Paul Chan at Antrepo 3

Paul Chan at Antrepo 3, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

This projection by Paul Chan is in Antrepo 3 at the Istanbul Biennial. It is part of Dream House - it is a really fabulous piece, I could have watched it for hours. I have posted loads of pictures on my flickr site.

Paul Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1973 and lives and works in New York. He received an MFA from Bard College in 2002, a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996, and is represented by Greene Naftali, New York. Recent solo exhibitions include Serpentine Museum (London), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, 2007), The Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia, 2006-07), Portikus (2006), Galleria Massimo De Carlo (Milan, 2006), Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, 2005), UCLA Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, 2005).

“The Public Turn in Contemporary Art”

Yesterday I went to my first Biennial event held at santralistanbul:

“Art and Negotiation in Public Space”
31 August – 1 September 2007

The international project “The Public Turn in Contemporary Art” - led and realized by santralistanbul in cooperation with ArtBOX.gr from Thessaloniki, University of Art and Design Helsinki from Helsinki and Maison des Métallos from Paris - is a series of activities on the role of contemporary art in creative transformation and democratization of public space. The project, realized between 31 August – 31 October 2007, brings together artists, writers, art historians and theoreticians working on the subject. The theme will be discussed in three panels, artist talks, a documentation exhibition and a book.

speakers included:
Socrates Stratis
Hou Hanru
Jörgen Svensson
BikvanderPol
Superflex


Do you copy?, originally uploaded by superflexnet.

The artists group superflex who participated in the 9th Istanbul Biennial talked talked bout their project super channel and resulting community led project tenant spin and projects under the banner SUPER COPY.

Jörgen Svensson talked about his project Neighbourhood Secrets towards Stavangar 2008 city of culture and his excellent project Public Safety in 2000, in the small Swedish town of Skoghall where Two American Policemen, for which he invited two American policemen to the village, who patrolled the streets of Skoghall for two weeks in full uniform. The local community treated the two policemen like moviestars. Everyone wanted their autographs, and they were invited to appear on TV and radio talkshows.

Bik van der Pol talked about their current project for the biennial where they have selected walls/sites around the city on which to project the video programme Nightcomers. There is also a blog. The artists have mapped the locations for the screenings here on google earth.


Hou Hanru presented a couple of European projects he has been working on including his project for Luxembourg 2007 city of culture focusing on migration and UrbanLab 2007.

10th International Istanbul Biennial

This coming week Istanbul will be swamped with artists and curators from all over the world as the Visual Arts Biennial launches. The Biennial is organised by İstanbul Kültür Sanat Vakfı (İKSV)...

NOT ONLY POSSIBLE BUT ALSO NECESSARY, OPTIMISM IN AN AGE OF GLOBAL WAR
is curated by Hou Hanru. Hanru curated Z.O.U. - Zone of Urgency for the 50th Venice Biennale - this was a fantastic exhibition that included artists such as Young-Hae Chang, and Shu Lea Cheang.

The Istanbul biennial sounds just as promising...

Turkish coffee and lemon juice

I had no end of recommendations for my Ankara bellyache from my Turkish friends, including mixing a spoonful of Turkish coffee with lemon juice and eaten or taken like a pill. Apparently you will go to the toilet once more and after that you will be fine. I was also told that taking yogurt with a spoonful of tea mixed into it will do the trick.

By the time I was given this advice I was already on the mend after drinking coke and eating pro-biotic yogurts. Honestly it worked!

However take a look at the Turkish Culture portal if you want to find out more - medicinal remedies come under the folk knowledge section. For eczema the patient is advised to eat hedgehog meat, which apparently is good for epilepsy too. ummmhh!