we are
  co-initiator and co-curator of the  

a / Artist program@ Mediamatic

Future Events

Monsters under the Bed and Cocoon

On celebrating otherness with designer Clemens Tomlow and performer Leyla de Muynck

15 apr 2024
17:30  -20:30

All over the world stories of scary monsters are used as precautionary tales for children. And yet many fairytales teach us that what society deems monstrous is often more misunderstood than evil. Stories like Beauty and the Beast and the Hunchback of Notre Dame show that our personal journey starts when we step beyond our fear of being misunderstood.

Tickets

franka - Clemens Tomlow -
With: Clemens Tomlow, Annelies Wina Doom, Leyla de Muynck

Clemens interest in this subject started with his personal journey into self expression. He realized that what held him back was the fear of standing out. He often felt like someones version of a monster: weird, odd and misunderstood.

Embarking on that personal quest himself, Clemens Tomlow found that there is power in celebrating otherness.

His costumes draw inspiration from childhood monsters that embrace different stages of the weird and odd: from anxiously hiding for bullies to a proud and happy beast. The collection seeks to bring out the inner child in all of us, to open our minds and question our fears.


Leyla de Muynck - portrait - Still from drama girl


Leyla creates visual work using her body as an instrument. This can take many different forms, such as film, sculptures, and performance, with the use of herself being central. Leyla plays with authenticity in her performances,. She creates a new world but will never pretend within that world. Dreams and the subconscious are a big inspiration and driving force.

A cocoon, a delicate lattice of thin threads that slowly comes to life. From within, the lattice transforms into a shape that slowly metamorphoses into…? Yes, into what? COCOON is an artwork, a performance, a work in transformation and as a theme part of a larger work. The caterpillar dies and becomes a butterfly. In COCOON, Leyla explores her fascination and relationship with death.
About the artists
Clemens Tomlow is an alumni from Design Academy Eindhoven. Interested in the world of textiles and storytelling, he mainly works as an artist / costume designer but sees himself as an interdisciplinary maker. His costumes draw inspiration from childhood monsters that embrace different stages of the weird and odd: from anxiously hiding for bullies to a proud and happy beast. The collection seeks to bring out the inner child in all of us, to open our minds and question our fears.



Clemens Tomlow 


Leyla de Muynck 


Leyla de Muynck is a performance artist that combines fabrics and crochet with her background in contemporary dance. Her work COCOON is a poetic approach to a reoccurring theme within her work, death. The cocoon she crochetted stands for transformation. The catapillar dies and disintegrates to make room for something else, for something new.



Leyla de Muynck - Cocoon

Dreams and the subconscious are significant in Leyla's work.  "It is the closest thing we experience, as the living, to the dark void of endless possibities that is death.  When I am dreaming, I feel I can connect to dead people I care about because we are both in a bodyless state. Losing someone close to you can make you grow up quickly and have to transform yourself."

 

Information
a/Artist Meeting: Monsters Under the Bed and Cocoon
Monday 15th of April
17:30 - 20:30
Tickets (with vegan meal)




Past Events

Meelopers en dwalers

Over de geest van de werkende mens met Sytske van Koeveringe



18 mrt 2024
17:30 @ Mediamatic

Ben je eerder een meeloper, een dwarsligger, of een dwaler?

In Meeloper verwondert Sytske zich over hoe en waarom de mens werkt, maar ook over de geest van de werkende mens. Over hoe erover werk wordt gedacht.

Kom luisteren naar Sytske en ontdek hoe kunstenaar Sien op een geheel eigen manier onderzoekt of ze het werkende systeem kan ontrafelen.
Vanavond zal ze beginnen met een voordracht en, na een gezamenlijke maaltijd, gaan we in gesprek.


In de roman komt een fictief bedrijf voor, hiervoor klikt u https://www.officialnaturalness.com/.

Wilt u meer context over The Official Naturalness (het fictieve bedrijf)?

Lees dan Meeloper van begin tot einde en bezoek dan opnieuw de website van dit bedrijf.



The official Naturalness - close-up Sytske Frederika van Koeveringe


the official naturalness - close - up

In Meeloper laat Sytske op volstrekt eigenzinnige, originele en humorvolle manier zien hoe werk verweven is met alle aspecten van ons leven en wat de waarde ervan is voor onze maatschappij.

Meeloper is een authentieke roman die gaat over werk, kunstenaars en bullshitjobs. Waarom is werk onlosmakelijk verbonden met ons leven en zelfs met onze identiteit? Hoe is het zover gekomen dat werk als iets vanzelfsprekends wordt gezien en hoe verhoudt werk zich tot kunst en de liefde?
Sytske Frederika van Koeveringe (1988) is beeldend kunstenaar en schrijver. Ze debuteerde met de roman Het is maandag vandaag (2017), gevolgd door Dag nacht licht toch (2020), dat genomineerd werd voor de Jan Hanlo Essayprijs 2021. Vrouw doet dit, datverscheen in november 2021. Haar toneel, essays, columns, poëzie en proza worden gepubliceerd in De Revisor, Tirade, De Groene Amsterdammer, Mister Motley en NRC. Ze studeerde in 2014 af aan de Gerrit Rietveld academie richting Beeld en Taal




Past Events

Museumnight

Self

4 november 2023

19:00 - 02:00


@
Mediamatic


Do you ever feel bothered by yourself? A lot or just a little? Come to Mediamatic to assess yourself together with a diverse team of artists. Surrender, let our experts help you and maybe you'll win a great diagnosis! Jump ahead on the waitlist or just skip a few turns for a V.I.P. low-stimuli experience.

During Museum Night 2023, Mediamatic will transform into a live self-test game. With the help of about ten art projects, you can explore questions such as: How different am I? And do I really want to belong anywhere?

Don't worry, there will also be a bar for normal people! 

This evening is part of the A/artist Program at Mediamatic.

Featuring a diagnosis game by Jam van der Aa,
curators Annelies Doom  and Willem Velthoven i.c.w. Artistic Research.

With works of:
Pet van der Luijtgaarden
11 Selected Collections 1998—2023 installation

Pet collects collections, compulsively so. For Mediamatic, he presents 11 of his most beloved collections in the winter installation of the Serres Séparées.

Collecting is a timeless practice. The value of a collection can be determined by demand and supply, completeness, or rarity. Valueless objects thus gain significance, and the act of collecting gives them value. The collection is a self-portrait or even the identity of the collector. But when does instinctive hunter-gatherer behavior turn into obsessive consumption?

Who is the curator here? Who is the hoarder?



Pet's Playmobil Collectie (detail) -  Pet vd Luijtgaarden


Ignacy Radtke
Smile like you really mean it 2023 installation

"Smile like you really mean it!" is an investigation in emotional labour.

It is most obvious in the service sector, but not only!

In the simulation, the smile is put into an emotionless reality where it becomes a commodity no other than aluminum, wheat or gold — dehumanized and part of a larger system.

The base price for a minute of smiling is €1,00, but its value fluctuates according to the stock market.

Smile like you really mean it and get your share!

* In both cases, we see that the sincerity of emotions is sacrificed for external objectives, such as efficiency in a commercial context or social acceptance in the case of autistic masking. This artwork challenges us to contemplate the toll of consistently suppressing our true emotions and the pursuit of conformity.



Smile like you really mean it ATM -


Minjoo Choi
I threw it fell I threw it fell It fell I felt I threw I fell  I threw I threw it fell 2022 performance

Minjoo throws clay, she hurls clay against the walls, she flings clay against the windows, and the clay falls, the clay dries, the clay is picked up again and kneaded until it can be thrown once more.

With this simple, repetitive act, she opens and unlocks herself.

She appears to think and feel through throwing. Is she disquieted? Or is the repetition of throwing a meditative exercise? Will she ever make the ultimate throw where she becomes clay herself?

It is a performance, but it is not meant to show anything to another.

She throws alone.

* For Annelies and Willem, the ideal rage room !



My Shadow is part of my body - Minjoo Choi - foto by Berry Lijesen


Genevieve Murphy
Your Feeling 2020 Musicvideo

Murphy's work is consistently musical and frequently delves into her own mind. She creates theatrical pieces where she always puts herself in the fray. Sometimes humorous and often touching. Her extreme facial expressions sharply contrast with the friendly lyrics of the song. The tension between the language and the expression can sometimes become unbearable.

* Pet finds this video too intense to watch all the way through



Still image from the performance "Your Feeling" by Genevieve Murphy -
With: Genevieve Murphy





Yvonne Dröge Wendel
Lieve, irresponsible Objects 2017 things

Can you love things the way you love people? Could you marry a piece of furniture?

Well, if you ask Yvonne, you surely can! She's especially in love with the small cabinet that used to stand in her mother's bedroom, made by the Wendel company. She even took it on a honeymoon. Yvonne carries the name Wendel to this day.

"Show me your belongings, and I'll tell you who you are." Objects as the authors of our life.

We do not exist without objects, but what kind of existence have those objects shaped for us?

How do we interact with things? What do they mean to us and to themselves? How do things come into being? How are they made? How do we collaborate with them?

In her playful philosophical installations, she creates experimental encounters. She rethinks the separation between subject and object while reshaping our understanding of how humans and non-humans create worlds. This is the main focus of her artistic research.

Sink into her chairs, and discover how irresponsible and seductive furniture can be ;)



Yvonne Dröge Wendel -


Jemima de Jonge
Table-Scene, A Body of Water 2023 Video installation

When does a sense of safety and security, for example, turn into claustrophobia and fear? And when does it float back? When does it become humorous or grim?

For Jemima, these tipping points are an intriguing territory to explore because they are not entirely measurable and not entirely comprehensible. And because they are uncomfortable.

In "a body of water", Jemima devours her table. And she doesn't do it just once; on the screen, there are eight versions of her. They gather around the table, tear bits of it apart, and rapidly nibble them away while engaging in lively conversation with each other. Notably, the table is made of cardboard, as are the chairs, the lamps, the paintings, and essentially everything in the room, including the room itself. These young women are consuming their own environment - until one of them chokes on a piece of cardboard, and panic ensues.

Everyone has compulsive tendencies, ways to bring structure to their lives. Which can ultimately turn into something compulsive and extreme.

Where do we draw the line?


Enlarge
Tafelscene_still_3-1024x576 -


Jam van der Aa
Transformational Ragdoll Making  2023 workshop.

In this workshop, participants will create small transformational rag dolls, known as poppets, with the intention of bringing about positive change and healing.

This creative and introspective activity is designed to explore personal relationships, emotions, and desires for change through the art of doll-making.

The focus is on using imitative magic for good and personal growth rather than casting spells or curses.


Enlarge
Ragdol Jam van der Aa -


Vera Lelie
The Waiting Room 2023 Fashioncollection.

If you consider a piece of clothing as a space, you can see that, much like in architectural design, there are many ways in which clothing can be made more accessible.

Vera Lelie's relationship with clothing is shaped by her neurodiverse perception. She dampens and removes information to avoid sensory overload. In doing so, she creates static images by capturing shapes and silhouettes as a contrast to her hyperactivity. She hyperfixates on subjects and uses her hyper-awareness to create environments where the boundary blurs: where does a piece of clothing begin, and where does a space end?

In her fashion collection, she plays with the irony of many neurodiverse individuals waiting for treatment in a space where they have not yet learned to navigate.

And wait they will if they deviate even slightly from the norm...


Enlarge
vera_Lelie - the waiting room - overview -


Gerard van Wolferen
Self Gamelan 2023 Interactive performance .

From childhood dance steps to intricate compositions, Gerard reflects on his remarkable 30-year journey in Suriname Javanese Gamelan, and how neurodiversity has shaped his musical narrative.

Come and join our interactive Self Gamelan and perform through the night !


Enlarge
Gerard van Wolferen playing the Gamelan with Mick Jagger - A/artist Meeting 16 October Gerard van Wolferen speaks at the A/artist meeting: Playing with Ethics and Rhythm


Silke Riis
Underwaterworld 2023 Installation

Silke's work revolves around speculative futures and imaginary species.

With her sculptures of speculative botanical species, Silke explores the idea of evolution being driven and shaped by climate change. By combining beauty and horror in the aesthetics of each piece, she reflects her own feelings about the uncertain future she faces.

Each of Silke's sculptures is in a different stage of a slow transformation. You may not notice it immediately, but if you touch their tentacles or stroke their skin (yes, you can touch them!), they may crack or peel, revealing how each piece is unmistakably in the process of decay.

Created using a self-developed technique that combines natural latex with unfired clay, the pieces become flexible and resilient but inherently ephemeral.

For Museum Night, she drew inspiration from the sea cucumber and "cucumber curvature rules," EU laws from the 1980s that specify a set of standards for the curvature of cucumbers. They must not be curved but must be grown straight.

*The idea of imposing a "normal" shape on something that is naturally different playfully touches on the theme of neurodiversity: the forced shaping of something that is naturally curved, creating a "normal" that is actually quite abnormal for this species.

In Danish, the sea cucumber is actually called "søpølse," which translates to "sea-sausage" or "sea-poop"!

Come and immerse yourself in Silke's wondrous habitat and create your own "søpølse"!


Enlarge
Silke Riis spray_suncatcher -


Simone Hooymans
Talking Plants 2021 Video Installation

In the video installation "Talking Plants" the viewer is challenged to discover a strange botanical world with mystical plants and their personal voices.

The mystical design of some of the plants in the animation are inspired on the antique Botanical Voynich manuscript, which was written by an unknown author in the 15th century.

The Voynich manuscript is a mysterious, illustrated handwritten book with unintelligible content. The script, written in an unknown language or code, has not yet been deciphered and throughout the centuries had many owners and scientist who tried to solve the mystery.

The mysterious plants from the manuscript and its secret code pushed Simone to think of the secret life that plants have. It inspired her to make this animation where the plants show off their movements and speak a language of their own.


Enlarge
Simone Hooymans Talking plants -



Talking plants


Weimin Zhu
Playfull jewelry for the inner world 2021 jewelry collection and video

By engaging in rhythmic movements, you can connect with your inner world, become more aware of your body, and better process sensory stimuli. Some people do this involuntarily, while others are consciously aware of it, finding solace in these movements and using them to manage their emotions, both positive and negative.

This collection features silver jewelry pieces that invite the wearer to engage in meditative movements. Weimin offers workshops where participants explore their own movements and celebrate them by designing a matching piece of jewelry.

*The psychological term for this repetitive behaviour is stimming. We often talk about stimming in the context of sensory variations like autism, but overstimulation can be a problem for anyone. This is partly due to a large increase in the number of triggers that humans have to deal with. Our attention is constantly diverted, making it so valuable that it is even bought and traded. So let's try stimming together!


Enlarge
Weimin Zhu: playful jewelry for the inner mind -  Weimin Zhu

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Please rsvp an email to info@artisticresearch.org 
if you are interested to join the program


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Previous Events

We are happy to announce a new season of A/artist public events which will kick off on the 18th of September. Through these events, we'll be continuing to explore the neurodivergent experience in the practice of the arts.

Join us to meet Genevieve Murphy and Ignacy Radtke, two artists who playfully explore sensory and social (dis)comforts in their work. Genevieve Murphy uses music and performance art to investigate themes of psychology, disability and the intricacies of human relationships, and Ignacy Radtke's latest project Why Do Hoodie Strings Taste So Good? delves into artistic research on fidgeting and comfort objects.

Playing with (dis)comfort
A / artist meeting # 3

18 sept 2023

17:30 - 21:00


@
Mediamatic







Tools for flourishing in arteducation and life

neuro-queer-in-art-education

looking-via-the-brain-not-the-eye

neuro-diversity-and-inclusivity-at-miro

for-the-love-of-the-object-design-in-the-opposition

the-idea-becomes-the-machine-that-makes-the-book

words-randomness-and-rules

robin-waart-is-an-artist-who-makes-books-who-makes-books

shields-and-shelter

was-hildegard-von-bingen-autistic

inspiring-confusion-with-photographs

sensing-self-through-movement

using-autism-to-imagine-alternative-worlds

can-an-artwork-be-autistic

book-club-visual-thinking

processing-stimuli-through-drawings