Still Making Art Volume Seven at Arti et Amicitiae
Artists: Stephane Barbier Bouvet, Levi van Gelder, Anne de Vries, Valerian Goalec, Susan Kooi, Tom K Kemp, Monica Mays, Ceel Mogami de Haas, Chloe Ribadeau Dumas, Janne Schimmel, Jonas Morgenthaler, Tomasz Skibicki, Philip Ullman, Sara Yukiko
Exhibition title: Still Making Art Volume Seven
Curated by: Aaron McLaughlin
Venue: Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In our current era of overwhelm, all stratums of thought, culture and visual stimuli require the artist to be working overtime, rigorously attempting to make sense of emerging phenomena while offering new configurations as a means of direction through a blizzard of information.
Still Making Art Volume Seven presents a selection of artists who undertake this role, utilising everyday components and narrational threads that still hold potential value within the topography of content society is incessantly producing—a metaphysical inundation I define as the cultural deluge.
A parallel can be drawn with the Age of Discovery, an era that within the context of the Netherlands and Amsterdam boasts a deep-rooted history, arguably being the foundation to the continual technological and cultural innovation that underpins this exhibition and its venue. Even with advanced technology in ship building and navigation, this period saw cartography as largely conjectural, peppered with errors and imagined or nonexistent landmarks1 in the urgency to map the unknown.
Similarly, in the phenomenon of the cultural deluge, there is an urgency for cartographers: contemporary thinkers who can navigate the cultural landscape, making educated guesses, and occasionally discovering their own phantom islands in the process.
In recent years the practice of creating erroneous or imaginative cartographies in diverse forms has decidedly been amplified through the metaphysical processing and understanding of culture. Culture is spawning, decaying, and interweaving at a rapid rate with the aid of immediate global and largely uncensored communication channels.
Each of the artists selected to present their works can be considered both navigators and cartographers of the contemporary cultural landscape. Whereas during the Age of Discovery, explorers and colonists would seek to create a central, master map of newly discovered territories or projections of ‘the unknown’ anchored in a sole viewpoint, here the artists and their respective practices offer diverse and decentralised methodologies for the recording of cultural phenomena. Their idiosyncratic works are emblematic of the exhibition’s curatorial slant, in turn by means of the materials employed, literal conceptual inquiries relating directly to the theme, or visual and formal affinities.
Whether using archival images, artefacts and production processes (Sara Yukiko, Monica Mays, Susan Kooi) digital methodologies including gaming, ai, 3d printing (Janne Schimmel, Philip Ullman), theoretical and conceptual research-based approaches (Tom K Kemp, Valérian Goalec), this diverse presentation of works enter into dialogue with one another and engage the viewer in a reflection upon our contemporary cultural landscape and the tools, techne, and discourses we use to interface with it.
[1] The early 2nd-century Greek geographer Ptolemy laid the groundwork for later cartographers such as Martin Waldseemüller and Gerardus Mercator, who while defining the world map also added various inaccuracies to which took centuries to be rectified. Another example of approximative cartography is that of 17th-century English cartographer John Speed, who often produced maps including mythical creatures based on biblical descriptions rather than geographical realities.
Still Making Art Volume Seven, 2024, exhibition view, Arti et Amicitiae, AmsterdamStill Making Art Volume Seven, 2024, exhibition view, Arti et Amicitiae, AmsterdamTom K Kemp, Exposition, 2024, single channel 4k video, 00:25:05Tom K Kemp, Exposition, 2024, single channel 4k video, 00:25:05Chloe Ribadeau Dumas, Let the snow fall, 2021, trash can ashtray, sand, chewing gum, cigarette butts, paper, stirrer, 31 x 31 x 62 cmChloe Ribadeau Dumas, Let the snow fall, 2021, trash can ashtray, sand, chewing gum, cigarette butts, paper, stirrer, 31 x 31 x 62 cmChloe Ribadeau Dumas, Let the snow fall, 2021, trash can ashtray, sand, chewing gum, cigarette butts, paper, stirrer, 31 x 31 x 62 cmAnne de Vries, The Great Turn, 2022, messing coating, patina, resin core, semi- customised 1/6 action figuresAnne de Vries, The Great Turn, 2022, messing coating, patina, resin core, semi- customised 1/6 action figuresAnne de Vries, The Great Turn, 2022, messing coating, patina, resin core, semi- customised 1/6 action figuresAnne de Vries, The Great Turn, 2022, messing coating, patina, resin core, semi- customised 1/6 action figuresAnne de Vries, The Great Turn, 2022, messing coating, patina, resin core, semi- customised 1/6 action figuresJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, A (left): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, beads, square-section key, metal book fittings, 125 x 40 x 40 cm, B (right): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, Crocs Jibbitz “skull”, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, square- section key, metal chains, paper clips, 125 x 40 x 40 cmJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, A (left): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, beads, square-section key, metal book fittings, 125 x 40 x 40 cm, B (right): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, Crocs Jibbitz “skull”, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, square- section key, metal chains, paper clips, 125 x 40 x 40 cmJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, A (left): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, beads, square-section key, metal book fittings, 125 x 40 x 40 cm, B (right): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, Crocs Jibbitz “skull”, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, square- section key, metal chains, paper clips, 125 x 40 x 40 cmJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, A (left): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, beads, square-section key, metal book fittings, 125 x 40 x 40 cm, B (right): Stainless steel music stand, modified shirt collars, Crocs Jibbitz “skull”, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, square- section key, metal chains, paper clips, 125 x 40 x 40 cmStill Making Art Volume Seven, 2024, exhibition view, Arti et Amicitiae, AmsterdamMonica Mays, It’s my party, 2023, found wood, fur, footballsMonica Mays, It’s my party, 2023, found wood, fur, footballsMonica Mays, It’s my party, 2023, found wood, fur, footballsMonica Mays, It’s my party, 2023, found wood, fur, footballsJanne Schimmel, Seeders and Leechers, 2022, casted aluminium, casted bronze, casted tin, ceramics, various gemstones, various computer hardware, lcd screens, RGB lights, 152 x 90 x 15 cmJanne Schimmel, Seeders and Leechers, 2022, casted aluminium, casted bronze, casted tin, ceramics, various gemstones, various computer hardware, lcd screens, RGB lights, 152 x 90 x 15 cmJanne Schimmel, First Person Hugger 2, 2024, casted aluminium, casted tin, 3D printed resin, various computer hardware, lcd screen, 45 x 51 x 10 cmJanne Schimmel, First Person Hugger 2, 2024, casted aluminium, casted tin, 3D printed resin, various computer hardware, lcd screen, 45 x 51 x 10 cmJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, C: Stainless steel music stand, star- shaped balloon, modified suit, spectacle straps, Crocs Jibbitz “cool!”, plastic key tag, miniature fake flowers, ID clip, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, metal brackets, hair clipper, expired Uber Eats voucher, 925 silver earring with glass diamond, discarded sunglasses, iRing aluminium, 170 x 70 x 60 cmJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, C: Stainless steel music stand, star- shaped balloon, modified suit, spectacle straps, Crocs Jibbitz “cool!”, plastic key tag, miniature fake flowers, ID clip, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, metal brackets, hair clipper, expired Uber Eats voucher, 925 silver earring with glass diamond, discarded sunglasses, iRing aluminium, 170 x 70 x 60 cmJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, C: Stainless steel music stand, star- shaped balloon, modified suit, spectacle straps, Crocs Jibbitz “cool!”, plastic key tag, miniature fake flowers, ID clip, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, metal brackets, hair clipper, expired Uber Eats voucher, 925 silver earring with glass diamond, discarded sunglasses, iRing aluminium, 170 x 70 x 60 cmJonas Morgenthaler, Cross Collar Sadness, 2023, C: Stainless steel music stand, star- shaped balloon, modified suit, spectacle straps, Crocs Jibbitz “cool!”, plastic key tag, miniature fake flowers, ID clip, nuts & washers, wing nuts, threaded rots, metal brackets, hair clipper, expired Uber Eats voucher, 925 silver earring with glass diamond, discarded sunglasses, iRing aluminium, 170 x 70 x 60 cmValérian Goalec, Everyone is comfortable but free, 3, 2024, magnetic motor system, coffee, borrowed cup, borrowed waiting chairValérian Goalec, Everyone is comfortable but free, 3, 2024, magnetic motor system, coffee, borrowed cup, borrowed waiting chairValérian Goalec, Everyone is comfortable but free, 3, 2024, magnetic motor system, coffee, borrowed cup, borrowed waiting chairStill Making Art Volume Seven, 2024, exhibition view, Arti et Amicitiae, AmsterdamValérian Goalec, Dialogues, 2024, Kodak print, aluminium frameStephane Barbier Bouvet, FYI, 2022, galvanised steel, lighting system, 104 x 74 x 28 cmStephane Barbier Bouvet, FYI, 2022, galvanised steel, lighting system, 104 x 74 x 28 cmTomasz Skibicki, SHAME, 2024, single channel audio, 00:04:44Tomasz Skibicki, SHAME, 2024, single channel audio, 00:04:44Sara Yukiko, Anthill 1, 2022, wood, newsprint, 40 x 51 cmSara Yukiko, Anthill 1, 2022, wood, newsprint, 40 x 51 cmCeel Mogami de Haas, Susan Howe, My Emily Dickinson, p.21, 2024, oil paint and embroidery on canvas, 30 x 30 cmCeel Mogami de Haas, Deborah Levy, The Man Who Saw Everything, p.207, 2024, oil paint and embroidery on canvas, 30 x 30 cmSusan Kooi, The Angel in the House, 2022, found fabrics, thread, string and ribbon, 200 x 202 cmLevi van Gelder, Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), 2024, styrofoam, paper-maché, acrylic paint, steel, paper, 100 x 100 x 20 cmLevi van Gelder, Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), 2024, styrofoam, paper-maché, acrylic paint, steel, paper, 100 x 100 x 20 cmLevi van Gelder, Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), 2024, styrofoam, paper-maché, acrylic paint, steel, paper, 100 x 100 x 20 cmLevi van Gelder, Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), 2024, styrofoam, paper-maché, acrylic paint, steel, paper, 100 x 100 x 20 cmLevi van Gelder, Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), 2024, styrofoam, paper-maché, acrylic paint, steel, paper, 100 x 100 x 20 cmLevi van Gelder, Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), 2024, styrofoam, paper-maché, acrylic paint, steel, paper, 100 x 100 x 20 cmPhilip Ullman, The Pigsty (work in progress), 2024, HD single channel 00:05:50Philip Ullman, The Pigsty (work in progress), 2024, HD single channel 00:05:50