Özlem Altin, ‘No Story, No’ (2015)
Lightbox installation for Witte de With CCA, Rotterdam.
Tag Archives: Witte de With
Bik Van der Pol
Bik Van der Pol, ‘Up close’ (2014)
For the exhibition ‘The Part In The Story’ Bik Van der Pol decided to bring the sculpture ‘Two Rectangles Vertical Gyrating’ (1971) by George Rickey, and install it laying down on the floor of the exhibition space. This kinetic sculpture, normally installed on Rotterdam’s busy Binnenwegplein, has somewhat of a contested history. After recent renovations of the square causing an elevation of the ground, the blades of the sculpture rotate at a mere 2.11 meters above street level. The sculpture was hence considered a safety hazard because of the danger of it hitting the heads of passers-by. In prevention of any accidents, the sculpture was fenced off in 2012 and temporarily removed later that same year.
A video showing Rickey’s sculpture in action on its old location.
Tomo Savic-Gecan
Untitled (2011) by Tomo Savic-Gecan
The room shown in the movie is one out of four rooms for the installation ‘untitled’ (2011). Savic-Gecan made this installation for the Witte de With, Rotterdam (NL) exhibition Melanchotopia. The text on the wall explains: “Every change in temperature in the city of Rotterdam causes one of the spaces in Witte de With to open and close.”
Polder Cup
Last Saturday the art-/soccer-event Polder Cup was held in the ‘polders’ of Ottoland, near Rotterdam. Ottoland was an open event conceived by Spanish artist Maider Lopez, on invitation of Witte de With and SKOR.
Polder Cup was a soccer tournament in the middle of the polders of Ottoland, which meant that the (bumpy) field was crossed by trenches with water that the players were not allowed to cross. This made the game a little more unpredictable than usual.
It was a nice day, reminiscing of high school sporting day events and village-parties…
Tue Greenfort
Tue Greenfort, ‘Bio-Wurstwolke – After Dieter Roth 1969’ (2007)
‘Daimlerstraße 38’ (2001)
The animals were allured by a sausage. When the fox bit in the bait, it activated the camera connected by a cord with the sausage. One week later the animals had learned to eat the sausage without being photographed.
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Goshka Macuga’s ‘(On) The nature of the Beast’
Goshka Macuga, ‘The nature of the beast’ (2009)
Macuga was commisioned to make new work by the Whitechapel Gallery in London, where Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ had once been exhibited. Inspired by this historic fact, Macuga made a replica of the Guernica tapestry that Nelson Rockefeller commisioned in 1955. Some thirty years later this was lent to the United Nations Headquarters in New York where it has hung ever since outside the Security Council. Offered as a deterrent to war, in 2003 the tapestry was covered by a blue curtain in front of which Colin Powell delivered his fateful speech on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Macuga’s installation ‘The nature of the beast’ in the Whitechapel Gallery consisted of the Guernica’s replica, as well as a round meeting table (a symbol of democracy) in front of it. The room had been designed to accommodate meetings, discussions and debates around the central table, with Guernica once again as a backdrop. Groups were invited to organise these events free of charge during opening hours.
and the moral of the story is…
Seen yesterday at Witte de With‘s 24-hour film program ‘and the moral of the story is…’;
‘Wall Street’, by Oliver Stone
‘Enron, the smartest guys in the room’, by Alex Gibney
A combination that put both films in a different perspective. The documentary on the rise and fall of this American super-company was completely sickening..
More films at WdW today until midnight!
Oskar Dawicki
Oskar Dawicki, ‘I’m sorry’ (2010)
Live in front of the audience Dawicki reads a text explaining he’s sorry for the failed performance he’s giving. Finally, to make up for wasting the audience’s time and the curator’s chance of putting on a good show, he hands out sweets while a taperecorder plays the sound of him crying and once more apologizing.
A performance seen in Rotterdam during Witte de With’s performance cycle ‘Let us compare mythologies’. Pictures by Peter Rakossy.
More fine work by Dawicki downstairs….
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