Jobs and opps

Profiles of international models researched for Future space.

Introduction

As part of our research for Future space, we asked respondents to suggest artists’ workspace or artists’ ways of working that could serve as models for the future. Here, thirteen short profiles of a selection of international models provide examples of a diverse range of approaches from outside the UK.

Akademie Schloss Solitude

Founded in 1990, the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart is an international, interdisciplinary cultural institution which brings together artistic production, theoretical reflection, and the public. It regards itself as part of an international support system of residency programmes which “provide artists with material, organisational and spiritual support.”

The Akademie seeks to offer its ‘guests’ the opportunity “to experience their time in a different, qualitatively better way”. Though the results of such an experience are seldom immediate, “for the artists in question it can mean coming to a better knowledge of themselves.” The Akademie has become a place “where artists establish new friendships, and where elective affinities have come to the fore, lasting well beyond the time of residency.” A close-knit worldwide alumni network of artists has evolved. Time spent at the Akademie is “an investment that may perhaps not bear fruit until much later.”

Subsidised by the Baden-WÜrttemberg State Lottery, the Akademie’s task is to promote and encourage the work of artists and theoreticians of all disciplines, through residence-based fellowships and through around 100 public performances, readings, concerts and exhibitions which it stages each year. New fellowships are granted every 24 months. Generally, free accommodation and monthly stipend of 1000 Euros is offered, with residencies lasting from three to twelve months. Hundreds of artists – usually under the age of 35 – have participated in the programme since it was set up in 1990.

In 1998, Akademie Schloss Solitude opened a satellite programme in Berlin – with the Galerie K&S in Berline-Mitte and an apartment in Berlin-Tiergarten – to offer fellows the opportunity to take part in exhibitions in Berlin and to make connections with the Berlin art scene.

In 2002, the Akademie extended its programme to science and business, to create an international interdisciplinary work forum. It believes that the worlds of art, business and science are: “complementary to one another and their combination holds the potential to create a dynamic and fruitful exchange.” Scientists and managers are given the opportunity to develop collaborative projects with artists on the premise that: “an artistic environment – artists often being ‘seismographs’ of societal and technological developments – enhances every form of prospective thinking.” The Akadamie functions as: “an external office or laboratory; a place where its guests are part of a network and can experience new inspiration for their work.”

Contact:
Akademie Schloss Solitude
Solitude 3
D-70197 Stuttgart
Germany

T: +49 711 99 619 0
F: +49 711 99 619 50
info@akademie-solitude.de
www.akademie-solitude.de

Galerie K&S,
Linienstrasse 156
10115 Berlin

T: +30 283850 96/97
F: +30 283850 98
k-s@dland.de
www.galerie-k-s.de

Artscape

Artscape is a non-profit organisation which develops buildings and programmes for the arts and creative sector. It specialises in: property management, planning and development of arts districts; creation and management of multi-tenant arts centres; engagement of stakeholders in creative cluster projects; and research into the impact of arts-driven regeneration projects. It enjoys a unique relationship with the City of Toronto and has been a player in a range of major urban renewal projects including: Queen Street West (Toronto), Liberty Village (Toronto), The Distillery Historic District (Toronto), and Governors Island (New York).

Artscape leases affordable studio space to professional artists of all disciplines in six different neighbourhoods in Toronto. Studios under Artscape management include artist work and live/work spaces, designer/maker retail studios, offices, production, performance and exhibition facilities for non-profit arts organisations.

For over ten years years, Artscape has operated at 100 per cent occupancy, with vacancies filled from a waiting list. Professional individual artists and non-profit organisations are eligible to apply. For individual artists, the Canadian Artists’ Code is used to assess professional status. To apply, artists must submit a statement about the proposed use of a studio, and provide an up-to-date curriculum vitae detailing professional qualifications, exhibition/commission history, education, representation and any other relevant experience. A selection committee of Artscape tenants regularly reviews applications and recommends artists for tenancy. Artscape serves a wider community of artists across Toronto through resources such as Square Feet: An Artist’s Guide to Leasing and Purchasing Space.

Artscape is a leader in the international discussion on the relationship between creativity and place, and the connection of arts and economic development. Its bi-annual conference, Creative Places + Spaces, provides an ongoing forum for planners, policy makers, developers, artists and urban thinkers.

In 2005, Artscape will: host Creative Places + Spaces 2; launch its Creative Clusters Development Program for Canadian municipalities; participate in Strategies for Creative Cities, a joint initiative between the London Development Agency and Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

‘What we do’
“Building creative communities involves more than filling buildings with artists and waiting for the magic to happen. Artscape’s property development activities are focused on the creation of multi-tenant centres that serve artists, non-profit arts groups and local communities. This specialized area of practice involves forging a common vision from diverse interests, building community partnerships, raising funds, as well as all of the technical aspects of capital project planning and construction.”

Contact:
Artscape Head Office
60 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 111
Toronto, Ontario M6K 1X9

T: +1 416 392 1038
F: +1 416 392 1059
info@torontoartscape.on.ca
www.torontoartscape.on.ca

Atelier Van Lieshout

Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) was founded in 1995 by Joep van Lieshout. It is a multidisciplinary company which operates internationally in the fields of contemporary art, design and architecture. The concept of the atelier emphasises the fact that the works of art do not stem solely from the creative brain of Joep van Lieshout, but are produced by a creative team.

The work it produces is practical, uncomplicated and substantial. It varies from sculptures and furniture, bathrooms and mobile home units to complete architectural refurbishments. One of the principal forms developed by AVL is the large polyester construction in striking, bright colours. These polyester constructions – of which the large mobile home units are the best known – have come to be recognised as the AVL trademark.

The focus of the atelier has shifted from standardised, made-to-order furniture, to works of art that can be used for a self-sufficient and independent lifestyle. In addition to this development and the production of applied art, the atelier also realises many autonomous art projects.

AVL has developed a style where the absence of design has become an important issue, working with industrial materials such as galvanized steel tubes used for scaffolding, and sheets of unfinished plywood. Their raw functionality stands in contrast with the series of colourful polyester sculptures that AVL produced previously.

In 2001 Atelier Van Lieshout realised AVL-Ville, a ‘free state’ in the port of Rotterdam. This large-scale project marked a high point in the work of AVL; a culmination of all the works produced by AVL up to that time. AVL subsequently located its first AVL-Ville export product in Park Middelheim in Antwerp: the AVL Franchise Unit, which has its own website.

Contact:
Atelier Van Lieshout
Keilestraat 43e
3029 BP Rotterdam
The Netherlands

T: +31 10 244 0971
F: +31 10 244 0972
info@ateliervanlieshout.com
www.ateliervanlieshout.com

The Bag Factory

The Bag Factory in Johannesburg is one of the best known, longest established collective studios facilities in Africa. It is a non-profit organisation promoting the visual arts through a broad range of activities. Artists – both upcoming and established – rent affordable studios in a cultural environment that encourages diversity and cross-fertilisation of ideas and practice. Younger artists and students can obtain advice, support and encouragement, drawing on the expertise of older resident artists.

The Bag Factory runs a residency programme to facilitate cultural exchange and debate, both nationally and internationally. Johannesburg offers a fertile ground for the blending of rich and diverse cultures and communities. Participating artists form a vital link to the major art and cultural networks, within South Africa and abroad. The space is a focal point for visiting curators, artists, academics and collectors. Three of the studios at The Bag Factory are currently reserved for international visiting artists for periods of up to three months. Twelve overseas artists can be accommodated annually. The potent interaction between local and visiting artists often results in not only the establishment of professional bonds, but also the formation of strong personal friendships. The residency is open to any artist from anywhere in the world. Artists interested to know more about the residency programme should email/write to: The Administrator of the Bag Factory, bagfactory@acenet.co.za

In addition to the studios, a professional lithograph printing facility is provided. The Artists’ Press is independently run by Tamarind Master Printer Mark Attwood, who has, since 1991, worked with internationally renowned artists such as Sam Nhlengethwa, Robert Hodgins, William Kentridge, David Koloane. The Bag Factory also provides opportunities to the broader community, such as workshops activities to promote visual education and skills development.

The Bag Factory is affiliated to the international visual artists’ network Triangle Arts Trust, which co-ordinates workshops and studio residency programmes in around twenty countries. Its purpose is to initiate and facilitate the exchange of ideas and practice between an extensive continuously growing network of artists around the world.

Contact:
The Bag Factory
10 Minnaar Street
Fordsburg
Johannesburg

PO Box 794
Newtown
2113
Johannesburg
South Africa

T/F: +27 11 834 9181
bagfactory@acenet.co.za
www.bagfactoryart.org.za/index.html

Triangle Arts Trust
www.trianglearts.org

BizArt

BizArt in Shanghai is one of the first contemporary art centres in China to investigate and promote new art from overseas. It brings Chinese and western contemporary art together, and presents them to a wider audience. It supports young Shanghai-based artists and designers and offers opportunities for international cultural exchange.

Since it was founded in 1998, it has been at the forefront of the Shanghai art scene, with an active involvement in cutting-edge exhibitions and art events and a commitment to supporting emerging local artists. Because there is no public funding for independent arts activity in China, it is essential for BizArt to maintain an active business dimension. It does this through a variety of art services, including interior and graphic design. It tries to bring business closer to art, whilst maintaining an uncompromising approach to art making.

In 2002, BizArt moved its base from a modest loft space in a disused factory to a former warehouse newly converted into a modern, multi-functional art space. This allowed the organisation to start an artist-in-residence programme, run workshops for the public and open a bookstore and cafeteria.

Recently, BizArt has placed more emphasis on production than on presentation, splitting its exhibition space in half to incorporate a studio for artists-in-residence from China and abroad. International and local artists are invited to work in the BizArt space for up to two months, culminating in an exhibition. Compass, a new artist-in-residence programme run in partnership with the Triangle Arts Trust, will be fully operational in spring 2005, as will a new media library, where researchers and academics will be able to view Chinese video art from the mid 1980s to the present day.

Since September 2004, BizArt has operated as the Asia antennae for The Artfactories Association (Saint Ouen, France), a resource platform and support system for art centres around the world. BizArt and Artfactories will work together to facilitate and initiate exchanges and cultural and artistic projects between Asian and European art centres – a partnership supported by Asia-Europe Foundation (Singapore). BizArt also collaborates with Artist Link and the British Council on a joint artist-in-residence programme: Artists studio on Suzhou Creek.

Contact:
BizArt centre exhibition space
Moganshan road 50
Building n.7, 4th floor
Shanghai
China

T/F: +86 21 627 75358
webmaster@biz-art.com
www.biz-art.com
Contact people: Davide Quadrio / Xu Zhen

CALC

calc > casqueiro atlantico laboratorio cultural
Sevilla and L.A. (Las AceÑas), Spain and www.calcaxy.com

calc = Teresa Alonso Novo, Omi Scheiderbauer, Looks Brunner, Malex Spiegel in close collaboration with Reto Stebler

“calc is a laboratory for communication and culture, an artistic experimental arrangement for a place, where the most diverse questions and methods of art and creativity may meet and overlap; in brief, calc is an interactive infrasculpture” Gernot Tscherteu

What Gernot wrote about ten years ago still rings true. Although this house and its location, the base of our activities, shifted from the north of Spain to the south, our most basic questions and investigations remain the same: questions around the relevance and the responsibilities of art; how to project situations and spaces which can raise the probability of generating new experiences and information.

The term interactive infrasculpture points to the relational and the spatial – the two co-ordinates which span the field in which, and for which, we are working. When we’re talking about art we are talking about qualities of relations about which we can’t talk if we do not also reflect on the quality of the space in which we are living... moving... meeting...

There is no text outside the context

For a diary-like overview of the last twelve years of calc see our blog at www.calcaxy.com/calc/booc.html

Contact:
calc
Calle Garci Fernandez 20
E – 41008 Sevilla
Spain

T: +34 954 41 9305
calcies@calcaxy.com
www.calcaxy.com

Casco

Casco was founded in 1990 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, as a platform for experimental art. Since 1996 it has developed a critical programme focused on art projects which question the relation between art and its physical, social and political environment. The artists Casco chooses to work with are concerned with the expanded field in which art can function and have meaning. This includes: the organisation and logistics of Casco, the infrastructure of the city of Utrecht, and the larger context of public space, media, popular culture and politics.

The Casco programme aims to examine the effect of communication technologies and globalisation on culture, identity, community and urban life, through art and other forms of cultural production. The programme consists of three distinct elements which together investigate art’s possibilities and its meaning in a wider cultural arena.

Casco Projects are not limited to the confines of an exhibition, but aim to challenge prevailing models of presentation. Since 1999 Casco has developed ‘productions’ which take into account issues of authorship, public and private property and financial resources.

At Sunday afternoon meetings, often organised in parallel with Casco Projects, Salon Casco presents lectures and presentations by artists, designers, theorists and others.

The third component of the Casco programme is the bilingual (Dutch/English) publication Casco Issues, a magazine which elaborates on the Casco programme in print, presenting challenging visual material, theory and new perspectives, rather than art-historical reflection.

Contact:
Casco
Oudegracht 366
3511 PP Utrecht
Netherlands

T/F: +31 30 231 9995
info@cascoprojects.org
www.cascoprojects.org

Clark

The Centre d’art et de diffusion Clark in Montreal is a non-profit organisation run by a collective of twenty-seven members, all artists and cultural workers. A centre for research as well as production and dissemination, Clark defines itself as ‘a flexible meeting place’.

Clark wishes to consolidate a network of exchange with both local and international artists and organisations, to promote discussion concerning art-in-the-making and its development. A key objective is to assist the training and professional development of young exhibiting artists, or members, helping them to advance their careers.

The Centre combines a number of complementary spaces in one location. In addition to its individual work studios and two room gallery, in 1998 the centre created Atelier Clark, a workshop (‘woodshop’) open to artists and the public alike, which offers specialist equipment and professional-level technical support. It offers “a meeting place for exchange and discovery between artists and the community at large.”

Since 1998, the centre’s exhibition programme has been linked to a programme of research and creative residencies that have accommodated a number of visiting artists and collectives. The centre sees itself as: “a stimulating crossroads for creating and exhibiting.”

Each year, Clark hosts several artists’ residencies lasting approximately four weeks. The artists in this ‘research and creation program’ are given an individual studio, adjacent to the members’ studios, and access to Atelier Clark.

Clark encourages collaboration, communication and the circulation of ideas. The vitality of the organisation stems from the energy and commitment of its member artists. Project committees allow each person to participate in the artistic planning and administration of the Centre.

Clark believes it has a responsibility: “to reveal, to surprise, to delight' and, why not, to annoy from time to time!”

Contact:
Centre d’art et de diffusion Clark
5455 Avenue de Gaspé, Room 114
Montreal, Quebec H2T 3B3
Canada

Office and Gallery T: 514 288 4972
Atelier Clark
T: 514 276 2679
F: 514 288 4972
clark@cam.org
www.clarkplaza.org

HIAP studios

Founded in 1999, HIAP is an international residency programme located at the Cable Factory in Helsinki. The purpose of HIAP is to provide visiting artists with time and space for creative work, as well as contacts and interaction with Finnish contemporary artists and the Helsinki art-scene. It welcomes “artists who are in need of a break for processing their artistic work.”

The Cable Factory is housed in a colossal complex – with five hectares of floor space – on the waterfront about 3km west of the centre of Helsinki. Formerly the Nokia cable factory, it was used from 1940 until the 1980s to make telephone and electrical cable. Today, it is the largest single cultural complex in Helsinki, housing dozens of artistic, cultural, commercial and non-profit organisations and enterprises. Around fifty Finnish artists, musicians, architects and dancers are amongst the 700 professionals based there.

Three 50m2 studios, with computer and internet access and a shared kitchen, are provided for HIAP artists on the fifth floor of the Cable Factory. Visiting artists can also use equipment and facilities at the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts and in Muu Media Base. During their stay, residency artists are accommodated – along with other artists visiting cultural organisations based in the city – in a two-storey wooden villa built in the 1890s at ElÄintarhantie 14, in park-like surroundings near the centre of Helsinki. Both the studios and the villa are provided by the Helsinki City Cultural Office.

The HIAP residency programme aims to develop collaboration and exchange with corresponding programmes and centres abroad. It pays host to 8-12 artists each year, who come to HIAP from all over the world for periods of between two and four months. Artists – from disciplines including video, photography and new media, performance and choreography – are either invited, or selected within artist-exchange schemes and/or through partnerships. HIAP also accommodates curators and art writers. A grant is provided to cover living expenses.

HIAP works in cooperation with FRAME – Finnish Fund for Art Exchange and the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts. It is a member of the RES ARTIS – the International Association of Residential Arts Centres.

Contact:
Helsinki International Artist in Residence Programme
HIAP – Cable Factory
Tallberginkatu 1 C/97
FIN-00180 Helsinki
Finland

T: +358 9685 6730
F: +358 9685 6730
hiap@hiap.fi
www.hiap.fi

IASKA

The International Art Space Kellerberrin Australia (IASKA) is a non-profit art organisation located in Kellerberrin, a small country town 210km east of Perth, Western Australia. IASKA was set up to explore and test new forms of interaction between artists and communities. It aims to create the conditions for a new synthesis of regional, metropolitan and international points of view through a programme based on residencies, exhibitions and community-based projects involving established Australian and international artists.

Residencies are at the core of IASKA’s activities. Each year established and early-career artists are invited to live and work in the town for periods of up to three months. The unusual and distinctive locale stimulates artists to explore new directions. Work produced during the residency is developed from the interaction between the artist and the surrounding social and environmental context

During their stay artists prepare a solo exhibition and interact with the local community through both informal daily contact and specially organised activities such as workshops and lectures. In addition to shows created by guest artists, IASKA runs a small, tightly focused program of exhibitions and performances, often developed by well known curators to suit IASKA’s distinctive philosophy and objectives.

Interaction between artists, communities and young people is facilitated through a programme called Open Space. It comprises three main strands:

• A mentor scheme featuring workshops and collaborative projects involving IASKA international artists in residence and Australian emerging artists.

• An education programme designed to foster knowledge of the contemporary arts in schools, and to provide information to the general public.

• Community access initiatives to increase the availability of IASKA’s activities to the public by presenting accessible work outside of the usual gallery context

Contact:
Perth Office
PO BOX 8087
Perth BC WA 6849
AUSTRALIA

T/F: +61 892 282444 (Perth)
T/F: +61 890 454739 (Kellerberrin)

iaska@iinet.net.au
www.iaska.com.au
Contact person: Marco Marcon

Kunstlerhaus Mounsonturm

KÜnstlerhaus Mousonturm, part of Frankfurt’s diverse cultural infrastructure, is involved in a continuous process of ongoing development – reflecting cultural, social, political and economic change. It is concerned with new trends and methods of work in the art sector in the age of globalisation and mediatisation.

Mousonturm is a staging, production and communication site for international artists of all disciplines, with a focus on contemporary dance, theatre, music and performance and fine arts. The artistic and conceptual approach is, both practically and theoretically, cosmopolitan and comprehensive. Its objective is to sharpen perceptions and knowledge of the diverse areas of art, transposing them into a sensible intermeshing from which innovative forms of presentation can arise.

‘The House’ provides both production infrastructure for all these art forms (rehearsal rooms, studios, workshops) and staging facilities (theatre, studio stage, exhibition area, Hessisches Literaturforum, seminar rooms). Alongside guest performances and its own productions, KÜnstlerhaus Mousonturm develops projects and symposia which critically engage with social topics and also with artistic methods and processes of working.

Training, research, education and the promotion of young artists are a substantial part of the Kunstlerhaus mission. It intentionally rejects the pressure for ‘statistical success’, seeking instead create open spaces for artistic development. The goal, on an ongoing basis, is to uncover new artistic tendencies and to offer a programme in tune with the times.

This means on the one hand, as a ‘renowned producer’, discovering and developing young artists for the international market and, on the other, as a ‘renowned performance venue’, providing a site for internationally acclaimed artists. A mixed programme results, aimed at attracting and informing a curious public, communicating knowledge and awakening the pleasure in art, discourse and communication.

Mousonturm tries to provide, for the advancement of art and today’s artists, a model for thinking and acting in the public cultural sector.

Contact:
KÜnstlerhaus Mousonturm
Waldschmidtstraße 4
60316 Frankfurt
Germany

T: +69 40 58 9524
F: +69 40 58 9540
kathrin.winter@mousonturm.de
www.plateaux.info

N55

In 1994 a non-commercial exhibition space and arts laboratory was set up at Nørre Farimagsgade 55, Copenhagen. N55 – which refers both to this address and to the latitude of Copenhagen – grew out of this project. In 1996, a group of artists began living together in an apartment in the centre of Copenhagen – trying to “rebuild the city from within” by using their everyday life situation as a platform for public events. Since 1997 N55 has consisted of four collaborators – Rikke Luther, Ion Sørvin, Cecilia Wendt and Ingvil Hareide Aarbakke – who work together, share living space, finances and means of production.

In 2000 N55 SPACEFRAME – which now serves as workspace and living space – was constructed in Copenhagen harbour. In 2002 a second base, LAND, was established in nearby Sweden. These two places are the starting points of different N55 initiatives, locally and elsewhere.

N55 say of N55:

“N55 works with art as a part of everyday life.

N55 has its own means of production and distribution.

N55 things are implemented in various situations around the world, initiated by N55 or in collaboration with different persons and institutions.

N55 suggests respecting logical relations and facts, as a basis for politics.

An example of a decisive logical relation is the logical relation between persons and their rights. Persons should be treated as persons and therefore as having rights.

An example of a decisive fact is that concentrations of power characterise our society. Concentrations of power do not necessarily respect person’s rights.

Concentrations of power force persons to concentrate on participating in competition and power games, in order to create a social position for themselves. Concurrently with the concentrations of power dominating our conscious mind and being decisive to our situations, the significance of our fellow humans diminishes. And our own significance becomes the significance we have for concentrations of power, the growth of concentrations of power, and the conflicts of concentrations of power. It is decisive that persons try to find ways of existing with as small concentrations of power as possible.”

Copenhagen-based theorist and curator Lars Bang Larsen says of N55: ”Practice isn’t subject to theory in N55. The discursive and the spatial/object-based are simultaneous and differentiating flows. Reading and agency supplement each other: the rationality and the orgy co-exist. It is here that the humour and lunatic force of N55 appears, rendered credible through the way they act in concrete situations and create access, excess or provocation”

Contact:
Art collective N55
Refshalevej 110 B,
1432 København K,
Denmark

T: + 45 2066 4089
n55@n55.dk
www.n55.dk

P.S.1

Founded in 1971, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York is one of the largest and oldest arts organisations in the United States solely devoted to contemporary art. It is recognised as a defining force of the alternative space movement. P.S.1 stands out from other major art institutions through its progressive approach to exhibitions and its involvement of artists within its organisational framework. Since its inception, P.S.1 has exhibited the work of more than 2,000 artists.

Housed in a hundred-year-old Romanesque Revival school building in Long Island City, P.S.1 presents an extensive programme of exhibitions and events in its 125,000 square foot facility. In October 1997, P.S.1 reopened to the public after a three-year renovation project designed by Los Angeles-based architect Frederick Fisher. The building’s facilities were expanded to include a large outdoor gallery, a dramatic entryway, and a two-storey project space. P.S.1 combines a world-class exhibition programme and a broad spectrum of education and public programmes. It also offers an online radio station, WPS1, which streams from the Clocktower Gallery in lower Manhattan.

In January 2000, P.S.1 established a formal affiliation with The Museum of Modern Art, New York, bringing together a leader in cutting-edge art and one of the world’s foremost modern art museums. The principal objective of this partnership is to promote the enjoyment, appreciation, study and understanding of contemporary art to a wide and growing audience. Collaborative programmes of exhibitions, educational activities and special projects allow both institutions to draw on their respective strengths and resources and to continue shaping a cultural discourse. The first significant collaboration between P.S.1 and MoMA, Greater New York, showcased the work of more than 140 emerging New York-area artists. Another collaboration, the MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program, gives emerging architects the opportunity to build projects for the P.S.1 facility from conception to construction.

Contact:
PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave
Long Island City, 11101
New York
USA

T: +1 718 784 2084
F: +1 718 482 9454
mail@ps1.org
www.ps1.org

The writer

Paul Glinkowski is a writer and journalist, and currently Rootstein Hopkins Research Fellow, Wimbledon School of Art.

Paul Glinkowski

Researched and compiled by Paul Glinkowski

First published: Future forecast May 2005