Did you know that...

Below are some excerpts from Plug In#28--Raimundas Malasauskas writes to accompany a project of Nomads & Residents collective created by Bik Van der Pol:

"Did you know that...

[...]

...“stupid as a table” is an expression used in certain languages to define the void of knowledge and thinking altogether? Most often it refers to a human being, never to an actual table. However some professors of philosophy also tend to use an example of a table as a figure of knowledge or things in itself.

... the paradox of the table exemplifies the phenomena of language games: our thinking differs not only due to the different languages we speak, but also due to the specific language games we play.

... art is just another language according to certain theories? It allows a certain group of people to find each other and communicate the value of their communication.

... language games are an intrinsic part of the design of everyday reality? If you decide that you are the designer of your subjectivity try to design a table of its contents first. I started my table of contents with coffee stains today.

[...]

... art often works as a table of contents for non-artrelated subjects and disciplines? It connects multiple dots of various types of knowledge creating temporary spatial constellations of collective thinking.

... knowledge production is a preoccupation of many contemporary artists? Therefore the content of their work is often redefinition of what they do and what their role should be.

[...]

... it is not enough to make certain types of knowledge accessible and available in order to activate it? Knowledge needs dissemination in order to function. Yet it is hard to believe those who say that the best use of knowledge is not its actual implementation into action, but a circulation only.

... John Baldessari sang “Sentences on Conceptual Art” by Sol LeWitt in 1968 in order to make them more accessible for an audience via a format of the song?

... that certain types of knowledge can activate (or translate) each other in the same way different ingredients activate itself in cocktails? The symbolic transition of an artist from a barman to a mixologist marks this shift in professional sophistication.

[...]

... artists often tend to discuss the impact of their work?

.... that impact is not instantaneous? Don’t expect to experience the impact of the table of contents immediately, it might take one million years, so, as Bruce Nauman says, “pay attention mother fucker.”

... infinite conversation is the way culture functions? (therefore your participation in this culture thus can change it, at least make the conversation shorter or change the subject.)"
-Raimundas Malasauskas

Raimundas Malasauskas is a curator at the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Bik Van der Pol is an artist collaboration that consists of Liesbeth Bik and Jos Van der Pol, who live and work in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

For further information, visit the Van Abbemuseum website.

Global Cities at Tate

"Global Cities, a major free exhibition examining recent changes in ten global cities - Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Tokyo - will be presented in a spectacular installation in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern from 20 June-27 August 2007.

The show will feature newly commissioned work by leading international artists and architects Nigel Coates, Zaha Hadid & Patrik Schumacher, Fritz Haeg, OMA*AMO/Rem Koolhaas, Nils Norman and Richard Wentworth inspired by the social, cultural and physical dimensions of London. To complement the other city data are more than twenty works by artists and architects Atelier Bow Wow, Hüseyin Alptekin, Francis Alys, Laurence Bonvin, Osman Bozkurt, Hala Elkoussy, Kendell Geers, Dryden Goodwin, Andreas Gursky, Naoya Hatakeyama, Francesco Jodice, Eva Koch, Maha Maamoun, Neutral, Nils Norman, Scott Peterman, Melanie Smith, Dean Sameshima, Guy Tillim, Paromita Vohra and Yang Zhenzhong.

The exhibition addresses major issues facing some of the most influential urban centres around the world: from migration to mobility, from social integration to sustainable growth. It explores five themes: size, speed, density, form and diversity and draws upon comparative socio-economic and geographic data assembled by researchers at the London School of Economics.

With over half the world’s population now living in urban areas, cities increasingly lie at the centre of public debate, cultural speculation and media attention. A century ago only 10% of the planet lived in cities; by 2050 up to 75% of the world’s population of 8 billion will be living in urban areas, many of them concentrated in the developing regions of Asia and Africa. The shape, size and structure of exploding mega-cities like Mumbai, Shanghai, Mexico City, Istanbul or Cairo affects not only the lives of millions of new urban dwellers, but also the health and sustainability of the planet given that large cities contribute to over 75% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Cities are stronger today as centres of economic, social and cultural exchange than they ever have been, acting as crucibles of creativity, economic growth and social encounter."

From June 20 through August 27 2007.
Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London.

See the website.

New Designs for Classical Music

To what extent does the concert hall influence your reception of music? “Simply speaking, the hall is the instrument of the orchestra,” states Christoph von Dohnanyi--the chief conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony, “If you mess it up, the orchestra will be a mess."

The recent rethinking of the concert halls has challenged the conventional designs as being voluminous, high and rectangular spaces. Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, to a great degree, epitomizes the imagination of the new era. The major ongoing projects include Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg, Germany by Herzog and de Meuron, and Paris Philarmonie by Jean Nouvel. Here the question arises: Will the new architecture for concert halls attract bigger audiences? The early 2010s will prove whether these radical projects will rack up success, or not.

Nicolai Ouroussoff from NY Times discusses the previous and contemporary interplay between architects and acousticians; follow the link.

HRW International Film Festival

The seventh art exposes once again its power to inspire and raise consciousness on the worldwide human rights issues. Striking with its selection of films that are fusions of artistic talent and human rights content, the preminent NGO--Human Rights Watch collaborates with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York, and presents the HRW International Film Festival. "We seek to empower everyone with the knowledge that personal commitment can make a very real difference," the organization spokeman states. The festival that will take place between June 14th and 28th, includes twenty-four films and videos from nineteen different countries.

The New York premieres will be,
- Mon Colonel, Laurent Herbiet, Director; Costa-Gavras & Jean-Claude Grumberg, Screenplay; Michèle Ray-Gavras, France/Belgium, 2006,
- Carla's List, Marcel Schüpbach, Switzerland, 2006,
- The City of Photographers, Sebastián Moreno Mardones, Chile, 2006,
- Cocalero, Alejandro Landes, Argentina, 2007,
- Election Day, Katy Chevigny, USA, 2007,
- Enemies of Happiness, Eva Mulvad, Director; Anja Al-Erhayem, Co-Director, Denmark, 2006,
- Sari’s Mother, James Longley, USA/Iraq, 2006,
- Hot House, Shimon Dotan, Israel, 2006,
- A Lesson of Belarusian, Miroslaw Dembinski, Poland/Belarus, 2006,
- Virtual Freedom, Gef Senz and Maung Maung Aye, Australia, 2006,
- Manufactured Landscapes, Jennifer Baichwal, Canada, 2005,
- The Railroad All-Stars, Chema Rodriguez, Spain, 2006,
- Strange Culture, Lynn Hershman Leeson, USA, 2007,
- Suffering and Smiling, Dan Ollman, Nigeria/US, 2006,
- The Violin, Francisco Vargas Quevedo, Mexico, 2006,
- We’ll Never Meet Childhood Again, Sam Lawlor and Lindsay Pollock, Romania/UK, 2007, and
- White Light/Black Rain, Steven Okazaki, USA, 2006.

For further information follow the link.
For the schedule in PDF format, click here.