v2_ – Dr. Kasprzak

Download the latest publication in the Blowup series I curate at V2_ by clicking the image below:

About the eBook:
This eBook, the sixth in the series of Blowup Readers released by V2_, explores the significance of the recent philosophic movements known as Object-Oriented Ontology and Speculative Realism for the visual and media arts. The ebook was edited in connection to the Speculative Realities exhibition.

Two artists and one collaborative duo were commissioned to make new artworks reflecting broadly on concepts within Object-Oriented Ontology and Speculative Realism. The artists were Tuur Van Balen & Revital Cohen, Cheryl Field, and Karolina Sobecka.

To supplement the descriptions of the works and brief interviews with the artists in this eBook, three new interviews were commissioned. Sven Lütticken was interviewed by Rachel O’Reilly, Jussi Parikka was interviewed by Michael Dieter, and Rick Dolphijn was interviewed by Michelle Kasprzak.

Tomorrow I have the pleasure of launching the series I have been working on in my capacity as Curator at V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media in Rotterdam.

The name of the series, Blowup, was inspired not only by Antonioni’s film but by the notion that blowing an image up reveals detail; blowing an inflatable object up creates form; blowing something up explosively can be festive or threatening.

The first event in the series is entitled Wild Things, and is about art for animals to appreciate, inhabit, or interact with. Three incredible speakers: Amy Youngs (US), Wilfried Hou Je Bek (NL), and Elio Caccavale (IT/UK), plus one cat: Barbie (NL), will be presenting over the course of the evening.

If you are anywhere in the Benelux region, you should rush to V2_ tomorrow night (July 7) and get there by 8 PM to enjoy the evening. For most readers, you are far enough away that I cordially invite you to tune in via webstream. V2_’s streams are really excellent, I would almost dare to say it’s even better than being there, because we use multiple cameras and the camera operators are so good. You will miss out on the custom cocktail, the “Wild Zebra”, but you can attempt to replicate this at home by making a White Russian and trying to make chocolate stripes on the side of your glass. Ya, I know — tricky. Just make White Russians and visualise the stripes. You can even participate in the online chatter by Tweeting about the programme using the hashtag #v2_!

So if you are nearby, see you there; and if not, get comfy in front of your computer, and tune in to: http://live.v2.nl tomorrow, July 7, at 8PM Central European Summer Time.

Also — every Blowup event will have an e-Book reader released with it. Keep an eye out, I will amend this post with the download URL for this, the first Blowup reader!