We have just circulated our newsletter #14 (read English version or Versión española).

In July we are presenting Hans Schabus' 'Europahaven, Rotterdam, 17 Juni 2009' (see above) at the visitor centre Futureland (until 15 August) and concluded the screenings of Jan Dibbets' film '6 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective', which will soon be available on Portscapes' website (www.portscapes.com).

We are also curating the group exhibition 'Sequelism. Part 3: Possible, Probable, or Preferable Futures', Arnolfini, Bristol, UK, opening 17 July (remains on view until 20 September). Part 3 includes works by Mariana Castillo Deball (1975, Mexico City. Lives in Berlin/Amsterdam), Heman Chong (1977, Malaysia. Lives in Berlin/Singapore), Graham Gussin (1960, London. Lives in London), Victor Man (1974, Cluj–Napoca. Lives in Cluj–Napoca), Francesc Ruiz (in residency) (1971 Barcelona. Lives in Barcelona/Berlin), Jordan Wolfson (1980, New York. Lives New York/Berlin) and Haegue Yang (1971 Seoul. Lives in Berlin/Seoul). Read more about the events programme here.

We also published installation images and press links related to Latitudes' recent participation in the festival of independent and non-profit art organisations 'NO SOUL FOR SALE – A Festival of Independents' organised by X initiative in New York (24–28 June 2009) where we had an office ‘scenario’ conceived by the artist group The Bruce High Quality Foundation, incorporating dining furniture from the abandoned 1983 Burger King from Governors Island.

This month is the last chance to visit the exhibitions 'The Garden of Forking Paths' (Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, until 18th July, images here) and 'Nothing, or Something' (a new project by Ignasi Aballí for Suitcase Art Projects, Beijing, China, until 22nd July, images here).
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Hans Schabus, 'Europahaven, Rotterdam, 17 Juni 2009' produced in the context of Portscapes commission series. Photo: Freek van Arkel.

Hans Schabus’ project for Portscapes is the next chapter in his ongoing series of ‘arrival photographs’ featuring the sailing boat Forlorn. The artist has produced a new photograph which can be seen on a roadside 5 x 9 metre billboard on the A15 (1km before reaching the visitor centre Futureland -- satellite view here), and is also distributed as a postcard. A presentation of Forlorn, the film ‘Western’ (2002), a series of photographs and the postcard will be on view at Futureland (directions and opening hours below) until 15 August 2009, a presentation that has been conceived in collaboration with the artist to give further insight into the context of this extraordinary image – below a photo of the billboard presentation followed by production shots.



The Forlorn (2002) is a wooden-hulled ‘Optimist’ class sailing dinghy designed for a crew of one; in fact it is intended for children. The project of the ‘arrival photographs’ started with Western (2002), a film in which we see Schabus navigating through the sewers of his native Vienna in the self-built boat. He paddles through several sewage tracts until reaching a canal, a one way trip through a sinister labyrinth, a dark and obscure underground world. The film makes reference to Orson Welles’ 1949 film The Third Man through the use of the original score – at the film’s climax, Harry Lime flees from the authorities through the same sewers.

Since then the Forlorn has emerged into the light to undertake an unexplained and pitifully lonely global journey in which its single sailor is seen apparently arriving for the first time at different locations. First to a very foggy New York, a city which evoked a more radiant promised land for those many immigrants who arrived there by sea. Then onwards to Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Lake Constance, Bregenz, Austria; and Venice, Italy. The existential journey comprises a seemingly endless quest or escape, a migration voyage seen only at moments of hope and promise in making safe landfall. Will the migrant receive a warm or hostile reception on each new territory?

In the new image 'Europahaven, Rotterdam, 17 Juni 2009', the sailor navigates towards the huge container terminals of the Port of Rotterdam and a vast cargo ship. Sailing at a point which will become the new entrance to Maasvlakte 2, the simplest of water vehicles and a single man appear in stark contrast to an overwhelmingly modern manifestation of seafaring trade. Despite the speed, scale and efficiency of the port, the image seems to indicate that on a human scale the vastness of maritime space nevertheless remains a vulnerable and mythologically rich territory.


Hans Schabus’ (1970 Watschig, Austria. Lives in Vienna, Austria) sculptures and interventions often refer directly to his mental and physical surroundings, particularly to his studio and also by exploring excavation, transportation and engineering. His work embraces ecological cycles of construction, destruction and renewal – elements that were present in the 2004 exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz, where the artist transformed the entire building into a complex and convoluted architectonic and mental path of discovery. The show included large-scale videos of train journeys to visit the venue during preparations, as well as flooding the ground floor and encompassing an imaginary tunnel to the basement of the building. In 2006 he produced the ‘Book of Ballast’ in which he explored a mostly forgotten sea connection between Liverpool and the US city of Savannah. Schabus documented numerous stones which made their way as ballast on ships to ports on the east coast of America, where they were put to use to pave streets and build houses. The artist became more widely known when he represented Austria at the 2005 Venice Biennale with the project The Last Land, whereby he created a maze inside a ‘mountain’ that completely covered the pavilion building.

Schabus’ solo projects include: Next Time I’m Here, I’ll Be There, The Curve, Barbican Gallery, London (2008); Deserted Conquest, SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico (2007); Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel, Germany (2006); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria (2004); and Secession, Vienna, Austria (1996 and 2003). Group exhibitions include: Revolutions – Forms That Turn, Biennale of Sydney (2008); Turin Triennial (2005); and Manifesta 4, Frankfurt (2004).

Los próximos 6 y 7 de julio tendrá lugar en el Auditorio del MACBA (Plaça Joan Coromines, s/n) las 'Jornadas Internacionales de Debate para un Nuevo Centro de Arte en Barcelona' - programa a continuación.

Latitudes participará en la mesa redonda 'El Canòdrom, un nuevo equipamiento en Barcelona visto por artistas, críticos y comisarios' que tendrá lugar el Lunes 6 Julio, 18–20h, seguido por un debate de 20–21h – véanse notas de nuestra presentación.

Entrada gratuita – Plazas limitadas – Inscripción previa (hasta el 4 Julio) a nuriagregori@yahoo.es o llamando al 676 135 250

Organiza: Consell Nacional de la Cultura i de les Arts, Departament de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Consell de la Cultura de Barcelona.

–

Programa CANÒDROM’09. Jornadas internacionales de debate para un nuevo Centro de Arte en Barcelona

Desde la proliferación de centros de arte en Europa a principios de los años 80 hasta la actualidad, el concepto de centro de arte se ha modificado y ha evolucionado, siguiendo patrones distintos adaptados a cada contexto y a la evolución de la tecnología y de la comunicación, así como a la convivencia con la industria cultural, al carácter multidisciplinar del arte, a las nuevas prácticas curatoriales, al ejercicio de la mediación social y a la labor educativa y de formación en el marco de una sociedad global.

Con el fin de dar impulso al nuevo proyecto del futuro Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, con sede en el edificio del Canòdrom de la Meridiana de Barcelona, se organizan unas jornadas internacionales de debate y discusión que cuentan con la participación de los directores de varios centros de arte europeos ejemplos de diversos de los modelos existentes. Asimismo se hace un llamamiento al sector de las artes visuales —artistas, críticos, comisarios, galeristas, estudiantes de arte, gestores culturales y demás agentes y emprendedores artísticos— para que formen parte de este debate.

Lunes, 6 de julio
Mañana 10.00 h – 10.30 h
Apertura de las jornadas a cargo de Pilar Parcerisas, Vicepresidenta Primera del Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y de las Artes, y Daniel Giralt-Miracle, miembro del Comité Ejecutivo del Consejo de la Cultura de Barcelona.

10.30 h – 12.00 h
El Canòdrom, un edificio para el arte contemporáneo Xavier Monteys y Josep M. de Lecea, arquitectos. Autores de la restauración y remodelación del Canòdrom

12.00 h – 12.30 h Pausa

12.30 h - 14.00 h
Los centros de arte en Europa, hoy. Especificidad y límites frente a los museos.
Dirk Snauwaert, Director del Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wiels, Bruselas
Nicolaus Schafhausen, Director de Witte de With, Rotterdam
Modera: Roberta Bosco, periodista de arte de El País, Barcelona

14.00 h - 14.30 h Debate

16.00 h - 17.30 h
El modelo inglés y su relación con los consejos de las artes. La tradición de la Cornerhouse.
Dave Moutrey, Director de la Cornerhouse, Manchester

17.30 h - 18.00 h Pausa

18.00 h - 20.00 h
El Canòdrom, un nuevo equipamiento en Barcelona visto por artistas, críticos y comisarios.
Carles Guerra, Director de La Virreina. Centro de la imagen, Barcelona
Amanda Cuesta, crítica de arte y curadora de exposiciones
Jorge Luis Marzo, miembro del grupo de debate Centro de Arte Barcelona
Latitudes (Max Andrews y Mariana Cánepa), curadores independientes
Joan Fontcuberta, artista y Presidente de la Asociación de Artistas Visuales de Cataluña (AAVC)
Daniel García Andújar, artista y presidente de la Asociación de Artistas Visuales de Cataluña (AAVC)
Modera: Mercè Alsina, crítica de arte y curadora de exposiciones, Secretaria de la Asociación Catalana de Críticos de Arte (ACCA)

20.00 h – 21.00 h Debate


Martes, 7 de julio
10.00 h - 11.30 h
El flujo del arte contemporáneo en los centros de arte: producción, presentación, difusión
Bartomeu Marí, ex Director de Witte de With y actualmente Director del Macba, Barcelona

11.30 h - 12.00 h Pausa

12.00 - 14.00 h
En red. El Canòdrom desde el territorio.
Oriol Gual, Director del espacio La Capella, Barcelona
David Santaeulària, Director del espacio Zero 1, Olot
Glòria Picazo, Directora del Centro de Arte La Panera, Lleida.
Rosa Pera, Directora de Bòlit, Centro de Arte, Girona
Anna Capella, Directora del Museo del Ampurdán, Figueres
Jordi Abelló, Coordinador de los espacios de arte del Ayuntamiento de Tarragona
Víctor Sunyol, Presidente de H. Asociación para las Artes Contemporáneas, Vic
Clara Garí, Directora de la Nau Côclea, Camallera
Modera: Oriol Picas, Subdirector General de Equipamientos del Departamento de Cultura y Medios de Comunicación de la Generalidad de Cataluña.

14.00 h - 14.30 h Debate 16.00 h - 17.30 h
Los retos de futuro de los centros de arte
Susanne Pfeffer, Curadora del KW Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo, Berlín
Kestutis Kuizinas, Director del Centro de Arte Contemporáneo (CCA), Vilnius, Lituania
Francis McKee, Director del Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Glasgow
Laurence Rassel, Directora de proyectos de la Fundación Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona
Modera: Rosario Fontova, periodista de arte independiente, Barcelona

17.30 h - 18.00 h Pausa

18.00 h - 20.00 h
Espacios de producción y creación con relación al Canòdrom
Víctor Lobo, co-director de Experimentem amb l’art, Barcelona
Pep Dardanyà, director de Can Xalant, Mataró
Tere Badia, investigadora y coordinadora de Xarxaprod
Pedro Soler, director de Hangar, Barcelona
Sergi Díaz, coordinador de Fabra i Coats, Barcelona
Modera: Ramon Parramon, director de Idensitat y jefe de estudios de posgrado de Elisava

Cierre de las jornadas a cargo de Lluís Noguera, Secretario General del Departamento de Cultura y Medios de Comunicación de la Generalidad de Cataluña, y Jordi Martí, Delegado de Cultura del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona.


CONTENIDO RELACIONADO:

Notas presentación de Latitudes expuestas durante las "Jornadas internacionales de debate para El Canòdrom, el nuevo Centro de Arte en Barcelona", 6–7 Julio 2009 (10 julio 2009)

Following is a selection press articles, blogs, announcements and slideshows links related to 'NO SOUL FOR SALE – A Festival of Independents' which took place between 24–28th June in New York (if we missed any materials, please do share the link with us!).

p.s. Some sources are confused about the nature of Latitudes' space in the festival. Just to clarify, we didn't built a faux Burger King, the 'scenario' – assembled entirely thanks to The Bruce High Quality Foundation – comprised real dining furniture from the abandoned 1983 Burger King from Governors Island (see photo-documentation of the original site taken by two photographers invited in 2003 by Public Art Fund – images 2 and 3 of the slideshow).

e-Flux, June 15, 2009
http://www.e-flux.com/shows/view/6898

Holland Cotter, 'Restoring the ‘Eek’ to Eking Out a Living', New York Times, 24 June 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/arts/design/25soul.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=restoring%20the%20eek&st=cse
and slideshow here http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/24/arts 20090625_SOUL_SLIDESHOW_index.html

Jerry Saltz, 'Saltz: Glimpse Art’s Near Future at No Soul for Sale', 24 June 2009
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/06/saltz_glimpse_arts_near-future.html

Laura Meli, 'The Anti-commerce, Pro-art “No Soul for Sale” Festival', 25 June 2009
http://www.nyartbeat.com/nyablog/2009/06/the-anti-commerce-pro-art-no-soul-for-sale-festival

Time Out Art, 25 June 2009
http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/tonyblog/2009/06/no-soul-for-sale-at-x-initiative

William Pym, Artforum Scene & Heard, 'Whatever Works', 26 June 2009
http://www.artforum.com/diary/#entry23170 (text)
http://www.artforum.com/diary/id=23170#readon23170 (more images)

Sunday, 28 June, 2009 (images)
http://www.16miles.com/2009/06/no-soul-for-sale-festival-of.html

23 June 2009, www.designboom.com
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6793/no-soul-for-sale.html

Ceci Moss, 'Dispatches from No Soul For Sale: More Highlights!', 29 June 2009
http://rhizome.org/editorial/2732

During 'NO SOUL FOR SALE' we are presenting several publications and paraphernalia related to our projects, including:

– Compendium of essays, artists' projects, etc. 'Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook' (Royal Society of Arts/Arts Council England, 2006)
– Magazine UOVO #14 'Ecology, Luxury and Degradation' (The Bookmakers Ed., Summer 2007)
– Exhibition catalogue 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities' (The Bookmakers Ed., February 2008)
– Artist book by Simon Fujiwara 'The Museum of Incest: A Guide' (Archive Books, May 2009)

We also have DVDs of Jan Dibbets' recent film '6 Hours of Tide Object with Correction of Perspective' (as part of Portscapes) and a public sculpture produced in October 2008 by Lawrence Weiner on occasion of his exhibition 'THE CREST OF A WAVE' at Fundació Suñol, Barcelona (we also have the exhibition booklet available).

The Bruce High Quality Foundation also have a computer available from where visitors can burn DVDs for $5 as well as some of their publications.

Transposing our daily operations from Barcelona to New York's 22nd Street, Latitudes is presenting its recent publications, project-related paraphernalia and documentation. The office ‘scenario’ is conceived by the artist group The Bruce High Quality Foundation, incorporating dining furniture from the abandoned 1983 Burger King from Governor’s Island (see images above and below), where they have recently filmed 'Isle of the Dead'. This zombie movie about the death of culture in New York will be premiered during Creative Time’s ‘This World & Nearer Ones’ (opening June 27,2–4pm). Latitudes first collaborated with Bedford-Stuyvesant-based The Bruce High Quality Foundation for the group exhibition ‘Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities’ (Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy, February–May 2008). Touching on themes such as gentrification and public space, satire and self-promotion, its activities have included reality TV, films, tableaux vivants, photography, protests, installations, merchandising and a production based on the musical Cats.


During NO SOUL FOR SALE we are also showing Jan Dibbets’ 6 Hours Tide Object with
Correction of Perspective (1969/2009) (8 mins.) as well as the 'making of' the film (20 mins). Shot in February 2009 and premiered on 14 June in Rotterdam, this Dibbets work is the inaugural project of Portscapes, the Latitudes-curated commission series taking place throughout 2009 in and around Maasvlakte 2, a 5000 acre extension to the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.


NO SOUL FOR SALE: 24–28 June, 1–9pm. Free admission.
28 June, 6–7pm: Screening three films by The Bruce High Quality Foundation

X INITIATIVE: 548 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011 (former Dia Center)
GETTING THERE: C or E train to West 23 Street station, and walk west on 22nd towards X
All images: Latitudes | www.lttds.org

Latitudes will be soon participating in 'NO SOUL FOR SALE – A Festival of Independents' (24–28 June, 1–9pm, free entrance) an event hosted by X initiative which will bring together 38 not-for-profit centers, alternative institutions, artists’ collectives and independent enterprises from Berlin, Milan, Dublin, Lisbon, Paris, Reykjavík, Hong Kong, Rabat, Trinidad, New York, Los Angeles, etc. that contribute to the international art scene by generating a diverse cultural programme.
 
X INITIATIVE, 548 West 22nd Street (former Dia Center), New York, NY 10011, USA [MAP HERE]
Opening Reception: June 23, 6-9 pm with a performance by Martin Soto Climent.
Opening Hours: June 24–28 2009, 1–9 pm. FREE ENTRANCE

Daniel Birnbaum's 'Making Worlds' felt less melancholic though still very much in keeping with his recently-curated '50 Moons of Saturn', the 2nd Turin Triennial (see post 10 November 2008). Both exhibitions shared several artists (Ulla von Brandenburg, Koo Jeong-A, Pietro Roccasalva, Spencer Finch, Ceal Floyer, Lara Favaretto, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Haegue Yang, Paul Chan, Tomás Saraceno, Wade Guyton, Keren Cytter and Rosa Barba), while Venice included several students (including Att Poomtangon) or professors (Simon Starling, Wolfgang Tillmans) from the Birnbaum-directed Staedelschule in Frankfurt, and the support of curator Jochen Volz in the artistic organisation (additional advice was provided by a team of 'correspondents': Savita Apte, Tom Eccles, Hu Fang and Maria Finders). In contrast with the 2007 biennial by Robert Storr it felt less painterly and more sculptural and with a notable lack of 'black boxes' with film and video work. 

Below is the new website design of Portscapes (www.portscapes.com), an accummulative series of newly commissioned projects curated by Latitudes in and around Maasvlakte 2, the extension of the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, throughout 2009. (+ info) If you would like to receive Portscapes newsletters, please subscribe here.

Following the news on the extension process of the Port of Rotterdam, which will become the Maasvlakte 2, the Port has just announced that after months of dredging vessels spraying sand (‘rainbowing’) 3km away from the present coast line (see image above) the first bulldozers are driving around on an island in the North Sea to make sure that the sand is distributed correctly amongst the islands (see image below). Slideshow of aerial images of the rising island here.

[Images (top to bottom): Portscapes website; Photo: Eric Bakker; Photo: Ben Wind. All photos © Port of Rotterdam Authority; Thanks to Ria Haagsma and Sjaak Pope.]

We are pleased to announce the presentation of Jan Dibbets' film '6 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective' (2009) which will take place on Sunday 14 June, in FutureLand, the visitor centre of the Port of Rotterdam Authority [Map here]. 


The screening of '6 Hours Tide Object...' will take place on Sunday 14 June and will be repeated on Sunday 21 June, Sunday 28 June and Sunday 5 July at 13.00, 13.30, 14.00, 14.30 and at 15.00 (a special screening preceded by the 'The Making of...').


First realised in February 1969 as part of Gerry Schum's seminal Fernsehgalerie I ‘Land Art’ series of films screened on German TV, the 2009 realisation of '12 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective' was filmed forty years later to the month (see our 10 February post with production stills), on the beach of the Maasvlakte. The resulting film titled '6 Hours Tide Object...' is the first project of Portscapes, an accumulative series of newly commissioned projects that will take place throughout 2009 alongside the construction of Maasvlakte 2.

For more details on the screenings please check www.portscapes.com | www.portscapes.nl
 

If you would like to receive Portscapes' newsletters, please subscribe here.

FutureLand is situated on the edge of the current Maasvlakte, in Europaweg 902 (500m from the Routiers restaurant). Free admission.

Portscapes is commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and financial support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amsterdam) and is curated by Latitudes.



Film credits:
 
Jan Dibbets '6 hours tide object with correction of perspective', 1969-2009, Maasvlakte beach, Rotterdam

Camera: Fijko van Leeuwen
Montage: Rutger Hesseling
Recording: 8 February 2009
Film duration: 8 minutes

Film commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam, www.maasvlakte2.com with advice and financial support from SKOR (Foundation Art and Public Space), www.skor.nl

This project was realised as part of 'Portscapes' a series of newly commissioned art projects realised alongside the construction of Maasvlakte 2, the extension to the Port of Rotterdam. 'Portscapes' is curated by Latitudes, www.lttds.org

With thanks to Jan Vader, Jan Willem Stoof and PUMA Extension Project Organisation Maasvlakte