Vital Space NewsLetter #2 May 2013
Posted: May 10, 2013 Filed under: Activism, Aesthetics, Art & Politics Leave a comment »
| Vital Space is founded on the belief in the power of art to change the world. At a time of major confluence of economic and environmental crises,Vital Space deploys the artist’s perspective so as to dissolve the polarisation typifying the current dialogue on our relationship with Nature and with one another. Vital Space is dedicated to the initiation of art projects designed to reach and influence a wide and diverse audience. It strives to demonstrate in the most practical manner that art has its finger on the planet’s pulse and can mediate human deliberation on the course of our future. |
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| Vital Space invites all artists to participate in the first of a series of open call competitions in the context of our ‘Raising Awareness‘ theme. For our first competition we invite short, one-minute video submissions under the broad title EAST | WEST – NORTH | SOUTH : Imperiled Viatl Spaces. |
DEADLINE:MIDNIGHT (EST) 7th September 2013
THE THEME
EAST | WEST – NORTH | SOUTH: Imperiled Vital Spaces
ABOUT THE 60″ VIDEO COMPETITION
| Participants are requested to submit an original sixty-second (one minute) video that reflects the theme’s spirit and helps raise awareness on our common predicament in this time of global crisis. Indeed, submissions from all over the world are encouraged, with our theme acting only as a general guide to the idea of a ‘local collapse’ following a global crisis.
Participants are asked to complete and to submit this electronic Registration Form (including a link to their video on YouTube, Vimeo or any other video hosting service website). The deadline expires at midnight (EST), 1th September 2013
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PRIZES, AWARDS & EXHIBITIONS: THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS
| ROUND 1 – Videos go live: Vital Space will upload the approved videos on vitalspace.org by15th September 2013. The videos will remain on our site for two months.
ROUND 2 – Viewers’ Prize: The general public will then be invited to vote amongst the contenders for the Vital Space 60’’ Video Competition Viewers’ Prize for 2013. The vote will be completed by, and the winner will be announced on, the 16th of November 2013. ROUND 3 – Panel Prize: On 1st October 2013, a five-member panel of jurists (drawn from Vital Space’s Board of Advisors) will announce the winner of the Vital Space 60’’ Video Competition Panel Prize for 2013, as well as two runners-up. These three videos (including the winner of the Viewers’ Prize) will then be added to the permanent collection of Vital Space’s Art Projects. ROUND 4 – EXHIBITION: The winners of both prizes in all competitions, and possibly the runners up will be exhibited, during 2014. Athens will be the starting point of an exhibition series in Greece and abroad. Vital Space will announce details about the exhibition as soon as all competition results are announced. |
VITAL SPACE’s PREVIOUS 60″ ‘RAISING AWARENESS’ VIDEOS
| The idea of one minute, 60’’, videos for the purposes of raising awareness was first introduced to Vital Space by its founder, Danae Stratou, who posted two such videos as part of the ‘inauguration’ of vitalspace.org. These two videos focused on public awareness regarding Climate Change and Urbanisation equivalently. The material shown is original, taken from Danae Stratou’s archive from shootings in hundreds of strategically chosen areas worldwide. |
| Raising Awareness in 60” (1) | Addressing Urbanisation |
| Raising Awareness in 60” (2) | Addressing Climate Change |
FUTURE COMPETITIONS
| Vital Space is pleased to announce that this one-minute video competition is the first in a series of three annual competitions. The other two will involve photographic stills, with suitable captions, and short 100–word texts. For more, watch this space. You will soon receive our next Photographic Competition Announcement: Raising Awareness with One Image. |
Terms and Conditions
| Submitted videos must be one minute in length.
Any spoken words heard in the submitted video that are not in English must be accompanied by the relevant subtitles in English. The video must not contain gratuitous violence, profanity, or defamatory statements (including racism or sexism) on individuals or organizations. Any entries deemed gratuitously offensive will be immediately disqualified. Videos submitted must be original works – no copyrighted music, video, sounds or images may be used without prior, full permission from the author(s)/owners of said copyrighted music, video, sounds or images that you wish to include. Submitted videos must not infringe on any third party rights. Submitted videos that are the result of a group effort need to have a nominated representative. |
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The Cyprus Crisis is a Symptom of what is rotten in the Eu
Posted: May 10, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Written on the Guardian website today, by the philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek. Discussing how the worst is yet to come for the everyday Cypriot, and how the agreed payback to the EU will not be possible. Pointing out what is becoming more obvious to those effected by the bank bailouts, that the banking system is not working and needs a whole new/old approach for it to be able to deal with the banking crises.
“This is why the solution is not just more regulation to prevent money laundering and so on, but a radical change in the entire banking system – to say the unsayable, some kind of socialisation of the banks. The lesson of the worldwide crashes after 2008 is clear: the whole network of financial funds and transactions, from individual deposits and retirement funds to the functioning of all kinds of derivatives, will have to be somehow put under social control, streamlined and regulated. This may sound utopian, but the true utopia is the notion that we can somehow survive with only cosmetic changes.” Slavoj Žižek
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/08/cyprus-crisis-symptom-rotten-eu
The City at a Time of Crisis: research project on Athens
Posted: May 9, 2013 Filed under: Activism, Aesthetics, Art & Politics Leave a comment »Posted at Roarmag.org 08 May 2013
A collective of researchers, photographers and filmmakers comes together to launch a powerful new multimedia research project on the crisis in Athens.
A collective of researchers, photographers and filmmakers comes together to launch a powerful new multimedia research project on the crisis in Athens.
In recent years, Antonis Vradis of Occupied London has brought us invaluable reports from the front-line of the popular uprising(s) in Greece, while Ross Domoney, a member of the documentary photography and film collective Aletheia Photos, has produced some of the most paradigmatic short docs and video reports on the crisis and revolt currently under way in Athens. Now, the two join a team of researchers who have just launched the website for a very exciting new multimedia project.
In an emailed announcement, the research collective describes their initiative as follows:
Crisis-scape is the website of the “The City at a Time of Crisis”, a collective, cross-disciplinary ESRC-funded research project that traces the transformations of public spaces in Athens. By focusing on urban public spaces, we aim to study the rapid, wider social and political transformations that are under way in the crisis-ridden Greek society today.
The website so far features metronome, the first in a series of short films corresponding to each of the project’s research strands; a full interactive time-line of the crisis in Greece since 2008; a documentary explaining the ongoing social meltdown taking place in the country; an interview with Professor Stavros Stavrides of the NTUA; two blog-post series (état de siege: public space user manual and metronome) and much, much more.
Crisis-scape is updated every Monday with first-hand ethnographic accounts, theoretical interventions, digital interactive material, videos and photographs from the ground here in Athens.
We rely on your help to spread the word!
The www.crisis-scape.net team
Jaya Klara Brekke, Ross Domoney, Christos FiIippidis, Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakoglou
Metronome. from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.
OUT OF THE BOX INTERMEDIA BOOTH @ ART ATHINA 2013
Posted: May 8, 2013 Filed under: Aesthetics, Art & Politics Leave a comment »
The Capital of Accumulation DisOrient
2010
May 16-19, 2013
ART-ATHINA INTERNATIONAL FAIR
Raqs Media Collective (Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi and Shuddhabrata Sengupta) are artists based in New Delhi, India working with a diverse repertoire of practices and curiosities. They make installations, films, curate, edit books, produce networks & situations and have a special interest in the history of twentieth century cities.
OUT OF THE BOX INTERMEDIA Booth also presents a variety of past projects (Locus Solus, London 2009, Byzantine Museum 2009, Benaki Museum 2010, Eleventh Plateau Hydra 2011, UN/INHABITED Delos 2012,Metabolism of Forms London 2012 ) that the company has produced, curated by Dr. Sozita Goudouna.Dimitra Stamatiou’s work “Closer,” sculptures by Eva Marathaki and Leontios Toumpouris, the research projects Thanos Koutsianas & Stella Pantelia and Terezas Papamichali with Irini Efstathiou, Panos Kouros, Kaja Pawełek, Mary Zygouri and Nora Demjaha’s, Athina Kokla and Elena Chronopoulou from the project UN/INHABITED. Also, part of Danae Stratou’s work “It’s Time to Open The Black Boxes” and works by Mat Chivers, Marenka Gabeler and Costas Alivizatos’ model of the architectural installation for Locus Solus.
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Raqs Media Collective at OUT OF THE BOX INTERMEDIA BOOTH
Raqs Media Collective
“The Capital of Accumulation”
16-19 May 2013
Opening Reception: May 15, 7:30pm
Η Μη Κερδοσκοπική Εταιρία OUT OF THE BOX INTERMEDIA παρουσιάζει για πρώτη φορά στην Ελλάδα, στην ετήσια έκθεση ART-ATHINA την καινοτόμο καλλιτεχνική ομάδα RAQS MEDIA COLLECTIVE και τα έργα “The Capital of Accumulation” (Το Κεφάλαιο της Συσώρευσης) και το disOrient(αποΠροσανατολισμός) σε επιμέλεια Δρ. Σωζήτας Γκουντούνα. Το έργο αντιστρέφει τον τίτλο του πιο σημαντικού βιβλίου της Ρόζας Λούξεμπουργκ “Η Συσώρευση του Κεφαλαίου” (1913). Η αντιστροφή του τίτλου σηματοδοτεί μια ιδιαίτερη ανάγνωση και ερμηνεία της κληρονομιάς, της σορού και του πνεύματος της Λούξεμπουργκ. Στο συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο η συγγραφέας εξέθεσε τις αδυναμίες της θεωρείας του Μάρξ για τη διαδικασία της αναπαραγωγής του κεφαλαίου.
Το έργο των RAQS MEDIA COLLECTIVE έχει γυριστεί σε τρείς διαφορετικές πόλεις – Βαρσοβία, Βομβάη και Βερολίνο – και είναι μία φιλόδοξη βίντεο-εγκατάσταση (δίπτυχο) που αφηγείται την ιστορία της σχέσης των μητροπόλεων και του κόσμου με φόντο την ιδιαίτερη κριτική της παγκόσμιας πολιτικής οικονομίας της Λούξεμπουργκ. Η βιντεοεγκατάσταση μετεωρίζει μεταξύ ενός στοιχειωμένου, ονειρικού τοπίου που είναι εν μέρει φυσική ιστορία, εν μέρει ημερολόγιο μυστηρίου, εν μέρει ρητορική ανάλυση, εν μέρει κοσμοπολίτικη αστική έρευνα και εν μέρει φιλοσοφικός διάλογος. Στόχος του έργου είναι να προσφέρει ένα προσωπικό στοχασμό για τις δυνατότητες ριζοσπαστικής ανανέωσης στους καιρούς μας.
Οι Raqs Media Collective αρέσκονται στο να παίζουν ποικιλομορφους ρόλους, συχνά εμφανιζόμενοι ως καλλιτέχνες, κάποιες φορές ως επιμελητές και αραιότερα ως φιλόσοφοι “agent provocateurs.” Δημιουργούν σύγχρονη τέχνη, κάνουν φίλμ, επιμελούνται εκθέσεις, εκδίδουν βιβλία, “στήνουν” δράσεις, συνεργάζονται με αρχιτέκτονες, προγραμματιστές, συγγραφείς και σκηνοθέτες θεάτρου και έχουν καθιερώσει διαδικασίες που έχουν καθορίσει τη σύγχρονη πολιτιστική παραγωγή στην Ινδία. Η λέξη Raqs υποδηλώνει “κινούμενους στοχασμούς” παράγοντας φαινόμενα που είναι αεικίνητα σε σχέση με τις φόρμες και τις μεθόδους που εφαρμόζει ενώ παράλληλα καταφέρνει να συνέπεια στοχασμού. Οι Raqs Media Collective ιδρύθηκε το 1992 απο τους Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta. Η ομάδα έχει συνιδύσει το πρόγραμμα Sarai στο κέντρο Μελέτης για Αναπτυσσόμενες Κοινωνίες το 2000. http://www.raqsmediacollective.net
Παράλληλα, θα παρουσιάστει σε βιντεοπροβολή και άλλα μέσα το σύνολο των πρότζεκτ (Locus Solus, Λονδίνο 2009, Βυζαντινό Μουσείο 2009, Μουσείο Μπενάκη 2010, Eleventh Plateau Ύδρα 2011,UN/INHABITED Δήλος 2012, Metabolism of Forms Λονδίνο 2012 ) που έχει διοργανώσει η εταιρία σε επιμέλεια Δρ. Σωζήτας Γκουντούνα στο Λονδίνο και την Ελλάδα. Θα εκτεθεί το έργο της Δήμητρα Σταματίου “Closer,” σε επαυξημένη πραγματικότητα, τα γλυπτά της Έυας Μαραθάκη και του Λεόντιου Τουμπούρη, τα ερευνητικά πρότζεκτ του Θάνου Κουτσιανά & Στέλλας Παντελιά, της Τερέζας Παπαμιχάλη με τους Μαίρη Ζυγούρη, Ειρήνη Ευσταθίου, Πάνος Κούρος, Kaja Pawełek και των Nora Demjaha, Αθηνά Κόκλα και Έλενας Χρονοπούλου απο το πρότζεκτ UN/INHABITED στη Δήλο 2012. Επίσης, θα εκτεθεί μέρος του έργου της Δανάης Στράτου “Είναι Ώρα να Ανοίξουμε τα Μαύρα Κουτιά,” έργα των Mat Chivers Marenka Gabeler και η μακέτα απο την αρχιτεκτονική εγκατάσταση για το Locus Solusτου Κώστα Αλιβιζάτου.
IMF chief Lagarde heckled by students in Amsterdam
Posted: May 8, 2013 Filed under: Politics, Society | Tags: IMF, Lagarde Leave a comment »By Jerome Roos On May 7, 2013 http://www.roarmag.org
Dutch, Greek and Spanish members of the Occupy movement interrupt a lecture by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the University of Amsterdam.
Christine Lagarde, the former French Finance Minister and current Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, was treated to an Occupy-style mic-check at the University of Amsterdam on Tuesday. During a lecture at the university’s economics department, a group of students rose up to interrupt (or rather start) the discussion, confronting the Fund’s chief with a number of inconvenient questions.
Attendees had been asked to send in questions before the “debate”, but the protesters were angry that their critical notes appeared to have been ignored. By standing up and submitting the IMF chief to a mic-check, they tried to get their concerns across anyway: “why is technocracy better than democracy?” one activist asked. Another asked Lagarde why the IMF submits developing countries to Western imperialism, to which the upper-class moderator tellingly responded that “we will not do that question”. Read the rest of this entry »
The Real Struggle Begins: Europe Descends into Fascism
Posted: May 8, 2013 Filed under: Politics, Society | Tags: Golden Dawn Leave a comment »
Across southern Europe resistance is taking on a new urgency. In Spain people are speaking of the start of ‘the real struggle’, while in Greece the term ‘civil war’ permeates the political climate. In both countries a frightening re-emergence of a dictatorship past seems to characterize the current historical moment as fascist ideologies become more acceptable and police tactics become more pre-emptive and militarized. These two trends emerging together, the rise of far right ideologies and pre-emptive militarized policing, indicate a shift in the discourses of legitimacy used by the state.
The tone has changed on the streets of southern Europe. People are growing increasingly impatient with the failure of their governments in the face of an ongoing economic crisis. For more than a month people have been organizing massive street protests outside the National Congress in Madrid. The “rodeo el congresso” actions began on 25th September 2012 and were quickly met with police brutality and a police force that clearly felt entitled to act some ways which were shocking even the veterans of the struggle against Franco’s dictatorship (for example, entering a public train station in full riot gear and beating random passengers – see video). The images of police violence went viral with millions of hits in just a few days. Instantly, plans were hatched for a strong response and the following day tens of thousands of people flooded the streets in front of congress and across Spain. A call went out for a national day of action on 29th September. The national day of action quickly turned into an international day of action as people all across Europe took to the streets. Read the rest of this entry »
