AanTekening Weekendeditie #2

“Codex for Babel” 2013 / Charcoal on paper

At GEMAK, various artists spend five weeks contributing to the search for creative dynamics and public involvement, each at their own pace. Supported by the festival and its visitors, and inspired by the self-organizing potential of international protest movements and the DIY mentality of young generations in general, Momentum investigates possibilities for art as it needs to be today.

Momentum exhibition focuses on art in the time of the endless now. In a society where live, real time and ‘always-on’ viewing are constantly increasing, our capacity to process impressions is changing. While we read alarming reports in the newspapers about our reduced attention spans and inability to concentrate, we see more images, listen to more music and, online, we read more than ever before. All the culture in the world is just a click away.

In this super-inundation of information and possibilities, finding focus for visual art is a challenge.

Momentum is a co-production of two of the Hague’s adventurous festivals:  REWIRE Festival and State-X New Forms. The exhibition opens on 8 November, together with the REWIRE Festival, and will hold its finissage on 14 December, during the State-X New Forms Festival.

“Fluxing Nomad Library” 2013 / Charcoal and collage on paper

Artist in Residence at Gemak.
A project by Melissa Cruz Garcia
“Nomad Library: re-interpreting culture and heritage”
ABOUT CULTURAL MEMORY AND REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

The intention to further explore and unravel the hidden treasures of the small, eclectic yet inspiring library at Gemak is a sort of artistic exploration that visualizes a wider interpretation of printed knowledge.

This research project will have the Gemak library ‘travel’ literally and artistically in order to create new meaning and to converse with new territory elsewhere in the city. This inter-action will leave the artist`s personal mark on the library at Gemak and colleague libraries in the city together with markings of other artists that Melissa will invite to be part of the project.

“The Measure of Man”. Human Factors in design by Henri Dreyfuss.

A legitimate love for the false (Fictional Theory)

– How to make a work of art, by getting to know art books or by simply looking at the book images?

– Would it be possible to revive the exercise of reading physical books in order to maintain libraries open, not only in The Hague but around the globe?

–  Would Nomad Library be a point of departure and a source of inspiration for artists in The Hague, aiming to improve the outcome of their work?

– How to realize a more intuitive research method and if so, how to translate it into an art form?

More, soon!