Hiccups

One cannot sing and eat at the same time, to sing is to starve, to eat is to be in silence. The dichotomy proposes a field of speculation regarding materiality, consumption and human relation to the environment (nature/culture). Hiccups is an exhibition involving culinary practices, sound and visual arts. The curatorial interest stems from the intersection of these practices. Curator Trang Hà invites local and international artists to reflect on this topic and to create multisensory works.

One Hiccup Hoogtij #74 Friday 29th September, doors open at 19:00.

One Hiccup, the first of the Hiccups series, will be a film screening featuring local and international artists working with the themes of culinary, sound, and visual arts. In addition to the film screenings, the event will also feature three exhibited works.

On 29th September during Hoogtij #74, “Hiccups” will celebrate culinary practices through means of sound and visuals. With works by:

Alejandra López (ES) @ale_looma
Cecilie Fang (DK/CN) @ceciliefang
Jana Romanova (RU) @janarom
Marcin Liminowicz (PL) @mliminowicz
Nael Quraishi (UK/PK) @naelquraishi
Trang Hà (VN) @terrafic.soup

The theme of the event was initially based on a performance by Trang Hà—Cuisine (du) Terror, an elaborate dinner experience that allows an interplay between food, sound, and storytelling.

Cuisine (du) Terror pleads for a recalibration of knowledge: it concerns the question of who is cooking and who/what is cooked. The trendy culinary technique called sous-vide reveals our vulnerability in the face of global warming. The fact that animal flesh can be cooked already from 53°C, lower than the boiling temperature of water, suggests that parts of the world are being slow-cooked without their inhabitants being aware of it.

Within this context, heat becomes a speculative tool for learning and unlearning, “decomposing” preconceptions and re-assembling them into new narratives. The possibilities for these narratives are endless and might not adhere to the conventional boundaries of nature and culture; instead, they reside in the undefined areas, akin to grey zones, to glitches and hiccups. Thus the title “Hiccups”, drawing an analogy to the sudden and “repeated spasms in the diaphragm that one can’t control”, conveys a similar anecdote. It serves as a reminder of the unpredictable yet familiar processes of material existence, where the goal is not to pursue certainty but to embrace uncertainty as a nest of possibilities.

Check the facebook event.


The following event of the series, “Two Hiccups”, will take place during The Hague’s Museum Night, or Museumnacht, on Saturday, October 7th, from 20:00 to 1:00, with experimental food and sound performance by Trang Hà, Andrejs Poikāns & others.

Summer’s Gate – A Celebration of Variable Shapes

Join us on the evening of July 9th for a dinner and exhibition centered around variable shapes, curated by Céline Hurka and Studio Pointer* as part of their collaborative project Variable Lab. On this occasion, Céline Hurka will also be celebrating the launch of her new type foundry.

Sunday, July 9th, from 7pm to 1am.
Free entrance.

Dinner installation by Mattia Papp, Trang Ha, and Sarah Catlow (Gutflora).

Contributions by Eurowitch, Fatima Ferrari, Torus, Seraina Fässler, Alexander Webber, Yamuna Forzani, and Huw Williams. With many more visual contributions by friends and colleagues.

Photos by Dana LaMonda

Summer’s Gate was generously supported by Stroom Den Haag & Stimuleringsfonds.

ZIEN

24 juni t/m 2 juli 2023
Opening: zaterdag 24 juni 17.30
Openingstijden zondag t/m zondag 12.00 – 17.30

Deelnemende fotografen: Bas Sauren • Dick Termond • Martine de Wit • Mim (Myriam) Robert • Mirjam Koch-Rose • Lieke Zweekhorst

Lieke Zweekhorst: Joshua Tree

ZIEN – een afstudeerexpositie georganiseerd door zes studenten van de Nederlandse Academie voor Beeldcreatie Rotterdam (NAVB).

Photo: Bas Sauren


Tijdens deze expositie zullen er zes verschillende en unieke fotografieprojecten worden getoond. Het uiteenlopende werk verhoudt zich tussen persoonlijke en maatschappelijke onderwerpen, waarbij publiek wordt uitgenodigd na te denken over waarnemen, innerlijke processen en eigen handelen.

Website: zien-expo.nl
Facebook | Instagram

robe bleu, fond rouge #2

19 mei t/m 11 juni 2023
opening vrijdag, 19 mei om 19:00 uur
openingstijden vrijdag t/m zondag, 13:00-17:30
Hoogtij, vrijdag 26 mei, 19:00-23:00

Deelnemende kunstenaars: Robine Clignett, Andreas Exner (DE), Helen Frik, Marcos Kueh (MY), Jacqueline Peeters, Caro Rambonnet, Jochem Rotteveel, Rutger de Regt, Walter Swennen (BE)

Jochem Rotteveel

Robe bleu, fond rouge #2 – Onder dezelfde naam vindt iedere twee jaar in mei een tentoonstelling plaats in de ruimte van Quartair. De tentoonstelling wordt samengesteld door de kunstenaars Nies Vooijs, Annemieke Louwerens en Pietertje van Splunter en geeft iedere twee jaar een update op de staat van de schilderkunst gezien vanuit Den Haag.

De titel van de tentoonstelling robe bleu, fond rouge is een gedeelte uit een titel van een schilderij van Matisse, deze luidt volledig ‘La petite pianiste, robe bleu, fond rouge’. Een prachtig schilderij, met ook een mooie titel, die in een notendop heel precies aangeeft wat schilderen feitelijk is. Namelijk, verf op doek, vorm en kleur. Blauwe jurk, rode achtergrond. De titel is treffend omdat het formele ervan, het sec opsommen wat er te zien is op het schilderij zo in contrast staat met wat niet in woorden kan worden uitgedrukt. Dat is de magie van schilderen, van beeldende kunst. Een passende titel voor deze tentoonstelling waarbij het accent nadrukkelijk op het visuele ligt. De titel benadrukt het proces van de kunstenaars, de intuïtie die daarbij gebruikt wordt en de vrijheid en noodzaak om keuzes te maken tijdens het maakproces. Robe bleu, fond rouge laat een manier van verbeelden zien, een mentaliteit. Kunst maken lijkt in alle opzichten een absurde bezigheid. Het werk, het beeld, was er eerst niet, niemand heeft erom gevraagd. Juist dàt maakt het waardevol, oneindig en schept vrijheden. Betekenis geven aan het schijnbaar irrelevante, het nutteloze. Een daad van toewijding van de kunstenaar. Het volgen van dat proces is voor ons één van de belangrijkste uitgangspunten voor robe bleu, fond rouge #2.

The Eternal (detail) Helen Frik, 2015

Met dank aan Stroom Den Haag, Galerie Xavier Hufkens, Brussel, en Cor Car Classics, Wateringen.

Download persbericht in Word (.docx) hier.

Onze Nederlandse Maatjes

In samenwerking met WARP (BE) presenteert Quartair twee kunstenaars in de tentoonstelling ‘Onze Nederlandse Maatjes’, Luis Maly en Yukari Nakamichi.

Luis Maly: El Diablo, 2021

Opening zaterdag 29 april vanaf 16:00. De tentoonstelling is te bezoeken bij WARP in de Apostelstraat 20, 9100 Sint-Niklaas, België. ‘Onze Nederlandse Maatjes’ is een samenwerking met De Fabriek, Gallery O-68, Make Eindhoven, CBK Zeeland, EKWC, Quartair, Pennings Foundation en Theatre of Wrong Decisions.

Tentoonstellingsmaker Ilka De Wilde selecteerde samen met hen de kunstenaars: Eleye Boerenkamps, Ana Guedes, Dieke Venema, Roos Vogels, Charlotte Koenen, Bas Ketelaars, Luis Maly, Yukari Nakamichi, Lily Lanfemeijer, Marwan Bassiouni, en Jonas Wijtenburg.

Yukari Nakamichi

The Automatic Self (and the gifted hand)

van 15 april t/m 7 mei 2023
Opening op zaterdag 15 april om 17.00 u
Openingstijden vrijdag t/m zondag 13.00 – 17.30 u
Finissage op zondag 7 mei, van 16.00 tot 17.30 u

Met: Rachel Bacon, Siem Beets, Ronny Delrue, Daniel DmyszewiczElsa Hartjesveld, Romy MuijrersJorrit Paaijmans, Jeroen Paalvast en Stefanie Scholte

The Automatic Self (and the gifted hand) 
De titel duidt op het feit dat tekenen handwerk is. Het is een directe handeling die uitdrukking geeft aan een gedachte. Het verwijst naar de menselijke behoefte om de werkelijkheid vast te leggen en te controleren. Wellicht tekenen we om de chaos te beteugelen, door alles te registreren en vast te leggen. Tegelijkertijd is dat ook een onmogelijkheid, denk aan het ongecontroleerde, het toeval of de vergetelheid. In hoeverre spelen omstandigheden, toeval en automatische mechanismen een rol in het werk van  de kunstenaar, in dit geval de ‘tekenaar’? Wat gebeurt er in ons hoofd als we zonder er bij na te denken een krabbel maken op een bierviltje, of diep verzonken zijn in een detail van een tekening, terwijl we tegelijkertijd aan het piekeren zijn wat we vanavond weer gaan eten? En laat deze ‘skill’ die de kunstenaar bezit een authentieke versie van zichzelf zien? Wat gebeurt er als je het tekenen laat uitvoeren door een machine en als het handschrift niet meer van de maker zelf, maar van een apparaat is? Deze tentoonstelling toont tekeningen op snijvlak van het controleerbare en oncontroleerbare en geeft inzicht in dit spanningsveld.

Weird Angles – Hoogtij 10 March

For this edition of Hoogtij #73 we present Weird Angles, with works by Gerco de Ruijter, Thom Vink, and radio collaboration with RadioTonka bringing DJs dsrpturs, Margarita, 4/4 en Robber. Doors open at 19.00. Free entrance.

Besides screening the film ‘Grid Corrections XL’ by Gerco de Ruijter (2018), Quartair artist Thom Vink shows a new photo installation, and Radio Tonka presents an audio-visual performance by Zethera Elektrika at 19.30, 21.00 & 22.30.

RadioTonka is live from Quartair from 23:00 to 03:00 AM on Den Haag FM.


EN
RadioTonka is The Hague’s underground radio station, since 1994. Next to a diverse night broadcast program on DenHaag FM, RadioTonka functions as a roaming stage and platform, supporting djs and musicians, with a focus on new talent, experimentation and artistic growth.

NL
Sinds 1994 is RadioTonka het alternatieve radiostation van Den Haag. Naast decdagelijkse nachtradio programmering op DenHaag FM, fungeert RadioTonka als een nomadisch podium en platform ter ondersteuning van dj’s en muzikanten, toegespitst op nieuw talent, experiment en artistieke groei.


Zethera Elektrika presents a new koncept of reality that tackles the kore fundamental problems of the universe that we are konfronted, preventing us from kreating a utopia that lies within reach of us all.

Zethera Elektrika reveals the true nature of the divine force that lies at the essence of our being and shapes our realities, and guides all that lives and is blessed with the power of konsiousness.


About ‘Grid Corrections XL’ by Gerco de Ruijter (2018)

After the US Civil War in 1785 president Thomas Jefferson established a grid-system in order to allocate the North American West. This so called “Thomas Jefferson Grid” was made by superimposing a rectangular grid on the earth surface, drawn from exact square miles.
Since a round earth does not lend itself to a repeating network of equal-sized squares, the checkerboard of roads is fractionally shifted.
Take a square piece of paper, wrap it around an orange and observe the tapering folds in the paper, If you want to cover the earth with checkerboards, you can only do so if you outsmart the folds in the paper. The system has to be corrected in order to continue as though nothing has been corrected.

The north-south boundaries in the grid are on the lines of longitude, which converge to the north. The roads that follow these boundaries must dogleg every twenty-four miles to counter the diminishing distances: It is easy to see in Google Earth how these repeated corrections have produced fascinating crossroads: T-Junctions, straight or curved, and always inventive.

Gerco de Ruijter collected hundreds of these corrections and created this stop-motion film as a dazzling way of how humanity has tried to exert control over the earth. Nature may seem stronger than humanity, but at the same time humans constantly manage to overcome nature with their boundless inventiveness.

Grid Corrections (The Book) was published by nai010:
nai010.com/nl/publicaties/gerco-de-ruijter-grid-corrections/240707

The film was made possible with the generous support of the Mondrian Fund, Amsterdam.

Non Linear Narrative Tech Week

Workshop 16-20 January 2023

Continuing the project started in 2022, Quartair hosted the KABK masters of Non Linear Narrative Tech Week, with a workshop led by artists Martijn van Boven and Gert-Jan Prins, exploring the full sound spectrum to find relationships between bandwidths with respect to energy transfer, clock speed and environmental impact. Work sessions included deep listening practices, writing sessions, electronic circuit building, signal recording and signal transformation. 

Martijn van Boven is a visual artist from Amsterdam, with a focus on experimental films and computer generated art. His work is expressed through installations, films, collaborations with composers, and cinema performances.

Gert-Jan Prins is a sound artist who focuses on the sonic and musical qualities of electronic noise and percussion and investigates its relationship with the visual. While he started his career as a drummer, his works include performances, sound-installations, compositions, electronic circuits.

Photos by Roel Backaert

Neighbour North Sea

The North Sea, our neighbour who constantly pushes the boundaries, leaving behind a line that reveals who lived here thousands of years ago, but also shows what is wrong at this moment. Anyone who regularly walks along the tide line, finds fossil bones and trees, but also plastic, paraffin, oil and dead animals.

Currently, the North Sea is quickly being transformed into an industrial area. To maintain the habit of ever-growing consumption and extraction, while attempting to become more sustainable at the same time. Furthermore, drastic technological plans are being developed to eventually stop the rising water. And it was already busy.

Four artists–Tanja Engelberts, Sheng-Wen Lo, Astrid Nobel, and Laura Schippers– show how they are connected to the North Sea and how they deal with the pressure on the sea.

See you at Hoogtij #71 this Friday, 25 November, from 19:00 to 23:00.

Opening Neighbour North Sea: Friday, November 4 at 19:00

Exhibition: from November 5 to 27, Fridays to Sunday, 13:00 – 17:00 and by appointment.

Photo by Sander van Wettum

Tanja Engelberts investigates how to document landscapes that are no longer visible. These landscapes range from artificial islands to the endless North Sea, and are often related to the fossil fuel industry. She immersed herself in the industrial landscape of the North Sea by traveling along with maintenance ships and speaking with offshore employees. The landscape takes shape by means of films, prints, sound and texts in which the atmosphere and experience of these places is recorded. www.tanjaengelberts.eu


Photo by Sander van Wettum

Sheng-Wen Lo’s work investigates the relationships between non-humans and contemporary society, often taking daily experiences as points of departure. In 2021, he attempted to become a seaweed farmer, as the practice is being hailed as the most sustainable form of farming in many parts of Europe. During the process, he began to wonder if the collective passion towards expanding ocean farming has a problematic outlook. www.shengwenlo.com


Photo by Sander van Wettum

The work of Astrid Nobel consists of paintings, sculptures and installations. Time, consciousness and nature are recurring themes. Recently, she has been working on topics related to the North Sea and the Wadden Sea area (Waddenzee) and how dreams and thinking about the landscape are evolving in the midst of the climate crisis. For this exhibition she has transformed North Sea materials she found herself, such as fossil bones and washed up oil, into works in which the sea, its inhabitants, pollution and the house in which we live and dream are interwoven. www.astridnobel.nl


Photo by Sander van Wettum

In the run-up to the exhibition, Laura Schippers collected special observations and experiences of people at sea and continued to work on the rebuilding of her ship Atlas in  preparation for the self-sufficient and nomadic project Atlas Initiative. Ultimately, these paths crossed and together formed the installation: ‘Potential material for a change of mentality’. Which is about both the possibility of change and the paradox of using materials for sustainable purposes. www.atlasinitiatief.org


Workshop Cooking Local Seaweed by Sheng-Wen Lo on Saturday, November 5 at 14:00 (approx. 2 hrs).


Rights of Nature Lecture by international environmental law expert Jessica den Outer
and
performance by Tanja Engelberts and Marcel Imthorn on Thursday, November 17 at 19:00. Lecture will be in English. Free entrance.


Guest speaker Jessica den Outer works as an independent consultant, writer and speaker on the rights of nature. She has been involved in the rights of nature movement since 2017. In 2019 she was recognized as one of the youngest Earth-centered law experts within the United Nations’ Harmony with Nature Network. In 2020 she obtained a place in the ‘Duurzame Jonge 100’ (the top 100 most sustainable young pioneers in the Netherlands). She has since set up various campaigns advocating for the rights of nature. Her first book with Laura Burgers: Rights of Nature: Case-Studies From Six Continents (Embassy of the North Sea) was released in September 2021. www.jessicadenouter.com


Neighbour North Sea is made possible thanks to Mondriaan Fonds, Stichting Stokroos, Pauwhof Fonds, Stroom Den Haag, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten and Productiehuis Plaatsmaken.

Garden of Aether

An evening where Adam Centko shared his latest project, commissioned by Slargwerk Den Haag. Drinks and bites designed by Trang Ha and Alejandra Lopez Martinez. DJs: Andre Miranda and Ola Rubik.

“Garden of Aether” is a simulation artwork that combines 3D aesthetics, game engine mechanics, and sounds by Slagwerk Den Haag to create a conceptual narrative dealing with sustainability and reflecting on the invisible infrastructures that fuel the digital environments.

Adam intended to create a new kind of moving image, one that will be ever-changing and never the same, but also keeps moving image structure and has a beginning and end. The medium of a computer simulation is about giving up control and actively becoming an observer. The confined digital landscape and the physical hardware give the viewer a unique perspective that draws analogies from the world around them. The mechanics of the simulation are inspired by the Anthropocene. As long as the characters keep producing sculptures and altering the natural environment, the temperature will keep on rising. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the characters are programmed to do.
The sculptures that the NPCs build are not only visual, but each one also contains a sonic element designed by Frank Bink, a member of SDH. These sonic elements populate the landscape and are accurately delivered to the viewer using a quadraphonic speaker setup. Each new sculpture introduces a new sample, creating a cacophony of three-dimensional sounds. The landscape then becomes both visually and sonically saturated.

The project is developed in Unreal Engine 5. The 3D assets have been created using VR sculpting, Blender, and Substance Painter. The hardware is placed within a custom-built PC case, which has been laser-cut from an aluminum sheet and then bent into the shape of a rib cage.

Centko is a lens-based artist observing the intricate workings of our ecosystem. Specifically zooming in on the role of technology in the nature as a whole, Adam believes that the relationship between nature and tech isn’t binary, but rather that even the most advanced human feats are just extension of nature. He strives to shine light on this connection using various media such as video and 3D animation. The artist is currently supported by the Stimuleringsfonds Talent Development Grant. Adam Centko thanks the support of Trang Ha, Carmen Roca Igual, Laimonas Zakas and Mike Rijnierse at Quartair, October 13th, 2022.

Concept/3D art Adam Centko
Lead development Eusebi Jucglà
Audio Samples Frank Bink
Production David Veneman
Typeface (Tonka) Celine Hurka
Website Manus Nijhoff
3D modeling Samuel Rynearson
Commissioned by Slagwerk Den Haag

Read more on:
garden-of-aether.com
adamcentko.com