Amsterdam, the Magic Center The (Lost) Art of Counterculture in the Stedelijk Museum
Calvin Duggan reflects on the irony of celebrating the ‘take-it-to-the-streets’ protests of the 60s and 70s in the neat packaging of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum. He asks what we can learn from the re-materialisation of these artworks and the struggles they were a part of in such a space, and how they might help us to reflect on the ongoing struggles of the present day.
Conversations in Times of Crisis Rosi Braidotti finds Critical Theory at a Crossroads
How do we address the very real pile-up of crises that shape our current times and threaten to overwhelm through their sheer quantity? How do we make sense of and engage with the ubiquitousness of the term ‘crisis’ itself? How can we resist encroaching neoliberalism and what place does critical theory and the academy play…
Call for Web Team All welcome at an informal first meeting on October 30
EDIT – the open web meeting described below has now passed, but please get in touch in any case if you would be interested in getting involved with the website. We’re building a team to run and maintain this website, alongside our two Web Editors. If you’re interested in the roles below, or in contributing…
Lights, Camera, Investigation A Roundtable Discussion on Research and/as Video-Making
How does making video differ from writing about it? What power do images and video-making tools have to change thoughts, or to think themselves? These questions motivated this virtual roundtable discussion between individuals with differing intellectual and professional relationships to video practice – a video artist, essayist, and documentarist.
Residues of Catastrophe Resilience, Resonance and Memory of an Earthquake's Vibrations
Suzi Asa reflects on memory and forgetting in the sonic resonance of ‘Tellus Totem’, an installation designed by artist Enrico Ascoli. Through the physical vibrations of the piece, she explores questions of sensation, transcendence and resilience.
Performance – A Manual Categorization, conjugation and the OED
Stefan Govaart’s experimental piece sets up an esoteric dialogue between the Oxford English Dictionary and his own take on keywords related to performance. His elaborate lists answer his personal search results with imperatives, creating a utopian manual for performers.
Grief and the City Vending objects for mourning in Der Trauerautomat
Zurich-based designer and educator Lea Hofer wants us to rethink the process of mourning, and how to incorporate it into contemporary urban spaces and public discourse. To do so, she turned an old vending machine into a dispenser for unconventional objects of grief – and placed it within the largest burial grounds in the city.
Loving the Earth Being posthuman in the Ecosexual Bathhouse
How is the relationship between human and nature defined through an installation which encourages its visitors to sexually stimulate a flower? How are these intimate acts troubled by questions of consent and hierarchy? Flora Woudstra examines this performance art piece by Pony Express as a strategy for achieving a state of posthumanity, questioning the very barriers it claims to overcome.
Thinking Through Things Cultural Analysis students on exhibiting creative research
This feature is part of the series ‘Research/Practice’, which explores the intersection of academic research and/as creative practice. See and find out more about the artworks exhibited by clicking on each artist’s name, or scroll down to the list of works below. How can analysis take shape? The many different artefacts collected in the exhibition…
PODCAST: Trigger Warnings Handling sensitive content in the classroom
What place do trigger warnings have in the classroom? How should sensitive content be handled by professors? And what conflicts and opportunities arise from such discussions of trauma, diversity and censorship? Cultural Analysis students address these questions in depth, interviewing classmates and faculty members from the University of Amsterdam and beyond. By critically assessing trigger…