'Greenwashing' reviewed in summer issue of Artforum

Eva Scharrer reviews 'Greenwashing' in the current issue of Artforum, Summer 2008, on p. 456. There is a printable pdf version on our Greenwashing archive along with other critical responses to the exhibition including from El Mundo, La Stampa and Artforum.com

Maasvlakte 2 - Port of Rotterdam expansion

Last week Latitudes visited the port and industrial zone of Rotterdam (seen in the images). On the west of the existing port, construction is undergoing to build Maasvlakte 2, a new port area arising from the sea in front of the Maas estuary, which will be constructed between 2008 and 2013. The reclaimed land will add 20% of port area and triple the container capacity. Following such land reclamation or polder mega-projects such as the Flevopolder, Ijburg and Neeltje Jans, the second Maasvlakte will be the latest chapter of the Netherlands’ ongoing relationship between the sea and the land.

As stated in the Maasvlakte website: "The land reclamation will measure around 2,000 hectares in total. Half of this will consist of infrastructure, such as sea defences, fairways, railways, roads and port basins. The other 1,000 hectares will provide the space for industrial sites."

The Maasvlakte 2 project organisation of the Rotterdam Port Authority wants to involve artists in this 5 year development stage, and for that they have involved SKOR. The Port Authority and SKOR invited Latitudes to visit the area and to generate ideas for the forthcoming 5 year period, from planning to realisation of what will be one of the biggest trade zones in the world.

Una estaca en el lodo, un hoyo en la cinta. MARCO, Vigo

CICLO DE VÍDEO. Panorámica
Una estaca en el lodo, un hoyo en la cinta
El campo expandido del Land Art, 1968-2008
SALÓN DE ACTOS

FECHAS
jueves 8 y viernes 9 de mayo de 2008
jueves 15 y viernes 16 de mayo de 2008 [repetición]

COMISARIADO POR
Latitudes | www.LTTDS.org

ENTRADA LIBRE Y GRATUITA hasta completar aforo

MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo.
C/ Príncipe 54. 36202 Vigo.
Tel: 986 113900. Fax 986 11 39 01
info@marcovigo.com www.marcovigo.com

Durante cuatro días del mes de mayo, el salón de actos del MARCO acoge el ciclo de vídeo “Una estaca en el lodo, un hoyo en la cinta. El campo expandido del Land Art, 1968-2008”, comisariado por Latitudes, después de su presentación en el Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporáneo de México, y antes de continuar su itinerancia a Basilea, Sevilla, Barcelona y Holanda.

Tomando prestado su título de los escritos de Robert Smithson, este programa presenta una selección de imágenes en movimiento que forman parte de la memoria histórica del Land Art, acompañadas de producciones de artistas contemporáneos.

'Greenwashing' in Artforum Critics' Picks

Below you can read the review of the 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities' exhibition by Emily Verla Bovino in Artforum Critics' Picks. The project website (www.greenwashing.lttds.org) has also been updated with links to press articles (ongoing) and a photogallery with a selection of installation shots.

- - - "Greenwashing" Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Via Modane, 16 February 29–May 18

“Cyclus Offset,” “KeayKolour Recycled May,” “Shiro Alga Carta”: A series of “all natural,” “ecological” papers color the catalogue for “Greenwashing” in a muted rainbow of earthy greens, yellows, and pinks. Designed by the exhibition’s curators—Ilaria Bonacossa and Latitudes’s Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna—the volume offers its own version of “green sheen.” Are the Fondazione and the organizers self-consciously engaging in the same banal posturing they set out to critique? Or do they see the printing of an art catalogue on recycled paper as a step in the direction of philosopher Félix Guattari’s exhortation to “think transversally,” toward a reconciliation of the nature/culture dichotomy? Like most of the show’s twenty-five participating artists, the organizers are uncompromising in their ambiguity: They neither propose grand solutions nor shy away in passive resignation. An ambitious project that occasionally falters, “Greenwashing” is largely successful in broadening and interrogating the narrow views that dominate environmentalist debates. Works by Jorge Peris, Lara Almarcegui, and Chu Yun provide the most exemplary models of this approach. For Fairy, 2008, Peris bolted slabs of wet clay to the walls of a back room, transforming the space’s frigid architecture into a musty den of soft, sweating walls kept moist by a network of sprinklers. Like Peris’s installation, Almarcegui’s slide show and postcards, titled A Wasteland: Rotterdam Harbour, 2003–2018; Genk, 2004–2014; Arganzuela Public Slaughterhouse, Madrid, 2005–2006; Peterson Paper Factory, Moss, 2006–2007, documents microenvironments that are at once constructed and deconstructed, simultaneously additive and subtractive. In A Wasteland—wilderness by design—the artist negotiated with municipal authorities and landowners to preserve the atmosphere of disuse in a selection of urban lots, sparing them from the restoration and clean-up of urban planners. In Chu’s Constellation, 2006, various appliances set to “sleep” mode are arranged in a dark room. Their twinkling red, blue, and green lights are the stars of a heaven inhabited by obsolete electronics, including VHS players and soon-to-be-outmoded technologies, like CRT television monitors. While Chu’s work evokes what Andrews calls the “‘What can I do?’ responses to climate change,” it also explores the seductiveness of the spectacular apocalypse scenarios frequently invoked in environmentalist rhetoric. Such eschatological visions aren’t the province of environmentalists alone, however. As Noam Chomsky affirms in Cornelia Parker’s video, Chomskian Abstract, 2007: “About a third of the population probably believes it doesn’t matter what we do about global warming . . . because Jesus is coming and so . . . what’s the difference? . . . Those of us who are saved will rise to heaven, and everyone else will be massacred—and it’ll be wonderful.” —Emily Verla Bovino

'Greenwashing' en El Cultural (13 Marzo 2008)

A continuación una selección del artículo 'Verde es el color del dinero' de Mariano Navarro que se publicó en el suplemento 'El Cultural' de 'El Mundo' el 13 Marzo 2008 – podeis descargar un pdf aquí, en la sección de prensa de nuestra web:

Greenwashing se ocupa de un tema pujante, la situación del medioambiente en el mundo, y cómo su título indica lo hace desde una óptica tan amplia como determinada. Greenwashing es un neologismo que define la injustificable apropiación de las virtudes medioambientales por parte de la industria, los estamentos políticos o las organizaciones, con la finalidad de crear una imagen positiva de sus actividades o productos y una imagen mistificadora que distraiga la atención respecto a sus propias responsabilidades e impactos medioambientales negativos. Green significa verde, washing, lavar, y podría traducirse por “lavar con verde” o, más irónicamente, por “el verde lava más blanco”.

El comisariado ha sido un trabajo colectivo entre Ilaria Bonacossa, jefa de exposiciones de la Fondazione, y el estudio Latitudes, formado por Max Andrews y Mariana Cánepa Luna, colaboradores del programa Arts & Ecology, autores del libro Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook, organizadores en la Bienal de Sharjah de un simposio sobre el tema y editores de un número de la revista UOVO, de Turín, con el tema Ecología, Lujo & Degradación. Cito esta parte de su curriculum porque sin el conocimiento previo del temario tratado, difícilmente podrían haber llevado a cabo una lectura que, sin ilustrar tesis preconcebida alguna, resulte tan rica, tan alertadora e instructiva, en el mejor sentido del término. Tampoco para la Fondazione, que ha dedicado esfuerzos en esos aspectos desde 2001. (continúa...)

[Imagen: Ibon Aranberri 'Light over Lemoniz (without shockwave)', 2000–4. Cortesía del artista e Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin]

‘A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel. Land Art's Expanded Field 1968–2008'

Latitudes was invited to curate the Spring 2008 Panorámica cycle for the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City. The cycle is titled 'A Stake in the Mud, a Hole in the Reel. Land Art's Expanded Field 1968–2008' and will be screened in two parts on 1st and 2nd April at 19.30h (and repeated on 5–6 April at 13h.)

Borrowing its title from the writings of Robert Smithson, the programme revisits a selection of moving-image works that form part of the historical memory of Land Art, through and alongside more recent productions by contemporary artists. Indeed a concern with remoteness, together with the powerful allure of specific sites, weaves throughout the films’ itinerary, which includes the sewers of New York and Vienna (Gordon Matta-Clark, Hans Schabus), the deserts of California (Mario Garcia Torres), the mountains of the Basque country (Ibon Aranberri), and the beaches of Taveuni (Nikolaj Recke).

Dowload the screening programme here (Spanish, pdf, 624 KB)

Part 1:
Gerry Schum's LAND ART (1969) which includes films by Richard Long, Barry Flanagan, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Smithson, Marinus Boezem, Jan Dibbets and Walter de Maria), Nancy Holt & Robert Smithson, Robert Smithson and Gordon Matta-Clark.

Part 2:
Maria Thereza Alves, Francis Alÿs, Ibon Aranberri, Donna Conlon, Cyprien Gaillard, Mario García Torres, Damián Ortega, Hans Schabus, Nikolaj Recke, Thiago Rocha Pitta and Jordan Wolfson.

The programme will also be presented in Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, Vigo (8-9 and 15-16 May); Stadtkino/Kunsthalle Basel (27 May); Centro Andaluz Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla (24-25 June) and Fundació Suñol, Barcelona (7–8 July).

The programme is available for screenings in auditoriums. If you are interested in hosting it, please write to info[at]lttds[dot]org to receive information on the available dates and terms and conditions.

[Image above: Gerry Schum, 'Land Art TV' (1969). Courtesy Groninger Museum, Groningen]

Greenwashing Update - Jorge Peris

Curated by Latitudes with Ilaria Bonacossa, Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities finally opened to the public on Thursday and continues at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, until 18 May (e-flux mailing). La Stampa previewed the show here. We are currently working on redesign of the project website (www.greenwashing.LTTDS.org) which will include installation photographs, audio interviews with participating artists, details about the 192-page catalogue (English and Italian editions) and more. Details to be announced here on the Latitudes blog.


Meanwhile to whet your appetite here are some photos of Jorge Peris's Fairy (2008), one of several new installations in the exhibition: a cave-like environment consisting of 400kg of clay kept from drying out through the use of a humidity system. Peris has likened the experience of the work – which took three weeks to complete – to being inside the belly of a whale.

All images: Courtesy the artist and Zero..., Milan

'Estratos', Proyecto Arte Contemporáneo 2008, Murcia

31 January – 31 March 2008
www.pacmurcia.es

ARTISTS
LARA ALMARCEGUI, BERND & HILLA BECHER, BLEDA Y ROSA, JUAN CRUZ, VERNE DAWSON, MARK DION, JIMMIE DURHAM, CYPRIEN GAILLARD, ILANA HALPERIN, JOACHIM KOESTER, MARK LOMBARDI, ALLAN McCOLLUM, PAUL NOBLE, PAULINA OLOWSKA, DIEGO PERRONE, ABRAHAM POINCHEVAL & LAURENT TIXADOR, MARJETICA POTRC, GREGOR SCHNEIDER, EVE SUSSMAN & THE RUFUS CORPORATION and KEITH TYSON.

VENUES
Centro Párraga, Espacio AV, MAM (Museo Arqueológico de Murcia), MUBAM (Museo de Bellas Artes de Murcia), Museo de Santa Clara, Sala San Esteban, Sala Verónicas, Cendeac, Filmoteca and three other public spaces in the city

The first Contemporary Art Project (PAC in Spanish) wants to make itself distinctive from the circuit of international biennials and art festivals by promoting a series of seminars for the duration of the project ('Heterocronías, Temporalitites in contemporary art practices' with guests including Pamela M. Lee, Peter Osborne, Manuel Cruz, Gary Shapiro and José Luis Villacañas), a film season in the regional filmoteca, and by offering six 3-month residency grants to Murcian artist to go to GlogauAIR, Berlin; Gasworks, London and Duende, Rotterdam; on top of the usual guided tours organised for this kind of events.

Organiser _ Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia. Consejería de Cultura, Joventud y Deportes
Curator _ Nicolas Bourriaud
Assistant Curator _ Aurelia Kreienbühl
Coordination & Communication _ Urroz Proyectos

[all photos: Latitudes with courtesy to all the participating artists]

Art&Co Nº1, 'El arte después de la ecología' por Max Andrews

En primer número de la revista Art&Co., publicada por la Asociación Amigos de ARCO, se incluye un texto de Max Andrews donde se discute la obra de los artistas Amy Balkin, Cyprien Gaillard, The Bruce High Quality Foundation y Allora & Calzadilla - cuyas obras estaran presentes en la exposición 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities', que inaugura el 28 Febrero en la Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino (exposición abierta del 29 Febrero al 11 Mayo).

pdf aquí (3.7MB)

Max Andrews, 'El arte después de la ecología' / 'Art after Environmentalism', Art&Co, Número 1, Invierno 2008 / Number 1, Winter 2008, pp.28-32 & 116-118 (English translation)

'Greenwashing...' preview in January's Artforum

A few comments:

• Curated by ... Mariana Cánepa Luna, NOT Cánapa

• The exhibition has now been extended until 11 May

Latitudes in 'Dazed & Confused' (December 2007 issue)

The December 07 issue of 'Dazed and Confused' have profiled UOVO magazine as a 'heavy duty zine'. Their short review is subtitled 'Latitudes, the Spanish curators, take over the doorstep-sized art quarterly with the help from Dash Snow and Ryan McGinley' and the caption under the photograph reads 'Latitudes take over the reins at UOVO'.

They are indeed dazed and confused. We have NOT taken over the magazine nor have we met Dash Snow or Ryan McGinley, at least not yet. Snow and McGinley were interviewed in previous UOVO issues as were in fact all the other artists mentioned in the review.

However, Latitudes did guest edit the summer issue #14 (Green) 'Ecology, Luxury and Degradation' which included interviews and projects by artists such as Tue Greenfort, Sergio Vega, Michael Rakowitz, Lara Almárcegui, Federico Martelli, Noguchi Rika, Arturas Raila, etc. We are also collaborating with The Bookmakers Ed., the design office led by Chiara Figone which has just begun to publish monographs, as members of their Advisory Board together with Andrew Bonacina, Adam Carr, Lillian Davies, Silvia Sgualdini and Francesco Stocchi.

[Thanks to Alexis Zavialoff for sending the photo of the magazine]

'Greenwashing...' website

We have launched the temporary project website for 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities': www.greenwashing.lttds.org. The site will be developed and updated over time as an extension to the printed catalogue, with expanded contents such as installation shots, interviews, artists CVs, etc.

The list of participating artist (ongoing) is: Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Lara Almárcegui, Maria Thereza Alves, Amy Balkin, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Chu Yun, A Constructed World, Ettore Favini, Cyprien Gaillard, Tue Greenfort, Norma Jeane, Cornelia Parker, Jorge Peris, Wilfredo Prieto, RAF / Reduce Art Flights, Tomás Saraceno, Simon Starling, Nikola Uzunovski, Sergio Vega, Wang Jianwei, James Yamada.

The show will open on 28 February 2008 at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin and remain on view until 11 May. The exhibition is curated by Ilaria Bonacossa and Latitudes (Max Andrews & Mariana Cánepa Luna).

For any press enquiries please email: press@fondsrr.org

[Image: Sergio Vega, 'Paradise on Fire', 2007. Series of five inkjet archival prints, 106 x 134 cm each. Courtesy the artist and Umberto di Marino Arte Contemporanea, Naples]

out of the studio! photos

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Here are a few photos of our recent presentation at the 'out of the studio! symposium of art and public space' in Hasselt, Belgium (26–28 October). We were joined in our session by Bristol-based curator Claire Doherty and Mexican-based curator Cuauhtémoc Medina.

Lara Almárcegui's Wastelands

Last weekend we visited 2 of Lara Almárcegui's wastelands. One in the Rotterdam harbour (www.braakliggendterrein.nl) and the other one in Genk, Belgium. The Rotterdam wasterland (first 4 pictures) has remained untouched since 2003 and will be kept until 2018. The Genk wasteland's dates are 2004-2014 (following 12 images).

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"Lara Almárcegui's work often explores neglected or overlooked sites, carefully cataloguing and highlighting each location's tendency towards entropy. Her projects have ranged from a guide to the wastelands of Amsterdam to the display, in their raw form, of the materials used to construct the galleries in which she shows. Her works are simple actions that belie the vast research process which she undertakes to achieve them." (Frieze Projects, 2006)

Latitudes in the 'Out of Studio!' symposium

Symposium organised by Jan Debbaut and the Province of Limburg, in collaboration with Z33 Center for Contemporary Art, Hasselt, Belgium.

More than twenty leading international artists, curators and scholars will present a variety of projects ranging from the Snow Show in Lapland to the Echigo Tsumari Triennial in Japan, from the make-over of Barcelona to the complexity of commissioning art in public space in New York City and addressing actual concerns and strategies.

When: Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 October 2007
Where: Hasselt, Belgium

The number of participants is limited. Booking in advance is necessary by returning a.s.a.p. the registration form.The registration fee of €200 includes documentation, receptions, lunches, dinner and transfer to Alden Biesen. For further information and assistance with travel arrangements please contact Monique Verhulst at mverhulst@z33.be

Presentations and discussions will be in English. Proceedings will be published afterwards.

For a printable version of the programme and registration form, please go to: http://www.z33.be/outofthestudio

Greenfort & Uklanski, Secession, Vienna

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Piotr Uklanski 'A Retrospective' (main space) and Tue Greenfort's 'Medusa' (upper and lower galleries) at the Secession, Vienna, 20 September – 18 November 2007

UOVO14 'GREEN – Ecology, Luxury & Degradation' Available now!

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GUEST EDITED BY LATITUDES
JULY–SEPTEMBER 2007

Issue # 14 presents interviews, essays, projects and two CDs around art practices that resist the spectacularisation or romanticisation of ecological issues or the natural world.
The issue was launched in Art Basel's Art Lobby on the 17 June, you can see images here.
Where to find it? here
More info? here and here

[Photos courtesy UOVO|The Bookmakers Ed. & MCH Swiss Exhibition Basel/Zurich AG]

LAND, ART reviewed in Frieze

Brian Dillon reviews LAND, ART: A Cultural Ecology Handbook in the summer issue of Frieze, devoted to ecology. There is also a feature article by Latitudes's Max Andrews entitled 'The Whole Truth' featuring the work of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller, Maria Thereza Alves, among others.

UOVO #14 GREEN - Launches on 17 June

Latitudes are guest editors of UOVO #14 '(GREEN) Ecology, Luxury & Degradation', July–September 07

The magazine will be launched in the Art Basel's Art Lobby section on 17 June (4-5pm). More information about the issue here – it's almost 500 pages!

Full Art Lobby Programme here (pdf 87kb)

Latitudes have just finished editing UOVO Issue#14 titled (GREEN) 'Ecology, Luxury and Degradation'. The magazine will be launched in Art Basel's Art Lobby section on June 17th am (exact time TBC - will let you know!).

In the meantime, have a look at the issue 13 which was just launched in Berlin!