or Preferable Futures' is an exhibition project that looks into the future and at that which is yet to happen. It considers how the inexact arena of futurology is used as a means to better comprehend the present and the past.

'Sequelism Part 3' includes works by Mariana Castillo Deball (1975, Mexico City. Lives in Berlin/Amsterdam), Heman Chong (1977, Malaysia. Lives in Berlin/Singapore), Graham Gussin (1960, London. Lives in London), Victor Man (1974, Cluj–Napoca. Lives in Cluj–Napoca), Francesc Ruiz (in residency) (1971 Barcelona. Lives in Barcelona/Berlin), Jordan Wolfson (1980, New York. Lives New York/Berlin) and Haegue Yang (1971 Seoul. Lives in Berlin/Seoul).


Taking the style of a magical realist tale or children's story, Mariana Castillo Deball's 'Nobody Was Tomorrow' (2007) consists of three interconnected stories based on the fictional connections between three real ‘characters’ – ‘Nobody’ a defunct accelerating aging machine, a sprawling fig tree and the remains of a Roman bath in Čačak, Serbia. Castillo Deball makes us mindful of culture’s fortunes through a swirling fable about the sedimentation of time, encapsulated by an image of a damaged book.

'Index (Down)' (2009) is part of Heman Chong's ongoing series ‘Surfacing’, which requires the action of putting up 3000 stickers on a wall within a given set of instructions. The red triangular stickers are intended to resemble the downward pointing arrows used to denote a fall in value of stock exchanges. Considering the paranoia around the scenario of economic freefall, Index (Down) uses this motif to create an abstract pattern evoking a waterfall.

Graham Gussin's 'Hypnotic/Dystopic/Optic' (2009) presents a ‘horizon line’ of rotating record covers for soundtracks to renowned dystopian science fiction films. The covers are set to rotate at the speed at which their images ‘vaporise’ at the limit of visual comprehension. 'In The Not Too Distant Future (Self Portrait with Sleeping Masks)' (2009) is a self-portrait of the artist inspired by a scene from the film La Jetée (1962) concerning an experiment in time travel following a nuclear war.

Francesc Ruiz's stair barriers installation 'Untitled (Bristol)' (2009) takes the shop windows of the high streets in the south of Bristol – East Street and North Street – as sequential units akin to comic-book vignettes. Ruiz has created a narrative around a dystopian future in which destruction, revolt, and anger have invaded the city after an economic downturn.

Jordan Wolfson 'Untitled' (2007) centres on a 1984 Macintosh 128k, the first affordable home computer to use a mouse-driven graphical user interface. The computer is seen stranded by the side of a road in Connecticut, built in the late 1930s following the Great Depression. The soundtrack comprises a triumphalist monologue concerning the emergence of American abstract painting in the 1950s. Wolfson is interested in obsolescence and in these elements as generational touchstones.

Victor Man's three pieces could be read in terms of premonition and symbolic rites which relate to the uncertainty of the future in a similar way that memory relates to the past. A taxidermy fox head is wedged within a metal structure as if a votive or magical offering. Vinyl text on a wall is negated by a neon ‘X’. A ceramic funerary plate bears the image of stars, whose arrangement has often been interpreted by man in terms of fate and fortune.

Haegue Yang's 'Holiday for Tomorrow' (2007) considers our perception of time, and the emotional anticipation of holidays, those socially-agreed days in which labour is suspended and we attempt to rest our bodies and minds. At its centre is a video essay showing Seoul during the Korean harvest holiday Chuseok over which a female voice reflects on the postponement of desire and the dysfunctional hopes triggered by enforced leisure.
Accompanying events and film programme here.

Exhibition curated by Nav Haq (Curator, Arnolfini) and Latitudes.

Supported by the State Corporation for Spanish Cultural Action Abroad (SEACEX), the Direction of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institut Ramon Llull, IFA, National Arts Council, Singapore and The Ratiu Family Foundation.

[Images from top to bottom: Francesc Ruiz x 2, Haegue Yang x 2, Graham Gussin. Photos by Latitudes | www.lttds.org]