Supermarket talks

Documentation / Non-Documentation

In the overriding theme of Supermarket Talks we will analyse the concept documentation/non-documentation and how it can be manipulated, summed up and fall into obscurity.

Although it may not seem like an exciting topic, documentation is nevertheless an aspect vital to art as well as contemporary society as a whole. Were it not for documentation, how would the artist assess his/her work? And what social insurance official would ever pay a visit to the artist’s studio to judge whether he/she has worked enough to fulfil the criteria?

Much of contemporary art consists of planned events, actions, and performances that live on solely in the form of documentation. The digital art from the 80s is on the verge of vanishing due to the constant updating of our world. Has the documentation become more important than the artwork itself?

According to Boris Groys, one of the leading theorists in contemporary art, art documentation is not, by definition, art, but merely refers to art and emphasises in this case that art is not present, nor accessible, but instead absent and relatively hidden. All documentation is a fragmentary narrative of an object or event that is now in the past (history).
The documentation becomes a memory image in the present, but with the purpose of reconstructing both the past and the future. When we document, we are in the midst of a creative process that addresses the arbitrary desire to foresee what will be vital to have documented for posterity. Here, every record is both referential and instructive in the same way that a map refers to a place (history) but also informs the wanderer what path to take (the future).
 

PROGRAM

Friday 19 February 13.00–21.30

• 13.00
  A welcome and a short introduction by Pontus Raud, Supermarket.
  
  
• 13.15
  Super Art Market (ca. 80 mins)
  “Super Art Market” is a documentary on the art market by Zoran Solomun. The film deals with the marketing of contemporary art, which has generated more money than ever before from 2002 to 2008. A new money aristocracy speculated with artworks as if playing the stock market. The true protagonists, however, were gallerists and art dealers. “Super Art Market” focuses on five well-established and influential gallerists. The final stage of shooting coincided with the onset of the financial crisis in the summer of 2008. By the fall of that year, several galleries had already filed for bankruptcy.
  
  The film viewing will be followed by a short discussion with Zoran Solumun.
   
• 15.00
  Erasing of Context Through Hyper‑Production
  Presentation by Vladan Jeremic, Biro Beograd
  It is interesting to study the large, alternative art fairs, such as Art Swap in Berlin or Supermarket in Stockholm, and their relationship to artistic/cultural producers and the public­/­owners of the artworks. In the current global cultural pro­duc­tion, art is produced in the context of marketing cam­paigns for financially powerful entities. Art has been re­duced to the role of decorating neo‑liberal capitalism, functioning in the form of a mere market product.
  Vladan Jeremic, Serbian artist, curator, activist and keen observer of the art system and the relationship between culture and politics.
   
• 16.00 (in Swedish/på svenska)
  Gatukonsten och dess dokumentation
  
  Konstens Mellanrum
  Gatukonst som inte exponeras i det som ibland kallas för den vita kuben tar den urbana miljön i anspråk för att å ena sidan ifrågasätta dess verksamhet och å andra sidan för att oundvikligen bli en del av. Där, i det offentliga rummet skapas konsten i form av affisher, graffiti, målningar som uppstår lika plötsligt som den försinner. Det leder oss till funderingar kring gatukonstens väsen, dess konceptuella innehåll, kontextuella förhållande till sin omgivning och till den tredje aspekt som handlar om arkiviseringen av den ständigt försvinnande konsten. ”Vilken roll spelar dokumentationen av denna konst, som hela tiden lever på randen till sin egen utplåning?” frågar Dan Karlholm i en artikel som publicerats på portalen Atlasakademin.
  
  Medverkande:
  Dan Karlholm, professor, ämnesansvarig för konstvetenskap, Södertörns högskola.
  Jacob Kimvall, Atlasakademins redaktör. Atlas­akademin är ett internet­baserat svenskspråkigt forum om graffiti, street art och annan visuell gatukultur. Initiativtagare är ämnet konstvetenskap vid Södertörns högskola i samarbete med
  Alasmuren.se – Svenska Gatukonstfrämjandet, 2005–2009
  Benke Carlsson, journalist och författare till boken Street art Stockholm, driver portalen Gatukonst.se.
  Magnus Wallström, grundare av portalen Gatukonst.se.
  Tobias Barenthin Lindblad, förläggare och redaktör av Dokument Press ett förlag som informerar om subkulturer genom utgivning och distribution av böcker, tidskrifter och film.
  Samtalsledare:
  Maria Lantz, lektor på Konsthögskolan i Stockholm och Pernilla Glaser, författare.
  
  Diskussion:
  Är dokumentationen viktigare än själva konsten?
  
  English translation
  Art’s In-between Spaces
  Street art that is not exposed in that which is often referred to as “the white cube” engages the urban environment, and in so doing, it questions the activity therein while inevitably becoming part of it. There, in the public space, art is created in the form of posters, graffiti, and paintings that appear as soon as they disappear. This naturally gives rise to questions concerning the essence of street art; its conceptual content, the contextual relationship to its surroundings, and to the third aspect that deals with the archiving of the ever-vanishing art. In an article published in the web portal Atlasakademin, Dan Karlholm poses the question, “What role does documentation play in this art that constantly exists on the edge of its own obliteration?”
  
  Participants:
  Dan Karlholm, professor, Art History depart­ment, Södertörn University
  Jacob Kimvall, editor of Atlasakademin, a net-based, Swedish language forum on graffiti, street art and other forms of visual street culture. The initiator is the Art History department at Södertörn University in collaboration with Atlasmuren.se.
  Benke Carlsson, journalist and writer of the book Street Art Stockholm. Manages the web portal Gatukonst.se
  Magnus Wallström, founder of Gatukonst.se
  Tobias Barenthin Lindblad, publisher and editor of Dokument Press, a publishing company that draws attention to sub­cultures through the issuing and distribution of books, periodicals and films.
  
  Discussion: Has the documentation become more im­portant than art itself?
  Participants: Benke Carlsson, Dan Karlholm, Jakob Kimwall, Magnus Wallström, Tobias Barenthin Lindblad, Pernilla Glaser.
   
• 18.30 (in Swedish/på svenska)
  Konsten att ta betalt 
  På vem vilar ansvaret att konstnären ska få en skälig lön för sitt arbete? Är det Konstnären själv som ska bli bättre på att förhandla eller handlar det om ett nytt sätt att se på arbets‑ och uppdragsgivarrollen? Vem ska betala för att Konstnären ska få en acceptabel lön och sluta subventionera konstscenens övriga anställda då vi går in i ett nytt decennium.
  
  Medverkande:
  Karin Willén, konstnär och riksordförande Konstnärernas Riksorganisation.
  Arne Leeb, projektledare för MU‑kampanjen.
  Sture Nordh, ordförande TCO. Mårten Castenfors, chef för Liljevalchs och Stockholm konst
  Emma Stenström, ek dr Handelshögskolan, gästprofessor Konstfack.
  Päivi Ernkvist, konstnär.
  Ann Larsson, kansli­chef Konstnärsnämnden.
  Samtalsledare:
  Anders Rydell, Chef­redaktör Tidningen Konstnären.
  Arrangör:
  Konstnärernas Riksorganisation (KRO)
  Föreningen Sveriges Konsthantverkare och Industriformgivare (KIF)
  
  English translation
  The Art of Receiving Adequate Pay
  (in Swedish)
  Whose responsibility is it to see that artists receive adequate pay for their efforts? Is it the artists themselves that must be­come better at negotiating, or is it a question of changing the way we view the work effort and the role of the assigner? And as we enter a new decade, who will pay to ensure that the artist receive an acceptable salary and can thereby stop subsidising all other employees within the art scene?
  
  Participants:
  Karin Willén, artist and chairman of The Swedish Artists’ National Organisation.
  Arne Leeb, project manager for the MU campaign.
  Sture Nordh, chairman TCO (The Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees)
  Mårten Castenfors, director of Liljevalchs Konsthall and Stockholm Konst.
  Emma Stenström, assistant professor at the Stockholm School of Economics, guest professor at the Konstfack University College of Art, Crafts and Design.
  Päivi Ernkvist, artist and project manager for art in the public realm.
  Ann Larsson, office manager at Konstnärs­nämnden – the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.
  Moderator:
  Anders Rydell, chief editor of Tidningen Konstnären (The Artist Magazine).
  
  Organisers: KRO, The Swedish Artists’ National Organisation / KIF, The Association of Swedish Craftsmen and Industrial Designers / Tidningen Konstnären.
  
  
• 21.00 at RED SPOT:
  Remote controlled artist
  Performance by Torbjörn Berg and Alvaro Campo
  Can artistic creation be controlled? Who controls who?
  Explore the answers to these questions without getting too much paint on your clothes in this freshly released game by Alvaro Campo and Torbjörn Berg.
   

Saturday 20 February 12.45–20.00

• 12.45
  Short introduction by Olle Essvik
  
  
• 13.00
  Strike Anywhere
  (HD video, 32 mins, 2009).
  “Strike Anywhere” is a video essay by Benj Gerdes and Jennifer Hayashida with the “Match King” Ivar Kreuger as its point of departure. Ivar Kreuger’s privatisation of financial crisis management strategies bears a direct relation to late 20th century policies implemented by the IMF and WTO.
  Introduction and post-screening discussion with Michele Masucci.
   
• 14.00
  The Secret Garden
  – an escape from the art world
  Short introduction by Stina Ahlman
  What reasons are there for not being a traditional gallery? What are the pros and cons? Documentation plays a vital role in this. Should one strive to work from a visible or hidden position?
  The concealed, secret art becomes something exclusive, and perhaps something that takes place solely at a given moment, such as performance art and cross‑cultural events at temporary locations. Is there perhaps a longing for the non‑accessible in our hyper‑visual culture? One can also see art as becoming more accessible as it moves out of the gallery to alternative locations such as pubs, areas under bridges, and other more or less public areas that are not normally associated with art.
   
• 14.15
  Euphonious Harmonious Adagio
  Performance by Conor Kelly
   
• 14.30
  Discussion and presentation: “FAILURE” – a collaboration between Emma Hammarén and Linda Persson.
  Panel: Stina Ahlman, Linda Persson, Emma Hammarén, Natasha Rees, Dr Johanna Hällsten, Conor Kelly, Stephane Querrec, Iris Piers.
  Performances by Stephane Querrecm Iris Piers and Conor Kelly.
  
  
• 15.30
  Dramanon
  Performance by Stéphane Querrec
   
• 16.00
  Construction in Process
  Presentation by Adam Klimczak and Mariusz Soltysik, Galleri Wschodnia, Łódź
  Postmodernism is characterised in art by a chain of images in constant motion. “Amateur” photographic images, site‑specific installations and performances that are considered difficult to preserve and immobilise. How does an avant‑garde gallery such as Wschodnia in Łódź, Poland with modernism as its artistic background deal with this? They have recently created a periodical and established a festival in Poland entitled “Art and Documentation”, both of which focus on the problems concerning contemporary art and its documentation. Today, according to Adam Klimczak, documentation has acquired an even more autonomous position with an increasingly communicative role.
  
  Adam Klimczak, Galleri Wschodnia, Łódź.
  Erasing of Context Through Hyper-Production
  It is interesting to study the large, alternative art fairs, such as Art Swap in Berlin or Supermarket in Stockholm, and their relationship to artistic/cultural producers and the public/owners of the artworks. In the current global cultural production, art is produced in the context of marketing campaigns for financially powerful entities. Art has been reduced to the role of decorating neo-liberal capitalism, functioning in the form of a mere market product.
  Vladan Jeremic, Serbian artist, curator, activist and keen observer of the art system and the relationship between culture and politics.
   
• 16.45
  The Land Under the Sea
  Performance by Iris Pier
   
• 17.10
  Fabrica de Pensule, Cluj
  a new site and a new context for contemporary art in Romania
  Presentation by Corina Bucea and Vlad Olariu.
  Fabrica de Pensule/Paintbrush Factory is a multi‑disciplinary collective venture run by over 40 artists, curators and pro­ducers. It opened in October 2009 and is already considered to be at the heart of Cluj’s creative output.
   
• 18.00
  Performance by Goodiepal
  Goodiepal is an artist/composer from Denmark/the Faeroe Islands who works with performances that resemble lectures. The subject matter often consists of critique aimed at digital music and media art, but can just as well deal with issues such as artificial intelligence or documentation. His singular performances are a truly unforgettable experience.
   
• 19.00 at RED SPOT:
  Performance by Bill Drummond
  Bill Drummond is a Scottish musician, writer and artist who is perhaps most well known as one of the founders of the music group KLF. KLF (Kopyright Liberation Front) were critical of the music industry and questioned copyright issues early on. In 1993 Bill turned his back on the music industry and created The K‑Foundation. They became famous for burning 1 million pounds, which they documented in the film “Watch the K‑Foundation burn a million quid”.
  In recent years, Bill has worked with various art projects and written several books. His latest book, “The 17”, deals with how we experience music. He has also created compositions for choirs, choral works that are neither saved nor recorded. Bill Drummond will give a performance/lecture at SUPERMARKET.
   

Sunday 21 February 13.00–17.00

• 13.00
  Short introduction by Emmeli Rhodin
  
  
• 13.10
  Video screening by Muu (ca. 45 mins)
  Besides contemporary art exhibitions, MUU gallery and MUU studio in Helsinki, Finland arranges video screenings, concerts and performances by artists and curators from Finland and abroad.
   
• 14.00 (in Swedish/på svenska)
  Ny nordisk position
  Mycket vatten har flutit under broarna sedan internationella curatorer som Hans Ulrich Obrist lanserade ”det nordiska miraklet”, och under 90-talet gjorde nordisk konst till något av det hippaste i världen. Detta fenomen sammanföll med den s.k. ”samtidskonstens” triumf över modernismen i de nordiska länderna. I somliga av dem – främst Sverige – spelade konstktiken en viktig roll i denna process, i andra länder spelade konstkritiken en sekundär roll. Men genom gemensamma nordiska plattformar som publikationerna Siksi och NU, organisationer som NIFCA och samarbetet kring den nordiska paviljongen vid biennalen i Venedig etablerades ett dynamiskt nordisk nätverk inom den samtida konsten som gjorde att helheten kändes större än delarna. Sedermeta kom dock de nordiska länderna att välja en annan strategi: internationaliseringen. Den nordiska samverkan blev sekundär i strävan från varje land att främja sina konstnärers internationella karriärer. Idag finns i stort sett inget organiserat nordiskt samarbete på konstens område, med ett möjligt undantag för nordiska biennalen Momentum i Moss utanför Oslo. Hur har vi kommit dithän, och vart vill vi gå i fortsättningen? I internationella sammanhang talas det mycket om regionernas revansch, men hur skulle en sådan se ut i de nordiska länderna? Och kan den pappersbaserade och/eller nätbaserade konstkritiken spela en roll på detta plan, särskilt i en tid när samtidskonsten som begrepp och epok börjar diskuteras och dessutom utmanas från ett kulturkonservativt och/eller högerpopulistiskt ståndpunkt?
  
  Medverkande:
  Anders Olofsson, redaktör, Konsten.net
  Jonas Ekeberg, redaktör, Kunstkritikk.no
  John Peter Nilsson, intendent, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
  Mikkel Bogh, rektor, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi, København,
  Stina Högkvist, kurator, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Oslo.
  Arrangör:
  Föreningen Nordic Art: Matthias Hvass Borello, redaktör, kunsten.nu, Jonas Ekeberg, redaktör, kunstkritikk.no, Anders Olofsson, redaktör, konsten.net.
  
  English summary
  A New Nordic Position?
  Following the hype surrounding the Nordic art in the 90s, the organised Nordic art collaboration petered out. How did this happen, what would we like to achieve in the future, and can net-based art critique play a role in a renewed collaboration?
   
• 16.00
  Artist’s Statement
  Performance by Essi Kausalainen from Huuto Gallery, Helsinki, Finland.
   

Many more performances will be announced during SUPERMARKET 2010.
 

SUPERMARKET MEETINGS

A new part of Supermarket’s program is the non-public SUPERMARKET MEETINGS. It will consist of more than 50 short meetings, each with a small number of participants, that will take place during the fair.

We will invite artists that act as exhibition organisers and project managers from across the world to meet and exchange experiences and strategies, in order to enable new international collaborations.
 

We made "Supermarket Talks" possible

Supermarket Talks team:
Stina Ahlman, Olle Essvik, Pontus Raud, Emmeli Rhodin, Magdalena Szyjakowska
Translation: Richard G Carlsson