Articles written by Ilse van Rijn:
The clichéd dichotomy of art as mendacious fiction and science as the seeker of truth is something we no longer hear about. The work of a new generation of artists reveals that the relationship between the two domains is much more fluid.
The PhD for artists is currently discussed widely in the Dutch art world. Ilse van Rijn interviewed Irene Kopelman, WJM Kok, Matthew Buckingham and Sarah Pierce, to bring some clarity to the artist's motives and answers the question of why a PhD candidacy is different from the now ubiquitous ‘artistic research’.
She rebuilt a terrace house into an aviary and dwelling for an animal rights activist, had soldiers appear at the Rijksakademie in antique costumes to breathe new life into the cavalry once billeted there and, for the Shanghai Biennial, reconstructed the journey across China of the famous communist Henk Sneevliet. Mieke van der Voort’s work is colourful and diverse, at once documentary and poetic, discerning and vague. Her newest project opens this month at Casco.
30/07/07 Ilse van Rijn
A series of workshops at the periphery of the art world: the Dutch Art Institute graduate school in Enschede is nothing if not ambitious. Together with local art institutes and universities in other countries, students are investigating the possibilities of cultural exchange with six blank spots in the art world atlas.
It is like being in a great web of images and texts, facts and thoughts. Pablo Pijnappel’s films and slide presentations are not easily disentangled. Each work is dedicated to a family member or friend. This way, the artist tries to come to terms with his own roots.
All is Animation
21/12/06 Ilse van Rijn
For many years, there was no animation art to be found in museums or other art exhibitions, with the exception of William Kentridge’s social criticisms. Recently, the genre is blooming, in all its manifestations. Paul Chan’s shadow plays at TENT and the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, Jan van Nuenen’s videographic experiments at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht and W139, Nathalie Djurberg’s clay characters at locations all over Europe: what is going on here?
Rotterdam
Witte de With
26/06/04 - 22/08/04
The camera focuses on the throat into which the razor-blades have just disappeared. The Adam’s apple moves at a minimal distance from the lens; it’s almost as though you can hear the rasping of the swallow. Le Magicien (18m., 2003) is the only video in A Life Full of Holes. The Strait Project, an exhibition in Witte de With, which further consists of photographs by Yto Barrada (1971).