The event offers an international perspective on the status of art and its institutions in the post-Internet era. The show features young representatives of the Polish art and culture scene, such as the artists Gregor Rozanski and Beata Wilczek, the virtual Billy Gallery, and curators and critics Sebastian Cichocki, Daniel Muzyczuk, and Karolina Plinta.
The organizers interpret the theme of post-Internet art in the spirit of institutional critique:
The Internet is getting more and more influential in terms of art production and its presentation. Every day young professionals publicize infinite numbers of new works by uploading them to their blogs or posting them via social networks. At the same time the boundary between different fields of visual arts becomes ever more blurred. This allows a wider audience to be reached, but for some reason, the new positions of emerging artists might be seen, rather, as a danger to the respected statuses of art professionals and institutions, or at least they provoke a remodelling of established roles within the art world.
Gregor Rozanski, based in Warsaw and Berlin, who calls himself an art-content producer rather than the traditional "artist", presents his Ikealism series, consisting of Ikea loyalty cards tailored for the great minimalists. His art statement follows the critical attitude behind the event and presents itself more like an anti-thesis of this written form, so widely required of the art producers:
Styles and trends are transitory, so actually there’s no point in presenting one and permanent artistic statement. I believe in default role of artist as active observer and producer of experimental ideas, content and subjective commentaries to current reality."
Romuald Demidenko, the curator of the event, has previously been involved in organizing such art events as the large-scale exhibition Side by Side: Poland – Germany. 1000 Years of Art and History at Martin-Gropius Bau in Berlin and That Something on the Horizon. Architecture of the 21st Century at the National Library in Warsaw. He has also worked on such shows as Deep Chrome Msg at the Contemporary Museum in Wrocław, and Selected Projects at BWA Zielona Góra. He is taking part in organization of the Millenium Park project in Zielona Góra.
NEW: ART CENTER is a multifaceted organization aimed at art research and development. Inspired by the past digital era and motivated to look into the visual culture vortex of the future it aims to share observations and reflection on the subject matter. Its host venue, Het Plafond, is a space for the arts and culture in the apartment of Willem Besselink (visual artist) and Guus Vreeburg (art historian) located at Gedempte Zalmhaven in the centre of Rotterdam. Het Plafond has existed since the spring of 1997. It is a space for specific artist projects, i.e. a program for visitors and passersby.
IS IT ART OR IS IT JUST
NEW: ART CENTER @Het Plafond
Gedempte Zalmhaven 761
3011 BT Rotterdam / NL
July 19 - August 30, 2013
Auxiliary events:
Is It Art Or Is It Just #Hard-Core, interactive debate moderated by Anne de Boer
Monday, July 22 at 7 pm
Internet Culture as Practice, lecture/guided tour + discussion
Thursday, July 25 at 7 pm
Reading Emails, presentation + discussion
Thursday, August 1 at 7 pm
Ed.: AM 17.07.2013
Sources: http://newartcenter.info, http://gregorrozanski.com, http://rhizome.org