Supermarket Art Magazine #10

ISSN 2000-8155

SEK100/€10/US$11/£8.70

artist-run art magazine

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Uppsala konstmuseum Filippa Arrias & Pauliina Turakka Purhonen Himlen är blå och solen är en klocka 29 augusti–22 november 2020

Hösten 2020 AKB – Anna-Karin Berglund • Anna Nyberg • Anna Petrini, Christian Wallumrod, Qarin Wikström • Cajsa Holmstrand • Camille Norment • Differnet • Elli Hemberg • Elsa Tölli • Eva Runefelt • Filippa Arrias • Goose & Daniel Ögren • Judith Kiros • Klara Lewis • Lundahl & Seitl • Kurt Simons • Lars Erik Falk • Maj Bring Nachla Libre • Nicole Neidert • Olle Bærtling • Pauliina Turakka Purhonen • Tove Berglund • Trio Ramberget Museum Bar & Café med Cajsa’s Kök

www.uppsalakonstmuseum.se

Editorial team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ALICE MÁSELNÍKOVÁ EDITORIAL BOARD ALICE MÁSELNÍKOVÁ, STUART MAYES, ANDREAS RIBBUNG CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ANNA EKROS, JASMIN GLAAB, FELICIA GRÄND, YVONNE IHMELS, ALICE MÁSELNÍKOVÁ, STANISLAV MÁSELNÍK, STUART MAYES, ONE GEE IN FOG (LUCAS CANTORI AND CAMILLA PAOLINO), PASAJ TEAM CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS & PHOTOGRAPHERS MAURO RODRIGUES (8), HAIBO YU (9), SHOENBERG3 (9), ZHU DIFENG (9), STRIPPED PIXEL (9), ALICE MÁSELNÍKOVÁ (10–17), STANISLAV MÁSELNÍK (18), ANDREAS RIBBUNG (19), PAULINA GRANAT (20–23), JASON RHOADES (25), ANNA EKROS (25), ANISH KAPOOR (27), SHURA SKAYA (27), LIN DE MOL (29–30, 33), HELENE KARLSSON (31–32), HP SKOGLUND (31), YVONNE IHMELS (32), PONTUS RAUD (35–38), ANDREAS MARTI (40, 46), AUSSTELLUNGSRAUM KLINGENTAL (41), HANS BERTOLF (42), PETER KINNY (49), GIORGIO CAIONE (51), PAOLA FERRARIO (51–52), KIM JOHANSSON (52), GUSTAV LEJELIND (52), BURAK KABADAYI (53), BIRGIT AUF DER LAUER & CASPAR PAULI (54), HKW BERLIN (55), HACER Kıroğlu (56), KORHAN KARAOYSAL (56) GRAPHIC DESIGN KATHARINA PETER LANGUAGE EDITING AND PROOFREADING ALICE MÁSELNÍKOVÁ, STUART MAYES ADVERTISING SALES NADJA EKMAN ADVERTISING CONTACT AD @SUPERMARKETARTFAIR.COM PRINTING PRINTON TRUKIKODA LTD PUBLISHER PONTUS RAUD

artist-run art magazine #10

Creative directors

Andreas Ribbung

Alice Máselníková

1. Alice likes to read a book every day, because it feels nice to turn the pages, hear their shuffling voices and sniff the delicate library dust.

2. Alice’s unique quality is her ability to come up with fun games that amuse everyone without exception.

3. If Alice were to fall down the rabbit-hole she

would not get perplexed by the lack of logic – she would dispute it and win all the arguments.

4. Alice has a big master plan in her mastermind.

5. It would never occur to Alice to join when eve-

Pontus Raud

1. Pontus likes to check his horoscope every day, because it might be true.

2. Pontus’ unique quality is his limitless generosity.

3. If Pontus were a lobster he would be wary of surrealists.

4. Pontus has a big collection of rare cacti in his studio.

5. It would never occur to Pontus to compromis e.

ryone else is running in the same direction.

Proofreading and language editing Forum coordinator

1. Andr eas likes to go to gallery openi ngs every day, because it brings a warm feelin g to his heart and gives him butterflies in his stom ach.

2. Andr eas’s unique quality is his inexh austi ble capacity for joyful socialising.

3. If Andr eas were a casta way on an island in the midd le of the Pacific Ocean, he woul d build a magnificent palace out of cocon ut shells , befriend a lion and marry the local princess.

4. Andr eas has a big surprise hidde n in his lustro us beard.

5. It would never occur to Andr eas to watch a romantic come dy, or come to that any kind of film, witho ut crying.

Press team

Felicia Gränd Kasia Syty

Kenneth Pils

1. Felicia likes to give treats and sweets to Britney every day, because it's her dog obvi, did you think it was the popstar??

2. Felicia's unique quality is her amazing vocabulary!

3. If Felicia were a Britney she would be the popstar not the dog.

4. Felicia has a big dictionary in her head.

5. It would never occur to Felicia to hit a baby one more time. She would not even hit it once!

1. Kenneth likes to drink pink ink every day, because he hopes to transform into a flamingo.

2. Kenneth’s unique quality is the ability to read animal minds.

3. If Kenneth were an ABBA-memb er he would be Agnetha Fältskog.

4. Kenneth has a big inflatable pool in his studio.

5. It would never occur to Kenneth to get a tribal tattoo.

Photography and education coordinator

Talks & Performance programme coordinator

Anna Ekros

Franziska Sperling

1. Kasia likes to take a bath every day, because it helps her relax.

2. Kasia’s unique quality is her mind-bending humor.

3. If Kasia were a dog she would be a Welsh Corgi.

4. Kasia has a big lucky charm in her pocket.

5. It would never occur to Kasia to stop any wild art-project idea.

Meetings programme coordinator Katarina Evasdotter Birath

1. Anna likes to sing to her plants and flowers every day, because it makes her and her plants present.

2. Anna’s unique quality is overtone singing ‘chöömij’ in combination with playing a hand forged mouth harp at the same time.

3. If Anna were one of her flowers she would appreciate the original, wayward sing and play performance heartily.

4. Anna has a big Impatiens Bequaertii plant, one of her favourites, in her kitchen.

5. It would never occur to Anna to forget watering and perform for that [favourite] one!

1. Franziska likes to drink at least one cup of coffee every day, because it is a nice excuse to hang out with her friends.

2. Franziska's unique quality is the ability to have a good and meaningful conversation with several people at the same time.

3. If Franziska were an evil villain she would swap all the captions in Stockholm's museums.

4. Franziska has a big treasure map in her wallet.

5. It would never occur to Franziska to let her plants suffer from thirst.

1. Katarina likes to run up the stairs like a gorilla, because it’s just more practical.

2. Katarina’s unique quality is to play Bohemian Rhapsody by snapping her fingers very quickly.

3. If Katarina were a cheese she would be creamy gorgonzola.

4. Katarina has a big door on which is written ‘keep closed and locked at all times’ in her basement.

5. It would never occur to Katarina to go to sleep without flipping her pillow to the cold side first.

Floor manager Paulina Granat

1. Paulina likes to underestimat e statistics every day, because it never pays to overestimate them.

2. Paulina’s unique quality is a replace ment X14OSX4 part that never runs out of waxy grease.

3. If Paulina were a chiropractor, she would be liable to make regular malpractice insurance payme nts.

4. Paulina has a big bowl of celery in her basem ent, handed down from generations of Granat ancestors. It has not decaye d.

5. It would never occur to Paulina to invert the meaning of left and right, but only in her head, and only for odd-numbered hours of the day.

PNP and Forum

Information

coordinator

coordinator

Lucie Gottlieb

Sophie Lindberg

1. Lucie likes to boogie every day, but especially on Saturday night, because it puts her mind at ease, keeps her joints flexible and makes her feel con-

nected to the universe.

2. Lucie’s unique quality is that she can turn virtually anything into a delicious meal by adding two secret ingredients.

3. If Lucie were a werewolf she would use her scary stare to lure fair huntsmen in her lair.

4. Lucie has a big fluffy poodle in her backpack. His name is Poodly and not only are they best friends who can talk about anything, but above all he has the power to time travel and takes Lucie for wonderful trips to the past and the future.

5. It would never occur to Lucie to forget to sing La Marseillaise and place French flag under her pillow before she goes to bed.

1. Sophie likes to sing loudly every day, because it makes her happy knowing her neighbours despise her for it.

2. Sophie’s unique quality is showing ’mansplainers’ how the world really works.

3. If Sophie were a person of immense power and influence she would have everyone go naked all the time, because the clothing industry is bad for the environment.

4. Sophie has an ant colony in her purse.

5. It would never occur to Sophie to run a dildo factory again.

Book keeping Jörgen Helte

Supermarket team 2020 Graphic design Maga zine, Catalogue Katharina Peter

We asked the team members to complete five open sentence s with ultimate truths about one of their colleagues, as well as draw each other's likeness in a series of team portrait s.

se 1. Kathi likes to train her rabbit every day, becau she wants it to go to the rodent Olympics.

2. Kathi’s unique quality is that she immediately g finds a matchi ng pair of socks in the washin

machin e.

3. If Kathi was a seagull she would snatch your hotdog out of your hand. rd.

4. Kathi has a big bounci ng castle in her backya local her in shop to Kathi to occur never would 5. It pharmacy withou t her bonus card.

Webmaster John W Fail

Ad sales Nadja Ekman 1. John likes to reflect upon the vastness of the universe every day, because it makes him feel empowered to willingly and actively accept that all living creatures live and die within the same impossible form of existence and this insight somehow relieves his own existential dread.

2. John's unique quality is his mostly hidden but impressive talent in interpretive modern dance.

3. If John were a shoe he would allow you to walk comfortably for five hundred miles, and then another five hundred more.

4. John has a costume in his wardrobe for every theme party you could ever think of. And he can't wait to show them to the world.

5. It would never occur to John to stop fighting against capitalist society and the bourgeoisie.

Proofreading and language editing 1. Nadja likes to hum for the figures in her glass menagerie every day, because it makes them

cooperative.

2. Nadjas’s unique quality is to befriend kittens without necessarily having them follow her home.

3. If Nadja was a bumblebee she would play in a noise rock band and drink Hennessey.

4. Nadja has a big scarlet red sapphire in her purse.

5. It would never occur to Nadja that her neighbor, the one always saying good morning as she is rushing out of the house, would have warm feelings for her.

Stuart Mayes

1. Stuart likes to hum Pomp and Circumstance every day, because it gets him in a jolly European mood.

2. Stuart’s unique quality is his wonderful baritone.

3. If Stuart were a whale he would sing the most

heartbreaking song.

4. Stuart has a big karma in his mind.

5. It would never occur to Stuart to swear in public.

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3

Editorial team

51

8

Supermarket team 2020

6

Made in China

Felicia Gränd

Editorial

I can’t go on, I’ll go on PASAJ Team

Content

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Truth in the age of fabrication Stanislav Máselník

19

Fabrice’s fabrics and Freud’s miscarriages Lucas Cantori & Camilla Paolino for one gee in fog

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25

Chelsea on a Thursday afternoon in November

Kolonin / The Colony The mud, the loneliness and the landscape

Anna Ekros

Yvonne Ihmels

59 39

35

The Swiss artist-run scene 2020

A year on … and not much wiser

Jasmin Glaab

Stuart Mayes

60 61 62 63 64

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AllArtNowLab Candyland

Detroit Stockholm Flat Octopus

Grafiska Sällskapet Hjorten

ID:I Galleri Konstnärshuset Galleri Nef Galleri Nos Studio 44 Tegen2 Galleri Toll SUPERLOCAL Info Point

Editorial Updated Several months have passed since I initially wrote this

to believe in, notwithstanding the facts overwhelmingly

editorial reflecting on the theme Fabricated that we

claiming the contrary, the impact that our beliefs have, or

selected for Supermarket 2020. The context has now

what our reason tells us. We form such convictions about

changed considerably, not only for us and the rest of the

the world around us, and above all we form them about

artworld, but for everyone, and I feel the need to add an

ourselves. Since who could live with oneself without

update to the words I have already written. The interna-

believing in one’s own righteousness, in making good

tional version of Supermarket 2020 has just been cancelled

choices, in being a person who holds the right values and is

due to the coronavirus pandemic and related issues with

intrinsically good. Most of us try to convey this image to

international travel, funding and restrictions on visitor

other people at all costs, because our image is the only

numbers. We instead decided to organise a local art fair

thing the world sees of us, which, consequently, influences

– Superlocal 2020 – with satellite exhibitions in Stock-

how we estimate ourselves. We fabricate and refabricate

holm’s artist-run galleries. This situation is something quite

our lives daily to maintain this identity image – which is not

unprecedented and has proven challenging for both large

an illusion, since it is a key part of who we are, but it is an

and small cultural organisations, as well as individual

elusive image nonetheless.

artists and creative practitioners. The already weak points of the art sector have easily risen to the surface, further

The very core of postmodernism, in the form it has

enhancing the lack of sustainable funding and income to

acquired in today’s western society, is based upon the ideas

smaller art organisations and artists around the world, our

of blind belief in the importance of the self, the ease of

dependency on freedom of mobility and visitor numbers.

replacement of anything, and the fabrication of truth. It feeds easily into our individual fact-constructs and it is one

Although Supermarket began as a small local event and

of the keys to its success and prevalence. The world

throughout the years always included Swedish and

surrounding us is designed to make us happy; fabricated for

Stockholm-based galleries, the last decade has marked the

our individual needs, beliefs and comfort, and is being

art fair growing and becoming increasingly international.

constantly updated to keep us satisfied. The idea that the

This year, the focus must be suddenly shifted from the

individual is a god whose image cannot be soiled, but is

colossally international to small and territorial. But perhaps

pampered and comforted so that they continue supporting

this is not such a bad thing after all: we finally have the

the equally selfish system, is ever-present. It is I who

time and opportunity to spotlight the local independent art

deserve to be happy and successful – and the solution for

scene. It is part of human nature that what we have closest

this is that I need to buy and consume more. Yet, we are

to us and easiest to reach is often that which we tend to

still not happy, which, as Ayn Rand noted as early as 1943 in

overlook the most. We hope that with SUPERLOCAL 2020

The Fountainhead, is because it is not us who are the real

we will manage to direct the attention of our visitors to the

source of our own desires anymore. She stated:

diversity of artist-run spaces that the various Stockholm districts have to offer.

“If any man stopped and asked himself whether he's ever held a truly personal desire, he'd find the

This issue of the Supermarket Art Magazine will be

answer. He'd see that all his wishes, his efforts, his

published as intended; without the catalogue of interna-

dreams, his ambitions are motivated by other men.

tional exhibitors, but listing the Stockholm galleries

He's not really struggling even for material wealth,

together with a map of their location in the city. The

but for the second-hander's delusion – prestige. A

Fabricated theme remains the main focus of the magazine,

stamp of approval, not his own. He can find no joy in

being as relevant as ever in the times when we are flooded

the struggle and no joy when he has succeeded. He

by new coronavirus theories, stories and statistics on a

can't say about a single thing: 'This is what I wanted

daily basis.

because I wanted it, not because it made my neighbors gape at me.'”

Fabr icated

The media and enterprises feed us with messages directed by their own or their governments’ agendas that are rarely questioned, if often well-meant. The consumer has only

Fabrication begins simply: with oneself.

limited means, time or will to check or contemplate them in

It is quite astonishing how much we believe what we choose

depth in a society focused on efficiency. The developments

in technology have made the level of self-indulgence

In this issue of Supermarket Art Magazine, several articles

limitless at the same time as hidden marketing strategies

deal with the topic of fabrication. Felicia Gränd’s article

become more and more elaborate. We like to think that we

Made in China looks at the different cultural understandings

intentionally choose our sources of facts, yet the facts are

of ready-made objects in the East and the West. Stanislav

smoothly shaped for us to choose them, be it through clever

Máselník in his extensive article Truth in the age of fabrication

advertising, social media or ads that pop up during our

provides insight and reflection on the postmodern under-

internet browsing. We can and do continuously make our

standing and exploitation of truth. Finally, Lucas Cantori &

choices, so there is no need for further reflection or

Camilla Paolino in Fabrice’s fabrics and Freud’s miscarriages

independent thinking – or is there? But what kind of choice,

take you into a fictional bizarre universe of a missing sister

and who gives us the options, are quite different questions.

and a strange manuscript.

We all make a selection of the information sources that fit

A year on … and not much wiser by Stuart Mayes looks at the

our worldview, we listen to facts that we want to listen to in

lingering uncertainty surrounding Brexit, and its impact on

order to feel in control of our up-to-date knowledge and to

British artists, and Anna Ekros ponders art and existence

hide the unwillingness to accept someone else’s facts. At

during her New York visit in the article Chelsea on a Thursday

the same time, many people snap when faced with a

afternoon in November.

contrasting opinion, unable to defend their arguments, only

In connection to the 100th year anniversary of the

repeating what they heard on their favourite liberal or

diplomatic relations between Sweden and Switzerland, we

conservative news channel. The status of conflict, and

bring you information on the Swiss artist-run scene in The

conflicting opinions being something unsavoury have

Swiss artist-run scene 2020, an article by Swiss artist and

stalled many possibilities for discussion.

curator Jasmin Glaab.

Presenting various artist-run spaces from around the world

The postmodern world is a relative one, where anything can

is one of our goals, and in this magazine’s issue Yvonne

be labelled as true, beautiful or valid, and where the value

Ihmels writes about Kolonin, a community and an artist

is placed on the subject. This, on the one hand, leads to a

driven space in Arvika, Sweden. PASAJ, an artist-run space

plurality of opinions, ideas, styles and thoughts that was

in Istanbul, Turkey, is presented in the article I can’t go on,

not possible to reach in the past. On the other hand, what is

I’ll go on and placed in the context of Turkish contemporary

good, in a world of generic values? What is good in a world

art scene.

where there is no right or wrong? How is information produced and consumed in a world that is centred on

So, again, fabrication works simply: through oneself. And no

relativism, simplified communication, efficiency of input

one wants to give that up. Fabrication can be a fun process;

and output, opportunistic manipulation of facts or soft

to fabricate involves imagination and creativity, and

covered-up censorship? Any group with a certain power, be

especially in the arts it has played a major role throughout

it financial or cultural capital, intellectual supremacy or

history in the production and dissemination of artworks. As

educational privilege, likes to believe that it is the only one

in any other case, however, when employed as a part of a

who has the right opinion.

mass ideology, it is turned into nothing but a useful tool to spread its values.

The biggest problem is that no one cares much for truth

I hope you enjoy reading about the theme and that you get

anymore. As long as we can maintain our illusions and

to appreciate the local Stockholm art scene.

individual happiness; as far as our self-image rests intact and our consumption needs are satisfied, all is well. The idea of a community plays only a minor role today.

Community no longer represents a group of individuals living together based on shared values and needs. Instead it consists of individuals all of whom have their own values and identities, and who refuse to be grouped together, as this would mean discussing and making compromises. This is of course counterproductive: in its hysterical struggle to become heterogenous, postmodernism has produced some of the most homogenous ways of thinking and social behaviour.

áseln A lice M

d it íková, E

ief or-in-ch

Made in China

Made in China the era of the T’ang dynasty some 1400 years ago.

Back then, copying an artwork would signify appreciation and one’s serious take on learning the

Felicia Gränd

techniques of the ancient masters. In simple terms the Chinese process of learning is heavily influenced by the act of imitation. The sacred original in the west has its counterpart in the masterful template in the east.

Needless to say the list of clashes with the west is long and closely monitored by international media.

With a first recent example being the Austrian town of Hallstatt, which in 2012 saw its identical twin come to life in Chinese town Luoyang, Boluo County, in the Guangdong province. An act of imitation carried out sans dialogue with representatives of Hallstatt that was eventually deemed rude and inappropriate, sarcastically called out by many as a tawdry attempt to leech off the picturesque corners of Europe. Some years prior to Hallstatt gaining its twin, a series of Chinese-manufactured replicas made it to Europe. Namely back in 2007 the Museum of Ethnology in Hamburg exhibited what the institution initially thought was a series of 2000 year old terracotta soldiers first discovered in the 1970s – later revealed to be all copies. The incident caused a heated debate, finally resulting in the closing of the exhibition altogether. In a final turn of

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events, information surfaced confirming the manufacturing of the replica soldiers had already started at the same time as the original ones were being excavated – with production situated on the archeological site itself.

After years of the west gaping at the east, a western re-evaluation of what constitutes uniqueness and consequently quality would inevitably reveal new Replica statues located in Buddha Eden park, Adobe Stock, photo: Mauro Rodrigues

horizons. Skillful imitation might not be sought after in the west, but deeming it second best has to be considered a naive approach to a culturally rooted practice every bit as long standing as the

In the western world imitation often translates to

raved over original. Understanding the importance

limitation. In a society steeped in the concept of

of craftsmanship and commitment to process in

originality as the very ignitor of cultural expression,

China is key in order to shift focus from viewing it

imitation is more often than not seen as second

as a limitation to instead perceiving it as cultural

best. In contrast, the Chinese rather revere the act

variation.

of imitation. One must nevertheless look beyond the

However, and not surprisingly, recent articles in

endless rows of market stalls brimming with

western media highlighting Chinese artists are

replicas of European luxury items. The cheap

devoid of any further descriptions of uniqueness of

counterfeits widely associated with China are

expression or artistic achievement. A scoop that is

merely one of its many manifestations. Arguably,

fit for a sensationalist is one way of describing

imitation in its different forms is woven into the

these, and the reason being the common trend of

very fabric of Chinese society and intrinsic to all

portraying the artist as a mass-producing machine

parts of its culture, from the arts and architecture

of cheap replicas of the European masterpieces.

to fashion.

Nuances are scarce but they exist. If barely

In order to reach further understanding of the act of

noteworthy and on the more absurd side, a

imitation in today’s China we must glance back at

recurring observation is that many artists who gain

A female painter, image still from documentary ‘China’s van Goghs’, courtesy of Haibo YU, 2016

Dafen Group portrait, image still from documentary ‘China’s van Goghs’, courtesy of Haibo YU, 2016

grace on the replica market have achieved this by customising their take on Mona Lisa to fit the wallpapers of their clients. A few articles present the story of an artist who after having spent twenty years copying Van Gogh in his native city of Shenzhen finally arrived in Europe to see the real best be described as a rite of passage earning him the title of true artist having bowed before the original. It seems not out of place to prescribe the western media some introspection.

The contrasts between the east and the west are bold, even a little mind twisting at times, but even so they are cause for contemplation. Is it the art of fabrication or the fabrication of art? ■

Village of Hallstatt in Austria, Adobe Stock, photo: Shoenberg3

deal. Derived from the media rhetoric, his story can

Byung-Chul Han, ‘The copy is the original’, extract from ‘Shanzai: Deconstruction in Chinese’, 2017, translated by Philippa Hurd, and published by MIT Press. Extract published 8 March 2018. Available at: https://aeon.co/essays/why-in-china-and-japan-a-copy-is-just-asgood-as-an-original Didi Kirsten Tatlow, ‘Why Do the Chinese Copy So Much?’, 25 July 2012. Available at: https://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes. com/2012/07/25/why-do-the-chinese-copy-so-much/ Régine Debatty, ‘Imitation, exploring China copy culture’, 14 July 2013. Available at: https://we-make-money-not-art.com/imitation/ Sarah Cascone, ‘After Years of Painting Van Gogh Replicas, a Chinese Artist Fulfills His Dream: A Trip to Europe to See the Real Thing’, 19 July 2018. Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ chinas-van-goghs-dafen-documentary-1315319 Brendan Seibel, ‘China's Assembly-Line Artists Put the Mass in Masterpieces’, 3 April 2014. Available at: https://www.wired. com/2014/04/china-art-reproduction-susetta-bozzi/

Replica of a terracotta warrior sculpture found in Xian, China, Adobe Stock, photo: Zhu Difeng

References:

‘The Tradition of Re-Presenting Art: Originality and Reproduction in Chinese Painting and Calligraphy’, © National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. https://www.npm.gov.tw/exh96/re-presenting/ intro_en.html

Felicia Gränd holds a BA degree in Media & Communications from Stockholm University and currently continues her studies in marketing and graphic design. She has been working as Press & Social media officer at Supermarket – Stockholm Independent Art Fair since 2017. Lover of the written word, a bit too fond of dogs, fancy cheese and high quality wool garments.

Two headless Terracotta Warriors at Dongtai Road Antique Market, Shanghai, Adobe Stock, photo: Stripped Pixel

Karen Shidlo,‘ China’s Fake Art: Grab yourself a perfect Van Gogh replica for $37’, 1 July 2013. Available at: https://www.fluxmagazine. com/chinese-art-fake-art/

Eating and raising children under the gaze of Van Goghs, image still from documentary ‘China’s van Goghs’, courtesy of Haibo YU, 2016

Truth in the age of fabrication in the age of fabrication Stanislav Máselník

Illustrations: Alice Máselníková, 2020

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Do we have a problem with truth in our society?

have been religious, revolutionary, or reactionary,

And what is truth, that it could be regarded as a

according to Lyotard they have been swept away by

problem? In her editorial to this magazine, Alice

transformations within capitalism as well as

proposes an answer to this question and argues that

through the advances in linguistics, cybernetics and

‘[t]he postmodern world is a relative one, where any-

communications. At a more fundamental level,

thing can be labelled as true, beautiful and valid.’

however, there was a failure within science itself

Such observation comes without surprise, since it

and its mission to legitimise knowledge (Lyotard

captures the core of how postmodernity has been

1984, p.xxiii). While the scientific questioning might

described since 1979 when Jean-François Lyotard’s

have previously ushered in the downfall of religious

work La Condition postmoderne (Postmodern Condition in

dogmas, with these gone, the scrutiny turned

English) brought the term into contemporary

towards the presuppositions enshrined in its own

philosophical discourse. In this work, Lyotard

method. In this, Lyotard and his postmodern

reflected on the state of knowledge in the second

successors inherited the explorations of authors

half of the 20th century and argued that ‘incredu-

such as Thomas Kuhn (1964 Structure of Scientific

lity towards meta-narratives’ is the best way of

Revolutions) or Paul Feyerabend (1975 Against Method),

expressing its mood. May these meta-narratives

who explicitly interrogated the universalist assump-

tions of the scientific method. As a consequence of these challenges, Lyotard concluded, the great concepts and narratives that have so far dominated our knowledge and understanding were losing their force and their place was being taken by smaller, micro-level communities of meaning. Even science itself is asked to take up a new role: to accommodate difference, to ‘reinforce[e] our ability to tolerate the incommensurable’ (Lyotard 1984, p.xxv), and to ‘undermine from within the very framework in which the previous “normal science” had been conducted’ (p.xix). For Lyotard, truth indeed appears and has to be relative and only thus it corresponds to the multiplicity of interpretation and meaning.

Lyotard is both an analyst of postmodernity, but also its apologist and believes that these developments are ultimately for the better. As he concludes his work, his rhetoric further underlines this and turns combative: “Let us wage a war on totality; let us be witness to the unpresentable; let us activate the differences and save the honor of the name.”

(Lyotard 1984, p.82). His preferences notwithstand-

(Zygmunt Bauman), hypermodernity (Paul Virilio,

ing, the main characteristics emphasised by Lyotard

Gilles Lipovetsky), ultra-modernity (José Antonio

are in alignment with the description of other

Marina), or even radicalised modernity (Anthony

observers. To begin with, one peculiar aspect of

Giddens) and a second modernity (Ulrich Beck).

postmodernity is that it does not stand in opposition

Albeit their judgments on the postmodernity’s

to modernity, but that it simultaneously surpasses

consequences are different, these authors concur its

and extends it. This ‘continuation factor’ becomes

key feature is the gradual dissolution of traditional

more apparent when we look at more exact terms

boundaries, leading to a fragmentation and

other thinkers use to denote it: liquid modernity

atomisation of the society at large. Alain de Benoist (2015) further adds this is accompanied by the appearance of new, less stable and more transitory individual and collective identities. Frederic Jameson (1984), a Marxist critic, does not hesitate to speak even of the outright “death of the subject” in reference to the repudiation of history by the postmodern self and, consequently, the refusal to acknowledge that meta-narratives transmit anything worthwhile also for today. Jameson argues that since we lose the capacity to put our activity in the context of what was before, which firstly means what concepts and narratives guided our ancestors, the postmodern men and women lose the capacity to organise their past and future into a coherent whole. Hence, also it is not only external narratives that get fragmented, but also the narrative we carry out for ourselves. That can result in the loss of long-term meaning and purposefulness of one’s action, which is instead being replaced by the experience of the eternally recurring, blissful present moment. In confronting our actions internally, Jameson notes, there is a breakdown in the “signifying chain.” Our pursuits turn into a

11

series of unrelated signifiers, into images that are

The relativistic pronouncements in Shakespeare’s

cut off from deeper content, and we endlessly zap

play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark are quite

and snap from one activity to another – as is well

well known and subject to diverse commentaries,

known to any regular user of a smartphone.

but what is less common knowledge is that towards

Whereas for modernity, the typical mood captured

the end of the 19th century they also caught the

in poems of T.S.Eliot's Wasteland or in Munch’s

attention of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche saw in Shakespeare’s plays (particularly in Hamlet, but also Richard III or Julius Caesar) a demonstration that there is a possibility of taking action even if truth depends on us humans. Hamlet, tasked by his father’s ghost to avenge his murder, is no believer in life’s fundamentals and in fact, he openly questions when other characters cling to pregiven certainties and meanings. For him, the truth of his father’s murder and the necessity of revenge is not ‘his own’, it was imposed on him externally, so to say.

Hamlet’s realisation, the correct one according to Nietzsche, is that the truth of life is that there is no truth – only individual perspectives. Hamlet only feigns madness so that he can escape real madness which comes from blind obedience. Hence, in Ecce Homo, Nietzsche can pose the following rhetorical question: “Is Hamlet understood? It is not doubt, but certainty that drives one insane.” Jean-François

12

painting Scream is fear or anxiety, postmodernity

Gautier interprets it as follows: “truths as certain-

levitates in the state of euphoria, “the high, the

ties transform people into docile sheep and oblige

intoxicatory or hallucinogenic reality” that we can

others to invent creative ways of freedom that are

glimpse in Bob Perelman’s China, Andy Warhol’s

difficult to uphold – because solitary freedom makes

Diamond Dust Shoes, or John Portman’s Bonaventura

no sense, just like solitary truth” (2020, p.89).1

Hotel in Los Angeles (Jameson 1984, pp.72-73).

Rather than seeing it as a nihilistic thought, Nietzsche believes he found a solution to suicidal

We need to say this with the qualifier that this is

nihilism for the coming era of moral relativism. The

not how advocates of postmodernism perceive their

reason? Despite accepting the human contingency

cause. Rather, their wish has been to tie the

of all action, Hamlet in the Act Five kills the King

postmodern tradition to the project of liberation of

and thus appropriates his father’s perspective as his

a human being from meta-narratives, which they

own. Relativism can be therefore liberating,

regard as oppressive by default. One notable example is Michel Foucault, who linked the rise of modern nation states with the practice of biopower, that is, the control over population through internalised norms rather than external force. The

“

With the views of ‘me’ appearing supreme,

anything that approaches from outside – any

focus on marginal and marginalised truth as such

authority, be it in schools, local communities or

also has deeper foundations. So when Protagoras,

even master artists – is regarded with suspicion

an Ancient Greek Sophist, states in his treatise

and discredited by default. In consequence, and

Truth/Refutations that “man is the measure of all things,” Plato (1999) interprets it precisely as the justification of relativism and an attack on truth

in spite of its claims about liberation, postmodernism can stand for the worst kind of conserva-

itself. Later on in the Renaissance, Michel de

tism. This is because with the rejection of grand

Montaigne’s Essays (2006) revived this scepticism

narratives and ideologies, people are also asked

towards the human capacity to fully grasp truth

to accept the status quo, since any effort to

with all certainty. His only concession, understandable given the time when he was writing, was that truth in absolutes can be still perceived by God.

change it would impinge on the individually held truths of other people.

Montaigne’s ideas found a subsequent reflection in the work of none other than William Shakespeare.

1 The translation from French is the author’s.

Nietzsche claims, as long as there are individuals

appearing supreme, anything that approaches from

strong enough to fashion their own sense of

outside – any authority, be it in schools, local

existence.2

communities or even master artists – is regarded with suspicion and discredited by default. In

We can see to what extent the above ideas, and in particular Nietzsche’s, provide ‘intellectual ammunition’ for postmodernism. Yet, postmodernity is not just postmodernism with its concern about individual truths and minority voices suppressed in the grand march of history. While questioning the Western metaphysical concepts and giving voice to the full spectrum of views is a crucial lesson to take, postmodernity’s relativism has broader implications than providing such educational value. If individual desires are given free reign and are posited to be the goal of our social system, their inevitable consequence is widespread egoism and narcissism. Since no truths, narratives, or values can be held in common (as postmodernism always regards any commonality as a mask for

consequence, and in spite of its claims about

one set of norms trying to suppress minority

liberation, postmodernism can stand for the worst

viewpoints), by default the social relations end up

kind of conservatism. This is because with the

being regulated by the only mechanisms that

rejection of grand narratives and ideologies, people

remain at disposal: competition, market relations

are also asked to accept the status quo, since any effort to change it would impinge on the individually held truths of other people. Paradoxically, this relates a left-wing thinker such as Lyotard with Friedrich Hayek; a staunch defender of the free market capitalism, conservative values and a radically decentralised order. As Jameson remarks in this regard, “great master-narratives here are those that suggest that something beyond capitalism is possible, something radically different”. “[B]y transforming the past visual mirages, stereotypes or texts,” he concludes, “[it] effectively abolishes any practical sense of the future and of the collective, thereby abandoning the thinking of future change to fantasies of sheer catastrophe and inexplicable cataclysm” (Jameson 1984, p.85). The attention given in media and popular imagination to all sorts of conspiracy theories or the widespread fears about a global pandemia serve as a good example of this.

and judicial contracts. The only social activity that

There are also consequences for arts and culture.

people can thus participate “in common” is the one

Inasmuch as postmodernism is about deconstruc-

that keeps them permanently apart in their state of

tion and bringing in instabilities (Lyotard), it is

separate monads, governed by individual desires

neither capable or willing to create shared meaning.

without end and limit – mass consumerism. In a

As it happens, it is precisely these shared meanings

disavowal of history and without constitutive social

that postmodern arts implicitly rely on: be it

attachments, the ego can only create one’s identity

architecture, fine art, or literature, their practice

by purchasing it. In consequence, the focus of whole

can be best described as pastiche.3 In other words,

society turns to the problems of private hedonism

the styles of modernism, or even of a more distant

and self-development. With the views of ‘me’

past, are taken as bits of information, disconnected

2 Some did not find this convincing. Alasdair MacIntyre (2007, p.22) argues that Nietzsche’s new morality does not provide positive content.

3 Pastiche refers to a work of art that imitates the style of another artist(s) or period.

13

from their historical and cultural frameworks of

dernity are living and experiencing their world as

meaning, and creatively re-used in postmodern

postmoderns.

production. Thus, in architecture, we have mannerist postmodernism (e.g. Michael Graves), rococo

Have we gotten to a dead end and concluded truth is

postmodernism (Charles Moore), neoclassicist

relative? Do the attempts of those who wish it to be

postmodernism (Christian de Portzamparc), or yet

otherwise necessarily lead to a dead end? There is

more others (see Lyotard 1984, p. xviii), but there is

one area where we can explore our questions

no intrinsic content to the postmodern art that

further, because in it problems over truth take a

could be grasped on its own. Many critics of postmodernity therefore emphasise its depthlessness as one of its main characteristics. Jameson speaks of “the random cannibalisation of all the styles of the past, the play of random stylistic allusion,” but even a broader description of what is

“

This is a major paradox of postmodernism:

while there is deemed to be no ultimate truth or judgment that could be valid across all

at play comes from Guy Debord (1992) and the

domains or society, people still speak and

Situationists: it is an addiction to spectacles. When

behave as if such a shared truth was still

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote in the 1848

available and reachable.

Communist Manifesto that “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned,” they did not realise that some 170 years later, their words would

practical character due to clashes that arise

sound prophetic.

between different groups in society: politics. The main difficulty there appears as follows: how to

14

With such developments in postmodernity, it does

decide in disputes, for example, between certain

not come as a surprise there are many who

radical feminists and the transgender community

forcefully reject it. To quote the recently deceased

with regard to what constitutes being a woman?

conservative thinker Roger Scruton: “A writer who

This dispute currently rages with the greatest

says there are no truths, or that all truth is merely

intensity in the UK over a bill that would reform the

relative, is asking you not to believe him. So don’t.”

law on the recognition of gender. If adopted, personal perception of gender identity would be the sufficient condition for the legal change of sex.

“Gender critical” feminists oppose this on the grounds that being a woman is more than a personal declaration and involves shared biological features such as chromosomes, anatomy and hormones, which give the womanhood a deeper grounding. The question obviously ensues how can we mediate, if not outright decide, between these two claims, if the only shared ground allowed by liberalism is the decision of the individual? Since we

This captures the gist of such critique, but the

are talking about a law, it is clear that a decision

‘problem’ posed to truth by postmodernism is

will be made one way or the other, but what moral,

deeper than Scruton allows. The issue lies with the fact that while thinkers such as Lyotard make an active defence of postmodernism (which denotes an intellectual current, not the period), postmodernity would be here with us even without them. It is primarily a description of our age and manner of how we live in it, and only then of the postmodern philosophy that advocates it. There is something fundamentally true about postmodernity, no matter whether one is on the side of its defenders or critics.

The ‘truth’ is that we are living in this age and that it appears as a consequence of the historical development within the Western, and now global, culture. In other words, even the critics of postmo-

and with us. MacIntyre calls this “emotivism”: a doctrine that all evaluative and moral judgments are nothing but expressions of preference, expressions of attitude or feeling, while, at the same time, we behave as if all our judgments are still governed by the same objective and impersonal criteria (2007, pp.11-18). How did we get to this in the first place?

What is truth that we can still cling to it so strongly, while postmodern society at many levels rejects it in favour of the limited scope of micro-narratives?

To get to the root of this problem, we first need a clarification in our dictionary regarding the meaning of truth. If we return to our original question ‘what is truth’ we find that despite the rational or political arguments can we call upon to

transition from modernity to postmodernity, our

decide which claim to support?

definition of truth remains the same. After all, asking about what truth is seems to have so obvious

The point is not that we now decide about this

an answer that we rarely think about it. Lyotard

particular case, but to demonstrate that many of

and his successors certainly acknowledged that

these conflicts are incommensurable. In his text,

truth is relative (and depends on different commu-

Lyotard mentions that we should recognise these

nities and their narratives), but they did not

claims precisely as such and respect them in their

question the essence of truth as such. To provide an

individuality. Even if we agree to it (since some

example, when we say “that music is good”, we rely

might ask why differences and individualities need

on the understanding of what is music (which is a

to be respected, if Lyotard does not accept any

fairly uncontroversial concept) and on what is good

shared ground between people for doing so), this

(which, for proponents of relativism, necessarily

does not provide any aid for taking the political

needs to receive different answers, whereas in the

decision about what the final law in the UK in this

past we might have relied on one well defined

particular case will look like. In addition to the

understanding of the beautiful, composition and so

incommensurability of the conflicts, what is

on). However, no matter whether we agree on what

remarkable is that each side or party still labels

good music is, it remains the case that our proposi-

their position as true, in spite of any acknowledged

tion ‘music is good’ is true if something such as

or latent arguments in favour of relativism. If

music corresponds to something such as goodness.

indeed truth is relative or subjective, then so is our

This is the understanding of truth as correctness: a

claim about it and the others, surely, need not take

proposition is true, that is correct, if the subject

it any more seriously than a declaration of any other

(music) corresponds to the predicate (good). This is

personal position. Nevertheless, such signs of

what we mean by traditional understanding of truth

humility can nowhere be seen. This is a major

and it was present as such already in the medieval

paradox of postmodernism: while there is deemed

concept of adequatio (Thomas Aquinas: veritas est

to be no ultimate truth or judgment that could be

adequatio intellectus et rei – truth is the adequation of

valid across all domains or society, people still

the intellect to the thing) or even earlier in Aristo-

speak and behave as if such a shared truth was still

tle’s homoiōsis (likeness).

available and reachable. In his book After Virtue, Alasdair MacIntyre makes the following observa-

Now, German philosopher Martin Heidegger did not

tion: “the modern radical is [as] confident in the

believe this to be all there is to it and a large part of

moral resources he requires in order to denounce it.

his work focuses on re-examining truth along with

Everything else may be, in his eyes, in disorder, but

other Western metaphysical concepts. Heidegger

the language of morality is in order, just as it is.

asked us to consider how can there be a correspond-

That he too may be being betrayed by the very

ence between our intellect (or what we “have in

language he uses is not a thought available to him”

mind”) and external things in the first place. René

(MacIntyre 2007, p.4).

Descartes had already previously considered this in his 17th century work Discourse on the Method and

So despite all pronouncements to the contrary, the

posited that a guarantee that one’s proposition is

dictionary of the true and correct remains in use

correct is found in the thinking self. Rationality is

15

“

deemed to be so essential to existence that if we

understanding of truth as unconcealment (or

start making our judgments with it as a back-

aletheia, in Ancient Greek) points out that in order

ground, we will come to make only truthful

for (some)thing to correspond to the concept we

statements.4 Heidegger disagreed as according to

have in our mind, it must first somehow appear: in

him, Descartes took the conception of truth as

Heidegger’s terminology, to ‘presence itself’ to us.

correctness as pre-given and tried to find a

That is to say, we first need to have some prelimi-

subsequent justification for it. In doing so, Descartes

nary knowledge or understanding of what we are

only manages to give this conception a new

speaking about, before we can start a discussion

foundation that guarantees it with certainty.

about what prepositions are correct. To return to our previous example; to recognise good music, we must first possess some understanding of music and

That is to say, we first need to have some preliminary knowledge or understanding of what we are speaking about, before we can start a discussion about what prepositions are correct.

goodness and the same applies to all other beings around us. Of course, in the context of postmodernity, we might argue that precisely such understanding is breaking down and what we are left with are fragments. Also as a consequence of this postmodern fragmentation, architecture, culture and art tend to re-adopt the elements of the past, without being able to create a self-standing style

In The Origin of the Work of Art, one of his most

with its own distinctive features. Similarly in the

famous works, Heidegger (2002) on the relationship

case of politics, the disputes over such fundamental

between art and truth tries to show that the latter

concepts as womanhood have as a starting point

has another, older conception, which is present

the historical understanding of being a woman –

already in the work of pre-Socratic thinkers

even if it is subsequently rejected by the transgen-

Anaximander, Heraclitus and Parmenides. This

der movement.

There is more to this conception however. On the

16

discussion of Van Gogh’s painting of peasant shoes, Heidegger tries to show that the role of artwork is unconcealment. According to Heidegger, this painting reveals the world into which the peasant shoes are set – as a world of peasant toil and struggle with natural elements. In a similar fashion, as argued by Jameson (1984, p.75), the best works of postmodernism allow the perception of fragmentation and radical differences as the mode of relating to each other in our time. From this perspective and in this specific sense, the art is apolitical: its role is not to advocate this or that cause, but to unconceal what has been hitherto hidden from our sight. This can be an insight into how the contemporary society is (for example as fundamentally fragmented, in the case of postmodernity), or, in the most privileged position that Heidegger left for art and for which he held in particular regard the poet Friedrich Hölderlin: shedding a light on the nature of truth itself. To letting art speak for itself, or ‘letting things be’ in general, Heidegger opposed the manner of 4 In Part IV of his Discourse on the Method, Descartes puts it as such: “I supposed that all the objects (presentations) that had ever entered into my mind when awake, had in them no more truth than the illusions of my dreams. But immediately upon this I observed that, whilst I thus wished to think that all was false, it was absolutely necessary that I, who thus thought, should be somewhat; and as I observed that this truth, I think, therefore I am (COGITO ERGO SUM), was so certain and of such evidence that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the sceptics capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search.”

understanding that he found most characteristic for our time and which would be applicable without distinction to both modernity and postmodernity.

It might surprise the readers that Heidegger understood such a peculiar way of understanding to be technology. Technology is not this or that

difference of degree and not of essence. What remains is the presupposition that there are subjects that grasp objects, that there is only truth as correspondence, and that nowadays, such ‘truths’ can be correctly appropriated only by individuals. That relativistic and objectivistic worldviews are in no way incompatible is demonstrated in the example of science. Even today, when truths are relative, science serves the same power-seeking function as before, albeit with different hopes and goals. Whereas in modernity, its

“

Fundamentally, our postmodern times are ‘in

truth’ the continuation of the project of moder-

nity: of the effort to understand our world with technological gadget, but a manner of seeing and framing the world that lets everything in it appear only as a source of energy and use for human

correctness and with certainty, with the unfortunate consequence that we can only do so by turning it into something visible, graspable, and calculable.

beings. With this in mind, Heidegger called the essence of technology Gestell - a kind of ‘Enframing’ as his English translators put it. Essentially, truth stops being unconcealment and revelation, and

mission might have been most visible in nuclear

turns into fabrication. Whether we speak of

physics, today it is transhumanism that appears as

subjectivism or objectivism, it bears little impor-

one of the science’s most prospective areas. Thus,

tance. Just as the idea of progress submits our

Yuval Noah Harari in his Homo Deus already

perception of reality to the presupposition that

cheerfully anticipates a not so distant future when

every development and every scientific invention is

humans will merge with artificial intelligence to

for the better of humanity, the idea that there are

obtain God-like powers, or Ray Kurzweil predicts

only micro-narratives locks everyone into their own

‘Human Body 2.0’ or even 3.0 enhanced beyond

individual universe. For Heidegger, both result from

recognition by nano-robots. It does not surprise that

the same effort that we inherited from Descartes: to

hopes and investments of billionaires from Silicon

make things certain, graspable and calculable, so

Valley such as Larry Page (Google), Peter Thiel

that they are better manipulable and available for

(Paypal), or Elon Musk (Tesla) are oriented in this

use by human will. Whether this is put on the

direction.

Relativism of our relativistic age therefore has a

“

well defined beginning and a well defined end.

Relativism of our relativistic age therefore has a

Postmodernity, for all its claims about individual-

well defined beginning and a well defined end.

ism, subjectivity and relativism, has its own kind of

Postmodernity, for all its claims about individu-

being. As we tried to show, our era takes for granted

alism, subjectivity and relativism, has its own kind of being. As we tried to show, our era takes for granted the concept of truth as certainty, and for the advocates of postmodern approaches, such truth is best attained in the world of fragmented micro-narratives.

the concept of truth as certainty, and for the advocates of postmodern approaches, such truth is best attained in the world of fragmented micronarratives. In other words, to use the phrase of Guy Debord (1992, §54), “its unity is based on violent divisions.” This does not preclude science and technology from continuing their old quest of maximising the human power and capacities, albeit now with a postmodern twist that shifts some of its focus on transhumanist objectives. According to

objective plane to mean for all humanity, for one

Heidegger’s understanding of truth as unconceal-

nation, or for individual egos is for Heidegger a

ment, this is the manner in which our world

17

unconceals itself to us: as fundamentally fragment-

Sources:

ed, as relativistic and, in consequence, missing a

Benoist, Alain de (2015), « Avec la postmodernité, l’individualisme se mue en égocentrisme narcissique… », Boulevard Voltaire. Available at: https://www.bvoltaire.fr/postmodernite-lindividualisme-semue-egocentrisme-narcissique/.

certain historical depth and existential purpose that was characteristic of the past. Thus, what physicist Werner Heisenberg (1958) remarked already at the end of modernity is ‘true’ even more so nowadays: “for the first time in the course of history modern man on this earth now confronts himself alone and … he no longer has partners or opponents.” Fundamentally, our postmodern times are ‘in truth’ the continuation of the project of modernity: of the effort to understand our world with correctness and with certainty, with the unfortunate consequence that we can only do so by turning it into something visible, graspable, and calculable. From this higher vantage point, does it really matter that all is to be certain from individual perspectives, rather than from collectivities and grand narratives? Either way, we end up with a truth as fabrication. To reflect on this, as we tried in the preceding lines, is already to move one step beyond and try to put more light on how our world is. And undoubtedly, this is not only a task for thinking, but also for art – as every time an artist gets to work, he or she has the opportunity to not only move with the flow, not only do what everybody else does, but unconceal to others a little bit beyond – a little bit of truth about our age and

Descartes, René (1993), Discourse on the Method (Project Gutenberg). Available at: https://https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59.

Feyerabend, Paul (1975), Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge (London: New Left Books).

Gautier, Jean-François (2020), « La vérité dépend-elle de nous ? », Eléments, no. 181, pp.88-89.

Heidegger, Martin (2002), “The Origin of the Work of Art”, Off the Beaten Track (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp.1-56.

Heisenberg, Werner (1958), The Physicist’s Conception of Nature (London: Hutchinson & Co.).

Jameson, Fredric (1984), “Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism”, New Left Review, I (146), pp.53-92.

Kuhn, Thomas (1962), Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press).

Lyotard, Jean-François (1984), The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (Manchester: Manchester University Press).

MacIntyre, Alasdair (2007), After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 3rd edition (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press).

Montaigne, Michel de (2006), Essays of Montaigne, Complete (Project Gutenberg). Available at: https://www.gutenberg.org/ files/3600/3600-h/3600-h.htm.

Nietzsche, Friedrich (2007), Ecce Homo: How to Become What You Are (New York: Oxford University Press).

Plato (1999), Protagoras (Project Gutenberg). Available at: http:// www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1591.

Scruton, Roger (1996), Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey (New York: Penguin Books).

time. ■

Stanislav Máselník, Rue de la Loi in winter, Brussels, 2018

18

Debord, Guy (1992), La société du Spectacle (Paris: Editions Gallimard).

Stanislav Máselník (*1986) is a writer with a passion for politics and philosophy particularly interested in the manner in which technology is impacting our society. He has an MA in European Studies from King’s College London and a BA in Politics and History from the University of Sheffield. He also loves cycling and photography and works at Mazda Motor Brussels Office as Manager responsible for regulatory research.

Fabrice’s fabrics and Freud’s miscarriages Lucas Cantori & Camilla Paolino for one gee in fog A story of fabricating as meaning-making.

Sample 1 – machine-made tablecloth: pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot dub pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot pit wot dub etc.

Sample 2 – handmade collar: my soul must go my soul must go my soul must go my soul must go my soul must go my soul must go ¦ sister sister sister, light the light sister sister sister, light the light sister sister sister, light the light etc.

Johanna, Klatsand, summer 1990

Fabrice stared at the manuscript in great confusion.

She had found it among her sister’s papers after she

paused, incredulous. Somehow, the very texture of the

was gone, and felt it could harbour the key to finding

cloth was intelligible to her. Was this what the

her in-between its cryptic sequences. Maybe Johanna

manuscript was about? Dazed and feverish, Fabrice fell

knew where her sister was. Maybe Klatsand was the

again into the deepest sleep.

place… But what about those enigmatic notes on fabric

*

samples? What were those nonsensical codes supposed

The next morning, as she walked out of her sister’s

to mean? Was it a poem? A prescription? A farewell?

apartment, she glanced at the sky above her and her mind drifted to the apocalypse. It was only after having moved to Como that Fabrice had come across what the locals called cielo mamma. A thick blanket of

20

clouds, draped throughout the sky as thousands of pending breasts, loomed over the lake, which seemed to respond in kind: a strange effect rippled the dark The pain piercing Fabrice’s left temple grew stronger.

water and nipple-like waving dotted its surface as in

She leaned back in her chair and fell into a deep

communion with the mammatus above. And so she

dreamless sleep.

thought that probably each rippling on the surface of

*

the water must have had its swelling breasty cloud as

When she woke up, drenched in sweat, the sun had

responder, and must have had a lot to talk about.

long been set and the room was soaked with darkness.

Abruptly, Fabrice withdrew from those somehow

She turned on the old abat-jour once belonging to

comforting thoughts and refocused on what she was off to do: reach the Fondazione Ratti as fast as possible.

In its archives she might have found some more pieces of the puzzle and possibly be drawn closer to her sister.

A piece of blue paper found among her sister’s documents had put her on that trail: it was a registra-

Grandmother and felt her way to the manuscript,

tion form – one of those you fill out when you visit

abandoned a little further on her sister’s desk. The

libraries or archives, and it proved that her sister had

incomprehensible wordings were still there, staring

been there a month before.

back at her from the yellowed page through the dim

*

dusty yellowish light. She read and read again,

About an hour later, there she was, combing with the

obsessively, until her head began to spin, and she lost

tips of her fingers through the greatest collection of

touch with the room around her. Slowly, almost

fabric samples of all times. As her eyes and fingers

automatically, her fingers caressed the hem of her right

scanned dozens and dozens of patterns and textures in

sleeve and began to read the stitches. The sweater she

search of clues, the textual codes inscribed in the

was wearing had been industrially fabricated and the

textile matter would disclose their secrets and make

fabric was machine-edged, so that all stitches, when

themselves intelligible to her. There was the repetitive

read out loud, sounded like a repetitive dirge, some sort

refrain of a machine-made pattern, with blue roses and

of monotonous mantra. Pot wit potwit pot wit... she

grey sparrows stylised on dark green satin, reading as

an infinite series of bloom ceep bloom ceep bloom ceep; and

to purposely say. The words – if they could be named so

the bloodcurdling scream red rum ! red rum ! red rum ! red

– were precisely selected and, at most, their readers

rum ! cried out by elementary twin figures embroidered

would lack vocabulary in order for them to express

with red silk on purple velvet. Among them a worn-out

their concept. So then, were the remaining parts of the

wool scarf, recently manufactured, carried the traces

world also to be legible, in one way or another? Maybe

of a riot and uttered a limping sequence of acab ¦ acab ¦

the mama clouds were indeed to be decoded and, in

acab across the silence of its stitches. The samples

turn, they could read us themselves.

presented different degrees of articulation and

*

complexity, but not much inventiveness. Meters and

Fabrice smiled nervously to the archivist and muttered

meters of damask and brocade and lampasso flew under

a fast arrivederci, maybe a bit too quickly. She was

Fabrice’s fingertips that afternoon, but when the night

wondering how much it would take before the archivist

fell, no epiphany had occurred. The quest was far from

would find out she had snatched the unreadable fabric

over.

* After those hours spent frantically searching and reading all pieces of fabric she could get her hands on, Fabrice returned to the archives almost every day for two weeks. None of the material witnesses she had questioned until that point had provided any evidence – not a single clue to disclose her sister’s possible

sample, hidden in the inner pocket of her greatcoat. But

destinies. Then, on a grey Tuesday afternoon, she

there was no time to worry about the archivist.

found it. She was holding a handmade embroidered col-

*

lar of North American origins, and her tired fingers

Fabrice unenthusiastically rang the bell and waited for

were absorbed in reading. After about two arrays of

a mouldy man to open the door. A stuffy smell flooded

tangled fibers, the following wording emerged from the

the hallway, making the man’s apartment and the foul

stitches: my soul must go… sister sister sister light the light.

air it emanated all but inviting. How could her sister

The refrain sounded somehow familiar. In the

admire that mildewed figure in such a great fashion?

numbness cloaking her brain since her sister’s

She would consult him three times a week for spiritual

disappearance, it took Fabrice a moment to recall

guidance and seemed to attribute great powers to the

where she had read such verses before. Finally, the

guy. But all Fabrice could see by looking at the man

enigmatic manuscript found among her sister’s papers

peering out the door was a depressing picture of

materialised in her mind and she recognised Johanna’s

shabbiness and decay. After a circumspect glance, the

transcription. An adrenaline rush shook Fabrice to the

man let her in and led her silently through a dark

bones. What was that piece of cloth doing in the Ratti

narrow corridor, punctuated by closed doors. They

archives? How were Johanna and her sister linked to it?

eventually reached a brownish kitchen table on which

With trembling fingers, she went on reading, trying to

a watery coffee was cooling. There, they began to

decipher the textile sample further. And yet, no matter

discuss. With dry words, Fabrice notified her host of

how concentrated and meticulous she was or how

her sister’s disappearance and the manuscript she had

much she had practiced over those weeks spent buried

found. Then, advisedly, she pulled out the unreadable

in the archives, the purpose seemed impossible to

collar she had snatched from the Fondazione Ratti. The

achieve. The remaining part of the embroidered collar

man, who until then had been listening in silence,

was unreadable.

spoke. His voice was repellent, exacerbating the acrid

*

smell emitted by the surrounding furniture, and the

It was slightly dementing, though a world, or many

name Sigismondo that Fabrice had read above the

worlds, were opening before Fabrice. What amazed her

doorbell came to her mind. All this was of great

the most was that she was not interpreting those

disturbance for Fabrice, whose concentration kept

patterns and wefts in the way a farmer predicts the

drifting, sliding on the ugly shape of the trinkets

very near future weather of some tomorrow, or in the

around, to intermittently come back to Sigismondo’s

way the flight of birds was construed by the ancient

monotonous monologue. “You see,” he was lecturing,

Greeks. The stitches left no choice for one interpreta-

when she refocused after the umpteenth excursion of

tion or another. Their reading was saying something

her mind “by everyday experience, we can observe that

perfectly accurate, and though they might have not

half of humanity must be classed among the clothes

been understood, there was no ambiguity or ambiva-

fetishists. All women, that is, are clothes fetishists”.

lence, and they were intended to mean what they had

What an idiot, she thought, and she was not surprised.

21

“It seems that women have made few contributions to the discoveries and inventions in the history of civilisation,” continued Sigismondo with his conceited, unbearable tone, “there is however one technique which they may have invented: that of plaiting and weaving. If that is so, we should be tempted to guess at the unconscious motive for the achievement. Nature

dared to raise her hand from under the bar. The

herself would seem to have given the model which this

thoughtful barman smiled and opened his eyes wide to

achievement imitates by causing the growth at

signal his availability. Fabrice hesitated, presuming

maturity of the pubic hair that conceals the genitals.

that to ask a question without ordering might have

The step that remained to be taken lay in making the

been rude.

threads adhere to one another, while on the body they

“Is there a person named Brunswick?”

stick into the skin and are only matted together...”

The barman nodded towards the staircase.

Sigismondo kept arguing on and on, until he reached

“Downstairs, blue room”.

the conclusion that sexes and textiles operated by the

Farbice stood from her stool and made a first step in

same structural logic and could be likewise deciphered.

the direction of the stairs.

By the end of the draining lecture, Fabrice had much

“No drink for you?”

psychoanalytic theory to process and an address to

*

check. Wondering how a spiritual guru could lavish

With her expensive drink filled to the top, she

truths like the most petulant scientist, Fabrice made

cat-danced down to the blue room. As she entered, she

her way out of the apartment.

noticed a trouple on a huge pliant bed, curled into a

*

three-human knot, their faces dived into each other’s

Half dark place, at the same time silent and filled with

bodies. The long tongue of the clitolinguist was

clinking soft noises. Most surprising was the mutism of

meticulously searching for meaning in-between lips

the hallway rug Fabrice stepped onto. All it was saying

and foldings of skin, scanning the humid sex deep and deeper, pubic hair tickling her upper lip. Reporting the legible to a woman sitting on an armchair on the

22

bedside and typing on an iPad, the clitolinguist would attempt her own translation of the womanhood she was examining: “a rose has teeth in the mouth of the beast mmmh mh mh mh mmmmh when the tempests kill the earth’s foul peace mmmmh mh”. “Thick was a dim woosh-woosh as if responding to her shoes.

kompakt ¦ thick kompakt ¦ thick kompakt”, would utter

Lustful glances gawked at her as she passed two rows

a phallolinguist operating the analysis of a turgid sex

of open doors aligned irregularly along a wide corridor,

nearby; “IN FALLIMENTO C’E FALLO! AUTONOMIA!

leading to a dim open-space scattered with whispering

AUTOMAZIONE!” would thunder a second clitolinguist,

canopies and murmuring draperies and dominated by

intent on reading the raging sex of an elder from Rome.

The woman sitting at the bedside was typing, then waiting, then typing again. Fabrice opted for not interrupting and sipped her Espresso Martini, concentrating on her transparency level. In the meantime, next door, Carolee Schneemann was performing her

a colossal quiet bar. The bar stared momentarily at her.

The looks were not malevolent, but did seem to carry some expectations, at least a pale curiosity. On the right side of the bar, a staircase led discretely to the basement. For the moment Fabrice lacked the courage

famous Interior Scroll, pulling a satirical account out

to follow the steps. She glanced at the bottle racks

from her sex and reading it out loud. A small public of

behind the barman, who seemed to respect the

art lovers was watching, feeling charmed and deeply

adaptive time she was needing before inquiring about

involved, yet dramatically missing the point.

what she would wish to drink. Between the vodka and

*

the gin, a disc-shaped sign read CCC-L, ringed by Circle

Peering over her reading glasses, the typing woman

Club of Clito and Phallo-Linguistics. Did Sigismondo really

finally granted an inquisitorial look to Fabrice. The

recommend this place for her search? Finally, she shyly

latter seized the opportunity: “Mrs Brunswick?”

“May I help?” Awkward silence. “Please, take a seat.”

to encapsulate the world in what we (think we) know,

Fabrice sat on a second armchair facing the bed, while

she said to herself, as she reached her apartment. All

the three linguists went on with their business,

seemed regular, but all was extraneous. The city and

ignoring her presence. Mrs Brunswick laid her iPad

the supermarket that she just went in were a set of

down and stared at her interlocutor intensely, with

choices she didn’t make. Nor did anyone. It rather went

pale blue eyes that melted at times with the blue misty

the way it went, periodically permeated by passing

atmosphere of the surroundings. With some difficulty,

fancies that eventually shaped the housing and the

Fabrice searched for the right words to explain the

gardens and people’s habits and the lake shore. She

reason for her visit. How could she tell a complete

was facing a shrinking world, soon to be shaded by

stranger about her quirky capacity to make stitches

occult matter. She took a walk in the woods above the

and weaves legible? How to tell the even quirkier

lake. Her hunch had led her to a dead end. Yet,

encounter she had with Sigismondo, who put Mrs Brun-

something didn’t add up. She looked at her greatcoat’s

swick on Fabrice’s path, persuading her of the analo-

sleeve. She needed to be comforted by the stitches

gies between the logical structures of fabrics and

sectioning the fabric. They were stating a gladdening

sexes? While these questions were knotting her tongue,

leave the loot, lop the top, leave the loot, lop the top. The

an indistinct noise of gasps and moaning, now and

fabrics, cloths and weaves had been exact, generous

then punctuated by high-pitched screeches, reminded

and at her disposal until then. That piece of cloth still

her that nothing could be surprising to the inhabitants

creased in her inner pocket was the exception. After

of the blue room. And so she began her story.

all, Johanna’s transcription ended in the exact same spot where Fabrice’s reading did, and this was not a

“But there is a fundamental fallacy in such argumenta-

coincidence. The fact that her sister was in possession

tion,” Mrs Brunswick argued, after having scrupulously

of Johanna’s manuscript, in the first place, and that she

deconstructed Sigismondo’s theory, ”you see, we tend

had been visiting the archives of Fondazione Ratti was

to consider linguistic what we can write down, and

not a coincidence either. In the tangle of these threads

non-linguistic everything else, but this division is a

must have rested the key of her sister’s disappearance.

cultural artefact, an arbitrary limitation derived from

Apart from that, no one seemed to be of much help, not

historical evolution. This much is true, and rests at the

as much as the leaves of last autumn merging with the

basis of both sex-reading and textile-reading. However,

dirt she was sinking in at every step. This was but

there is a major difference between reading sexes and

loneliness. Rather, (she tempted to work out what was

reading textiles. Textile, just like text (the etymological

going on) she was merely accompanied by accidentally

link here is no coincidence), is fabricated according to

legible pieces of fabric, in a land made of people

unequivocal codes and responds to a precise set of

making sense of things for them not to fall into despair.

rules. It lends for a reading that is not dubious. The

Where had she to go now? Her sister did go. Mad? As

interpretation of that reading could be, but this

she thought she might herself. Perhaps in Klatsand lay

problem emerges only at a later time.” So far so good,

the answer. And off she went.

Fabrice thought. Mrs Brunswick continued: ”The practice of sex-reading, on the other hand, is grounded on hermeneutics: it is an interpretative technique that

The end

does not contemplate univocal readings, but multiple possibilities. Have you ever heard a pilot tell about clouds? Clitolinguists and phallolinguists work

* The text includes direct and indirect quotes of Ursula Le Guin, David McNeil, Victoria Mitchell and Sigmund Freud.

likewise, as every day they plunge into the matter of their reading. They experience body tissues and hairs and fluids and deliver their own interpretation of the ensemble, they compose their poetry with different levels of mastery and lyricism to the point they could even claim authorship of their readings.” From the soft screams and emphatic moaning coming from the bed nearby, Fabrice could tell Mrs Brunswick had a point.

* Though she deemed Mrs Brunswick’s thinking kind and just, Fabrice still thought it wasn’t entirely right and the elements which her interlocutor had brought up were to confirm what she had already perceived intuitively. She was glad but not satisfied. It is hard not

one gee in fog is an artist-run space committed to exploring the entanglements of art and literature, and to promoting young cultural practitioners engaging with visual arts, writing and research by the means of the arts. one gee in fog includes an exhibition space, a residency, an online platform named two gees in eggs, and a library and publishing platform called three gees in luggage. Founded in 2014 in Chêne-Bourg (Geneva) by Ceel Mogami de Haas, Claire Michel and Lucas Cantori, one gee in fog has been run till today by Lucas and Ceel, together with Bénédicte le Pimpec, Charlotte Magnin and Camilla Paolino. For 2020, the project will be in charge of a new curatorial team, including Varun Kumar, Katia Leonelli and Antoine Schalk.

23 Illustrations: Paulina Granat, 2020

*

Utställningar hösten 2020 12 september - 8 november

WE ARE HERE: Jenny Berntsson Ruben Wätte Jelena Rundqvist

14 november - 3 januari

Peter Hagdahl – En spegling av 1990-talets konstscen 17 oktober 2020 – 1 april 2021 Curatorer Ola Åstrand & Lena Mattsson

Kulturhuset, Borås | boraskonstmuseum.se | fri entré

Örebro konsthall | orebrokonsthall.se | fri entré

Chelsea on a Thursday afternoon in November Anna Ekros

25

Chelsea, Autumn 2019

lunch with another dear friend – who described the clouds under the midnight express (it was ten

In New York City, nothing is ever what it seems to

dollars and everyone was there) between LA and

be. As you’re gazing serenely at the apricot sky

San Francisco in the 80’s – you saunter into good old

gorgeously gleaming above the buildings on 7th

Zwirner at 20th street to find the least expensive

Avenue, a man throws a bucket at someone in front

raw material in the most expensive room and

of you.

no-one is there. The installation by Jason Rhoades,

You look at a sweet little squirrel for just a second

known for his use of everyday objects in gigantic

too long and realise that what it is chewing on is

installations, criticises colonialism, commercialism,

another squirrel’s tail.

tourism, industrialism, or the very same art market

You meet your friend for breakfast. She recently

in which his pieces have found a rather grand space.

married a performer with credit card debt and a

And it is easy to place something in the artwork, the

strange hairdo. You think she needs your help, but

void of chandeliers made out of tourist bric-a-brac

not at all. She’s here to give you a more sophisti-

and neon signs, because at its very core, it consists

cated world view.

of nothing. As you navigate the installation, you feel

Walking west a few blocks from the A train, after

the items creeping closer as if wanting to fill the

Jason Rhoades, ‘Tijuanatanjierchandelier’, David Zwirner Gallery, New York, photo: Anna Ekros

vacant room with whatever meaning you carry inside of you. I flee Zwirner deciding that neon – however supposedly symbolic or critically deployed – may not seduce me to put my signature on anything. ”You need a third voice overseeing the narrator’s voice” messages my New York based editor in late December, saying I seem too innocent and judgmental in my writing. “You have a theory degree from New York, you’re not innocent, I don’t think that’s really you.” – As I am thinking about how to add the quote “Art knows us better than we know ourselves” to the text and what origin those words might have.

I decide that the quote won’t be a part of the text but I google the book she’s suggesting I read, ‘The Situation and the Story’, by Vivian Gornick.

In Chelsea on that Thursday afternoon, as thick clouds fill up the rectangular space between the industrial buildings in the neighbourhood, I turn left and left again and skip up 10th to 24th. At Lisson a sweet girl greets me at the door. Here Anish Kapoor unravels a stainless steel amusement park in works entitled ‘New Born’ (2019) and ‘Non Object (Sphere)’ (1998–2013.) I can see myself in the surface, from every angle I’m born anew, as the works, consent to be non-objects obediently self-effaced to feature me, evaporate into my

26

reflections. But sacrifice is the trickery of western thought, it’s where Odysseus went wrong, cunning didn’t lead him back in one piece. Even so, if the artworks at Lisson are singing the good old song, they know the words of the hymn of art history by heart. Still, I won’t let them lure me. I will tie my shoes harder, and when a handout asks me to hashtag photographs of myself mirrored by the self-sacrificial, yet acutely durable artworks – to participate in a ritual within the religion in which I am supposed to worship myself in third person, admire a representation of myself devoid of subject and confuse the representation for being me since it in no way is ready to reveal its true self – I will instead compliment the dress of the girl at the entrance, she will look confused, as she doesn’t consider herself worthy, and I will run down 24th back to my friend now having coffee on 6th avenue.

Today, Chelsea was a Tivoli, I’ll tell him, nothing in New York is ever what it seems to be. And he will answer – Sweetheart, let me tell you a story... ■

Anna Ekros (born 1988) is a visual artist, writer and art historian specialised in photography. She holds an MFA from International Center of Photography/Bard College and an MA in Critical Theory and the Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Ekros was educated by masters such as Anders Petersen, Halil Koyutürk and later Nan Goldin. She has an interest in truth in relation to imagery, curious of the moments where the edges of the medium become visible.

Anish Kapoor, ‘Non object (Sphere)’, Lisson Gallery, 24th Street New York, photo: Shura Skaya

CECILIA EDEFALK HEMKOMSTEN 28 MARS — 17 JANUARI 2021

NORRKÖPINGS KONSTMUSEUM

N

DEL AV VARB EN

VARBERGS KON ST H AL L

HA NST LL • KO

GS KOMMU ER

Cecilia Edefalk, En annan rörelse, 1990. Foto Per Myrehed.

ARBERG •V S

011-15 26 00 konstmuseet@norrkoping.se www.norrkopingskonstmuseum.se

Kolonin / The Colony The mud, the loneliness and the landscape Yvonne Ihmels

When artists move into an area one calls it the first

with somebody or something). Their recent work is

step of gentrification – but what is it called when

the performance ‘Förmödrarna’ (The Foremothers)

artists leave the cities and move to the countryside?

about historical and contemporary women in

Nothing new, not at least if you look at the begin-

Arvika. Together with artist Lin de Mol from

ning of the 20th century, but here is a true story

Holland they are all part of Kolonin (The Colony).

about artists who never intended to leave the city for the countryside. They just skipped the step with

The name Kolonin hints at the early 20th century

expensive rents, bad locations and tiny studios.

Rackstad group with celebrities such as Maja Fjaestad and Christian Ericsson, explains Helene

On the table in front of us some coffee mugs and

Karlsson. They moved to the area around lake

croissants. Around the table are Sara Falkstad,

Racken in the 1900s and the presence of these

Helene Karlsson and Anna Ehnsiö. Anna Ehnsiö, is

artists created a new cultural climate. A lot of

an actress, theatre director and founder of TOTAL­

craftsmen also started to move in, including

TEATERN. Sara Falkstad is a poet and Helene

carpenters, textile and crochet makers. The famous

Karlsson is an artist; together they work with the

Rackstadmuseet shows furniture and paintings

performance/art group OTALT (literally ’Unspoken’,

from these days and as the jewel in the crown there

but also to have a quarrel, something not settled

is the music college in Ingesund. A heavy heritage,

Lin de Mol, ‘The Spirit of the Place’, piezography, framed, 105 x 70 cm, 2016

Lin de Mol, ‘Day and Night’, performance of sowing over a weather resistant winter coat with reindeer lichen during a 7-day and night performance in the Fönstergalleriet in Arvika, Värmland, 2016

but it does not seem to bother anyone too much.

medicinal and healing properties. Lin de Mol made a

Kolonin is a community and an artist driven space

seven day public performance in the window

in Arvika, Sweden, located in what used to be a

gallery, sculpting ‘The Healing Coat’. It was personal

commercial shopping area. It is a studio space for

therapy and a monument to pain, she tells. Now the

six artists and a meeting place for exhibitions,

coat rests in the forest. She says:

music, theater, poetry and important conversations.

Large shop-windows open towards the street,

“As an artist, when you leave the city, you also

except for one – the window gallery – where

leave the contemporary context of art. But I never

products for sale used to be displayed, and now

thought about that when we left. I just wanted to

there are art exhibitions 24/7 all year around.

be closer to what I considered to be my source,

Artists like Åsa Elzén, who based her research on

which is nature. But maybe there was also

early feminist Fogelstad group and its eco-feminist

something in me that wanted to get away from the

and ecological legacy, have shown in the window

contemporary art circus. I longed for a Iife in

gallery. At the opening in November 2019, Åsa Elzén

harmony with nature and [for] my works to be

met Cecilia Berntsson, a local farmer who is

flowing directly from that imagined life.”

working organically out of love for ‘mother earth’ in a conversation on Åsa Elzén’s ‘Transcript of a

Before settling down in Värmland, just outside

fallow’ – a reproduction of the carpet ‘En Träda’ (A

Arvika, Lin de Mol had been travelling for ten years

Fallow) commissioned by suffragette Elisabeth

to remote areas to make her works. She then

Tamm at Fogelstad, an early feminist Group in

processed them in the studio at home in Amster-

Sweden, and designed and woven by Maja Fjaestad

dam before exhibiting the final works in contempo-

and Amelie Fjaestad of the Rackstad group. The

rary art spaces in Amsterdam, Germany and Italy.

carpet’s return to Arvika and the contemporary

At some point she realised that all that travelling for

relevance of the discussion about the land and the

art was actually a way of searching for another

forest appealed to the local audiences who showed

place on earth to live, for another type of life. After

up in great numbers. On the evening of the artist

she moved with her family, daughter and husband,

talk, Kolonin organised a concert with Indonesian

to the countryside, in her case to another country,

musician Rully Shabara, chronicling the history of

her relationship to her work has intensified. All

language in a unique voice performance. All this in

doubts she might have had before in the urban

a local pub, supported by two hardcore punk bands.

context about the meaning of making art vanished.

Instead it has become a bare necessity, and a means

Another piece that still lingers with me is Lin de

of personal survival.

Mol’s ‘The Healing Coat’. A copy of her old winter coat, made of weather resistant material, and

Anna Ehnsiö comes from Uppsala and had a

over-sewn with reindeer moss – a lichen that holds

brilliant career in Stockholm when she suddenly felt

tired of exposing her soul in her castings. Today she

“These stories of these women have always been

is touring all over Sweden. The blend of various art

there, but no one cared about them until we came

forms and collaborations that take place at Kolonin

along,” says Helene. “One example is the wife of the

is inspiring. Helene has made the scenography for

artist Fritz Lindström, one of the members of the

two of her plays, ‘Agnes’, about Agnes von Krusen-

famous Rackstadkolonin (Rackengruppen). Her

stjerna, still on tour, and ‘Tjej typ kille typ’ (Girl

name was Anna Wretman Lindström but when you

type, Boy type), a play that as many as 25 000 pupils

read about Fritz at Rackstadmuseet, it says that he

have seen. Together with Helene and Sara, Anna

had a wife who was sickly and died young. Nowhere

also directed and performed in ‘Förmödrarna’. For

it says that she started the Arvika branch of the

two years they collected historical material about

association for women’s suffrage!”

women of Arvika, reading books, digging deep into the archives, and also interviewing current

“Anna Wretman Lindström also inherited some

residents of their town. Helene created thirty

money that made it possible for her to go to Paris,

unique banners and flags inspired by the textile

where she met Fritz,” Sara fills in.

tradition of the suffrage movement while Anna and Sara worked on the script. In the summer of 2018

Wretman Lindström was also part in founding the

the project was turned into three performances

first kindergarten in Arvika and worked as a teacher

based around fourteen monologues about historical

to support the family and her artist husband. There

and contemporary women of Arvika. They involved

is a portrait with her in the museum, but she was

approximately thirty extras and a large audience

not even mentioned by name. The work by OTALT

moving as a crowd through central Arvika. The

resulted in Anna Wretman Lindström’s portrait now

banners are now on loan to the new permanent

having the flag for women’s suffrage hanging next

history exhibition of Värmlands museum, but when

to it!

Foremothers carrying ‘Standards’ by Helene Karlsson, mixed media (textile, screen print, paint, embroidery), 100 x 150 cm, photo: HP Skoglund

31

needed they can be brought out from the museum,

Rackstamuseet and the artist group is a heavy

as when OTALT performs a version of Förmödrarna

heritage but there must be room for contemporary

at 13festivalen in Göteborg in 2020.

art and culture in a small city like Arvika, not only art that was created a hundred years ago, says

Helene. What they also noticed during their work

has to have a local connection and the critics at the

with this performance was that the visibility of

larger newspapers seem more interesting to go to

women shifted from time to time. Somehow they

New York than to Arvika, Anna points out. “And in

appeared in history books between 1930 and 1940

Värmland there are not that many cultural

and then they disappeared again.

journalists with summerhouses if you compare with Österlen in the south of Sweden. “

At Kolonin dogs and children are welcome, Sara writes later in an email. When she was on mater-

She remembers once when Leif Zern, the theater

nity leave with her daughter she often visited

critic, was writing in Dagens Nyheter about one of

Kolonin and sometimes people just entered because

her plays she was so happy that she wept. “You

they saw that someone was sitting inside ‘drawing’.

simply have to forget about your vanity working here. I know that what I am doing is good because of

“We want to be local without lowering our expecta-

the response from the audience, even if it does not

tions on art and culture and that goes for the audience

show in media.”

as well. People are not stupid just because they are not used to contemporary art. Kolonin is a place where you

For Lin de Mol the making of art ‘in the middle of

have to make your own fun and we certainly have

nowhere’ has been quite an experience so far. She

done that. And it has led to cooperation with a lot of

says:

people living in and around Arvika. To be a fish in a small pond can make you a bigger fish.”

”I regard myself now as having an entirely different responsibility as an artist. I am aware that I make

32

In other words, they are digging where they are

art in a place where no one is asking for it and in

standing, and the national interest and support that

doing so I feel I have to make an extra effort to

their project has evoked only proves that some

make it clear what it is I do. But do it in such a way

things do not have to lose their relevance because

that everyone, including an audience not familiar

they are outside of a bigger city. “Värmland is like a

with contemporary art can get something out of it,

middle sized city,” says Anna. “That is how I try to

and this without adjusting the art itself. To be at the

explain to my friends in Stockholm and other cities

top within the artworld in Amsterdam means that

what it is like to live here.” All her friends and

you practically have to live in your studio. To

colleagues are contemporary artists or authors,

produce continuously and always interact with the

filmmakers and theater people – there is a lot of

market.”

cooperation over the cultural borders, but you have to organise it yourself. “But here at Kolonin it is The ‘Living room’ at Kolonin.

From left to right Kristine Thenman, Sara Falkstad, Helene Karlsson and Anna Ehnsiö and the editorial dog, photo: Yvonne Ihmels Window display at Kolonin, the Thinkspace in Arvika, Värmland, photo: Helene Karlsson

quite lively and being bored also can be a trigger to create,” adds Anna. She kind of belongs to the generation of the ‘green revolution’, even if she was never interested in growing vegetables, she says with a wry smile. She wanted to move to Värmland because she found it so beautiful there, but many of her colleagues got almost angry with her for leaving and thought she was insane to move from Stockholm when she was just a small step away from a big breakthrough.

“At a party recently in Stockholm, after more than twenty years in Värmland, I was asked when am I going to move back? Your children must be grown now? When are you going to come back?”

She sometimes misses being part of a larger community but she knew from the very beginning that if she was going to work within art and theater it was going to be on her own terms. The lack of good criticism in local newspapers is a problem. If and when the newspapers write about something it

central places in Arvika. The project is a collaboration with commercial spaces in the area.

Exhibitions at Kolonin during 2020 30 Nov–18 Jan Åsa Elzen www.asaelzen.com

Helene actually trained as an art teacher, since she always liked to draw and paint, and no one in her family had ever come up with the idea of being an artist. “But during my education at Konstfack in Stockholm I realised I am an artist.” In her practice she likes to involve the audience. She is mainly

1 Feb–29 Feb Liv Midbøe www.livmidboe.com

interested in the field between fiction and documentary where art tends to be more of a sociological act, a collaboration between the artist and the viewers.

She often goes from painting to installations to

7 March–18 April Birgitta Burling www.birgittaburling.se 20 April–6 Jun Helene Karlsson www.helenekarlsson.se

performance motivated by her curiosity and interest in dialogue with others.

Another project initiated by Kolonin is ‘Skallgång’: an approximate translation would be ‘search party’.

Kolonin’s search is an attempt to map contemporary artists in Värmland and to build a platform and a

13 Jun–22 Aug Janove Ekstedt/Robin Andersson

place for networking. “Our ‘search party’ is a way to create contact, confidence, and collaboration between artists and self-organised platforms for

14 Nov–13 Dec Arvika Ljus

contemporary art in the countryside,” says Sara.

“All of us who work outside institutions have the same problem to balance our work within art and earning a wage, between freedom and security and

33

between your own practice and organising events The only problem she sees with her new context is

and exhibitions. How to support each other and

that there are very few platforms for contemporary

maintain our freedom. We hope that building

art. She is lucky to have her international gallery in

networks can lead to more cooperation and

Amsterdam and to have Kolonin, a place to work

support instead of continuing like isolated islands

and meet, an exhibition space to invite artists and

of art in the middle of a forest. At the end of the

build a growing network that eventually all of us

day it could lead to Värmland as a more attractive

can benefit from. ”We are building bridges and

place for new artists to live and work.” ■

lowering thresholds and I actually do think people in Arvika like Kolonin. When the Butoh artist SU-EN came to Kolonin she had the largest audience of her whole tour.” “We try to inspire and challenge at the same time,” Helen fills in. “No one begs you to become an artist but Kolonin gives me the opportu-

Yvonne Ihmels is a cultural journalist and chief editor at Cora, a feminist magazine about women in art and culture. Ihmels produces documentaries for the Swedish Radio and, amongst many highly acclaimed radio productions, she has represented Sweden in Prix Italia.

nity to continue working in my own way. I need the context to be able to continue.”

‘Var inte rädd för mörkret’ (Don’t be afraid of the dark) is Lin de Mol’s latest project. In autumn 2020 she will curate Arvika Ljus! (Arvika Light!) for the very first time: a biennale with contemporary light installations in various places in Arvika. The title refers to a poem by Erik Blomberg which addresses another way to handle darkness and presents another way to see it – as a place where light is born.

To be a friend of the darkness instead of being afraid. For the project Lin de Mol has chosen five

Lin de Mol, ‘The Healing Coat’, piezography, framed, 150 x 100 cm, 2018

HASSAN SHARIF I AM THE SINGLE WORK ARTIST 19.9 –10.1 fri entré MALMÖ KONSTHALL konsthall.malmo.se +46 40 34 60 00 Hassan Sharif, Jumping No. 1, 1983. Fotodokumentation av performance i Dubai, Courtesy Hassan Sharif Estate; Alexander Gray Associates, New York; gb agency, Paris; Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai.

Pontus Raud, ‘In search of identity’, mixed media, 21.9 x 19.9 cm, 2020

A year on … and not much wiser Stuart Mayes

It is 11 January 2020 and I check the Arts Council

It is two and a half months since the 31 October

England (ACE) website to see what it says about

date passed, 30 days since the general election in

Britain leaving the EU:

which Boris Johnson’s Conservative (Tory) Party won a substantial majority, and 20 days until 31 January

The United Kingdom is due to withdraw from the

– the new date when the United Kingdom is due to

European Union on the 31 October. If a deal is

withdraw from the European Union. Johnson’s deal

agreed, this will be followed by a transition

is almost certainly likely to be agreed by both

period based on the precise details of the deal

houses of the British parliament and the EU. A wave

agreed.

of anxiety rushes over me when I read that ACE

It is important for cultural organisations to assess

“will continue to update this guide as further

the risks and opportunities that Brexit poses, so

information becomes available.”2 Can it be right that

that they can prepare as well as possible.

there is nothing to update, no new information? If

1

nothing else, the date of withdrawal could and 1 Brexit Information: EU Exit Guide, Arts Council England. Accessed at https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/brexit-guidance/eu-exitguide, 11 January 2020.

2 ibid

the UK, both British and resident Europeans, are ’remainers’. From reading an interview AFB did with The New European I learned that they see leaving the EU (particularly its regulations and funding streams) as a great opportunity for the UK to re-assess and democratise cultural support and financial assistance. On the one hand I admire the optimism and wholeheartedly wish that I could share their enthusiasm, and on the other, I wonder if they are strategically positioning themselves for key roles within the government’s future cultural departments. I know that at least one of the founding members is a very good and ambitious administrator. As AFB acknowledge, there are few in the arts who support Brexit, and they are certainly intelligent enough to know that Johnson’s appointed government will reflect his agenda. AFB would be an obvious place to look for new cultural advisors and recruits.

But my mind is still full of questions regarding how individual artists are feeling and I realise that my own surprise, shock and disappointment at the 2016 referendum result is playing a large part in my attempt at figuring this out.

The personal is the political.

Pontus Raud, ‘A new era (Who to blame now?)’, engraving and gouache, 24.7 x 22 cm, 2020

I am now both a British and Swedish citizen. In 2011 I made the decision to move to Sweden as life here suits me better than in the UK and I thought it is not should have been updated. How do I interpret this

such a big thing to move to another European

seriously out-dated information from the UK’s

country – which it was not really. Of course there

government funded body who “were set up in 1946,

are significant differences between Britain and

by Royal Charter, to champion and develop art and

Sweden, and I am still learning them and adapting

culture across the country … governed by an

to them. Yet Britain’s decision to leave the EU is

Executive Board and National and Area Councils.”3 I

adding new layers of complexity to what has been a

email them via their ’contact us’ form and ask why

relatively easy situation for me.

the information on their site is incorrect.

I have always been someone who plans ahead; this The ACE guidance and advice regarding prepara-

is often a good and positive trait. Now with so much

tions for Britain exiting the EU is aimed at large

uncertainty it is causing me frustration and anxiety.

cultural institutions, especially those in receipt of

If Boris Johnson’s timetable is adhered to Britain will

EU funding. It also directs readers to the govern-

enter a transition period on 31 January ending on 31

ment’s advice for businesses and organisations in

December 2020. At which point things will be

the (now highly unlikely) case of a ’no-deal exit’.

different – we just do not know exactly how different, that is what will be negotiated over the

I wonder where to find advice and guidance for

intervening eleven months. There are aspects of my

individual artists and artist-run initiatives.

artistic practice that will inevitably be affected by Britain leaving the EU: study/research trips to the

An internet search with keywords ’artists’ and

UK and its institutions, buying materials and

’brexit’ brings up ’Artists for Brexit’. I am immedi-

services from UK based suppliers, exhibiting in the

ately intrigued – all of the artists whom I know in

UK, and working in the UK.

3 Our Organisation, Arts Council England. Available at https:// www.artscouncil.org.uk/about-us/our-organisation-0, visited 11 January 2020.

Swedish regulations for self-employment are weighted in favour of doing business with other EU lands. This is particularly true for individuals and businesses with a small turnover. Trading with non-EU businesses requires the additional cost of submitting quarterly tax and income accounts signed off by an accredited accountant (rather than an annual declaration that I submit myself). This would put me in debt as an accountant’s fees for such work are greater than my annual profit! At the moment and until 31 December I can claim UK exhibition entrance fees as a business expense in my annual tax/income declaration. This will not be possible once Britain leaves the EU and becomes a ’third country’. For the same reason I will have to stop using UK suppliers. My most recent exhibitions in the UK were installations made on-site with materials bought locally, again, this will no longer be possible so it makes showing the UK far less attractive.

When I moved from Britain to Sweden I imagined that I would continue to work in both countries; the reality has been that I am doing more and more in Sweden while maintaining good connections with the UK. The likely outcomes of Brexit make it harder to see how I can keep these connections due not least to the financial implications.

For over thirteen years I have written an artist’s blog on a-n.co.uk – the Artists’ Newsletter website.

This has been an important way for me to have contact and develop professional friendships with artists in the UK as well as keeping me updated with the UK art scene. Next year I will have to decide if I continue with the a-n subscription privately as a way of avoiding it becoming a service purchased from a third land, and incurring accountant’s fees. It is these small but important things that make me aware of how independent and low income artists are potentially more vulnerable to post-Brexit changes than major arts institutions and established international artists.

If I am less likely to exhibit in the UK I wonder how many UK artists will be less likely to show in Europe. I wonder if it will be viable for one of my former London studio colleagues to show with his commercial gallery in Germany after 2020.

I am already thinking that I should be looking for opportunities in other European countries to avoid the hassle, inconvenience and expense of showing or working in a non-European Britain.

Pontus Raud, ‘New fishing policy’, mixed media, 11 x 20.3 cm, 2020

Beyond the specifics of artists working across EU

import and export duties will be implemented.

and non-EU borders, a simple and relatively modest

Roberto is resigned to Brexit happening and just

increase in air, train, and coach fares between

wants it done so things can get going again.

Britain and the EU could push visits and exchanges

Tine Bech has applied for settled status in the UK

out of reach of artists who support and subsidise

though wonders if she might return to Denmark. It

their practice from other paid employment. With

depends on how things unfold and what kind of

the UK’s potential divergence from European

country post-Brexit Britain becomes – the national-

employment legislation looking likely, those

ism and populism of the right-wing government

working in the ’gig economy’ and low paid sectors

concern her.

seem set to suffer harsher working conditions and

Ken Taylor and Julia Manheim continue to initiate

even lower incomes. Maintaining an artistic

and provoke discussion through m2 gallery’s

practice could easily become the preserve of the

programme of shows and events.

wealthy or those fortunate few who secure financial Last but not least I wonder how easy it will be for

support.

British artists and initiatives to participate in the This time last year I wrote about the concerns of

future editions of Supermarket – Stockholm

artist friends working in different sectors of the

Independent Art Fair. ■

UK-based art scene. One year on and we are none the wiser …

The large touring exhibition that Michael Petry and Roberto Ekholm have planned is still on ice. Its three year journey around European cities cannot be secured until more is known about how new

38

Pontus Raud, ‘Into the unknown’, mixed media, 9.8 x 10 cm, 2020

Stuart Mayes is a visual artist living and working in Enköping, Sweden. He is actively engaged in several arts organisations in Uppland as well as running the artists’ initiative Glitter Ball showroom & projects.

1,1 www.1-1.digital art/music platform 2015

Basel

KunstKiosk Baar www.kunstkiosk-baar.ch exhibition space 2012

Baar

Museum1 www.museum1.ch exhibition space 2015

_957 Art Magazine www.957.ch independent art magazine 2012

Adligenswil

Kunstraum Aarau www.kunstraumaarau.ch exhibition space 1990

Aarau

City

Name of Initiative Website Description Year of Founding

Jasmin Glaab

Adapter www.kunstadapter.ch/de/ueber-uns/ unterstuetzen/ mobile exhibition space 2011

The Swiss Artist-Run Scene 2020

The Swiss artist-run scene 2020 Jasmin Glaab

A Roland for an Oliver www.arolandforanoliver.ch map of Basel's artist-run spaces 2011 Artachment www.artachment.com exhibition space 2007 Artstübli www.artstuebli.ch exhibition space 2011 Ausstellungsraum Klingental www.ausstellungsraum.ch exhibition space 1974 BBLACKBOXX / SURE TU www.facebook.com/AnDerLichtung cafe/exhibition space 2010 BelleVue – Ort für Fotografie www.bellevue-fotografie.ch exhibition space for photography 2012 Cargobar www.cargobar.ch bar/exhibition space 1997

Swiss artists – a stereotype First of all I want to break the stereotype about Swiss artists. If I meet artists from other countries I am usually estimated to be a ‘rich’ artist because I am a ‘Swiss’ artist. It is true that in Switzerland the wages are higher than in a lot of other countries – but at the same time the living costs are accordingly high.

From the outside it might look like everybody is rich, but if you work and live in the country then the situation is rather different. Most of the Swiss artists I know live with about half of the income of someone who is doing a regular job.

Swiss artists usually do part time jobs to maintain their existence, they work as stage hands, bar staff or in a call center – like I did for years. To maintain your life but still save some time to work at your studio you need to develop a whole range of strategies and learn to live with relatively very little money. As the cost of everything is higher it is easier for Swiss artists to travel abroad – that is true! – but the time you spend abroad is limited as you will still have to pay the high ongoing costs at home for your flat or studio (you will not give that up because it is very hard to find affordable living and working space), maybe your phone or internet subscription and of course the expensive legally required health insurance (number one reason for the Swiss to be in debt).

That means that after some weeks of traveling you are forced to go back home to work in your money job.

The reason why I find it important to explain these details is my understanding of artist-run practice as a political practice. In contrast to the institutional and 22

Der Tank www.der-tank.institut-kunst.ch exhibition space 2015 deuxpiece www.deuxpiece.com nomadic exhibition project 2014 dock www.dock-basel.ch archive/exhibition space 1998 Dr. Kuckucks Labrador www.drkuckuckslabrador.ch nomadic curatorial project 2012 FABRIKculture www.fabrikculture.net exhibition space 2003 FAQ www.faqgalerie.ch exhibition space 2016 filter4culture affairs www.iwbfilter4.ch exhibition space 2006 hardspace www.hardhard.space exhibition space 2018 Hebel_121 www.hebel121.org exhibition space 1998 >>

39

SUMME www.summe.xyz festival of artist-run spaces 2015

SALTS www.salts.ch exhibition space 2014

Projektraum M54 www.visarte-basel.ch exhibition space 2000

Pleasure Zone www.facebook.com/pzartspace/57539172398 exhibition space 2019

Pataphysisches Institut Basel www.pataphysical.net exhibition space 2013

palazzina www.palazzina.ch exhibition space 2019

lotsremak www.lotsremark.net exhibition space 2012

kunsthallekleinbasel www.kunsthallekleinbasel.com exhibition space 2014

Kaskadenkondensator www.kasko.ch exhibition space 1994

invitro www.niel-thaler.com exhibition space 2001

commercial art world, which is oriented towards the success of individual positions and particular careers, I understand artist-run practice as a practice of openly sharing knowledge and experience. It is about revealing personal networks, representing and being represented by an entire scene. It is not oriented towards successful or well-trained artists but offers a platform for side issues or exceptional phenomena in the field of fine arts and is characterised by flat hierarchies. It is about constantly being able to convey and reflect on the actual living and working conditions of its actors and their environment.

Historical approach and how to survive Switzerland has 8.5 million inhabitants and there are currently nearly two hundred independent art spaces, locally so-called ‘off-spaces’ that serve as platforms for experimentation and are characteristically non-profit initiatives.

The models that operators of independent art spaces developed in order to 40

maintain them are different. Usually the first step is to find a space which you can use for free or where you pay a very low rent, which means mostly interim usage. Some decide to apply for private or public funds that might support some of your expenses. The funds are mostly project-related, which means you are constantly making applications. Other operators choose to cooperate with companies to get material sponsorship or interim usage. The model I tried out was to use my own two-room studio flat as an exhibition space. In

Exhibition view of the annual show ‘Catch of the year’ at Dienstgebäude Art Space in Zurich, 2019, photo: Andreas Marti 23

Connected Space www.connected-space.ch festival/network 2019

CO-Labor www.facebook.com/colabor.bern exhibition space 2013

Ballostar Mobile www.ballostar-mobile.com exhibition space 2018

Affspace www.affspace.ch space for architecture 2016

Wurm www.flatterschafft.ch exhibition space 2019

Weltraum www.weltraum.me exhibition space 2015

White Frame www.whiteframe.art nomadic exhibition project 2011

Gepard 14 www.gepard14.ch exhibition space 2008

Exhibition poster, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, 1974

Voltage www.voltage-basel.com exhibition space 2017

Villa Renata www.villa-renata.ch exhibition space 2011

The Kitchen Aufderhöhe www.aufderhoehe.com exhibition space 2013

Bern

Galerie 3000 www.galerie3000.ch exhibition space 2013

Grand Palais www.grandpalais.ch exhibition space 2008 Kollektiv Bern www.connected-space.ch network 2012 Kunstraum Milieu http://www.milieu-digital.com exhibition space 2007 Lehrerzimmer www.lehrerzimmer.be bar/exhibition space 2011

any case, the central strategy is to keep costs low in order to survive for more than a few years – as is probably similar everywhere, most artist-run spaces in Switzerland only survive a few years.

Generally one can say that independent art spaces in Switzerland are not a recent but rather a long if unnoticed phenomenon. I would describe the DADA house in Zurich as the oldest independent space in Switzerland. The birthplace of DADAism it was founded in 1916 as an artists’ pub with all-evening events.

The place today called Cabaret Voltaire has the status of an institution because the minimum subsistence level is covered, which means that the rent and some budget for its management and team is provided by the City of Zurich.1 But as with many small institutions in Switzerland (mostly the ones called Kunsthalle) there is hardly any budget to pay artist fees. Let’s come back to the artist-run spaces.

In Basel the artist-run space Ausstellungsraum Klingental, founded in 1974, is officially estimated to be the oldest artist-run space in Switzerland.2 The project is led by artists, curators and educators still today. Since then a number of artist-run initiatives slowly emerged, Hebel_121 in Basel (since 1998) or Local–Int in Biel (since 2006) are among the oldest survivors.3 As a consequence of the increasing number of initiatives since the early 2000s,

Marks Blond Project R.f.z.K www.marksblond.com nomadic curatorial project 2004 offoff www.offoff.ch network of artist-run spaces PROGR www.progr.ch culture center/studios 2004 Rast www.rast.be exhibition space 2013 Sattelkammer Bern www.sattelkammer.be exhibition space 2013 Schwobhaus www.schwobhaus.ch exhibition space 2015 SUBSTRAT www.substrat-raum.ch exhibition space 2012 transform www.transform.bz exhibition space 2012

Biel

espace libre Visarte Biel/Bienne www.espacelibre.art exhibition space 2000

1 https://www.cabaretvoltaire.ch/ 2 https://www.ausstellungsraum.ch/ 3 www.hebel121.org and https://lokal-int.ch 24

Lokal-int www.lokal-int.ch exhibition space 2006 >>

41

42

Ausstellungsraum Klingental settled down in the former crew kitchen in the veteran barracks in Basel in 1974. The media described the project as ‘contrast Kunsthalle’ of the Basel artists, 1974, photo: Hans Bertolf, National-Zeitung Basel / Nr. 159, 1974 25

WallRiss www.wallriss.ch exhibition space 2013

Fribourg

Shed im Eisenwerk www.neuershed.ch exhibition space 2000

Frauenfeld

RAUM_ein Raum für Kunst www.raum-fuer-kunst.ch exhibition space 2018

akku Kunstplattform www.akku-emmen.ch exhibition space 2010

(ort) Raum für Performance https://ort-e-bruecke.tumblr.com exhibition space for performance 2016

Emmenbrücke

kabinett der visionäre www.kabinettdervisionaere.jimdofree.com exhibition space 2012

Chur

Spazio Lampo https://spaziolampo.tumblr.com exhibition space 2019

Chiasso

Museümli www.museümli.ch exhibition space 2012

Buchs

Galerie J www.galerie-j.info exhibition space 2005

Forde www.forde.ch exhibition space 1994

Espace Quark http://espacequark.ch exhibition space 2014

Espace Kugler www.usinekugler.ch exhibition space 2005

Espace Labo www.espacelabo.net exhibition space 2008

Espace 3353 www.espace3353.ch exhibition space 2018

Embassy of Foreign Artists www.eofa.ch residency space 2012

BODY&SOUL www.bodyandsoul.one exhibition space 2015

BIG – Biennale Interstellaire des espaces d'art de Genève www.bigbiennale.ch festival 2015

Andate.Ritorno www.andataritornolab.ch exhibition space 1981

Geneva

Halle nord www.halle-nord.ch artists' association/exhibition space 2010 HARD HAT www.hard-hat.ch exhibition space 2001 Le Labo www.espacelabo.net exhibition space 2008 Milkshake Agency www.facebook.com/Milkshake-agency-135940526485950 studio/shop window exhibition space 2004

Activists handing over the petition ‘Charta 2016’ at the Federal Palace of Switzerland in Bern, 2013, photo: unknown

one gee in fog www.onegeeinfog.com exhibition space 2014 Piano Nobile www.pianonobile.ch exhibition space 1996 Picto www.espacepicto.ch artists' association/exhibition space 2008

43

Portmanteau Rotary Plate www.portmanteaurotaryplate.space online platform 2013 Ripopée www.ripopee.net artists' collective/independent publisher 2008

there was a need to establish a platform to represent them, so the website offoff.ch was created by members of the independent scene.4 Since then the perception of off-spaces in the Swiss art world slowly increased. For some years now there has been academic research about self-organisation in the arts in Switzerland, for example as a part of the research project Off OffOff Of? (2014–2019) at the University of Applied Arts in Lucerne.5 But the analysis of self-organised and independent art initiatives in Switzerland is still a necessity and the financial situation for the artist-run scene stays constantly uncomfortable. In 2013 Bernese artists submitted the political petition Charta 2016, which created awareness about the questionable funding politics of the Switzerland’s public foundation Pro Helvetia, who might support art spaces 4 https://offoff.ch 5 https://www.hslu.ch/de-ch/hochschule-luzern/forschung/projekte/detail/?pid=1045 26

Rosa Brux www.rosabrux.org exhibition space 2012 Saint-Valentin espace d’arts www.saint-valentin.biz exhibition space 2011 Stargazer www.stargazer.ch exhibition space 1996 TOPIC www.topic.to exhibition space/residency 2015 Urbane Game www.urbangame.ch nomadic exhibition project 2015 Zabriskie Point www.zabriskiepoint.ch exhibition space 2011 ÀDuplex www.aduplex.ch exhibition space 2009 >>

La Rada www.larada.ch exhibition space 2010

Locarno

FWD>>Der mobile Kunstraum www.fwd-forward.net mobile exhibition space 2013

Lenzburg

Urgent Paradise www.urgentparadise.ch exhibition space 2013

standard/deluxe www.standard-deluxe.ch exhibition space 2006

Circuit www.circuit.li exhibition space 2001

Alienze www.alienze.ch exhibition space 2017

Lausanne

Kunstraum Kreuzlingen www.kunstraum-kreuzlingen.ch exhibition space 2010

Kreuzlingen

Gepäckausgabe www.gepaeckausgabe.com exhibition space 2014

Glarus

Activists handing over the petition ‘Charta 2016’ at the Federal Palace of Switzerland in Bern, 2013, photo: unknown

44

with small budgets for material, production costs and travel costs for the artists.6 However, getting paid for your work as an organiser of an artist-run space in Switzerland is practically impossible. As an organiser basically the only remaining strategy is cross-financing your work by doing other jobs.

Swiss art festivals in 2020 This year Kollektiv Bern launched the project Connected Space. From October 2019 to December 2020, the Connected Space project is hosting local art spaces and initiatives in various venues in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. A true relay race of art spaces will take place. Over five seasons, altogether lasting fifteen months, the Bernese move out of their art spaces, inviting 6 http://charta2016.blogspot.com 27

exhibition at various art-alien places in the city of Bern. Behind Connected Space is a loose association of self-organised and nomadic art spaces in the city of Bern that has set itself the goal of bringing art to places that have not yet been used artistically.7 In Geneva in June 2020 the third edition of BIG – Biennale Interstellaire des espaces d’art de Genève will take place. The biennale presents the multiple ways of being that Geneva’s art spaces have chosen outside of a market-oriented relationship to the world. It emphasises the importance of anchoring these spaces within the population and advocates the absolute necessity of cultural sites in the construction of the city of tomorrow. Assuming its position as a unifying meeting, it is more open to young collectives and practices close to living art.8 In August 2020 Kunsthoch Luzern, the day of action by Lucerne based art spaces, will take place. The twelfth joint action day that involves 28 art institutions and independent spaces in and around Lucerne will happen on 29 August 2020. The project, which was initiated in 2008 by a loose collaboration of three art spaces, is now representing over 20 organisations and has established itself as an important meeting event for the public, artists and art mediators in the city of Lucerne and its immediate surroundings.

9

In November 2020 you should visit Basel where the independent art spaces collaborate under the project Summe. Since 2015 the project has occurred once a year as a public exhibition event. During the rest of the year it acts as a networking platform for the independent, non-commercial art and project spaces of the Basel region. Summe presents the multitude and versatility of local art and project spaces as part of the exhibition event. As a networking platform it offers the people behind the projects a continuous exchange and promotes collaboration.10 During the year you can refer to the guide A Roland for an Oliver, which is published annually and leads you through the independent art spaces in Basel.11 If you travel to Zurich you should consider the Zurich Art Space Guide.12 The project which launched in 2014 is a non-profit self-organised association. The

Sonnenstube www.diesonnenstube.ch exhibition space 2013

Lugano

Tat-Ort Bernstrasse https://tatortbernstrasse.tumblr.com exhibition space 2013

sic! www.sic-raum.ch exhibition space 2005

PTTH:// www.ptth.pt exhibition space 2017

o.T. Raum für aktuelle Kunst www.ot-raumfueraktuellekunst.ch exhibition space 1994

M35 www.m35.ch exhibition space 2013

KEINRAUM www.keinraum.ch exhibition space 2016

EINQUARTIER(T) www.einquartiert.wordpress.com exhibition space 2013

B74 Raum für Kunst www.b74-luzern.ch exhibition space 2016

Alpineum Produzentengalerie www.alpineum.com exhibition space 2007

Lucerne

initiatives from other cities to show art in their spaces, while they stage their

Spazio Morel www.spaziomorel.ch exhibition space 2012

Neuchâtel

MÀT espace d'art www.mat-artspace.ch exhibition space 2017 Smallville www.smallville.ch exhibition space 2017

Olten

Kathedrale Olten kathedraleolten.ch exhibition space 2013

Orbe

NomadLab www.nomadlab.ch mobile exhibition space 2018

Porrentruy

EAC (les halles) www.eac-leshalles.ch exhibition space/laboratory 1989

Prilly

Silicon Malley www.siliconmalley.ch exhibition space 2015

Renens

TILT www.espace-tilt.ch exhibition space 2010

Rheinfelden

a-space www.a-spacegallery.com exhibition space 2012

Schaffhausen

Vebikus Kunsthalle www.vebikus.ch exhibition space 2003

Sedrun

7 https://connected-space.ch 8 https://bigbiennale.ch

Stalla Libra www.stalla-libra.ch exhibition space 2011

9 https://www.kunsthoch-luzern.ch 10 https://summe.xyz 11 https://arolandforanoliver.ch/en 12 http://www.artspaceguide.ch

Solothurn 28

Künstlerhaus s11 www.s11.ch exhibition space 1978 >>

45

46 Exhibition view of the annual show ‘Catch of the year’ at Dienstgebäude Art Space in Zurich, 2019, photo: Andreas Marti

29

Le-lieu www.palaisbleu.ch exhibition space/residency 2006

Trogen

SATELLIT www.satellit.space exhibition space 2019

Thun

ThalwilerHofKunst www.thalwilerhofkunst.ch exhibition space 1996

Thalwil

FWD>> www.fwd-forward.net mobile exhibition space 2011

Staufen

Nextex www.nextex.ch exhibition space 2017

neinundaber – raum für kunst und kontroversen www.neinundaber.ch exhibition space 2010

Kollektiv Streunender Hund www.instagram.com/kollektiv_ streunenderhund nomadic curatorial project 2019

St. Gallen

self-organised and artist-run exhibition space projects. The map gives an overview and facilitates investigation of the art scene, and – because artist-run projects are meeting points – strengthens a sense of community.

Guest curatorial initiatives and other projects are also listed, to give a larger overview of different creative practices. The distinctions between art spaces and galleries occasionally overlap and categorisation can be problematic. The first aim of the guide is to be inclusive, share information and make the self-organised local art scene more visible.

Finally, I want to give you an impression of art which is presented in Swiss spaces by mentioning some examples that I am familiar with. An exhibition I consider to be always worth a visit is Catch of the Year, an extensive group show that takes place every December at Dienstgebäude Art Space in Zurich.13 If you are looking for performances I recommend a visit to Kaskadenkondensator in Basel, a space focusing on performance and time based media since 1994, or check out the website of the Performance Art Network Switzerland PANCH.14 At espace libre Visarte Biel/Bienne you will find site specific installations and interactive projects.15 And if you are interested in research and process oriented contemporary art, academic knowledge production and the incubation of discursive forms get in touch with Corner College.16 As a last statement I want to mention that I find it desirable that the artist-run scene, with its flat hierarchies and non-commercial orientation, should be understood by the mass of professional artists, curators, educators and recipients as a worthy vessel, in which the socially transforming power of art can be lived, experienced and reinvented as a collective moment again and again.

––––––––– Jasmin Glaab (born 1988) is a freelance artist, curator and educator in Basel, Switzerland. Glaab studied Art Education and Curatorial Studies at Zurich University of the Arts, and Fine Arts at the University of Arts Northwestern Switzerland in Basel. She is founding director and curator of the artist-run initiative kunsthallekleinbasel, launched in 2014.

@theoff.space www.attheoff.space exhibition space 2019

9a am stauffacherplatz www.9a-stauffacherplatz.ch exhibition space 2009

6½ www.sechseinhalb.ch exhibition space 2016

Zurich

Z(orten) www.zorten.ch exhibition space/residency 2010

Zorten

oxyd www.oxydart.ch exhibition space 2003

Kunstraum Winterthur www.kunstraumwinterthur.ch exhibition space 2008

Winterthur

Atelier Tramway www.atelier-tramway.ch exhibition space 2015

Villars-sur-Glâne

RATS Collectif www.ratscollectif.ch exhibition space 2010

Vevey

Zurich Art Space Guide has been created with the aim to map the different

ALLDA www.allda.ch exhibition space 2020 Arbenz https://arbenzzuerich.tumblr.com exhibition space 2013 art container project www.artcontainer.ch exhibition space 2016 ART DOCK www.art-dock-zh.ch exhibition space/art collection 2014 BALTSprojects www.baltsprojects.com exhibition space 2014 BINZ39 www.binz39.ch exhibition space 2010 BOX43 www.box43.ch exhibition space 2011 Corner College www.corner-college.com nomadic space 2008 Counter Space www.counterspace.ch exhibition space 2013 Die Diele www.diediele.ch exhibition space 2009 DIENSTGEBÄUDE www.dienstgebaeude.ch exhibition space 2008 Garage www.facebook.com/winkwitholtgarage exhibition space 2019 Hamlet www.hamlet.love exhibition space 2019 innen www.innenzines.com independent publisher 2006 jevouspropose www.jevouspropose.ch exhibition space 2018

13 http://www.dienstgebaeude.ch 14 http://www.kasko.ch/ and https://panch.li 15 https://www.espacelibre.art 16 https://www.corner-college.com 30

47

K3 Project Space www.k3zh.ch exhibition space 2002 >>

48

Kabinett visarte Zürich www.visarte-zuerich.ch exhibition space 2008

Le Foyer www.lefoyer-lefoyer.blogspot.ch exhibition space 2011

Raum für Malerei www.raumfuermalerei.com exhibition space 2017

Kein Museum www.keinmuseum.ch exhibition space 2018

Les Complices www.lescomplices.ch exhibition space 2002

RuhigRaum www.ruhigraum.blogspot.ch exhibition space 2011

Kulturfolger www.kulturfolger.ch exhibition space 2016

LOKAL 14 www.lokal14.ch exhibition space 2014

Saint Luke www.saintluke.ch exhibition space 2019

Kunstklinik www.kunstklinik.ch exhibition space 2012

Longtang www.longtang.life exhibition space 2018

Sihlhalle www.sihlhalle.com exhibition space 2017

Kunstraum luke www.luke-space.ch exhibition space 2016

MATERIAL – Raum für Buchkultur www.materialismus.ch space for books 2017

Starkart www.starkart.org exhibition space 2009

Kunstraum Walcheturm www.walcheturm.ch exhibition space 2000

Mikro www.mikro.ooo exhibition space 2015

TART www.tartart.ch exhibition space 2014

Kupper Modern www.kupper-modern.com exhibition space 2019

nano – Raum für Kunst www.nano-raumfuerkunst.ch exhibition space 2019

VISIBEL off space www.visibel.ch exhibition space 2010

KŌBŌ ART SPACE www.facebook.com/koboartspace exhibition space 2019

Photobastei www.photobastei.ch exhibition space for photography 2014

Window of Fame www.window-of-fame.ch exhibition space 2014

la_cápsula www.lacapsula-zh.com exhibition space 2017

Plymouth Rock www.plymouthrockzurich.com exhibition space 2014

Zurich Art Space Guide www.artspaceguide.ch map of Zurich's artist-run spaces 2014

Last Tango www.lasttango.info exhibition space 2017

R57 www.r57.ch exhibition space 2007

Basel

Rheinfelden

33 Porrentruy Biel Neuchâtel

Olten Solothurn

Winterthur

Frauenfeld

Aarau Zürich 2 Lenzburg 2 48 Staufen Thalwil Emmenbrücke

St. Gallen

3

Buchs

Bern

9

18

Lucerne

2

Glarus

Adligenswil

Fribourg Orbe Lausanne Prilly 4 Renens

26 Geneva

Villars-sur-Glâne

Trogen

3

2

2

Kreuzlingen

Schaffhausen

Chur Thun

Sedrun

Zorten

Vevey

Locarno 2

Lugano

Chiasso

Peter Kinny, ‘Ladders’, installed metal wire objects, ca. 150 x 100 cm, 2019, exhibiting with Konstnärshuset at SUPERLOCAL 2020

Lundahl & Seitl 31/10-29/11 2020

Norrtälje konsthall Galles gränd 7, kultur.norrtalje.se

HITTA KONSTVERKEN Ladda ner appen Upptäck konsten i App Store eller Google Play

22–25 APRIL 2021

www.supermarketartfair.com

I can’t go on, I’ll go on PASAJ Team

This text is written primarily to give the reader an

The state has never been an actor supporting

idea of the ​​ contemporary art scene in Turkey. In

contemporary art in Turkey. There are museums

addition, it aims to underline the need for independ-

and fine art galleries supported by the Ministry of

ent art spaces in today’s conditions; not only with

Culture and Tourism, today however there are no

their artistic or cultural significance; but also their

independent cultural and artistic spaces supported

social, economic and political contexts. The

by the state in the field of visual arts. Only munici-

objective is to bring a critical stance to the current

pal centers are funded by local governance. In 2020,

art scene in Turkey, through the experiences of

the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s budget has

51

off-spaces, particularly those of PASAJ, the inde-

decreased by approximately 1.6% compared to the

pendent art space that we have been conducting for

previous year. It takes less than one percent of the

nearly ten years. However, instead of expressing it

total state budget, to be more precise 0,433%,

only in our own discourse, we chose to include other

dedicated not only to culture but also to tourism.

artists’ perspectives in this article. So their voices were added here, and they reinforced our argument

The whole field of culture is left to the private sector

with their statements.

and private money. All this was encouraged by

PASAJ's booth at Supermarket 2015, with background photo of İsmail's shop by Giorgio Caione and Paola Ferrario's photos from ‘Photographer for hire’

globalisation and the free market and it caused rapid growth in the contemporary art market. In light of the privatisation in the 1980s, the contemporary art scene in Turkey gradually became like a private foundation with art institutions owned by banks whose investment will further increase in the 2000s.

Kim Johansson and Gustav Lejelind, ‘We are what we remember’, PASAJ Tarlabaşı, 2015

While the concept of what we call ‘art lovers’ actually grows in the general cultural discourse, the privatisation of arts and arts education, the absence of state’s investment for culture and cultural strategy, and lack of audience development led to a certain public disinterest in contemporary art. A vast majority of the population do not visit exhibitions.1 On the other hand, paradoxically, every year in Turkey, almost three thousand university students graduate from arts and culture departments.2 This colourful, smooth and flawless appearance of the art world is perhaps a point of attraction for many.

only one group of artists’ visibility is considered

Yet, the contemporary art scene is full of infrastruc-

important, and the presence of others is not taken

ture problems: artists still have to fight for rights

seriously.

such as fees, copyright protection, and freedom of

52

artistic expression. Working for low or no pay has

The contemporary art market is so pragmatic and

for long been an industry standard for art workers.

prone to instrumentalisation that it uses artists in

And none of this is spoken, disclosed or discussed.

some way, no matter how active or resistant they

Where there is no criticism, only one side calls the

are. Gregory Sholette describes this with the term

tune, and this is how it is for the artistic scene.

‘failed artist’ in his book Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture. As the value of Jeff Koons increases, the value of a hundred other artists decreases. “This glut of art and artists is the normal condition of the art market.”3 Will there be exhibitions for a small number of artists, audiences and collectors that the galleries can reach? In a dynamic, vigorous city like Istanbul, will we experience art ignoring or interfering with its questioning attitude, its influence, and place in social transformation?

At this point, independent art spaces gain importance in terms of balancing the existing forces in the contemporary art scene. They propose a different alternative to a bank-dependent museum, art institution or commercial gallery. The independent spaces are courageous because they do not have

Paola Ferrario, ‘Photographer for hire’, opening at PASAJ Tarlabaşı, 2014, photo: Paola Ferrario

a lot to lose and they believe in the creative process Except for rare examples, the galleries endeavor to

rather than the connections or fame of the artists.

show the works of the very few artists (as their

These spaces, where anonymous and pluralist

capacity dictates) whom they represent to reach

structures gain value, are different from other

their collectors. On the other hand, when we look at

actors in the art scene with their self-directed

the number of artists in Turkey, we can say that

structures that do not serve any institution, thanks to their flexibility, communication methods, the

1 According to 2006 TUIK reports, only one person per hundred visited museums or art galleries every month.

2 Aylin Seçkin, cultural economist, panel talk on ‘Back to the Future: What Is Contemporary Art?’ at Corpus Gallery

autonomous environment they create, their

3

Duncan, Carol (1984), ‘Who Rules the Art World?’

programmes and aims. The dependencies of

memory of the place and works on the past and

independent art spaces are constructed not on a

future of the room, the historical ‘han’ and the local

necessity or formality, but on a common benefit, as

area.5

state Stine Hebert and Anne Szefer Karlsen in their publication ‘Self-Organised’ (2013).

We think these structures can be everywhere and in every medium. Nevertheless, PASAJ puts emphasis on the skill exchange and sharing of experience through participatory art, and go one step further from the state of contemplating or attracting intellectual interaction, stressing the need to open a platform for artistic production and action that we can actually participate in and that would lead us to a common experience.

What is this common experience for? Julia Kristeva writes in her 1995 article ‘What Good are Artists Today?’ that we all need a common experience. “I think we all need a new, surprising, painful or pleasant experience and then to understand this

Working hours vary according to each project, each

experience. Is this still possible?” she asks.4 This

move enables new acquaintances and collabora-

egalitarian structure makes it a common experi-

tions. Being open to change is a condition for

ence in which a person without an artistic back-

staying alive in this territory. This rhythm nour-

ground can also be involved in the process.

ishes life with its dynamic structure, but at the

Burak Kabadayı, ‘24 Hours’, PASAJ Tarlabaşı, 2018, photo: Burak Kabadayı

same time, it is very likely to get hurt in the Relocated many times, each time, PASAJ is being

adaptation process. If the wound will not heal, it

reshaped with the surrounding neighborhood in

will keep on bleeding. These alterations affect every

order to grab these moments of surprises that

stage of our lives, and also the cultural and artistic

Kristeva speaks about. Established in a room of

climate.

twenty-seven square meters in the Halep Passage in 2010, the first two and a half years, it realised more

But at the same time, we consider the value of

than fifty exhibitions and talks by local and foreign

memory vital to the experience, especially through

artists. The aim was to make room for every

the fast-changing memories of events and places in

site-specific project. When we moved to Tarlabaşı,

Istanbul and contemporary Turkey: brutally

in this diverse and low income neighborhood, we

gentrified neighborhoods, inaccessible public

were amazed by the use of public space in everyday

spaces, abolished or displaced landmarks. We

life there and the establishment of direct dialogue.

believe that we can recall participatory memory

The Tarlabaşı programme was built on friendship,

practices, social representations of the forgotten or

relationships, and the process of brutal gentrifica-

unknown past through socially engaged art projects

tion and social change in the area. We had quite

produced in situ that invite the local inhabitants to

satisfactory feedback from the neighborhood

share, discuss, collect and learn from the experi-

through our actions made between 2014 and 2018.

ences together.

Based on the idea that ‘contemporary art is for everyone’ we needed to widen-out our audience.

The dominant art scene in Istanbul still has an

Through participatory art projects, the audience

elitist and traditional ‘white-cube’ sense of art

were not simply viewers anymore, they even

where clean, presentable and risk-free spaces and

became participants. It was a real exchange: we

works of art are featured. The environment that we

touched their lives and they touched ours and the

are trying to establish is a bit more nonsterile,

artists’. Today PASAJ continues its projects in Nimet

hybrid, uncertain and process-based. Such high

Han, a historical building in Karaköy with many little rooms, as well as in its surroundings. Here, in a room of sixteen square metres, it focuses on the 4 Kristeva, Julia (1995), What Good are Artists Today?, in Chambert, Christian, ed. Strategies for Survival – Now!, The Swedish Art Critics Association Press

5 Han is an Ottoman Turkish building that combined several functions (a hotel, stable, storage depot or selling point). “Nimet Hani, which was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, is an ‘Ottoman office han’. In other words, the product of the encounter of a distant descendant of the Turco-Persian caravanserai with the Western-designed office building.” Tarek Daoud, ‘A Thousand Dots and No Line’, 8 November–15 December 2018, PASAJ Karaköy

53

sums are being spoken about in the art market

words: “Think of a gallery; no gallerist; no exhibi-

today, and such an aggressive race is underway that

tion; no audience, no customers, no collectors; no

what we are trying to create can be understood as a

sale anyway. A box room at the bottom of a passage

whim or hobby. But PASAJ is not a utopia, it is a

filled with cheap clothing and haberdashery shops

living, real organisation... Besides, the art as we

has become empty, after a whitewash, it has

understand it is not a concept that has a direct

become a gallery.”6 This is not only our way of

relationship with marketing and sales, anyway.

starting but many independent art spaces share the same experience: Mehmet Dere, the founder of 49A

It is very important to us how we construct our

in İzmir, transforms the tobacco shop inherited

spaces, with whom we share them and how we

from his father. An off-space from Ankara,

express ourselves. PASAJ tries to connect with the

Küçükesat, Torun (‘grandchild‘ in English) used to

local community and care about their sensitivities

be a local ‘kıraathane’, a café full of elders playing

and priorities. It invites artists to build up site-spe-

cards and socialising which is transformed into a

cific projects in communication with its surround-

Torun with the contribution of the next generation.

ings. With its hotel-based artist residency programme in an industrial neighborhood of Istanbul,

Lack of material resources may cause independent

AIR Bayrampaşa, it offers a multi-layered neighbor-

art spaces to be ephemeral. On the one hand, the

hood whose history, architecture and social

dynamism here feeds production, on the other

structure is a research area for artists.

hand, we have to find solutions without stopping

We believe we need to relocate art, to put it in

despite financial difficulties. How long should we

transitory areas, alleys, local restaurants, wheelbar-

continue, should these structures sustain? As the

54

Birgit Auf der Lauer & Caspar Pauli, ‘A Karagöz of Freedom and Dissent’, PASAJ Karaköy, 2018, photo: Caspar Pauli and Birgit auf der Lauer

rows and many other places. Hybrid, transformed,

co-founders of the PASAJ independent art field,

shifted… a table (MASA project), a room (Oda

which has been actively continuing since 2010, we

Project), a local restaurant (PASAJ Tarlabaşı), a

often ask ourselves this question: Why do we still do

website (m-est.org), or a grocery store (49A) can each

this work that requires a lot of effort, time, and

be an independent art space. Ali Artun describes the establishment of PASAJ with the following 6 https://www.e-skop.com/skopbulten/pasajistte-yoklugunvarligi/449

money, with almost no financial return and no

we can stay alone, where we can be ourselves. Profit

visibility, and still do it fondly and willingly?

is never the priority; that is another source of motivation for the artist.”

Temporality is perhaps inherent to these organisations. We aim for continuity of these spaces, for

The project ‘Today’s History’ is an attempt to record

freedom of artistic expression and the practice of

the history of the present with the critical approach

criticism, which we want to establish for all of us.

of the artist – Ekmel Ertan. It is presented with a

We want to continue on our way, but what do artists

multi-disciplinary fiction and is composed of three

55

think about these spaces? Can these venues fulfill

parts, each of which consists of a new installation

their role in an ideal way? How much can these

by the artist. “I probably could not have made this

structures give independence to artists?

exhibition anywhere else since I did not make my career as a professional artist in a classical way. The

To find the answer, we asked these questions to

experimental attitude of this place, which is open

several artists who made projects with PASAJ.

for everything and approaches the artist with

Evrim Kavcar mentions that PASAJ provided a

support and participation, has already made it

“comforting and reassuring” support during the

possible to show this work there. You probably could

project she realised together with artist Elif Öner,

not make an exhibition which you expect the

‘Dictionary of Sensitive Sounds’, where they created

audience to come and see three times in a row, in a

a participatory dictionary and organised a series of

commercial gallery.”

talks called ‘dear reader’ in April–May 2019. “The independent nature of an art space encourages

Hacer Kıroğlu, who carried out ‘Silent Squares’ in

independent thinking. PASAJ provides a denk-raum;

Karaköy with the curatorship of Inez Piso and added

a thinking space or a place to breath, contrary to

the Russian churches of Nimet Han and neighbour-

other spaces that are mainstream. An area where

ing buildings to the project explains: “The building

Seçil Yaylalı, Ekmel Ertan, ‘61 meters of Kahya Bey street’, 2015, as part of ‘We decide how we reside’ project

by HKW Berlin

emphasis on ongoing public programming and activities. ‘Spaces of Culture’ provides spaces and resources for the realisation of cultural projects within the visual and performing arts, as well as for discussion, training and development opportunities for local institutions.7 The project covers projects from three cities: Izmir, Diyarbakir and Gaziantep.

In addition to the limited funds available, the continuity of these spaces seems to depend on the development of alternative economic models. The fundraising party ‘Çorbada Tuzun Olsun’ (ÇTO) that Hacer Kıroğlu, ‘Silent Squares’ in Karaköy curated

by Inez Piso, 2018, PASAJ Karaköy PASAJ team at PASAJ Tarlabaşı, photo: Korhan Karaoysal for ‘Artful Living’ magazine

of PASAJ led me to a place I never thought of, carried

PASAJ has been holding since its first year, provides

me somewhere. The fact that PASAJ has a flexible

us with a small resource in this context. Our

structure that does not produce bureaucracy made

Erasmus+ projects also contribute to the continuity

me think faster. It was a new topic for me and a

of the space. By thinking that we can learn

site-specific project has emerged.”

strategies from different disciplines, we also

Banu Taylan, on the other hand, experienced new

hypothesise the models which they adopt. Apart

discoveries by making improvised music: “I

from this, we develop different types of collabora-

performed and conducted in the ‘Garden Choir’

tions, we can be located in venues given to us by

event in Halep Passage and in PASAJ. Most of the

cooperating with a restaurant owner like İsmail or

participants were shop owners from the passage

an independent architect who has opened his office

where the gallery is located. Throughout the project,

to PASAJ for a while. In the collaboration model we

we used the sounds of the urban garden’s donated

have with Ramada Encore Bayrampaşa; every year

objects, musical instruments and the sounds they

an artist stays in this hotel and conducts a short-

made, sometimes walking around the passage and

term research residence in Bayrampaşa.

playing with sounds by settling in a corner. It was a

56

pleasure to catch the same frequency, to break off

Being flexible and adapting to new conditions is

together.”

challenging but also a must. There is always a

Nicoletta Daldanise, as the curator for Elmas Deniz

struggle but if we move away from the difficulties of

and Özgür Demirci’s exhibition ‘Money Issue’, said:

fighting alone and unite through commons,

“PASAJ was the occasion to share in a wider context

similarities, awareness, and recollections, it

our personal reflections, offering the possibility to

becomes an act of solidarity, and it is worth doing.

touch delicate issues, such as poverty and the

We try to create the best version of PASAJ with our

artist’s status, with a critical input from the public

good sides and shortcomings and set goals for the

too.”

future. We strive for an order in which artists can

Since 2014, there have been two private funds

get the allowances they need and deserve for their production and volunteer supporters can get a payment for their work. Till then, good luck to everyone! ■ The title of this article is taken from Samuel Beckett, ‘The Unnamable’, 1954.

PASAJ is an artist-run initiative that runs a project space used for various purposes in the field of contemporary art. It was founded in 2010 and is located in Beyoğlu, in the heart of Istanbul, Turkey.

PASAJ focuses on social context, knowledge and memory of the space in connection with the local community and invites artists to build site-specific projects. It runs A.I.R. Bayrampaşa, a hotel based artist residency in an industrial neighbourhood of Istanbul.

PASAJ is run by Seçil Yaylalı, Elif Bursalı, Zeynep Okyay and Giorgio Caione.

covering independent arts. SAHA, a non governmental association founded in 2011, provides support to facilitate the growth and development of independent non-profit art initiatives with an

7 The project was initiated by Goethe-Institut, the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, the Embassy of the Netherlands and Institut français de Turquie; in cooperation with Anadolu Kültür and Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV).

Satellite exhibitions in artist-run initiatives around Stockholm

AllArtNowLab

Candyland

Exhibition: ‘Through Distant Air’

Exhibition: Petra Obre, ‘Ombligo’

Artists: Nisrine Boukhari, Connie Chapel, Katarina Eismann

Opening Thursday 3 September 17–22

Curator: Abir Boukhari

Friday–Sunday 13–18

Thursday–Sunday 13–18 Gotlandsgatan 76, 116 38 Stockholm www.candyland.se | galleri@candyland.se

Älvkarleövägen 6, 115 43 Stockholm (metro Ropsten) www.allartnow.com | boukhari.abir@gmail.com

Petra Obre, ‘El cordón umbilical de mi abuela’, Lambda print, dibond, methyl acrylate, mounted in aluminium, 67 x 110 cm, 2019

For SUPERLOCAL 2020 Candyland features ‘Ombligo’, a solo exhibition

by Bogotá/New York City/Berlin-based artist Petra Obre born in 1995 in Bogotá, Colombia. They graduated from Minerva Art Academy in Groningen and completed a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Candyland was founded in 2004 and has since then shown over 170 exhibitions.

Katarina Eismann, ‘Amulet’, giclée print, glass and silver, ø 10 cm, 2018 Connie Chappel, ‘Meta Mask’, sculpture relief/mixed media, 90 x 30 x 14 cm, 2020 Nisrine Boukhari, ‘An Act Without Words’, video, duration 3.40 min, 2019

AllArtNow was established in 2005 as the first independent collective space for contemporary art in Damascus. It became a hub for emerging artistic practices. At the end of 2012, AllArtNow started to act as a nomadic space and in 2019 entered a new phase and established a physical space in Stockholm.

Exhibition ‘Through Distant Air’ is a result of an exchange residency between Winnipeg and Sweden where artists Connie Chapel, Nisrine Boukhari and Katarina Eismann research the concepts of nature and breathing.

58

Detroit Stockholm

Flat Octopus

Exhibition: ‘what/what now’

Exhibition: AnnaLeena Prykäri, ‘Harness’

Artists: Shamiran Adam, Emmy Dijkstra, Charlotta Hayes,

Opening Thursday 3 September 17–22

Hinni Huttunen, Henrik Green, Matt Miley, Steph Orozco,

Thursday–Sunday 17–20, Friday performance at 18, Sunday artist talk

Alannah Robins, Jenny Soep, Laura Tynan, Joanne Grüne-Yanoff

at 15

Thursday–Friday 14–19, Saturday–Sunday 12–17 @ SBG18, Swedenborgsgatan 18, 118 48 Stockholm www.flatoctopus.com | flat.octopus@gmail.com

Roslagsgatan 21, 113 55 Stockholm www.detroitstockholm.info | mail@detroitstockholm.info

Joanne Grüne-Yanoff, ‘Cassandra’s Box’, video still AnnaLeena Prykäri, ‘Fix Me?’, plaster, size and form variable, total amount of objects: 180–190, 2019

Detroit Stockholm is an artist-run collective with studios and a gallery based in Stockholm.

AnnaLeena Prykäri, ‘52 Shades Of Shame’, latex sheets, 40 x 36 x 21 cm, 2016

In the exhibition ‘what/what now’, Detroit Stockholm artists explore the role of creativity and imagination to address our current times through video, drawing, textiles, printmaking, sculpture and drawing.

Flat Octopus is an international artist- and curator-run collective in Stockholm, Sweden, started in 2019. Flat Octopus organises exhibitions in different apartments located in Stockholm, as well as external collaborations, projects and workshops locally and internationally.

At SUPERLOCAL 2020 Flat Octopus presents the artist AnnaLeena Prykäri (Finland). In her cross-disciplinary practice Prykäri researches the connections between topics of mental illness and BDSM. SBG18 is a creative community and working space facilitating a network that helps drive and inspire fellow creatives with their professional and personal projects.

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Grafiska Sällskapet

Hjorten

Exhibition: Ulrika Thorén and Jim Axén

Exhibition: ‘I det koboltblå köket står en stekpanna på spisen, täckt

Opening Saturday 5 September 12–16

av ett centimetertjockt lager fett’

Tuesday–Thursday 12–18, Friday–Sunday 12–16

Artists: Sanna Albenius, Niklas Delin, Nikki Fager Myrholm, Sanna Laaban, Tanja Silvestrini, Maria Toll Opening Thursday 3 September 17–20

Hornsgatan 6, 118 20 Stockholm

Friday–Sunday 17–20

www.grafiskasallskapet.se | galleri@grafiskasallskapet.se

@ CRUM Heaven, Högbergsgatan 38, 118 26 Stockholm www.instagram.com/h.jorten | hjortenhjorten@hotmail.com

Sanna Albenius, ‘and everything nice’, plaster and epoxy resin, 25 x 10 cm and 15 x 15 cm, 2020

Hjorten is an artist duo consisting of Maria Toll and Nikki Fager Myrholm who arrange exhibitions and other projects in Stockholm.

Earlier this year they organised ‘Open window’ with 72 artists exhibiting from their windows and balconies, and ‘Hjorten skulpturpark’, a one-night-only sculpture park in Hjorthagen. For SUPERLOCAL 2020 they are curating an exhibition revolving around the home, and specifically the kitchen.

Ulrika Thorén, ‘Franz-Leopold’, screen print on enamel, 30 x 40 cm, 2020, photo: Bror Thorén Jim Axén, ‘Film’, oil on canvas, 125 x 100 cm Jim Axén, detail from ‘Film’, giclée print, 39 x 51 cm

We were founded in 1910 to further the interests of print-makers, arrange exhibitions and promote print-making. Today we are 440 members working in diverse styles using all possible print techniques. We have a network of contacts with print-makers, collective workshops and print-makers associations in Sweden and abroad.

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ID:I Galleri

Konstnärshuset

Exhibition: Marjolaine Lombard, ‘Förbundna’

Exhibition with Swedish Artists’ Association 2019 grantees

Opening Thursday 3 September 17–22

Opening Thursday 3 September 17–19

Friday 12–18, Saturday–Sunday 12–16

Friday–Sunday 12–17

Tjärhovsgatan 19, 116 28 Stockholm

Smålandsgatan 7, 111 46 Stockholm

www.idigalleri.org | info@idigalleri.org

www.konstnarshuset.org | info@konstnarshuset.org

Marjolaine Lombard, process image of paintings ‘Förbundna’ (Connected), oil on canvas, 210 x 145 cm, 2020

We are collectively run by twenty-five artists, united by the idea of an experimental, self-organised gallery space. Our programme is intertwined with exhibitions by young artists, international exchanges, as well as performances, video screenings and lectures.

Marjolaine Lombard's work begins in a wordless and introspective terrain. A painting that stems from a tactile experience of matter, such as air, skin and undergrowth. In the quest for the paintings to occupy a physical and mental space, a scale is explored that engages the body and space.

Marketta Ivarsdotter, ‘Golden Tower’, mixed media (photo, paper, patina), 95 x 35 cm, 2019

Konstnärshuset is an open forum for art and culture – past, present and future. The Swedish Artists’ Association (SKF) is the main owner of Konstnärshuset – where the association hosts diverse exhibitions, awards grants, and conducts activities for 900 professional members.

During SUPERLOCAL 2020 we present the 2019 grantees in the Lounge on the first floor.

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Galleri Nef

Galleri Nos

Exhibition: ‘Threshold’

Exhibition: ‘Mirror Mirror’

Artists: Siri Elfhag, Nadja Ericsson, Viktor Landström, Eva Reichmann,

Artists: Mira Dolk Flodin, Charlotte Hedberg + Hedda Hultman, Vida

Tomas Sjögren

Lavén, Lisa Vipola

Opening Thursday 3 September 17–21

Opening Thursday 3 September 17–21

Friday–Sunday 12–17, Monday–Thursday by appointment

Friday–Sunday 11–16

Rusthållarvägen 95, 128 43 Bagarmossen (metro Bagarmossen)

Kaggeholmsvägen 39, 12260 Enskede (metro Tallkrogen)

www.gallerinef.com | gallerinef@gmail.com

www.gallerinos.com | gallerinos@gmail.com

Tomas Sjögren, ‘A Bug’s Afterlife’ (video still), 3D animation, video recording, audio, 2019 Siri Elfhag, ‘Lady in blue dress’, oil on canvas, 2017 Poster: Vida Lavén

Galleri Nef is a studio and exhibition space. Initiated in 2020, it was founded with the objective of giving shape to diverse practices and providing an accessible diffusion platform to emerging artists.

Galleri Nos is an artist-run studio collective and gallery space in Tallkrogen. The platform was founded in 2016 to exhibit newly graduated art students and to be more accessible than posh commercial galleries. ‘Mirror Mirror’ is inspired by the gallery’s history as the space used to be a day care for dogs. Five artists have been invited to show works that relate to dogs in different ways.

Nef opens for the first time to the public with ‘Threshold’, an exhibition on the verge of something more, introducing the work of Nef’s studio residents Siri Elfhag, Nadja Ericsson, Viktor Landström, Eva Reichmann and Tomas Sjögren.

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Studio 44

Tegen2

Exhibition: ‘Distans’

Exhibition: Nils Claesson, ‘Peering into the Black Box / Kompisar från

Artists: Laetitia Deschamps, Rikard Fåhraeus, Kjell Hansson, Susanne

förr’

Högdahl Holm, Ekaterina Sisfontes, Katarina Warrenstein Deschamps

Opening Thursday 3 September 17–20

Opening Friday 21 August 17–22

Friday–Sunday 13–17

Thursday 12–22, Friday 12–18, Saturday 12–17 Bjurholmsgatan 9B, 116 38 Stockholm www.tegen2.se | tegen2@gmail.com

Tjärhovsgatan 44, 116 28 Stockholm www.studio44-stockholm.com | info@studio44.se

Nils Claesson, ‘Peering into the black box / Kompisar från förr’

Image: Rikard Fåhraeus

‘Peering into the Black Box / Kompisar från förr’ is a five-channel video installation of documentary photography by Nils Claesson with music

by Dror Feiler.

Studio 44 is a gallery and an artist-run organisation – characterised by its diversity and openness to different forms of artistic expression.

Thirty visual artists together manage the gallery space. At SUPERLOCAL 2020 Studio 44 participates with exhibition ‘Distans’.

Rediscover that roaring start, with its entire social context, that turned you into you – and me into me: political activism, school strikes, demonstrations, the founding of a radical magazine, all the childhood years and ten years of work in Eastern Europe. A journey in time, a cinematic essay, a cure for amnesia.

Keep distance. Stay connected. No trespassing. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Space is the last frontier. It is all in your mind, over matter. Touch me, ohhh, touch me.

TEGEN2 – Seeking the burning/turning point in a multi-field of expressions, techniques and activism since 2006.

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Galleri Toll

SUPERLOCAL Info Point Café, Talks & Performance

Exhibition: Richard Krantz, ‘Four Seasons’ 14 August–6 September

Thursday–Saturday 14–20, Sunday 14–18 Tjärhovsgatan 46, 116 28 Stockholm

Inside Ropsten metro station (exit Hjorthagen)

www.supermarketartfair.com

www.galleritoll.com | galleri.t.ropsten@gmail.com

SUPERLOCAL Info Point is located in Kafé 44, a café and an alternative concert venue in Kapsylen, a former factory built in 1900. Kapsylen has been owned by an association of cultural workers since 1978. It contains workspaces and collectively run businesses, such as recording and rehearsal studios, the artist-run gallery Studio 44, or a preschool cooperative.

Galleri Toll, 2020, photo: Maria Toll Richard Krantz, ‘Four Seasons’, 2020

Galleri Toll is an exhibition display in a vitrine in the underground metro station Ropsten in Stockholm.

The gallery was launched in 2018 and aims to make young contemporary art accessible to passers-by. Galleri Toll is run and curated by the artist Maria Toll. ‘Four Seasons’ is a site-responsive work created for Galleri Toll. It revolves around ideas of consumerism, ecology, time and loneliness.

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SUPERLOCAL 2020 is organised by Supermarket Art Fair economic association.

3–6 September 2020 SUPERLOCAL Info Point opening hours: Thursday–Saturday 14–20 Sunday 14–18

www.supermarketartfair.com info@supermarketartfair.com

CREATIVE DIRECTORS Alice Máselníková Pontus Raud Andreas Ribbung TALKS & PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME COORDINATOR Franziska Sperling PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING PARTICIPANTS PROGRAMME COORDINATOR Lucie Gottlieb MEETINGS PROGRAMME COORDINATOR Stuart Mayes /Katarina Evasdotter Birath SUPERMARKET FORUM COORDINATOR Lucie Gottlieb, Alice Máselníková PRESS OFFICER Felicia Gränd PRESS ASSISTANT Kasia Syty SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANT Kenneth Pils PHOTOGRAPHY AND EDUCATION COORDINATOR Anna Ekros FLOOR MANAGER AND VOLUNTEERS COORDINATOR Paulina Granat INFORMATION COORDINATOR Sophie Lindberg BOOKKEEPING Jörgen Helte

SUPERLOCAL 2020 was made possible with the cultural support of: Statens kulturråd, www.kulturradet.se Stockholms Kulturförvaltning, www.kultur.stockholm Kulturförvaltningen, Stockholms Läns Landsting, www.kultur.sll.se COOPERATION PARTNERS: Konstfrämjandet, People's Movements for Art Promotion, www.konstframjandet.se Tidskriften Hjärnstorm, www.hjarnstorm.se Konstpool, www.konstpool.se SPONSOR: Pabst Blue Ribbon

GRAPHIC DESIGN Andreas Ribbung GRAPHIC DESIGN, CATALOGUE AND MAGAZINE Katharina Peter ART MAGAZINE EDITOR Alice Máselníková LANGUAGE EDITING AND PROOFREADING Alice Máselníková, Stuart Mayes WEBMASTER John W. Fail AD SALES Nadja Ekman

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to our volunteers, helpers and supporters, without whom the event would not be possible.

Cover images

Katharina Peter and Andreas Ribbung

All rights to the photographs belong to the artists or galleries if nothing else is specified. © Supermarket Art Fair ekonomisk förening 2020

SUPERLOCAL Info Point, Tjärhovsgatan 46 Café and Talks & Performance programme Thursday–Saturday 14–20, Sunday 14–18

Galleri Toll •Inside Ropsten metro station (exit Hjorthagen)

Hjorten •@ CRUM Heaven, Högbergsgatan 38

Tegen2 •Bjurholmsgatan 9B

AllArtNowLab •Älvkarleövägen 6

Flat Octopus •@ SBG18, Swedenborgsgatan 18

Candyland •Gotlandsgatan 76

Detroit Stockholm •Roslagsgatan 21

ID:I Galleri •Tjärhovsgatan 19

Galleri Nos •Kaggeholmsvägen 39

Konstnärshuset •Smålandsgatan 7

Studio 44 •Tjärhovsgatan 44

Galleri Nef •Rusthållarvägen 95

Grafiska Sällskapet •Hornsgatan 6

SUPERLOCAL Info Point •Tjärhovsgatan 46