So you see I am asking for 200 Euro to help us with the material costs, you had offered 300 for Christmas..

But there is a problem, the guys at the city council don’t like the guys at the art council and there is a stand off.

So we  are not going to pay for any art project…

RailTracker Railways AFFILIATES Resources

On the 20 of October 2010 at 14h00 I set foot on China for the 4th Beijing international art Biennale. A different China to the one I had experienced in Africa in 1987. The well-marked roads leading to the centre of the city were that of a standardised modern world type. I mean, as I was sitting back in the taxi seat with the window slightly open catching the breeze thinking, if you would take away the road signs in our uniformed modern cities you could be any where in the world. We passed skyscraper after skyscraper and finally my mobile phone gps system showed we were approaching the Beijing Hotel.
In the hotel lobby I was met by one of friendly members of the Chinese Artists Association, and was given a hotel room key card, a name badge and a beautiful catalogue of all 562 art pieces.
`Meet us here at 4:30 pm´, she said, stressing the 4:30. `the busses will take us to the banquet this evening.´
I had arrived a day to late. There were no earlier flight to Beijing. The moon festival, all the  flights were fully booked. I was not able to see the opening of the exhibition in the National Art Museum of China. The catalogue made up for that, and in my room with the TV playing a chinese soap  ‘to love is immune’, I made a study of the art works. 535 artists.

Five hundred and thirty-five thinking about Environment Concerns and our Human Existence
At 16:45, five buses filled with some two hundred artists left the hotel with a police escort  towards the Olympic city for the banquet. While we walked the last bit to the our feast hall in the Green Convention Center, being photographed and photographing, I felt we were  true Olympiads.
An enormous hall filled with tables covered in deep orange cloths, plates, cutlery and wine glasses invited us in. Near the stage, up centre, a place for the extra honourable members with a red table-cloth. The seating arrangement was easy, we sat down, introduced ourselves, by name and country. How easy and gentle the evening flowed. We were all humble artists.

What do you mean by humble? someone asked later on.
We were all approachable, like small talk. Yet our essence, our art, was heavy, something larger than ourselves and its awkward size difficult to control.
Twenty three dishes were served.
In physical existence, the time we are awake, the artists weaves and twists, with time and space to find a physical form for the creation. Time to make money and money to make time to make the creation. Time to share with day jobs, trivial necessities and the hunger to create. Time gained to be used to stare blankly into space. Space to have to fill with time. A concern about the artists and his own existence in his environment.

Environment Concerns and our Human Existence, we are aware that this subject is bigger than us. The next morning this is the discussion point for the conference were abstracts are expanded and opinions given.
”seeking harmony without uniformity”, ”modern transformation”, ”flower and bird”, ”global art, rapid”, ”the character of land is changing, changing urban space” are just a few phrases.
It should come a no surprise that China chose this theme as chinese art has always made a clear connection between home environment, harmony and nature, and it is interesting to note that art academies in China gave a department of Environmental Art. The art works presented by China in the Biennale, were of very high standard.  Also the works  which I saw in art galleries were strong in concept with a very high quality workmanship.

Each time we had a break I was astounded to be surrounded by so many artists. In the queue for a coffee, or in the elevator, or at the lunch table, a conversation could be struck up with ease.
‘What do you do?’ we were on the same level, ‘sculptor, printmaker, painter,’ and when the conversation lingered on about our children, mobiles phones were exchanged with blurred pictures of our infants and we recognised each others struggle, doubt and calculated movement behind each action in our work of creation.
After a quick-lunch I was able to get out and walk up Wangfujing street towards the National Art Museum to see the artworks. Having met the artists (as a group) I felt to be in the right mood to see and ”listen” to their creation. The front gate of the national museum of modern arts was proudly draped in a green banner announcing the exhibition and guarded by a stout soldier standing to attention at the gate. I showed my badge to the guard and a museum attendant and made my way towards the entrance.
The exhibition, like the artists, was diverse and exotic. High art low art. The gathering of the artworks was astounding. It is important to note that the Beijing international art Biennale was an open call to artists. Announcements of the event were spread throughout the world, via print and especial the internet. The gallery, museums and art bureaucrats filters were dismantled and there was direct communication between the artists and the curators of the BIAB. This is remarkable as China is perceived as being closed and cautious. In my city, such open calls are snubbed and sniggered at by the art bureaucrats of the Hague. The BIAB makes a new step forward involving the artists of the world and the public of the world, each with their own starting point. As I walk through the rooms with 562 art works from all over the world, I remember my walk through the gate of the Chinese built railway station in Dar Salaam were the blend of Africa and China was so awe-inspiring.

http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/ziliao/3602/3604/t18009.htm

Melt Art Fair

October 12^th -17^th Tue to Sat 11am – 6pm, Sun: 11am – 5pm
Private View: 13^th October 6pm – 8.30pm (RSVP)

Arthemisia.eu is delighted to present Melt Art Fair at the Mile End Pavilion. Offering a fresh alternative to the trad itional art fair culture, Melt is an independent venture showcasing a variety of disciplines – painting, photography, sculpture, installation and video.
Based a stone’s throw away from the Olympic Park, Melt will unite emerging artists from London’s East End artistic community with a cohort of  international artists, both promoting the art scene in the East End abroad, whilst granting international artists an introduction to the London art world.

View participating artist profiles at: http://arthemisia.eu/melt.html

read more on about my project: /time-capsule-spare-parts/

Find out more: www.arthemisia.eu

'Vegeterian dog' on the wall of the Modern Art Museum in Beijing

Before sending my work to the BIAB, there was a question from the shipping company, how much should we insure your work for?
How much? the material and time, the effort I put into the painting. How much is my emotional value? How much?
Once I had a painting caught up in an explosion, it flew up into the sky and was gone.

Both our environment and art could be considered as priceless. Priceless as in worthless or as unaffordable. On the internet we can find out what is the price of one m2 of a painting, a kilogram of sculpture or one hectare of virgin rainforest. But what if the forest, or artwork is destroyed and lost to us? With what standards do we measure this loss? In my talk, I shall take you through several examples and will point out methods of placing a value on art and our environment without having to use the monetary system.

Needless to say, money is rather handy, it fits your wallet and you can exchanged goods with them. The value of the products that you buy go up in price or down, depending on demand and supply. And the value of money goes down, like having a hole in your wallet. As an artist, you want there to be a demand for your artwork so that the price goes up. As an art collector you have a good art investment if the price of the work goes up. The emotional value of the art work stands loose from art prices going up or down.
Have you ever noticed that on the news bulletins, art is always mentioned with how much it cost, or how much it was bought for?
This is the same for the environment. The oil disaster in the gulf of Mexico, immediately had a price tag on it. As if money will fix the ecological disaster?
We have fallen over a trivial mater, namely money. Money is a side issue, not the main issue. When money comes into play we play by certain rules. In today culture, we have excepted the rules as being the only rules. As far as our environment is concerned, we think we can trade our carbon emission credits. But does our environment what to play the game?

Rules|
In 1998 I came into contact with 3 artists, we were young and angry and we were all ready to break the rules. We wanted to break rules that compelled us to think in terms of the art market. The commercial rules that hindered us in our thinking and painting. Together with 8 artists we formed an art group, Gaidaro, and we set ahead planning an exhibition of black and white paintings. Further more we wanted to make our own book.
Not more that an year later our first exhibition opened in Amsterdam, black and white, with no titles and no names next to the paintings, and no prices. We wanted the public to look at the art works, not at the price, or the maker. This exhibition went on to Madrid and Athens bringing our ideas to different art cultures in Europe (and we also got feed back from the 3 different cultures).
In all three cities we had reactions of fascination, a breath of fresh air, in awe of, people saw colours in the black and white work, they felt something new and they came to look at the work.
And at the same time there was confusion. People felt awkward and disorientated not being able to find the labels and were afraid to comment on the painting, and no prices? Did that mean we amateurs.
It meant our paintings like our environment is priceless.
Further some of the artists where not comfortable with the idea of turning our backs on the art-market, and they felt it would endangering their art career.

the second exhibition.
The Dutch ambassador in Greece Paul Brouwer, came to our fist exhibition in Athens and liked what he saw and liked our spirit. In 2000 he invited us to take part in the Holland festival and organized the best exhibition space in Athens.

Support.
The other-self project was initiated. We painting together, one after the other on the same canvas, or even simultaneously on the same work. We were destroying the other and ourselfs, but pushing towards new boundaries. It was a challenge to let go of our emotions. Our ego’s were roughly stepped upon. But our work released us from the ownership of the painting, and passed into something we could not own, yet we had full responsibility of each piece of art work as if it were our own.
This exhibition was more difficult for the public to follow, but people picked up the meaning of non commercialism, looking at new paths, interchange and exchange. Working together across a platform. We as artists were making the choices
The public also voiced their frustration, why are they not for sale, is my money not good enough.
And the artists where struggled too. There was no instant pay off. There was no guide.
We had to do all the work, we had to redefine our own professionalism.

While we were busy forming our ideas, there was an other great change. The internet had become accessible to us. That meant freedom of information and the access to information. Open access to information. As artists we could get into direct contact with people thinking in similar ways.

Let me come back to the paintings made by several artists. No it is not for sale, but we are fully responsible for it. Just like a litre of air should be, 1000 hectare of rain forest, or the marine life in the gulf of Mexico. No it is not for sale, and yes we are responsible.

Our projects since then have continued, and we have chosen for a wider scope of artists, where art works stand loose from the maker. Like so many art project around the world including the Beijing Art Biennial, we too place adverts and call for artists on the internet, and people find us. The strength lies in the fact that we can access information and acquire information, without a board , directors, a schoolteacher, or unions filtering a choosing for us.
New art projects nowadays go so far as to say, we are only interested in the image, not the maker and the resume.

How does this tie in with ecology? As I mentioned earlier, natural disasters are immediately linked with the millions of dollars of damage? Will the money fix and replace a species of fish now extinct after the disaster? As in the case of art, money is a side matter. Our ecology does not belong to us, and yet we are fully responsible . By creating an awareness and open access to information we are able to make a step forward
And not through the internet alone. Like the Beijing art Biennial and so many other art projects, the contacts are made through the internet, then the projects and idea have to be materialized and become tangible for both artist and public.

To summarise

Open access to information with support from third parties enable us to materialise projects that will inspire us and the citizens of the world to take responsibility of our destiny.

Current project : Melt
12-17 October 2010
Mile End Pavilion,  London
Start date: 12-Oct-2010 End date: 17-Oct-2010
Coinciding with the well-established Art Frieze and Scope art fairs, Melt presents the work of artists working in a variety of disciplines with an emphases on concept and craftmanship.

the situation:
12 wooden objects resembling  old machine part casting patterns for sand molded casting are showcased.
The making of patterns is a skilled trade related to the trades of tool and die making and moldmaking. Pattern makers learn their skills through apprenticeships and trade schools over many years. The pattern makers use specially designed measuring equipment that are scaled in such a way that the pattern is made slightly larger in relation to the shrinkage of the cast iron.

• On the 12th of October 6 casting patterns are displayed in the exhibition MELT.
• a unique tag is written on each object.
• After the 17 the of  October 2010  the 12 objects are dispersed among 6 charity shops in London as old casting patterns.

In the mean time, on this  internet blog a post with, photographs and a full set of descriptions plus the unique identification tag of the 12 objects are set to be published on the web on the 1st of November 2015 at 12:00. The post will also describe my life and personal thoughts of the summer 2010.
The internet blog page will hold the identity and the unique tags of the casting patterns for five years.

Will people be intrigued enough by the objects, buy them and keep them?
Will someone Google (or what ever in 2015) the unique tag after the 1st of November 2015?
What will their story be? 654FK_VAN67TRP

Now my work has a work number 55-2-1, a wooden crate was build and it has been transported to Beijing. I have a ticket to Beijing and my visa is pasted proudly in my passport. I am most excited to go.
The opening ceremony will start on Monday the 20th of September and on the 21st the symposium will begin. I am most excited to take part.
the report:/a-report-on-the-4th-beijing-international-art-biennale/

The theme:
the environment concern and human existence and the ideal of art .
I shall be presenting
placing a value on art and our environment.

Our environment and art run parallel as both could be considered as priceless. Priceless as in worthless or as unaffordable. What is the price of one m2 of a painting or one hectare of virgin rainforest. Once a painting or forest is destroyed and lost to us, what is their value and by what standard do we measure this loss?
I will show examples from the art group Gaidaro. when we exhibited art works to the public without names, prices and titles. I shall discuss the reaction of artists and public.
Is there a way to re-evaluate our art and the environment without a monetary value but by maintaining the awareness of their importance for our human existence? The internet is already providing us with part of the solution. What other solutions are there to enhance the global awareness?

read on /placing-a-value-on-art-and-our-environment/

link to fourth Beijing International Art Biennale website http://www.bjbiennale.com.cn

‘Yes you reported a case about discrimination’
‘Yes’, I explain, that we (Sofia Kapnissi and myself) both applied for a membership at Stroom the centre for arts in the Hague. ‘The odd thing is, you see’, I continue, ‘that for the last 11 years we work together, so you see our artists resume are practically the same, but I am a he, she is a she and she comes from Greece.
To come to the point Stroom has told her (through a letter) that she is no longer a professional artists and have barred her membership.’
‘You wrote in your report that this is because of her gender or that see is Greek? Do you have that in black and white from the organization?
‘No of course not.’
‘So you have a suspicion about this discrimination?’
My heart sank, and I could feel the director and employees of Stroom snigger away.
‘You should,’ the voice continued in a slightly patronising voice.
A patronising voice not trying to offend me, but rather to help the general situation in a well-trained social soft sort of way, ‘get in contact with the organisation, and get a clarification.’
Discrimination is rife all over the world. I see it every day, in my street, at work, I have been both the umzungu in the crowd and I have been part of the crowd. There are times when I wish I would do and mostly I don’t. But I felt save in Holland, we in Holland have professional people fighting against discrimination all the time. Professional discrimination fighters that hold up their fists, so we can relax ours Posters campaigns that invite you and me to report TV advert spots ”feel discriminated against call our free number’. Yes we must be equal
‘But what’s the point’, I ask, ‘if people or organizations want to discriminate they can.
They do not have to write a letter to me saying because she is a she. There are countless other ways to hurt and discriminate with out breaking a single law.’
I see the cracks appearing, rules and gestures made with hot air and no one to keep the cracks from ripping.
Sofia Kapnissi the organizations that were built to help us have been filled with hot air and are bankrupting. Please keep questioning please keep writing.

read more on Sofia Kapnissi’s blog and leave your comments

In Russian an «illuminator» (port hole) is a round window onboard a ship, airplane, space station.
The concept of the project is based on the round shape of the exhibited works of art.

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