Cover Stories' are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes' homepage and feature past, present or forthcoming projects, research, writing, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial activities, and are archived here.


Related content:

• Archive of Cover Stories since March 2015
• Cover Story, February 2017: The Dutch Assembly, five years on 1 February 2017
• Cover Story, January 2017: How open are open calls? 4 January 2017
• Cover Story, December 2016: Ten years ago – Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook 5 December 2016
• Cover Story, November 2016: Plucking Gilda, synesthetic Toni and dazzling Víctor 2 November 2016
• Cover Story, October 2016: "A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Gallery, 13 October 2016
• Cover Story, September 2016: "El misterio de Caviria" by Antoni Hervàs 1 Septiembre 2016
• Last chance to read the August 2016 Monthly Cover Story "Fermínlandia" 31 August 2016.

Frieze has announced the 2009 Cartier Award winner: New Yorker Jordan Wolfson (New York, 1980. Lives in New York and Berlin). The 2008 winner was Cuban artist Wilfredo Prieto, see Latitudes' post here and artist profile here).

In 2006 Latitudes collaborated with Wolfson in the production of the sound piece 'Day' (2006) for an exhibition in Barcelona. In 2008 his film 'Landscape for Fire' was exhibited in different venues as part of the touring film programme 'A Stake in the Mud, a Hole in the Reel. Land Art's Expanded Field 1968–2008' (Museo Tamayo, Mexico City and other venues, April–October 2008) and will soon present the film 'Untitled (the nothing)' (2005–9, 4mins) as part of the cinema, performance and lectures programme 'The Uncertainty Principle' at Capella MACBA.

Read more about Jordan Wolfson: download a 2006 interview in the writing archive and a May 2005 exhibition review in Frieze Magazine here.

[Image: Jordan Wolfson, still of 'Perfect Lover' (2007). Courtesy of the artist, Johann König, Berlin, and T293, Napoli]

El Nivell Zero de la Fundació Suñol recibió el premio al ciclo de exposiciones de arte contemporáneo. Sergi Aguilar, el director de la fundación, recogió el premio y agradeció al Sr. Suñol la confianza depositada en él, así como a la Associació y al público por el apoyo ofrecido a una "iniciativa privada que trabaja con vocación de ofrecer una programación pública".



Durante la temporada 2008, el Nivell Zero acogió dos proyectos comisariados por Latitudes: la proyección del ciclo itinerante de video y film 'Una estaca en el lodo, un hoyo en la cinta. El campo expandido del Land Art, 1968-2008' (6 y 8 Julio) y la exposición y proyecto público 'Lawrence Weiner: La cresta de la ola' (Octubre–Noviembre) (véase foto abajo). ¡Contentos de aportar nuestro granito de arena!




FUNDACIÓ SUÑOL
Passeig de Gràcia, 98
08008 Barcelona
www.fundaciosunol.org

Coinciding with the conclusion of the screenings of the film programme 'A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel: Land Art’s Expanded Field, 1968–2008' last October, Latitudes was asked to write a text on the films for Art&Co, which has just been published in their Winter 09 issue num. 5 – see the pages above (click on the image to zoom in on the text).


Following is an excerpt of the original text (over 2,000 words):

"(...) Latitudes developed the film programme 'A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel: Land Art’s Expanded Field, 1968–2008' at the invitation of the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City. Premiering there in April 2008 as part of the Tamayo’s 'Panorámica' series, 'A Stake in the Mud...' has since toured to several venues throughout Europe within an auditorium-based screening format, presenting historical works alongside those produced in the last six years.

What were the possibilities for augmenting preordained definitions of so-called Land Art through relation with contemporary practices, and social and environmental ecologies? Though the cycle had its germination in our work on a publication – 'Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook' (2006) – the dimension of film clearly proposed additional sets of concerns. The title of the programme was drawn from the words of Robert Smithson in which he speculates on the site and film of perhaps the most renowned – and certainly most photogenic – of the works associated with Land Art, 'Spiral Jetty' (1970). It attempts to surmise the programme’s dual concern with sheer materiality and physical processes together with the lacunae of filmic representation. Where artists’ use of film or video might appear as a solution to the problem of how to represent something that would otherwise be inaccessible (an intervention in a remote area, for example) or otherwise ephemeral, it apparently creates another – what, or where, does the artwork consist of? Accordingly, what is the status of each film: informal artefact, ‘making of’ movie, documentary, autonomous fiction or something else?

(...)Accordingly, the programme enhanced several ‘Smithsonian’ dialogues across time but rarely was the magnetism openly declared or intentional. Included in part two of the programme, 'Zênite invertido/Inverted Zenith' (2005) by Brazilian artist Thiago Rocha Pitta portrayed a mesmerising vortex of water in a metal vessel which slowly diminishes in volume before a steady resurgence. The work supports a tacit mythical connection to Spiral Jetty and its own narratives of mirroring and reversal, but also to the cosmic whirlpools evoked in Edgar Allan Poe’s tale ‘A Descent into the Maelström’. A concern with remoteness, together with the powerful allure of specific sites, threaded throughout the cycle. The itinerary took in the sewers of New York City and Vienna (through works by Gordon Matta-Clark and Hans Schabus), the deserts of the US (Mario Garcia Torres or Walter De Maria), high mountain zones (Ibon Aranberri, Maria Thereza Alves), as well as the paradisiac beaches of Taveuni (Nikolaj Recke), for example. Territorial sculptural acts (Barry Flanagan or Walter de Maria, for example) were encountered, as well as displacements more legible as social or political actions (in the work by Francis Alÿs). Absurd gestures (Damián Ortega) met touristic views of natural phenomena (Nancy Holt & Smithson) while perspectival experiments (Jan Dibbets) greeted ecological remarks (Donna Conlon)."

'Mono Lake' (1968/2004) by Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt is one of the films included in the first part of the programme which we just learned was acquired in 2007 by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. Here is an acquisition entry on the piece (in Spanish). 

The full article is available for download from Latitudes' writing archive here.

Further documentation such as hand programmes, press reviews, adverts, etc. here; Photodocumentation of the screenings here.

Art&Co is a bilingual Spanish/English quarterly magazine published by the Asociación Amigos de ARCO. 

Editorial Director: Ángela Molina
Contact: artandco@artandco.es or (+34) 917 225 102
More info: http://www.arco.ifema.es (see 'Publications')

Looking back at the past year is a infectious exercise at this point in the calendar. We would like to thank everyone that has visited or taken part in our projects, from the small ones to the 3 year-long collaborations, whether from nearby or far away.

Our 2008 began as intense preparations were well underway for the group exhibition 'Greenwashing. Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities' at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (29.02 –18.05.2008) co-curated with Ilaria Bonacossa. 'Greenwashing...' presented the work of 25 artists and artists groups (11 of those produced new work). A 192 page catalogue was published by The Bookmakers Ed., Turin – you can buy a copy here (English/Italian editions).

Following 'Greenwashing...' we presented 'A Stake in the Mud, A Hole in the Reel: Land Art's Expanded Field 1968–2008', a film and video programme curated at the invitation of the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City that later toured to 8 venues between April and October: MARCO, Vigo; Stadtkino (Kunsthalle Basel), Basel, Switzerland; CAAC, Sevilla; Fundació Suñol, Barcelona; Barn Hongersdijk Farmstead, Wilhelminapolder, The Netherlands; Spike Island, Bristol, United Kingdom; Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles. For further information you can read an essay in the Winter 2008-9 (upcoming) issue of Art & Co magazine or download press articles and programmes here.

Before the end of the summer we were part of the jury for the Premi Miquel Casablancas, an award for Spanish artists under 36. From around 200 portfolios and projects submitted Latitudes, together with Aimar Arriola, selected four artists to participate in the exhibition later in the year: ‘La, la, la, la: on winning and losing’ (29.11.2008 – 10.01.2009).

The summer was filled with more research and work to be done, which was carried out thanks to the support and hospitality of the Deutsche Börse Residency Programme, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Germany.

The 2008-9 season began with the exciting realisation of 'The Crest of a Wave’, a four-part project by Lawrence Weiner at Fundació Suñol, Barcelona (08.10 – 15.11.08) that had a great press, radio, specialised media and TV coverage (see post 12 November); followed by the conclusion of the 3 year-long public commission by Tue Greenfort which was presented in a discrete mode alongside his Frieze Art Fair project (16-19 October). This commission was an initiative of the RSA Arts & Ecology programme, London, which has recently become the Arts & Ecology center. Soon there will be a small publication gathering the history of the commission as well visual documentation of the project.

In November, as part of Artissima 15 Latitudes presented 'X, Y, etc!', a video programme comprised of around 40 works that was inspired by Charles Fort's research methodology, the paranormal and anomalous phenomena, the uncanny and the unexplained.

And now looking a little towards what's to come in 2009 ... since May 2008 (see previous posts here and here) we have been working on 'Portscapes', a series of artists’ projects that will take place throughout 2009 alongside the construction of ‘Maasvlakte 2’, a 1,000 hectare area of reclaimed land that will extend the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest seaport and industrial area. Mirroring a port's function of transit and exchange 'Portscapes' will involve Rotterdam-based artists and those from countries including China, Austria, Mexico, Scotland and the US, with the aim of considering the physical and conceptual implications of the new lands of Maasvlakte 2, as well as the city-port as a distributive network across artistic, marine and mercantile registers. 'Portscapes' will be introduced during Art Rotterdam (5–8 February 2009) by a small ‘prologue’ publication designed by Ben Laloua / Didier Pascal.

Throughout 2008 we have also contributed several catalogue essays, articles, exhibition reviews, artists profiles, etc. a selection of which can be downloaded from our writing archive.

Happy New Year!

El próximo sábado 25 Octubre tendrá lugar en el Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (Móstoles) la proyección final del programa de video "Una estaca en el lodo, un hoyo en la cinta. El campo expandido del Land Art, 1968-2008" que hemos presentado anteriormente en México DF, Vigo, Sevilla, Basilea, Barcelona, Wilheminapolder (Holanda) y Bristol.
El ciclo se divide en dos partes: la primera parte (52m duración) muestra obras clásicas del Land Art realizadas en 1968 (algunas son post-producciones del 2004 y 2005) y la segunda parte (1h 15m duración) incluye obras contemporaneas producidas en los últimos 6 años.

Para más información sobre la programación, consultar programa completo en w3art.es, en EXITMAIL o descargar programa de mano en el archivo. En la galería podreis ver imágenes de proyecciones anteriores.

La proyección se presenta en contexto de la exposición 'Gustos, colecciones y cintas de vídeo', comisariada por Virginia Torrente.

 
Sábado 25 Octubre
De 12 a 14.30h

CENTRO DE ARTE DOS DE MAYO
Avda. de la Constitución, 23-25
28931 MóstolesTfno: 91 276 02 13 / 19centrodeartedosdemayo@madrid.org
Acceso gratuito al centro y a sus actividades

MAPA ubicación
Metro: Móstoles Central L 12
Renfe: Móstoles (línea C5 desde Atocha)
 
–
Imagen: Programa impreso por el Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo; y WALTER DE MARIA, 'Two Lines Three Circles on the Desert', 1969, 4’45”, en: GERRY SCHUM 'LAND ART', 1969. 16mm transferido a DVD. Cortesía Groninger Museum, Groningen.

For those who visit our website (www.lttds.org) regularly, you would like to know that we have enhanced the photo galleries with a larger slideshow format: at the top a caption explaining what you see and at the bottom the usual back and forth arrow to navigate, as well as a thumbnail panel.

An example of this is this one: http://www.lttds.org/projects/current/stake/stakegallery/stakegallery.html, where we just uploaded photos from the recent film & video screenings at the Fundació Suñol, Barcelona and at the Wilheminapolder in Holland, when 130 people attended the screenings in this beautiful 18th Century barn.

We have also updated other gallery sections like that of Greenwashing, where you'll be able to see the exhibition catalogue designed by The Bookmakers Ed., Turin (slideshow of the works in the exhibition on the Greenwashing web). And of course, we keep feeding our various archives, such as this or this or this or this!

Después de las presentaciones en México, Vigo, Basilea y Sevilla continuamos con la itinerancia del ciclo de film y video 'Una estaca en el lodo, un hoyo en la cinta. El campo expandido del Land Art, 1968-2008'. La próxima proyección será en el Nivell Zero de la Fundació Suñol, Barcelona, el 7 y 8 Julio a las 19.30h.

El ciclo se divide en dos partes: la primera proyección (7 Julio, 1h 38m duración) muestra obras clásicas del Land Art realizadas en los sesenta y setenta (algunas son post-producciones del 2004 y 2005) y la segunda parte (8 Julio, 1h 15m duración) incluye obras contemporaneas producidas en los últimos 6 años. Para más información sobre los films que se proyectan, véase programa (castellano) o la invitación (catalán).

Aforo limitado | 2 € por sesión | Reserva previa: 93 496 10 32

Nivell Zero de la Fundació Suñol
c/ Rosselló 240
08008 – Barcelona
T 93 496 10 32
www.fundaciosunol.org

Programas anteriores y prensa, aquí.

El viernes 11 de Julio, a las 11.30am presentaremos el programa en una granja en la Wilheminapolder (véanse fotos), Holanda, como parte de una serie de encargos artísticos que está llevando a cabo SKOR (la Fundación de arte y espacio público de Amsterdam) en la zona. Para más información (en inglés).

SKOR organiza un autobús desde Amsterdam hacia la Wilheminapolder. El bus saldrá a las 9am desde sus oficinas en Ruysdaelkade 2. Coste transporte: € 10.00 (evento y comida = € 17.50). Para registrarse escribir a info@cbkzeeland.nl o llamar al: +31 0118-611443.

Durante el trayecto se podrá escuchar la banda sonora realizada especialmente para la ocasión por Rutger Zuydervedt, conocido como Machinefabriek.

Los días 24 y 25 de Junio, a las 20h, se proyectará el ciclo 'Una estaca en el lodo, un hoyo en la cinta. El campo expandido del Land Art, 1968-2008' que Latitudes ha comisariado en el Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC, Sevilla). El programa revisa una selección de imágenes en movimiento que forman parte de la memoria histórica de Land Art (Parte 1, 1h38m), acompañadas de producciones de artistas contemporáneos (Parte 2, 1h15m).

Próximas proyecciones: 7–8 Julio, Fundació Suñol, Barcelona; y 11 Julio, antiguo granero Hongersdijk Farmstead, Wilheminapolder, Holanda (auspiciada por SKOR Foundation Art and Public Space, Amsterdam).

Más información http://www.lttds.org/projects/current/stake/stake.html
Descargar los programas de mano (inglés y español)
 
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo
Monasterio de la Cartuja de Sta. Mª de las Cuevas
Acceso: Avda. Américo Vespucio nº 2, Isla de la Cartuja y
Avda de los Descubrimientos s/n (por pasarela de Torneo)
41092 SEVILLA
Tel. +34 955 037 070
www.caac.es