#this progress

#focus - This progress, while walking in The Green Heart of Holland, Saturday 14/11/2015

 After visiting Tino Segals performance piece at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam I wrote a blog about his work. A few days later in a conversation with Marieke Coppens we both agreed on the importance of this topic for #focus. Together with Hristina Tasheva we invited participants to gather at the train station in Bodegraven for a walk. Segal’s performers were guiding the visitors from A, a teenager asking what progress is,  to B where an older person let us out of the strictly bordered framework. This time the polder awaits for us and a cozy diner to end with.

 While preparing that particular Saturday morning, we were doubting if it makes any sense to discuss an artwork after these terrible attacks in Paris and in several other parts of the world. At the same time, these attacks might have everything to do with today’s ideas of progress as well. After explaining the concept of #focus in a human circle at the station, we started our walk. Today’s progress was our trending topic.

 In the eleventh century the Bishop of Utrecht started to organize this swamp to become the contemporary polder. Today there are discussions to give parts of this polder back to the water and return it into a swamp. A conflict where ideas of nature, meet the interest of cultural land. This polder model shows that ideas of progress are changing overtime. Progress depends on the most followers and their support, or is implemented by the ones in power. It could lead to a tunnel vision and violent acts to convince others, as we unfortunately witness today. Without an idea of progress there would probably still be a swamp here and that would make today’s walk impossible.

 The conceptual ideas about a new progressive artwork seem to justify the programming of This progress by Tino Segal in the Stedelijk Museum. Performance in this case might look renewing and different then a painting, on the other hand it appeared to have the same restricted borders. The artwork for filled its role as artwork in a contemporary art museum, but was it able to reach beyond that role? Today, the shared information by the audience is lost and was obviously less important than its actual being; ‘a progressive artwork’. When the artist is using verbal contracts to avoid any registration of his work that could objectify it, we concluded that his fee is still registered on his bank account.

 Looking back at this edition of #focus, the natural environment and its relation with progressive ideas became clearer to me. A book publisher might feel lucky to buy a large amount of cheap glossy paper because he believes that shiny books will lead to profit, he refuses to understand the emotional relation of paper with each different book. Progress might be driven by certain hopes and fears, as well as it might prove to fail, lead to blindness or not to exist at all.

“An Armenian tomato is simply not turning red in the shade on a windy balcony in Leiden.”

When: Saturday 14 Nov. 2015 – 1.45pm

Where: Train station Bodegraven – The Green Heart of Holland

Subject: “This progress” by Tino Sehgal 

Initiated by:  Marieke Coppens, Edwin Stolk and Hristina Tasheva.

A discussion while walking in the Green Heart of the Netherlands, subject:  “This progress” by Tino Sehgal.

Please visit Stedelijk before 31 -10 -2015 if you have the chance.

‘THIS PROGRESS, 1-31 OCTOBER. In October Tino Sehgal presents the next highlight of his overview A Year at the Stedelijk: Tino Sehgal. The work This progress  is on view in galleries 1.1, 1.32 & 1.33. This phenomenal work has been executed all over the world, after New York and Athene it is now possible to experience it in Amsterdam. - See more at: http://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/a-year-at-the-stedelijk-tino-sehgal’

From Guy Debord in the early 1950s to Richard Long, Janet Cardiff, and Esther Polak more recently, contemporary artists have returned again and again to the walking motif. Stanford researchers found that walking boosts creative inspiration. They examined creativity levels of people while they walked versus while they sat. A person's creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when walking. Even Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple, was known for his walking meetings. 

This time #focus invites you for a walk. We gather at the station in Bodegraven at  1.45pm on Saturday 14 Nov. From there we will start our walk at 2pm and discuss  “This progress”,  a work by Tino Sehgal. 

Our walk will lead 8 km’s through medieval field patterns north of Bodegraven, a polder that is part of the Green Heart of Holland (no dogs allowed, bring warm clothes and boots). We will return at the station at approximately 4pm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groene_Hart

If you would like to stay for a drink and something to eat after our walk, please send us a short email before 11 November. ([email protected])

Be warmly invited to this #FOCUS Best regards,

Edwin Stolk on behalf of #FOCUS

Timeschedule 

13:45 | Meeting at train station Bodegraven

14:00 | Start of our walk (no dogs allowed)

16:00 | Back at train station Bodegraven

16:30 | Recreation: Food&Drinks (rsvp [email protected])

Address: Stationsplein 1, 2411CK Bodegraven

Traveling by train: http://www.ns.nl/