25 maart 2021
Tagarchief: Platforms Project
Artemis Potamianou
20 februari 2020
Excuses voor het achterlopen van dit dagboek/kunstblog, maar mijn solotentoonstelling bij Ruimtevaart neemt veel tijd in beslag.
Vorige week was Artemis Potamianou uit Athene bij STROOM te gast als gastcurator en zij bezocht gedurende die dagen een behoorlijk aantal ateliers van Haagse kunstenaars. Dit gebeurde op voorspraak van EX-MÊKH’s Ellen Rodenberg die mede verantwoordelijk is voor het educatieve gedeelte van Platforms Project, de beurs voor onafhankelijke platforms die jaarlijks in Athene wordt georganiseerd.
Educatie tijdens Platforms Project gebeurt met behulp van studenten van Artemis en vrijwilligers.
De laatste dag gaf zij een lezing voor geïnteresseerden waarin zij over haar Griekse praktijk in de kunstwereld vertelde. Die praktijk is veelvormig en internationaal en zij verdeelde haar activiteiten in die van curator, kunstenaar en organisator. Van huis uit is zij kunsthistorica en ook praktiserend kunstenaar èn medewerker aan de universiteit waar zij les geeft. Als curator maakte ze tentoonstellingen met Joseph Kosuth, Damien Hirst ,Joseph Beuys, Terry Atkinson, Peter Greenaway, Candice Brietz, Guerrilla Girls, etc. Als kunstenaar zou je haar conceptueel appropriation-artist kunnen noemen: zij neemt onderdelen van kunstwerken en verwerkt die in collages. De manier waarop EX-MÊKH met haar te maken kreeg was door deel te nemen aan Platforms Project: eerst als sideshow bij de belangrijke Levantijnse kunstbeurs Art Athína die Platforms Project op den duur als een bedreiging begon te ervaren. Toen zij werden uitgesloten van de beurs organiseerde Potamianou op zeer korte termijn en in financieel onzekere omstandigheden Platforms Project als zelfstandige beurs midden in Athene in een groot kantoorpand. Nadat dit een succes werd tijdens het jaar dat de Documenta deels in Athene plaats vond kreeg ze het jaar daarop de beschikking over een van de ruimtes waarin de Documenta te zien was: de Nikos Kessanlis Exhibition Hall van de Athens School of Fine Arts, een perfecte ruimte waarin de beurs in een bijzonder open opzet plaats vindt.
De lezing werd onverwacht goed bezocht en was voor ieder een interessante en geslaagde gebeurtenis.
Voor de lezing liep het aardig vol
De geweldige Jane Hultman die STROOM binnenkort nog gaat missen introduceerde de spreker voor het publiek.
Waarna Ellen Rodenberg over haar betrokkenheid bij het bezoek van Artemis vertelde.
Vervolgens nam de spreekster na een korte video het woord met een gedreven en enthousiast verhaal.
Over een ontwerp voor de Turbine room van de Tate Modern
De concepten achter haar curatoriele activiteiten werden verduidelijkt
Zoals hier een route die een kunstenaar in een tentoonstelling aflegt, en die van een curator en die van een gewone bezoeker
En dan nog een collage die in de begeleidende PowerPoint getoond werd.
Tot slot nog een beeld van Platforms Project 2018, altijd erg goed bezocht met enthousiast publiek.
Platforms Project 2019 – set-up Equilibrium
15 mei 2019
This year again, EX-MÊKH participates in Platforms project in Athens. It takes place in the Nikos Kessanlis-exhibition hall of the Athens School for Fine Arts for the second time after Documenta resided there. Art Athína will not take place this year and during this fair students will show their work in open studios. Expectations are high so we start setting up our installation. We decided to show the individual works of all three of us in one large installation, in perfect equilibrium. In this way we illustrate the way EX-MÊKH has worked for 13 years already: we developed an understanding of each others needs and fortes. Here you will find an impression of the building up:
First the backdrop: Ellen Rodenberg’s paintings and a tekst of kees Koomen written over it with wool and buddies. It says: EX-MÊKH – particles enclosed – in perfect equilibrium – close and at a distance
Then we start adding our work to it
As does maarten Schepers with his sculptures
At night EX-MÊKH is invited by the notorious Topp & Dubio for dinner.
Equilibrium
14 mei 2019
EX-MÊKH is deze week in Athene voor deelname aan Platforms Project, verslagen volgen zo spoedig mogelijk:
TALKS@Art Athina 2016
28 mei 2016
On saturday EX-MÊKH was invited for TALKS@Art Athina. First four platforms were able to introduce themselves and after that we had the opportunity to describe our collaboration with A-Trans from Berlin. It was interesting to hear what other initiatives had to say about their practice, Some were very pragmatic and fast moving and some were very serious and theoretical. Social and political circumstances are having a great influence on the way initiatives function, but motivated artists find their way allways!
KangarooCourt from Greece made a serious and deliberate statement about their intentions. Their presentation in the booth on the other hand, a performance called Worst Case Scenario, was light and ironical.
A video from one of their activities
As allways, George Oreopoulos moderated the talks
Linda Weiss explained about Scotty Enterprises Berlin. She made an installation of the booth of this initiative in which she worked with a poster she found in Athens to make a statement about “Strategies of the non-stratified: Thinking the outside (Power)”
The story of Amrali Ghasemi of Parking Gallery from Iran impressed me: curating exhibitions in Teheran in the garage of his parents he developed a program, constantly reacting on different kinds of pressure he continued by making pragmatic adaptations to the exhibitions.
Petri Saariko from Finland represented Kallio Kunsthalle. Petri likes to work with socially deviant people as could be concluded from the booth of his initiative. Coming from the world of computertechnology it is a great step, but the lively presentations we were happy to experience seem to suggest this is far more satisfactory than the world of ICT.
In his images we could also see that the Kallio Kunsthalle can do much with little
Then the Collaborative Projects took their place behind the table: Beaston Projects, rosalux and A Brooks Art explained how they organized their very successful presentation at Platforms projects by word of Bella Easton (left), Julia Riddiough (middle) and Tony Domingos
One of the projects at rosalux in Berlin
Peetri Saarikko was very interested in the stories of the artists
Then it was time for Greek artists collaborating: Orizontas Gegonoton and En-Flo that had the large amount of suit-cases around one of the booths. Apparently it was part a a large project that took the artists all over the country.
The last collaborative project was the project under construction of EX-MÊKH and A-Trans. Your humble servant told about the practice of EX-MÊKH and how, during the first Art Athina A-Trans and EX-MÊKH found themselves to be having a similar attitude and similar interests, which might be the basis for collaboration.
There was quite some public during the talk
Then I talked about the parallel Malieveld Project the artists of EX-MÊKH were involved in. For example here with a work by Maarten Schepers. The Malieveld is a large public space in Den Haag where artists gather on saturday-mornings to make, present and document works between 11.00 and 12.00 h
EX-MÊKH collaborates with other initiatives as here in Italy with Werkbank, Kunsthalle Eurocentre Lana and Quartair. This is a performance of mine during the opening of the exhibition called Mirror Man
And recently we started to collaborate with A-Trans. We made an exhibition called Augentausch in the space of A-Trans in Berlin, which fitted in the series Recipro-City of A-Trans
Here Isolde Nagel of A-Trans talks about the history of her platform
During Augentausch we also did performances. Ellen Rodenberg tries to have visitors collaborate in making art during the opening.
And Marian Wijnvoord, artist with A-Trans, has similar interests. She invades private space with her Living Room Project in which she has her work in peoples living space for three months. This is documented and an exhibition is made of the project later.
Framed Divergence
May 26, 2016
At Platforms Project during Art Athina 2016 EX-MÊKH presented it’s installation Framed Divergence, consisting of works by Maarten Schepers, Ellen Rodenberg and Kees Koomen. Images in a cinematographic cave, formed by the light shed by the artists on reality:
View of the booth
View on right side
view on left side
Maarten Schepers: no title
Ellen Rodenberg: composition made of disposable materials
Another view on the right side of the booth
Kees Koomen
Under – Kees Koomen: Street sounds. Above – Maarten Schepers: No title
Maarten Schepers: No title
Ellen Rodenberg: Composition
Kees Koomen: Street sounds
Kees Koomen: no title
Art Athina 2015 V
4 juni 2015
Today the fair would open: after some fine-tuning of the booth the insurance people came by and at 15.00 h the press-opening would start. Then, at 17.00 h, the VIP-opening started. Later that evening it would really get crowded, but less than last year, when the VIP-opening and the general opening were combined. Participants in Platform Projects can not sell because here the idealistic initiatives present themselves at an idealistic rate, lower than the commercial galleries. Reactions and interest were encouraging for EX-MÊKH of whom you can see the works here:
The posters Ben Faydherbe makes for us are better each year as you can see. He is really a secret member of EX-MÊKH!
We had a good view from the other side of the ring on which Platforms Projects was situated
This is an oversight of the booth from one angle
And this is one from another angle
These are details from my work, the Jihadi and the signature (Kees Koomen, KK with one K mirrorred to also refer to the video breathing in-breathin out) were both first shown at the Malieveld-project in Den Haag.
These are also mine with an experimental text-work from my diaries
This morning Maarten Schepers added the flags of which any visitor that wanted one could take it with him. The Palette and other work on the background are done by Ellen Rodenberg and the Photographs are by Maarten Schepers
Another birds view
Ellen Rodenberg’s work
Flags: Maarten Schepers
Boat: Maarten Schepers
General overview of the booth of EX-MÊKH
Art Athina 2015-IV
3 juni 2015
Our fourth day in Athens would be the day of truth: would our plans work and would we be able to show a coherent image? Everyone of us had been working seperately on his or her part of the EX-MÊKH-presentation, keeping the others informed of what was happening in the studio. Ellen Rodenberg was not present but she gave us precise information on how her contribution should be installed. We decided on a working order and off we were!
The empty booth and our work in suitcases
First the centre of it all: a rubber boat, put up as if it were a ceiling. Maarten Schepers main contribution.
Some very meticulous positioning was needed.
Our lovely assistent was a bit hesitant at first, but she helped us out quite a bit eventually.
And this was the result at the end of the first day.
The flags are Ellen Rodenbergs, so are the drawings on it and the painting behind it. The photographs are done by Maarten Schepers
This work is done by your correspondent
Another view at the beautiful drawings of Ellen Rodenberg
Which were put back to back in one frame
EX-MÊKH@ Platforms Project – Art Athina day 9: Source Flat – EX=MÊKH
19 mei 2014
Today we return to Holland satisfied, with many wonderful memories and looking back on a rewarding stay in Athens. I would like to end these posts with a selection of pictures I made of our own booth which was the reason we came: to present the works of EX-MÊKH, Ellen Rodenberg, Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen and to make friends.
EX-MÊKH@ Platforms Project – Art Athina day 7
17 mei 2014
A brief round through the fair to see how things develop:
The REM Brand Name Project is doing very well selling tickets for the lottery , A1 is a nice picture!
The explosion of Speech engages a lot of people it seems!
Andrea Hvistendahl changed the view on her projhect Mind on matter completely
Lots of stones have been written on
Ellen Rodenberg is tireless in her attempt to have people experience what she does
She really gets them goìng!
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