Liz Allan, Maarten Bel, Sabrina Chou, Philip Ewe, Christian Hansen, Ann Maria Healy, Roos Wijma, Hannah James, Graham Kelly, Perri MacKenzie, Machteld Rullens, Micha Zweifel
Kairos
Along with Kronos, Kairos is an ancient Greek word for time. But while Kronos refers to chronological, sequential time, Kairos alludes to the moment when action must be taken, inevitably affecting the course of things. It represents an indeterminate moment, when anything can happen and opportunities can be grasped, if they are perceived at all. The exhibition embraced this sence of time, as a space of potential, found in the daily circumstances an artist can work with or against.
Opportunists
If we view an art practice as a series of seized favorable moments, it is worth asking: How much opportunism does it take to be an artist today? In ‘A Grammar of the Multitude’ (2004), philosopher Paolo Virno analyzes post-Fordist conditions of labour and describes opportunists as “those who confront a flow of ever-interchangeable possibilities, making themselves available to the greater number of these.” By depriving the term of its negative connotation Virno invents an up to date description of the contemporary worker. Their characteristic traits of openness, flexibility, and the unbiased attitude are often associated with the figure of the artist.
Kairos Time reflected the capacities of the young artists from the Piet Zwart Institute to transform circumstances into meaningful observations or speculative journeys.
Leisure activities
Maarten Bel‘s ‘Café Bel’ was a real bar, open to events and happenings. Bel shaped the work around the conviction that every social space is a potential space for art.
Perri Mackenzie made an installation after observating outdoor smoking booths, where temporary, involuntary encounters define a claustrophobic social space via an addiction.
Christian Hansen‘s vinyl records played a recording of composite musical instruments (Architar or Keyboard-Skateboard, for example), which he built himself.
Transgressions
Machteld Rullens’ video ‘Hardcore’ recorded the artist traversing the various security measures in the hyper-protected city center of The Hague during the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit.
Philip Ewe transgressed inner boundaries, documenting his journey on Rotterdam’s public transport and a hitchhiking experience on a freight truck.
Shifting Perceptions
Micha Zweifel drew from his experience of sharing a living and working space in the countryside with a group of artist friends. He wondered how a community can work when its members become more and more incapacitated to perform social functions.
Hannah James’ videos highlighted performative aspects of interiors and other architectural spaces, shifting the routine through which we perceive and inhabit them.
Ann Maria Healy staged a suspended environment made of waste materials, colonized by three mythical figures that recited lyrics written by her.
Roos Wijma’s sound installation Jacobson’s Organ referred to olfactory sensory cells present in reptiles. Her spoken word recording was activated by the presence of the audience.
Sabrina Chou’s installation revolved around an expanded notion of broadcasting. In the desert, at a gym, and amongst unoccupied frequencies, you may find that static transmits and inertia exerts, that interstices are inhabitable.
Graham Kelly offered another study on perception, filtering the perception of objects and images through a table fan and a pair of mirrored sunglasses.
Liz Allan’s videos explored desire and its political and economic interpretations, looking at Albert Heijn supermarket merchandising and the Gay Pride parade in Amsterdam.
artists
Liz Allan, Maarten Bel, Sabrina Chou, Philip Ewe, Christian Hansen, Ann Maria Healy, Roos Wijma, Hannah James, Graham Kelly, Perri MacKenzie, Machteld Rullens, Micha Zweifel