Autonomy Summer School Programme

From July 6 till July 10, 2011, the Autonomy Project presents its second Summer School. The Autonomy Project (a collaboration between the Van Abbemuseum and a number of universities and art schools) aims to foster discussion on the past as well as current significance of the notion of autonomy. In October, a conference will take place at the Van Abbemuseum with speakers such as Jacques Rancière and Thomas Hirschhorn. In the Summer School at the D.A.I. in Arnhem, students will participate in workshops, the outcomes of which may be integrated in the conference.

The 2011 Summer School focuses on the topic of “mediating autonomy.” In modernism the relation between the notions of autonomy and that of the medium was seen through the prism of the formalist doctrine of medium-specificity. Painting in particular was supposed to safeguard its autonomy by focusing on its “essential” characteristics of form, material and visuality.
Since the 1960s, however, a very different form of “autonomedia” has developed in activist circles , where printed leaflets and magazines as well a broadcast media such as television and especially (pirate) radio have been used to create “autonomous zones” in which new subjectivities, new forms of social life and cultural practice became the object of experimentation. Art practice formed an integral part of such explorations of alternative forms of community, as demonstrated by the various cable programs that flourished in Amsterdam.
While there are points of contact and overlap between aesthetic and political forms of “autonomedia”,  which role can these multiple genealogies of autonomous practice play in a present where pirate radio seems as quaint and anachronistic as modernist painting? How can autonomy be mediated today? This question will be examined not only in theory but also in the context of practice-based workshops.

Summer School tutors include Jeroen Boomgaard, John Byrne, Phil Collins (tbc), Charles Esche, Annie Fletcher, Sven Lütticken, Gabriëlle Schleijpen, Steven ten Thije, Willem van Weelden (tbc). The Summer School runs from July 6th to July 10th and will take place at DAI (Kortestraat 27, Arnhem) and Showroom Arnhem.

VAMA participates in the Autonomy Project though the Platform Moderne Kunst of the Onderzoekschool Kunstgeschiedenis. The number of places is limited and accommodations in Arnhem need to be booked, so please contact Sven Lütticken if you’re interested!

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Film Screening: The Forgotten Space

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On Tuesday May 24th, in the context of the current exhibition Alfredo Jaar, The Marx Lounge, the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam is showing Allan Sekula’s The Forgotten Space. The film will be introduced by Sven Lütticken.

In the cinematic essay The Forgotten Space (2010) the photographer-filmmaker-writer Allan Sekula travels with the French-American director and film historian Noël Burch. Together they explore the sea, the “forgotten space of our modern age, where globalization becomes visible in the most pressing way”.
The Forgotten Space is about the triumphal march of sea container traffic. More than 90% of the world’s shipments of goods go by way of the sea. The thread running through the film is the relation between the stream of sea transport and globalisation; the film reveals the creeping progress of an industry that has spread to every corner of the world but remains invisible to politics and society.

*Picture update: the screening/discussion at SMBA on May 24th, with a healthy VAMA contingent in attendance!

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Extra Opportunities

We have come across two more interesting opportunities this week:

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The Lüdwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich is hosting its first interdisciplinary summer school this year, themed Art – Politics – Economics. New Perspectives of the Arts. It’s a week of sessions, chaired by LMU professors and some international guests. Each session (day) will focus on a specific theme and will include talks and discussions. Each participant is asked to write an essay on one of the themes, which will then be used as starting points for the discussions. You’ll have to send in an abstract for that essay if you want to participate in the summer school. You can find more details in our Call for Papers section. And don’t worry about travel costs, since there are 8 international scholarships available covering both travel costs and your stay in Munich!

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If you’re in your final year and looking for career options, you might be interested in the eikones graduate school at the University of Basel. They are currently offering 12 PhD positions (3 years) for a programme entitled Das Bild als Artefakt, starting in January 2012. Research projects should consider the dual status of the image – as a material artifact on the one hand and a meaningful representation on the other. The issue can be addressed from a theoretical vantage point as well as a historical one. Find out more in our Fellowships section and don’t hesitate to contact your mentor for help on preparing your proposal!

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to Fellowships >>

ESF Call for Papers: Extended!

The ESF has extended the deadline for its conference on Re-Visiting the Contact Zone: Museums, Theory, Practice this July in Sweden. This means that you have until the end of this week, May 8th to be exact, to apply for positions as speaker or discussant, or to host a poster session. Check out our Call for Papers section for more information or jump straight to http://www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/details/2011/confdetail365.html

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The eventful month of May

This month will see a wide range of events happening on and around VU University. Many were already announced, but here are some new ones. For an overview of all events, just visit our Upcoming Events page.

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Those who are studying in or visiting Florence this month, are welcome to attend the NIKI Conference From Pattern to Nature in Italian Renaissance Drawing: Pisanello to Leonardo. The conference explores how the model book approach persisted in Italy throughout the fifteenth century and influenced the attitude toward the imitation of nature and consequently the depiction of the human, animal, bird and plant form, and seeks to offer an explanation for this dual practice in the light of contemporary theories of art.

The conference takes place on May 6th & 7th at the NIKI Institute in Florence. For more information, please visit http://niki-florence.org or download the programme here.

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Between May 12th and May 22nd, the industrial heritage around Hengelo will turn into a giant barrel of performances, media art, guerilla art, etc. The reason? The Twente Biënnale, with internationally acclaimed artists as well as local talent. For more information, please visit http://2011.twentebiennale.nl/

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May is also the month of Art Amsterdam, an art fair taking place from May 11th to May 15th at RAi. During this fair, on May 13th, young people between 17 and 27 years old can get the chance to work with artists and collectors in the search for a new piece to add to the NOG Collection of the SNS REAAL Fonds. Have you always wanted to know what a collector does and how to choose the perfect piece for a collection? Then head to our Call for Papers section and find out how you can apply for the workshop.

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Film Screening: Documentaire Videoproductie

In light of the course Documentaire Videoproductie: Theorie en Praktijk, which introduced ACW students to the history, rhetoric, etc. of documentary film, the ACW students have produced their own documentary videos. Free to choose their own subject, they roamed the streets armed with cameras and microphones and went on to discuss a variety of subjects, from female bodybuilders to the history of Camp Amersfoort.

ACW is happy to invite you to the screening of these videos, which will take place on Wednesday May 18th in room 08-A04. The screening starts at 13:30 and will end around 16:30, when the best documentary will be awarded a price.

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