[spectre] V2_ Newsletter May 2014

[Arie A]

V2_ Newsletter May 2014

www.v2.nl

On Wednesday the 21st of May DEAF Biennial 2014 kicks off. The
festival features a large exhibition, performances, keynote lectures,
working sessions and much more. The program is co-curated by V2_, and
you will find some highlights in this newsletter. Also the deadline
for the Summer Sessions is extended, and in June V2_ presents three
works at the Thingworld media art exhibition in Beijing.


DEAF Biennial 2014 – The Progress Trap
21 May–9 June 2014
Arminius, Het Nieuwe Instituut, and V2_, Rotterdam

v2.nl/events/deaf-2014

DEAF Biennial 2014 will kick off on the 21st of May. The theme is The
Progress Trap. The program features a large exhibition (see below),
performances, keynote lectures, working sessions and much more. ‘The
Progress Trap’ occurs when innovation becomes an end in itself. Do
innovations lead to progress in society, or just to new technologies?
Three keynote lectures by Ronald Wright, Adam Greenfield and Alexa
Clay tackle this subject head-on. DEAF also presents the ‘Evening of'
the legendary thinkers Buckminster Fuller and Marshall McLuhan by Van
den Hil/ Zipson/ Franzen/ Debackere on Friday 23 May, calling into
attention their ideas on innovation and technological progress. On
Saturday 24 May DEAF and de Brakke Grond present the evening of Angelo
Vermeulen which delves into the issue of long-term space travel. There
are also seminars (a.o. Anab Jain of Superflux), workshops,
performances (including Geert Mul and PIPS:lab), drone demonstrations
and a festive closing night. V2_ and The New Institute are the main
partners of DEAF. Check out the latest news and information on the
program and tickets at deaf.nl


DEAF 2014 Main Exhibition
22 May–9 June 2014
Het Nieuwe Instituut, Museumpark 25, Rotterdam

v2.nl/events/deaf-2014-main-exhibition-1

DEAF2014’s thematic exhibition The Progress Trap showcases artistic
responses to the lure of technological innovation, how it feels to be
trapped by this relentless pursuit of progress, and how to escape it.
The Progress Trap questions the contemporary techno-centric
perspective on progress and is a social commentary on the seductive
qualities of technological innovation. Featuring works by amongst
others Louis-Philippe Demers, Nam June Paik, Jenny Holzer and Alicia
Framis, the exhibition is open till June 9th.


Summer Sessions: Deadline Extended

The call for the Summer Sessions Residencies 2014 is extended. Submit
your video before the 26th of May.
www.summersessions.net
v2.nl/lab/blog/summer-sessions-2014-call

The Summer Sessions are short-term residencies for young artists
organized by a network of cultural organizations all over the world.
The Summer Sessions offer a highly productive atmosphere with
production support and expert feedback to jumpstart your professional
art practice. Are you an ambitious, early career artist, full of ideas
and ready to realize your project this summer? Then apply by
submitting a video, in which you briefly explain your project, the
support you need and why you should be a part of the Summer Sessions.
Watch the video at www.summersessions.net. More info on
www.summersessions.net/apply. (Photo: Johannes Langkamp, working on
Analog Sun Tracking).



Thingworld
V2_ presents three artists at the International Triennial for New
Media Art in Beijing.
11 June–7 July 2014
NAMOC, Beijing

v2.nl/events/thingworld

V2_ presents work by Zoro Feigl, Jessica de Boer, and Ronald van der
Meijs at the International Triennial for New Media Art in Beijing. The
theme of the Triennial is Thingworld: “The world is a thingworld. For
without things there would be nothing to describe, to interpret, to
comment on, there would be no evocative signifiers that trigger
imagination, conjure up representation, neither would there be
societies nor cultures.” The exhibition is on show at the NAMOC in
Beijing from 11 June till 7 July 2014.



The Evening of Fuller / McLuhan
23 May, 20:00–22:00
Arminius, Museumpark 3, Rotterdam

v2.nl/events/an-evening-of-fuller-mcluhan

The ideas of Buckminster Fuller (short ‘Bucky’) and Marshall McLuhan
have had an enormous influence on how we think about the future, and
the place of humanity in a technological world. In a theatrical
performance Fuller and McLuhan set forth their most important
concepts, and find out if they are still relevant today. The Evening
of Fuller / McLuhan is a V2_production by Van den Hil / Zipson /
Franzen / Debackere, and is performed on Friday 23 May in Arminius as
part of DEAF2014.



Blueprints for the Unknown
21 May–9 June 2014

v2.nl/events/blueprints-for-the-unknown

The exhibition Blueprints for the Unknown investigates the gap between
the promises of engineering biology and the complex and conflicted
world we live in. Each scenario is set in a very specific context,
ranging from healthcare to green politics and bonzai grooming, and
probes the potential impact of biotechnology on society and culture.
Blueprints for the Unknown is a project by Design Interactions
Research at the Royal College of Art in London, and features work by
Superflux, Tobias Revell, Raphael Kim, Koby Barhad, Cohen Van Balen,
Studio Nand, and David Benque. You can visit the exhibition at V2_
during DEAF2014.



Giving and Taking

Our new book Giving and Taking, Antidotes to a Culture of Greed will
be published on 24 May.

v2.nl/publishing/giving-and-taking

What if the exchanges we call economic were part of a much larger, far
older and more diffuse system of exchange? What if value were defined
not by accumulation but by circulation, and circulation not by supply
and demand but by honor, glory and beauty? For one thing, it would be
impossible to develop a critique of political economy from a political
or economic viewpoint, because something in this notion of value
utterly escapes both disciplines. In this volume, a diverse set of
authors share a strikingly similar analysis. The crisis of our
institutions of government, finance and knowledge, they argue, should
be attributed not to a lack of political will but to a lack of glory
and honor – categories that have been linked to gift and sacrifice
from time immemorial. Giving and Taking, Antidotes to a Culture of
Greed is edited by Joke Brouwer, Arjen Mulder and Sjoerd van Tuinen,
and published by V2_. It will be presented at the DEAF Biennial on 24
May 13:00–14:00.