R.S.O.L.
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Room for the Study Of Loneliness : space for contemporary art
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untill 19.10.2024
R.S.O.L. at VU Art Science: Let's Work!
With the presentation R.S.O.L. & the Status of Reality, the Faculty of In-humanities participates in the exhibition Let's Work! at VU Art Science. So visit R.S.O.L. temporarily there as well, from Tuesdays to Saturdays.
Some special events from the programme:
Some special events from the programme:
- Past: September 9, 3 pm:
- October 1, 4 pm:
- October 10, 4-6 pm:
read more on: home
17.09 - 12.10 2024
Marked Birds
and an introduction by Wende Wallert info
Work from this presentation is available for acquisition. Price list is available in R.S.O.L. info
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The word 'marked' from the exhibition title Marked Birds, refers both to marking (out) and to markings. To mark, is a verb closely related to the verb, to draw. The markings in a bird's plumage concern its distinctive stripes, spots, patterns, colors. But to mark something also means to make something recognizable, with the intention of identifying it, locating it - literally: to draw a line, to trace or delineate something.
A draughtsperson has a similar purpose in drawing. He/she/they wants to mark something, in the primary sense: a specific place on the carrier - by making a mark on it. The relation of the marking to the draughtsman is direct: the draughtsman drew and made these markings personally on the carrier. The relationship of the drawing to 'the world' runs via the draughtsman, to the carrier, and to the nature of its markings. For the draughtsman 'draws', marks (out), and is 'in the world'.
The carrier and the drawing materials are likewise 'in the world'. But the nature of the markings themselves also refers to the world, even if the draughtsman is not drawing 'something' in a direct sense. A drawing, a marking or inscription, has all sorts of inalienable qualities, aspects and dimensions that are recognisable in a meaningful way - and which in themselves can also refer to things that exist in the world, like it does, and to its specific ways of 'being'. The marking thus sign-ifies those qualities, aspects and dimensions. In English-speaking cultures, the term 'mark-making' has therefore come into use to refer to the various lines, dots, spots, patterns and textures that are used in works of art. But let us also not forget that, apart from drawings or paintings, it is also possible to make markings in texts and in musical or auditive works. And do not the movements of dancers also describe specific lines and patterns, that 'mark' those same lines and patterns and that signify them?
Biologist and philosopher Donna Haraway recently said in (the Dutch newspaper) NRC info: "Lynn Margulis (researcher in microbial evolutionary biology) does not see closed off individuals. She sees fabrics, interconnectedness. If you are completely closed off and on your own, life is simply impossible. To her, the real question is: where do you start and where do you stop? What is part of you and what is not? It is basically your immune system that decides that. But those decisions may turn out differently all the time, and are not determined by some fixed border. As such, what 'is' you is fluid and ultimately elusive."
One could say that the decisions we make about what 'belongs' to us and what does not, are the demarcations we make in the story we tell about ourselves, and in how we behave and present ourselves. And these marked out boundaries, however unstable and fluid they may be and will remain, make us 'knowable' for others. What and who we are is marked out in our appearances, our behaviour and in the 'story' we tell about ourselves - and thus becomes perceptibly identifiable. I think this reveals a specific dimension of marking, drawing - of design-ating, sign-ifying. Namely: marking identifies and makes something or someone specific - and thus know-able.
To clarify: suppose we did not mark out a thing or aspect of a thing, it then would remain undefined, amorphous, ungraspable. By marking something or someone out as something or someone, it becomes possible to know and understand them. Taking hereby into account that this demarcation is not and cannot be definite, and therefore does not make the thing, dimension or person in question known fully. Indeed, the decisions for the markings made, may well turn out differently. And in that case those other markings may be valid too, in their own manner - and say something valid about aspects of the matter or individual that were signified by them.
Harraway also said this in the same interview: "Be there. Be truly present in this world and with what is going on in it. See the social injustice, see the loss of biodiversity. ... And don't give up and throw in the towel either. Simply take care of each other. That's the job."
I cite this here too, because while making things knowable - identifying things, persons, issues, 'problems', et cetera - is never definitive and complete - it ís the way we as human beings stand in the world. The forever indefinite, fluid and amorphous nature of our markings or identifications should therefore not discourage us. We should not start seeing everything as merely relative, in the sense of: unimportant, nonsensical - or indifferent. We will have to keep marking things out, to keep identifying things, issues and persons. After all, only by doing so do we can get to know and understand them. And only by getting to know and understand things, persons and their dimensions, can we act meaningfully with them, and make ethical and practical choices - based on what we have identified as being what it is (even if it is that (only) in part).
The second word in the exhibition title is 'birds'. And this is significant for this presentation in the following manner, in the context of marking and markings:
R.S.O.L. has moved to a new location on the Ossenweerdstraat in Deventer. The Ossenweerdstraat is not long. At the end of it one steps onto the IJsseldijk and looks out over the IJssel river to the Ossenwaard, a floodplain that was once used for arable and livestock farming. Now it is an overflow area and nature reserve, where many migratory birds come to rest and breed. The Ossenwaard can be reached via the Zwarte pad over the railway bridge - a ten to fifteen minute walk.
The new R.S.O.L. looks out on the railway embankment and behind it lies the old city park, the Rijsterborgherpark. In the Rijsterborgherpark, one can find, among other things, the Bird Island, an island in the canal on which exotic birds are kept. This is also a ten to fifteen minute walk away.
With the concepts of 'the bird' and 'birds', the artists in this exhibition examine not only this new environment of R.S.O.L., but especially the relationship of the human, cultural world, with its current and prevailing economic model, to the natural world in which it is contained and from which it has emerged. How do we mark out ourselves as human beings and our human world in relation to the natural world and the world as a whole? Do we consider ourselves to be 'rational animals'? (Aristotle) And in doing so, do we stand opposite, above, between or alongside (other) animals? Do we see gradations in the animal kingdom or a hierarchy? Do we perhaps see gradations in humanity itself? Are we aware that while the categories of biological species that we use make something knowable about animals, the boundaries between species are descriptions made by us, and are not definitive, but fluid, as Haraway said? And what does all this mean for our knowing and acting? How do we engage with our human and cultural world, and how do we interact with the natural world? Issues and questions to which and from which we will have to formulate our answers again and again, and which are being asked and play a part in this exhibition.
The word 'bird' not only refers to a (fairly) specific type of animal, but it is also used metaphorically to refer to specific people. info Nowadays, this is usually understood in a slightly negative sense: a strange bird. It then refers to someone who is 'different', eccentric. But a cool bird is also imaginable.
It is a way of identifying, of marking - a way of making someone knowable, comprehensible and meaningful.
Let us then, from our current position, mark out ourselves and the world around us.
A draughtsperson has a similar purpose in drawing. He/she/they wants to mark something, in the primary sense: a specific place on the carrier - by making a mark on it. The relation of the marking to the draughtsman is direct: the draughtsman drew and made these markings personally on the carrier. The relationship of the drawing to 'the world' runs via the draughtsman, to the carrier, and to the nature of its markings. For the draughtsman 'draws', marks (out), and is 'in the world'.
The carrier and the drawing materials are likewise 'in the world'. But the nature of the markings themselves also refers to the world, even if the draughtsman is not drawing 'something' in a direct sense. A drawing, a marking or inscription, has all sorts of inalienable qualities, aspects and dimensions that are recognisable in a meaningful way - and which in themselves can also refer to things that exist in the world, like it does, and to its specific ways of 'being'. The marking thus sign-ifies those qualities, aspects and dimensions. In English-speaking cultures, the term 'mark-making' has therefore come into use to refer to the various lines, dots, spots, patterns and textures that are used in works of art. But let us also not forget that, apart from drawings or paintings, it is also possible to make markings in texts and in musical or auditive works. And do not the movements of dancers also describe specific lines and patterns, that 'mark' those same lines and patterns and that signify them?
Biologist and philosopher Donna Haraway recently said in (the Dutch newspaper) NRC info: "Lynn Margulis (researcher in microbial evolutionary biology) does not see closed off individuals. She sees fabrics, interconnectedness. If you are completely closed off and on your own, life is simply impossible. To her, the real question is: where do you start and where do you stop? What is part of you and what is not? It is basically your immune system that decides that. But those decisions may turn out differently all the time, and are not determined by some fixed border. As such, what 'is' you is fluid and ultimately elusive."
One could say that the decisions we make about what 'belongs' to us and what does not, are the demarcations we make in the story we tell about ourselves, and in how we behave and present ourselves. And these marked out boundaries, however unstable and fluid they may be and will remain, make us 'knowable' for others. What and who we are is marked out in our appearances, our behaviour and in the 'story' we tell about ourselves - and thus becomes perceptibly identifiable. I think this reveals a specific dimension of marking, drawing - of design-ating, sign-ifying. Namely: marking identifies and makes something or someone specific - and thus know-able.
To clarify: suppose we did not mark out a thing or aspect of a thing, it then would remain undefined, amorphous, ungraspable. By marking something or someone out as something or someone, it becomes possible to know and understand them. Taking hereby into account that this demarcation is not and cannot be definite, and therefore does not make the thing, dimension or person in question known fully. Indeed, the decisions for the markings made, may well turn out differently. And in that case those other markings may be valid too, in their own manner - and say something valid about aspects of the matter or individual that were signified by them.
Harraway also said this in the same interview: "Be there. Be truly present in this world and with what is going on in it. See the social injustice, see the loss of biodiversity. ... And don't give up and throw in the towel either. Simply take care of each other. That's the job."
I cite this here too, because while making things knowable - identifying things, persons, issues, 'problems', et cetera - is never definitive and complete - it ís the way we as human beings stand in the world. The forever indefinite, fluid and amorphous nature of our markings or identifications should therefore not discourage us. We should not start seeing everything as merely relative, in the sense of: unimportant, nonsensical - or indifferent. We will have to keep marking things out, to keep identifying things, issues and persons. After all, only by doing so do we can get to know and understand them. And only by getting to know and understand things, persons and their dimensions, can we act meaningfully with them, and make ethical and practical choices - based on what we have identified as being what it is (even if it is that (only) in part).
The second word in the exhibition title is 'birds'. And this is significant for this presentation in the following manner, in the context of marking and markings:
R.S.O.L. has moved to a new location on the Ossenweerdstraat in Deventer. The Ossenweerdstraat is not long. At the end of it one steps onto the IJsseldijk and looks out over the IJssel river to the Ossenwaard, a floodplain that was once used for arable and livestock farming. Now it is an overflow area and nature reserve, where many migratory birds come to rest and breed. The Ossenwaard can be reached via the Zwarte pad over the railway bridge - a ten to fifteen minute walk.
The new R.S.O.L. looks out on the railway embankment and behind it lies the old city park, the Rijsterborgherpark. In the Rijsterborgherpark, one can find, among other things, the Bird Island, an island in the canal on which exotic birds are kept. This is also a ten to fifteen minute walk away.
With the concepts of 'the bird' and 'birds', the artists in this exhibition examine not only this new environment of R.S.O.L., but especially the relationship of the human, cultural world, with its current and prevailing economic model, to the natural world in which it is contained and from which it has emerged. How do we mark out ourselves as human beings and our human world in relation to the natural world and the world as a whole? Do we consider ourselves to be 'rational animals'? (Aristotle) And in doing so, do we stand opposite, above, between or alongside (other) animals? Do we see gradations in the animal kingdom or a hierarchy? Do we perhaps see gradations in humanity itself? Are we aware that while the categories of biological species that we use make something knowable about animals, the boundaries between species are descriptions made by us, and are not definitive, but fluid, as Haraway said? And what does all this mean for our knowing and acting? How do we engage with our human and cultural world, and how do we interact with the natural world? Issues and questions to which and from which we will have to formulate our answers again and again, and which are being asked and play a part in this exhibition.
The word 'bird' not only refers to a (fairly) specific type of animal, but it is also used metaphorically to refer to specific people. info Nowadays, this is usually understood in a slightly negative sense: a strange bird. It then refers to someone who is 'different', eccentric. But a cool bird is also imaginable.
It is a way of identifying, of marking - a way of making someone knowable, comprehensible and meaningful.
Let us then, from our current position, mark out ourselves and the world around us.
TK 19 & 22-04-2024
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Martin Brandsma's work for Marked Birds can be found - apart from in R.S.O.L. - in the Ossenwaard, IJssellandschap and at the Vogeleiland (Bird Island), historical city park Deventer. From 21.09.24
Do the R.S.O.L. walk De Ossenwaard (6 km) and find Martin's work: price: €3 info
The Bird Island can be found on your walk from the railway station to R.S.O.L. Making a presentation costs a lot of money: working hours, marketing, materials, transport costs, staffing. Besides the fixed costs for the space. Your support is therefore urgently needed. Support this presentation now. It is possible to earmark your donation by stating with your donation which R.S.O.L. presentation you want to support. In that case, your donation will be used entirely for that specific presentation and will therefore be directly beneficial to the artists involved.
R.S.O.L. is not supported by governments or funds, but is financed entirely from its own resources, proceeds and donations. |
Work from this presentation is available for acquisition. Price list is available in R.S.O.L. info
By making an acquisition you are supporting both R.S.O.L. and the artist in question.
By making an acquisition you are supporting both R.S.O.L. and the artist in question.
05.11 - 30.11 2024
six inbetween days
with work by Stijn Elshuis info
Work from this presentation is available for acquisition. Price list is available in R.S.O.L. info
History is created by the stories and materials we archive and reproduce. What we collect, write down and preserve says a lot about how we experience the world. For this reason, an archive is always political. Conversely, politics also influences the way we preserve and understand history. And so history can also become an instrument of power. In the cultural West, archival choices in the past have mainly been made by the so-called 'white man'. This led to a limited perspective on the history of the world, of which we have become well aware in our multicultural society.
Therefore, Stijn Elshuis works on a new space of understanding history, by combining images from different archives and adding objects to them in which fact and fiction merge. The space is arranged so that the exhibited works enter into a dialogue - with one another and with the observer. A new archive emerges, without a fixed timeline, in which the cultural and topographical origins of objects and stories are not made explicit and thus remain equivalent. The choices that motivated Elshuis' archival work were primarily aesthetic. Free from political interests and positions - except in the desire to realise a multi-voiced historiography. An archive in which the visitor speaks along with the archivist and where there is room for everyone's story and perspective.
Therefore, Stijn Elshuis works on a new space of understanding history, by combining images from different archives and adding objects to them in which fact and fiction merge. The space is arranged so that the exhibited works enter into a dialogue - with one another and with the observer. A new archive emerges, without a fixed timeline, in which the cultural and topographical origins of objects and stories are not made explicit and thus remain equivalent. The choices that motivated Elshuis' archival work were primarily aesthetic. Free from political interests and positions - except in the desire to realise a multi-voiced historiography. An archive in which the visitor speaks along with the archivist and where there is room for everyone's story and perspective.
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Are you, as an artist or researcher, also interested in spending some inbetween days in the Room for the Study Of Loneliness and making your work public? Read more about R.S.O.L.'s inbetween days programme here.
Making a presentation costs a lot of money: working hours, marketing, materials, transport costs, staffing. Besides the fixed costs for the space. Your support is therefore urgently needed. Support this presentation now. It is possible to earmark your donation by stating with your donation which R.S.O.L. presentation you want to support. In that case, your donation will be used entirely for that specific presentation and will therefore be directly beneficial to the artist involved.
R.S.O.L. is not supported by governments or funds, but is financed entirely from its own resources, proceeds and donations.
R.S.O.L. is not supported by governments or funds, but is financed entirely from its own resources, proceeds and donations.
programme in development:
February/March 2025
Syntactic doubling, semantic layering
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(working title)
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June/July 2025
How to look and see
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(working title)
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- Making a presentation costs a lot of money: working hours, marketing, materials, transport costs, staffing. Besides the fixed costs for the space. Your support is therefore urgently needed. Support these presentations now. It is possible to earmark your donation by stating with your donation which R.S.O.L. presentation you want to support. In that case, your donation will be used entirely for that specific presentation and will therefore be directly beneficial to the artists involved.
R.S.O.L. is not supported by governments or funds, but is financed entirely from its own resources, proceeds and donations.
Work from current and previous presentations is available for purchase.
Current and upcoming presentations can be found on this page. View work from previous presentations here
Questions and prices: contact
A payment arrangement is possible for prices above € 500. No additional costs will be charged for this.
Current and upcoming presentations can be found on this page. View work from previous presentations here
Questions and prices: contact
A payment arrangement is possible for prices above € 500. No additional costs will be charged for this.