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W139 Fundraiser
W139 Fundraiser
W139 is unique. Set in an historical building on Warmoesstraat – in one of the oldest parts of Amsterdam – since 1979, we invite artists to create new and experimental art with society at its centre. W139 is always artist first. We have built our space, organisation and exhibitions together – with and for them – and we still do. Over the past four decades, more than 2,000 artists have worked on their artistic practices and ambitions at W139.
W139 Fundraiser
W139 Fundraiser
But to secure the prosperity of W139 we need your support. To provide structural funding, so that growth can be achieved in commercial and social capital. W139 is currently having a hard time and any support is welcome. We believe that art brings people together. Therefore we are looking forward to welcoming you as a new friend of W139. w139.nl/en/supporting-2/
Karl England
E DI TOR I A L 6 Dr Susan Jones
SE E N BU T NOT H E A R D : T H E A R T I S T - L E D Q UA N DA RY
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Publishing Director Karl England Associate Editor Ben Street Proof and sub-editor Tash Kahn Publisher Sluice Art Direction + Design Christian Küsters Barbara Nassisi info@chkdesign.com chkdesign.com Lettering All fonts by Colophon colophon-foundry.org Distribution Central Books centralbooks.com Contact editor@sluice.info sluice.info Subscriptions Subscribe online at sluice.info
Ad de Jong
I N T E RV I E W 16
Cover CHK Design Acknowledgements Sarah England Claire Crawley Unsolicited material cannot be returned, though all correspondence will be passed on to the editor. The views expressed in Sluice are not necessarily those of the publishers.
©2021 ISSN 2398-8398 EAN 9772398839005
Charlie Hawksfield
W H E N D I D E V E RYO N E S TA R T H AT I N G A R T S CHO OL? 26 GABRIELA AKA 3 137 36
Unauthorised copying, hiring or lending of this magazine is prohibited but ask us nicely and we’ll see what we can do. Sluice is an artist/curator-run initiative for similar. Our focus is transnationally local. Sluice is concerned with applied theory, both in regards of the impact of the societal and economic environment on the arts but also how the arts can in turn impact our societal and economic environment. At Sluice we aim to publish writing that we perceive to have an unmistakable disruptive quality, which might open up traditional art discourse to unexpected ideas, approaches and methods. In this way, our contributor’s backgrounds are not important: we encourage contributions from any and all disciplines. At its best, Sluice magazine is a site of artistic creation and theoretical reflection that creates confrontations, sparks, and unexpected alliances. Sluice is open to arguments from different (contextually merited) ideological quarters.
Francesca Mollett
L O N D O N A R T S B OA R D 46 Daniel Pryde-Jarman
N E W I N S T I T U T IONA L CR I T IQU E 52 Alistair Gentry
AWA R D YO U R S E L F 60
Studio1.1
SOM E W H E R E OF F TO T H E SI DE . H A NGI NG ON. 66 A R T I S T - RU N S PAC E S I N D E X : H 76
2021 sees Sluice in its tenth year. Which inevitably invites an element of introspection. Why haven’t we burnt out, incinerated by the intense heat of emergent churn? Have we achieved escape velocity, now comfortably cruising along with our future secure? Well, no. We’re still here because we bloody-mindedly believe that artist culture is worth championing. But is it possible to slide into our second decade without becoming ‘the institution’? Sluice positions itself as organisationally non-institutional whilst opting to cosplay as such when it suits us. We feel that the strength of artistled culture is its ability to exist (and therefore act) independently of the institution, its resilience and authenticity is borne of independence. As a project matures it inevitably seeks sustainability which often involves bringing on board different stakeholders who in turn have their own stakeholders, each with their own interests. The single vision of the artist-led project can succumb to paralysis-by-committee. Whilst it’s not inevitable that compliance-culture and bureaucratisation must overtake all institutions it’s easy to drift in that direction if you’re not alive to the possibility. 6
On the other hand, it’s difficult to see a long term future for unfunded activities (pig-headed persistence aside), and the ability to increase one’s reach and ambition can be a compromise worth making. The argument for and against isn’t binary, geography plays a big role; the needs of an artist-run project in Hull may be different from one in London or Amsterdam or Athens. Regionally and globally different regulatory and economic regimes produce different opportunities. The artist-led and the institution have a symbiotic relationship – each seeking validation from the other. When the establishment co-opts the grassroots as seen in the 2021 Turner Prize nominations for instance, it raises the question of where and how should the artist-led position itself in response. Certainly not all projects see a virtue in holding institutionalism at arm’s length – and by defining ourselves as artists we de facto position ourself within a certain institutional framework. But I think there’s something interesting about projects that have a certain institutional critique baked into their platform, or at least that are conscious of whether they’re outside the tent pissing in or inside the tent pissing on their own foot. 7