During our participation last June in the X Initiative’s NO SOUL FOR SALE - Festival of Independents in New York, James Merle Thomas, a San Francisco-based team member of L’APPARTEMENT 22 from Rabat, recorded a short interview for Radio Apartment 22 between us and Massimiliano Gioni, Director of Special Exhibitions of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York. Gioni briefly talks about the 'introspective' (intead of retrospective) the museum dedicating to Zurich-born, New York-based artist Urs Fischer, opening 28 October.

The interview is part of Appartement 22's 'R22 Universe - Live From NYC' programme available online here.

Following the demise of the photo sharing site Bubbleshare, we have transfered our blog albums with over 1,000 images to Flickr so that you can enjoy slideshows in a bigger format on our blog. Take a tour to this year Venice Biennial (see Arsenale, Giardini or the Collateral Events), the 2008 55th Carnegie International in Pittsburgh or through the Port of Rotterdam in our first site visit in May 2008. 33 further photo sets here.

Photo documentation of Latitudes' projects can still be found as usual on each of our projects pages under 'photo gallery' – see this and this or this galleries as examples.

We welcome your (sensible) comments!

As the 2008–9 artistic cycle turns for many towards a holiday exodus and 'out of office' autoresponders, below is a selection of some unseen and 'behind the scenes' moments from our projects since last summer.

A big thank you to everyone involved in our 2008-9 projects y felices vacaciones!

– Latitudes


(Three images above): Mariana with Lawrence Weiner during the installation of Lawrence Weiner's exhibition 'THE CREST OF A WAVE' at the Fundació Suñol, Barcelona, in October–November 2008; during the press conference; Lawrence, Latitudes and Fundació Suñol team (Sergi Aguilar, Maga Ruiz, Xavier De Luca, Mireia Arnau and Jaume Brunet) photographed by Pierre-Jean Moulis after tossing a horseshoe upon the crest of a wave.

16–19 October 2008: presentation of the Danish artist Tue Greenfort 'transparent' bins outside Frieze Art Fair, London, commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts' 'Arts & Ecology' programme.



5–9 November 2008: Leaving the 'X, Y, etc!' Videolounge in Artissima Art Fair, Torino, Italy; admiring the phenomenal long table arrangement Artissima dinner hosted at the equally phenomenal Venaria Reale.



November 2008: fourth visit to Rotterdam – evening boat trip with some of 'Portscapes' artists, site visit to the port with the Port of Rotterdam's Sjaak Poppe (Hans Schabus and Roman Keller alongside) and discussions in Marjolijn Dijkman's studio (Roman Keller and Christina Hemauer – with Ilana Halperin on Skype)

November 2008: ‘La, la, la, la: on winning and losing’ co-curator Aimar Arriola arranging a work with artist Verónica Aguilera and (below) selecting images with Fermín Jimenez Landa and Oriol Vilanova.


8 February 2009: SKOR curator Theo Tegelaers and Jan Dibbets during the filming of Jan Dibbets' '6 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective'; some of 'Portscapes' artists including Bik Van der Pol and Marjolijn Dijkman visit the beach while waiting for the tide to go up; Christiane Bosman (SKOR press coordinator) and curator Theo Tegelaers from SKOR at 'Portscapes' during Art Rotterdam opening evening.


18 February 2009: Vena (por la) talk with (the then) Walker Art Center associate curator Doryun Chong (now Associate Curator at MoMA in New York).


April 2009: The Associació d'Art Crítics de Catalunya awards Fundació Suñol for their exhibition programme (Latitudes-curated projects Lawrence Weiner's 'THE CREST OF THE WAVE' and the Land Art film programme 'A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel. Land Art's Expanded Field, 1968–2008' were part of this season). 

(7 images above): First Neapolitan lunch with Simon Fujiwara and Jordi Mitjà on May 8, 2009: deep-fried maccheroni; Erick Beltrán installing during 'Provenances', Umberto di Marino, Naples; preparing Simon's 'Museum of incest'; subtitling session with Nicoletta Daldanise; delightful Sicilian cuisine at Umberto's house, documenting Erick's work during the opening night and audience during Simon's performance 'The Museum of Incest: A Guided Tour' (publication here).

(3 Above): During the installation of 'The Garden of Forking Paths', Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, May 2009; installation instructions for Rosalind Nashashibi & Lucy Skaer's photographic pieces and post-opening beer landscape at Maisterravalbuena office, 29 May 2009.


15 June 2009: Hans Schabus, Port of Rotterdam team and curators mulling over the location options for Hans's photo shoot of his 'Portscapes' project 'Europahaven, Port of Rotterdam, 17 Juni 2009'.


24–28 June 2009 (2 above): At our temporary office during the non-profit festival 'No Soul for Sale', in New York [Note Michael Jackson's 'breaking news' on screen!].



The Bruce High Quality Foundation in full (we are indebted to them for their fantastic 1983 Burger King set up)



(3 above) Installing Graham Gussin work during 'Sequelism Part 3. Possible, Probable or Preferable futures' in Arnolfini, Bristol (July 2009); hanging around with participating artists Francesc Ruiz and Haegue Yang as well as Nav Haq (Arnolfini curator) before dinner; and knitting lessons from Haegue at Arnolfini's bar.

[All photos: Latitudes | www.lttds.org]

We have uploaded a slideshow with installation shots (CLICK HERE) of the recently inaugurated exhibition 'Sequelism Part 3: Possible, Probable, or Preferable Futures' on view at Arnolfini, Bristol until 20 September 2009.

'Sequelism, Part 3: Possible, Probable or Preferable Futures' is an exhibition project that looks into the future and at that which is yet to happen. It considers how the inexact arena of futurology is used as a means to better comprehend the present and the past.

'Sequelism 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).


Taking the style of a magical realist tale or children's story, Mariana Castillo Deball's 'Nobody Was Tomorrow' (2007) consists of three interconnected stories based on the fictional connections between three real ‘characters’ – ‘Nobody’ a defunct accelerating aging machine, a sprawling fig tree and the remains of a Roman bath in Čačak, Serbia. Castillo Deball makes us mindful of culture’s fortunes through a swirling fable about the sedimentation of time, encapsulated by an image of a damaged book.

'Index (Down)' (2009) is part of Heman Chong's ongoing series ‘Surfacing’, which requires the action of putting up 3000 stickers on a wall within a given set of instructions. The red triangular stickers are intended to resemble the downward pointing arrows used to denote a fall in value of stock exchanges. Considering the paranoia around the scenario of economic freefall, Index (Down) uses this motif to create an abstract pattern evoking a waterfall.

Graham Gussin's 'Hypnotic/Dystopic/Optic' (2009) presents a ‘horizon line’ of rotating record covers for soundtracks to renowned dystopian science fiction films. The covers are set to rotate at the speed at which their images ‘vaporise’ at the limit of visual comprehension. 'In The Not Too Distant Future (Self Portrait with Sleeping Masks)' (2009) is a self-portrait of the artist inspired by a scene from the film La Jetée (1962) concerning an experiment in time travel following a nuclear war.

Francesc Ruiz's stair barriers installation 'Untitled (Bristol)' (2009) takes the shop windows of the high streets in the south of Bristol – East Street and North Street – as sequential units akin to comic-book vignettes. Ruiz has created a narrative around a dystopian future in which destruction, revolt, and anger have invaded the city after an economic downturn.

Jordan Wolfson 'Untitled' (2007) centres on a 1984 Macintosh 128k, the first affordable home computer to use a mouse-driven graphical user interface. The computer is seen stranded by the side of a road in Connecticut, built in the late 1930s following the Great Depression. The soundtrack comprises a triumphalist monologue concerning the emergence of American abstract painting in the 1950s. Wolfson is interested in obsolescence and in these elements as generational touchstones.

Victor Man's three pieces could be read in terms of premonition and symbolic rites which relate to the uncertainty of the future in a similar way that memory relates to the past. A taxidermy fox head is wedged within a metal structure as if a votive or magical offering. Vinyl text on a wall is negated by a neon ‘X’. A ceramic funerary plate bears the image of stars, whose arrangement has often been interpreted by man in terms of fate and fortune.

Haegue Yang's 'Holiday for Tomorrow' (2007) considers our perception of time, and the emotional anticipation of holidays, those socially-agreed days in which labour is suspended and we attempt to rest our bodies and minds. At its centre is a video essay showing Seoul during the Korean harvest holiday Chuseok over which a female voice reflects on the postponement of desire and the dysfunctional hopes triggered by enforced leisure.
Accompanying events and film programme here.

Exhibition curated by Nav Haq (Curator, Arnolfini) and Latitudes.

Supported by the State Corporation for Spanish Cultural Action Abroad (SEACEX), the Direction of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institut Ramon Llull, IFA, National Arts Council, Singapore and The Ratiu Family Foundation.

[Images from top to bottom: Francesc Ruiz x 2, Haegue Yang x 2, Graham Gussin. Photos by Latitudes | www.lttds.org]

Notas de la presentación de Latitudes (en español e inglés)

'Jornadas internacionales de debate para un nuevo Centro de Arte en Barcelona' 
6–7 Julio 2009 
Mesa: 'El Canòdrom, un nuevo equipamiento en Barcelona visto por artistas, críticos y comisarios'.

(Español)

– Anunciar lo antes posible la convocatoria pública para el puesto de dirección. Definir un programa artístico de relevancia local e internacional para el nuevo centro, un centro con personalidad jurídica propia, autónomo e independiente de cambios políticos;

– Elección de un equipo de trabajo (desde técnicos o becarios hasta encargados de producción, seleccionados por sus cualidades profesionales a través de convocatorias públicas y entrevistas personales). Definir conjuntamente un programa artístico, campaña de inauguración, programa de actividades post-inauguración y el uso de los espacios del Canòdrom junto con los arquitectos encargados de la remodelación;

– Conceptualizar una nueva identidad gráfica que respete la fuerte presencia arquitectónica y la historia del edificio – ej. mantener la tipografía, carteles galgos, etc.;

– Programación previa a la inauguración – el Canòdrom debe existir desde ya. Iniciar una presencia mediática local, nacional e internacional. Organizar visitas del edificio para prensa, galeristas, coleccionistas, gente del barrio, etc. pre-inauguración. Dar a conocer el nuevo centro desde dentro y a su programación. Fomentar la transparencia. Crear una nueva audiencia para el Canòdrom, una comunidad – por ej. programación previa a apertura edificio: Bòlit en Girona o el MUSAC en León.

– Programar dentro y fuera del edificio – pensar de modo expansivo e innovador y no limitar la creatividad al espacio de físico del edificio. No olvidar el poder de la web;

– El Canòdrom debe ser un espacio de producción y co-producción (es primordial colaborar con otros centros), experimentación y discusión. Saber tomar riesgos, ser creativo con las posibilidades que ofrece a nivel local e internacional;

– Estimular y nutrir relaciones otros centros de producción local e internacional. Formar parte de un contexto artístico y crear y reforzar la escena cultural;

– Establecer una comisión de expertos / comité asesor independiente (‘Advisory Board’) para dar solidez al programa y estabilidad e independencia a la dirección. El comité ayuda a establecer y a consolidar relaciones con otros centros de igual o similar perfil;

– Crear un equipamiento donde la escena artística se vea representada, donde se cree complicidad con los agentes locales y donde los recursos y facilidades disponibles sean de calidad, con garantías profesionales. Potenciar la profesionalización del sector.

(English)

– Barcelona should be a city that can support its artists within an international context and the new art centre should publicly perform a leading role in this respect. It needs to create a space of dialogue and encounter between Catalan, Spanish and international artists and focus on the active development of practice as well as new audiences.

– In a move symptomatic of and responding to a certain lack of stimulus and critical discussion in the city, the artists Marc Vives, Rubén Grilo, and Alex Reynolds created 'Vena (por la)', an incisive and ongoing series of artist and curator talks which take place in the La Central bookshop. Artists are taking matters into their own hands and starting their own initiatives seemingly because institutions are not providing enough throughput of public talks, or at least not at the most valued level.

– Canòdrom should be an opportunity to link up different constituencies and audiences (from collectors, art students, to graphic designers, galleries, art writers, art historians...)

– One art centre cannot fully substitute for the shortcomings of the Spanish art academy system – what would be the most valuable long-term parallel goal would be to invest in an international post-graduate studio programme on the model of the Stadelschule in Frankfurt or the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Canòdrom should nevertheless have a strong element of professional development and advocacy, critical exchange and debate as part of its programme not as a bolted-on education bonus – it needs to be more than an exhibition space.

– Canòdrom should stimulate, support and create professional artists and curators and lead by example. In the same way, one cannot assume the abstract presence of an audience but needs to actively produce different audiences, a new institution needs to take a lead in the actual formation and conditions of stimulus for the work of artists in society. Artists should be at the centre of the centre, at every step and in all aspects.

Latitudes, July 2009.


CONTENIDOS RELACIONADOS:

• Gone with the wind: on the 'art crunch' and the Centre d'Art de Barcelona, the saga continues... 16 December 2008
• Jornadas entorno al Canòdrom, el futuro Centro de Arte en Barcelona, 6–7 Julio 2009 (3 julio 2009)

'Sequelism Part 3: Possible, Probable or Preferable Futures' (18 July–20 September 2009)

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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