R O O K I E
— opening: 6.12.2012, 18:00-22:00
— hours:
6.12.2012, 18:00 – 22:00
7.12.2012, 12:00 – 21:00
8.12.2012, 12:00 – 21:00
E X H I B I T I O N:
— MVP – MOST VALUABLE PUBLISHERS
curator: Honza Zamojski
artists: Tauba Auerbach, Cezary Bodzianowski, Christophe Boutin, Maurizio Cattelan, Aleš Čermák, David Horvitz, Brian Kennon, Rick Myers, Paulina Ołowska, Slavs and Tatars, Josh Smith, Tadej Pogačar, TTC (Emil Alsbo, Magnus F. Clausen and Simon H. Hansen)
Curatorial guided tour: 8.12.2012, 14:00
The exhibition opening will be accompanied by a presentation of the winning project in the competition: Jo-ey Tang’s – “The Manual”.
The exhibition will be shown again in Arsenał City Gallery: 29.12.2012 – 13.01.2013
The sports analogy of the ROOKIE FESTIVAL is extended through to the MVP exhibition, applying the title to the Most Valuable Publishers on the market. The assessment isn’t an exaggeration as this the first Polish survey of dozens of publications from leading artists as one collective exhibition. For these artists, the book is an essential element, for many even a key focus, of their artistic practice. Featured works include the para-architectural objects of Tauba Auerbach and Josh Smith’s experimental forms through the conceptual activities of David Horvitz and Rick Myers. At the event, each of the artists will share their own characteristic approach to publishing. For some it provides a space for conceptual speculation and formal play, for others it is an archive for earlier works. Some pursue the nobility of the printed page, others stretch the notion of the “book” and its audience, composing dialogues or acting as performers in the urban space, such as Aleš Čermák. At the same time, the publications brought together by curator Honza Zamojski at the show compose a unique collection of his own publishing projects, while giving an insight into his artistic fascinations. The show also demonstrates how books are an irrevocable part of the artist’s presence, not only in the contemporary art world, but also within the consciousness of the public at large.
[Works in the show have been provided courtesy of the artists and Foksal Gallery Foundation, Printed Matter Inc., Three Star Books]
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B O O K F A I R:
AKV [Berlin]
Archive Books [Berlin]
Bęc Zmiana [Warszawa]
Centrala Mądre Komiksy
DIK Fagazine [Warszawa]
Fundacja Sztuk Wizualnych [Kraków]
Arsenał City Gallery [Poznań]
Piekary Gallery [Poznań]
K Verlag [Berlin]
Korporacja Ha-Art [Kraków]
Kwartalnik Fotografia [Września]
Lubok [Lipsk]
Morava [Poznań]
Periodyk Najgorszy [Warszawa]
Piktogram / B.L.A [Warszawa]
Space Poetry [Kopenhaga]
Sputnik [Warszawa]
Sternberg Press [Berlin]
Trojka [Poznań]
Zakład Poligraficzny Moś i Łuczak [Poznań]
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L E C T U R E S:
— 7 Dec, Friday
19.30, “lecture” hall., lecture conducted in English via Skype
David Senior – Some place: an introduction to artists’ publications
David Senior will discuss a history of experimental books published by artists’ and designers. Using several examples from his recent exhibition projects, Senior will introduce ideas of humor, resistance and innovation that mark these projects as they form singular places for work to live and serve as nimble containers in which ideas could travel.
David Senior is the Bibliographer at the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York. where he manages the development of the library’s collection. His writing has recently appeared in “C Magazine”, “Frieze”, “Dot Dot Dot” and the “Bulletins of the Serving Library”. He curated “Access to Tools: Publications from the Whole Earth Catalog, 1968-1974″ as part of the MoMA Library’s 2011 exhibition program. In 2012, he organized two library exhibitions at MoMA, “Scenes from Zagreband Millennium Magazines” and assisted with the museum show, “Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language”. He also curates an annual program of events for the New York Art Book Fair, called “The Classroom”. Since 2008, this program has involved over 100 performances, talks, screenings and concerts.
— 8 Dec, Saturday
16.00, “lecture” hall., lecture conducted in English.
Leah Whitman-Salkin – Sternberg Press by Sternberg Press
“Sternberg Press by Sternberg Press” is not a memoir but a report on the internal life of the Berlin-based publishing house Sternberg Press. Presented through the lens of the recently published “The Mattering of Matter: Documents from the Archive of the International Necronautical Society” by Tom McCarthy and Simon Critchley, the practicalities of art book publishing, at once prosaic and opaque, will be unpacked and scrutinized. Sternberg Press grew out of the small publishing house known as Lukas & Sternberg, founded in 1999 by Caroline Schneider. Thirteen years later, the press has stayed dedicated to creating a platform where authors and artists can engage in critical discourse. While still small in scale and humble in its ambitions, Sternberg Press has grown and the program has expanded. The press’s editor, Leah Whitman-Salkin, will map out the life of a project to provide insight into the editorial processes that lead to and facilitate the making of books.
Leah Whitman-Salkin is an editor at Sternberg Press and a professional in the fields of contemporary art, architecture, and public discourse.
— 8 Dec, Saturday
18.00, “lecture” hall.,
Tribute to Black Art! – discussion
moderator: Daniel Muzyczuk
participants: Magda Frankowska, Daniel Muzyczuk, Magda Popławska, Agata Szydłowska, Honza Zamojski
Following first initiatives in the field of book publishing, artists share their experiences, averring that the decision to take up the arduous effort to produce an independent book was driven by the desire to go beyond the scope of art and its commercial aspect or, which is more characteristic for the former eastern bloc, the attempt to create a circulation beyond the confines of censure. The art market has proven once again that it can absorb even the most radical activities into its framework. Today’s artists have no illusions about the subversive potential of books. They reach for them for other reasons. This web of circumstance, benefits and demerits, along with the inconsistencies of the medium, is the topic of discussion.
Magda Frankowska – designer, art historian, co-founder of the FONTARTE design studio
Daniel Muzyczuk – curator at the Museum of Art in Łódź, winner (with Agnieszka Pindera) of the Igor Zabel competition in 2011, AICA member
Magda Popławska – curator, design critic, founder and coordinator of the “Texture of Design” (Tekstura designu) and “Within the Frames of Design” (W ramach designu) educational series
Agata Szydłowska – art historian, design critic, lecturer at the School of Form
Honza Zamojski – artist, curator, publisher