Adam Curtis
The Desperate Edge of Now
February 11–April 14, 2012 

Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist 
Exhibition design by Liam Gillick 

Opening: 
Saturday, February 11, 6–8pm

Closing event: 
Screening premiere and Adam Curtis in conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist
Saturday, April 14, 5pm

A solo exhibition with works by British artist and film maker Adam Curtis will open on Saturday, 11th February, 6.00–8.00 p.m. at E-flux in New York.

The exhibition comprises films by Adam Curtis amongst them
"IT FELT LIKE A KISS" 2009.

The film portrays the phenonemon of cruises which most people know from romanicising television series like "Love Boat" that promise luxury and a better life set in a remote yet unreal world.

Curtis stages his film in documentary format interviewing passengers and crew alike to show their personal view of their cruise.

Cruises formerly known as luxury style holidays, in this case show the first one class cruise, accessible to people from all backgrounds, due to lack of passengers after the introduction of air travel.

With a witty often a little sarcastic access Curtis gives insight to the reality of a cruise portraying lonely women and widows and old men equally bored from life hoping to find new adventure on their journey.

One aspect that could be critisised is the overtly anti-feministic portrayal of women as man hunters with no other choice to catch their perfect match. However, with a little twinkle in the eye a woman reports, being on the second cruise which has less bachelors than the first one except for the interviewer and another man which slightly embaressed him for a moment.

The men interviewed however, seemed equally desperate only with more skills in articulating their hidden agenda.

The actuality of the film is without a doubt high, bearing in mind recent events in Rome and also portraying the gap between the wealthy passengers and the poor crew members however, giving all of them a voice to show their side of the cruise. 

The romanticised image of cruise ship travel is commented upon with a humoristic approach and a certain portion of sarcasm by artist and film maker Adam Curtis and shows us that there are more sides to real life than only one point of view.

All my best,

Daniela Haberz

e-flux
311 East Broadway
New York, NY 10002
Tue–Fri, 12–6pm 

T 212 619 3356

www.e-flux.com

 

 

Tomorrow, Thursday, 15th December 2011 at 7.00 p.m. I will be in conversation with Angelika Loderer on her current show "Chronicle of the Ephemeral" at para_SITE Gallery, Graz.

Afterwards we will serve drinks and food for a little Pre-X-mas Party!

The show is on view until 14th January 2012 with a finissage starting from 12.00 p.m. going on until 3.00 p.m.

From 23rd - 6th we are on a winter holiday break and wish you Happy Holidays!

Looking forward to seeing you there and all my best,

Daniela Haberz and the para_SITE Gallery Team

The 6th edition of NexT International Film Festival will take place in Bucharest from March 28 to April 1, 2012.

NexT International Film Festival celebrates innovative and creative filmmaking from all around the world. Our goal at NexT IFF is to discover and promote today the major talents of tomorrow’s international cinema.

For the first time, the call for entries is open not only for the competition, but also for three special off competition programs: NexT Imaginaria, NexT Dance and NexT Kids.

Deadline for submissions: December 15, 2011

COMPETITION
NexT calls for entries of narrative films (live action and animation) up to 60 minutes completed after January 1st, 2010. Documentaries, non-narrative films or video installations will not be considered for the competition.

Awards for the films selected in the competition:

NexT Trophy – 4000 Euro
“Cristian Nemescu” Best Directing Award – 2000 Euro
“Andrei Toncu” Best Soundtrack Award – 2000 Euro
Best Romanian Film – 1000 Euro

NexT covers accommodation and travel expenses (%) for the director / sound-designer of the films in competition.

NexT Imaginaria
A program to explore parallel universes, fantasy worlds, alternative history, utopias and dystopias, haunting visions and dark fears for a night to remember at NexT 2012. An international off competition program open to sci-fi, fantasy, horror, extreme action or simply fantastic out-of-the-box films to open your mind and dare you to dream!
Maximum duration of submitted films: 60 minutes.
The films must be completed after January 1st 2010.

NexT Dance
From good ol' school musicals to hot pop, from street dance & hip hop to classical ballet & contemporary choreography, we welcome international narrative short films that spice up their story with a splash of music & dance, for a very special night at NexT 2012. Our goal: a 2-hour off competition program to electrify our audience and make them go home humming and swinging.
Maximum duration of submitted films: 60 minutes.
The films must be completed after January 1st 2010.

NexT Kids
A special program for the youngest hearts at NexT 2012, designed to make them experience smart and fascinating short films: an opportunity for 5 to 12 year olds to discover cinema through creative animations and live action short films from all around the world. The screenings will be followed by hands-on special activities related to the films in the program.
Maximum duration: 10 minutes.
For this section only, there is no time limit regarding the completion date of the films.

For further details, read the regulations of NexT International Film Festival 2012.

Download the entry form of NexT International Film Festival 2012.

DVD PAL screeners must be sent to:

NexT Cultural Society
179 Traian Street
024043, Bucharest
Romania

Ars Electronica and CERN in Geneva are awarding a research residency for art, with both institutions to be spent time at.

The projects developed at CERN will be implemented at Ars Electronica Centre after two months in collaboration with Future LAB.

Below more details.

Definitely worth applying for!

All my best,

Daniela Haberz

*******

We are very excited that Ars Electronica has teamed up with the world's largest particle physics laboratory, CERN in Geneva  to create a new award in the Prix Ars Electronica. We thought we would let you share in our excitement and see if you would like to join us too!

Prix Ars Electronica Collide@CERN is an open international competition for an artist working in the digital domain to win a  3 month funded two centre residency to blow your mind and take you into new dimensions.

The award is designed to bring you right close up and personal for two months with the multi-dimensional thinking of particle physicists at the home of the world's biggest machine, the Large Hadron Collider, in Geneva. At CERN particle physicists from over 100 countries across the planet are investigating everything from the structure of the universe to the smallest elements known to mankind - as well as pushing gravity and light to their limits and unlocking the secrets of clouds – all thanks to cutting edge technology, engineering and thinking.

After two months resident at CERN, the same winning artist is then resident for a month at Ars Electronica in Linz with the transdisciplinary team Futurelab to develop  and produce your ideas inspired by your CERN experience. This is all made possible thanks to a grant which funds the residencies, subsistence and travel, as well as 10,000 Euros in prize money on top. We also ought to add that you will have two dedicated mentors during your residencies – one from Futurelab mentor and a scientist from CERN too.

More information you can find here www.aec.at/prix/collide and www.cern.ch Or submit online here collide.aec.at

We very much hope to hear from you. And please don’t hesitate to pass the word on! Thank you.

All good wishes

Futurelab Team / Ars Electronica

Collide@CERN Team / European Centre for Nuclear Research

„Measuring the World“ at the Kunsthaus Graz, stroke me most with interest due to the subtitle of the exhibition „Heterotopias and Knowledge Spaces in Art“.

Heterotopologie, a science developed by French philosopher Michel Foucault declares non-extistent virtual spaces, defined by humans, transforming them into real spaces with existential raison-dʼêtre. Clear distinction from utopias, defined by lack of realisation mainly because of missing allocation in our space-time continuum is vital.

Reasoning to see spaces as exhibitions, the thesis that the art world per se is notclearly to define as either heterotopia nor utopia comes to mind.

Action to bring ideas to life demands introduction of the human component as master in the tightrope walk between the two.

Since Christopher Colombo humans had interest in cartographing and seizing theworld, however, the exhibition shows a few exceptionally unusual approaches to the topic that are definitely worth to follow up upon.

Constantin Luser, a young Austrian artist shows excerpts from Meyerʼs lexica known as the Nazi lexica, that he drew and together with Stefan Atzman transformed into a short film. Critiquing lexica compounds, per se as a very static and ridged politically coloured form of information, the artistsʼ excerption and transformation into an animated film brings in their personal choice of history, breaking up those chains, bringing it into flux. Focaultʼs theory makes the artists, the masters of turning static space into motion, bringing it to life.

Gabriel Orozco addresses motion, however this time absent, in another way driving around his yellow “swallow” bike across Berlin, trying to find other yellow bikes of the same brand. The work deals with invisible motion, resulting in a static image for documentation purposes of the artistʼs bike beside another one found.

This absence and the routes taken by Orozco again not traceable for the viewer of the work brings us back to Foucault and his creation and staking of invisible space. The human component is addressed by the search for the other half which has a very suiting expression in Spanish “Busca tu otra naranja” expressing that two halves of an orange make it complete.

Clegg and Goodman took an interesting approach to the museumʼs role to “preserve for posterity” in building a wooden fence-like structure around a Styrian apple tree.

The visitor is asked to look through one square of the fence and draw the tree. The wooden structure at the same time serves as a shelf whereby each square is meticulously numbered with placed upon cartonage envelopes, inviting visitors to take an active part by documenting and archiving. The museumʼs role is allocated anew and ridiculed, for once forced to be caretakers of the tree as a living object and furthermore putting visitors in charge, taking the role of both artist and documentary.

Clegg and Goodman, puppet masters of a wicked charade enrich Focaultʼs theory with a new turning point of key playersʼ absence, being forced into role of mere spectators and key role allocation to random people.

Graz, Austria 18th August 2011 by Daniela Haberz, M.A.

Image Credits:

Gabriel Orozco
From the serie „Until You Find Another Yellow Schwalbe“, 1995
Chromatic colour print
40-parts, 31,6 x 47,3 cm
Courtesy of Gabriel Orozco; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; kurimanzutto, Mexiko-City