This is a print publication of the inaugural lecture of Research Professor (Lector) Patricia de Vries at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, in Amsterdam. In this lecture, she elaborated on the research area of her research group Art & Spatial Praxis. The research group Art & Spatial Praxis focuses on artistic practices that broaden our imaginations of alternative social orders and ways of living within capitalist city structures.The thematic focus of Art & Spatial Praxis builds on Sylvia Wynter’s rich notion of the plot. With her conception of the plot, Wynter connects the historical enclosures of the plantation to today’s cityscapes. The plot stands for other possibilities that are always present. It represents possibilities rooted in different values and different social orders. This is to say, cityscapes and public spaces are relational, contingent and always contested. The plot challenges the forces of domination, appropriation, exploitation, commodification, gentrification, segregation, digitization, and quantification.What if plot work is a praxis that is socially enacted, embodied, narrativised, and materialised in art practices? What could the plot as artistic praxis be(come)? What constitutes it? What conditions and sustains it? What kind of behaviour, ways of seeing, knowing, and relating does it encourage? In short: what does the plot mean as a spatial art praxis in today’s cityscapes? These are some of the questions the research group Art & Spatial Praxis engages with. These are also pressing questions in the increasingly regulated, privatized, surveilled, and diminished public spaces in ever-more neoliberal cities.Over the years, De Vries has written on a range of topics – be it on fungal co-existence or facial recognition technology: the relationship between society, art, design and research is always the connecting thread.
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The Dutch national platform for artistic research organised a day of talks and discussion regarding the topic of ethics, care, and code of conduct for researchers. The introduction laid out several of the key topics and themes for the day, along with the social contexts (#MeToo, BLM, environmental crisis, Corona pandemic, GDPR, and further topics) that make it necessary to explicitly focus on ethics in our work.
What does collaboration in Dutch inclusive theatres look like, and what key themes can be identified? Data were collected through interviews and co-creative sessions with seven independent theatre makers and members of three participating theatre groups (n=48). Thematic analysis resulted in the proposal of a model that identifies six interconnected core issues central to inclusive theatre practices: the Atomium Model in which dynamic tensions of attracting and repelling forces exist. The study concludes that those involved in inclusive theatre are willing to continuously face artistic and collaborative challenges to fulfil their political ambitions and to dismantle prejudices and barriers. Plain language abstract: We studied the collaboration between theatre makers, actors with and without intellectual disabilities, and coaches in inclusive theatres in the Netherlands. We spoke with seven independent theatre makers and participants from three inclusive theatre groups and organised co-creation sessions. Through this research, we identified six interconnected themes that are essential to collaboration within inclusive theatre practices. These themes are characterised by inherent tensions, such as the balance between pushing personal boundaries for growth and respecting them for safety. We concluded that participants in inclusive theatre continually face artistic and collaborative challenges to achieve their ambition of dismantling prejudices and barriers.
The European creative visual industry is undergoing rapid technological development, demanding solid initiatives to maintain a competitive position in the marketplace. AVENUE, a pan-European network of Centres of Vocational Excellence, addresses this need through a collaboration of five independent significant ecosystems, each with a smart specialisation. AVENUE will conduct qualified industry-relevant research to assess, analyse, and conclude on the immediate need for professional training and educational development. The primary objective of AVENUE is to present opportunities for immediate professional and vocational training, while innovating teaching and learning methods in formal education, to empower students and professionals in content creation, entrepreneurship, and innovation, while supporting sustainability and healthy working environments. AVENUE will result in a systematised upgrade of workforce to address the demand for new skills arising from rapid technological development. Additionally, it will transform the formal education within the five participating VETs, making them able to transition from traditional artistic education to delivering skills, mindsets and technological competencies demanded by a commercial market. AVENUE facilitates mobility, networking and introduces a wide range of training formats that enable effective training within and across the five ecosystems. A significant portion of the online training is Open Access, allowing professionals from across Europe to upgrade their skills in various processes and disciplines. The result of AVENUE will be a deep-rooted partnership between five strong ecosystems, collaborating to elevate the European industry. More than 2000 professionals, employees, students, and young talents will benefit from relevant and immediate upgrading of competencies and skills, ensuring that the five European ecosystems remain at the forefront of innovation and competitiveness in the creative visual industry.
Under the umbrella of artistic sustenance, I question the life of materials, subjective value structures, and working conditions underlying exhibition making through three interconnected areas of inquiry: Material Life and Ecological Impact — how to avoid the accumulation of physical materials/storage after exhibitions? I aim to highlight the provenance and afterlife of exhibition materials in my practice, seeking economic and ecological alternatives to traditional practices through sustainable solutions like borrowing, reselling, and alternative storage methods that could transform exhibition material handling and thoughts on material storage and circulation. Value Systems and Economic Conditions —what do we mean when we talk about 'value' in relation to art? By examining the flow of financial value in contemporary art and addressing the subjectivity of worth in art-making and artists' livelihoods, I question traditional notions of sculptural skill while advocating for recognition of conceptual labour. The research considers how artists might be compensated for the elegance of thought rather than just material output. Text as Archive and Speculation— how can text can store, speculate, and circulate the invisible labour and layers of exhibition making? Through titles, material lists, and exhibition texts, I explore writing's potential to uncover latent structures and document invisible labor, considering text both as an archiving method and a tool for speculating about future exhibitions. Using personal practice as a case study, ‘Conditions for Raw Materials’ seeks to question notions of value in contemporary art, develop alternative economic models, and make visible the material, financial, and relational flows within exhibitions. The research will manifest through international exhibitions, a book combining poetic auto-theoretical reflection with exhibition speculation, new teaching formats, and long-term investigations. Following “sticky relations," of intimacy, economy and conditions, each exhibition serves as a case study exploring exhibition making from emotional, ecological, and economic perspectives.
Het project ‘Data Resonantie’ is een artistiek onderzoeksproject bedoeld om met behulp van moderne technologieën en persoonlijke data nieuwe manieren te ontdekken om in coronatijd veilige, gedeelde openbare ruimtes te creëren. Het onderzoek wil bijdragen aan de ontwikkeling van zowel praktische toepassingen als vernieuwende artistieke methodes in het veld van Mens Machine Interactie op het gebied van veiligheid en privacy in openbare ruimtes waar veel mensen komen en waardoor afstand houden ingewikkeld is. Dat gebeurt in de setting van een aantal labs waarin met persoonlijke data via real-time surveillance een audiovisuele ervaring wordt gegenereerd die participanten een veilige afstand toont, ze laat bijdragen aan de soundscape en ze tegelijkertijd mogelijk bewuster maakt van kwesties rondom het gebruik van persoonlijke data. In de respectievelijke labs zal gebruik worden gemaakt van de expertise van de betrokken partners op het gebied van artistiek onderzoek (Artistic Research Community/Frank Mohr Instituut), experimenteel artistieke settings (Re:Search:Gallery), geluidsresonantie (STEIN) en het gebruik van drones (Omnidones). De centrale vraagstelling is: Hoe kan een artistieke-technisch systeem, dat met behulp van een drone persoonlijke data vertaalt in sensorische ervaringen, individuen in staat stellen om door afstand te houden van elkaar een veilig gedeelde omgeving te co-creëren? Het project is een kruisbestuiving en interdisciplinaire samenwerking tussen een aantal verschillende organisaties in Noord-Nederland; Het is een voorbeeld van de wijze waarop artistiek onderzoekers met een hybride methodologie en met gebruikmaking van verschillende disciplines en expertises ingewikkelde maatschappelijke problemen ter hand kunnen nemen. Daarnaast resulteert het in nieuwe publieke toepassingen voor drone en audio technologieën met de potentie een uitweg te bieden aan sectoren die te lijden hebben onder de corona maatregelen, met in het bijzonder de evenementen industrie en de ermee verbonden horeca en retail.
