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Intersections at Art Rotterdam

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For those art lovers who missed it, Rotterdam was the place to be last week. It was art week, which meant lots of openings and events organized around Art Rotterdam. For the third time the art fair took place in the Van Nelle Factory, befitting this purpose very well. This year was the second time the fair hosted Intersections. Off the main fair areas and in the outbuildings Intersections was the space where visitors could experience art without the pressure of possibly buying something. Curator Suzanne Wallinga organized a diversity of installations from several non-profit art spaces. From video work to performances, sound installations, paintings, sculptures, moving objects and even a complete house transferred from Detroit, one could see it at Intersections.

Ryan Mendoza, Coming Home, 2015/2016. Presented by Verbeke Foundation.
Across the main entrance to the fair was a first part of Intersections, where the visitor could encounter work by Joachim Coucke, Mark Pezinger Verlag (Astrid Seme and Thomas Geiger), Leyla Aydoslu, Ton Boelhouwer, Hugo Duchateau, Navid Nuur, Patty Morgan and Marijn Ottenhof.

Joachim Coucke, Frequently Answered Questions, 2016. Presented by Nest.
Hugo Duchateau, Kringloop (Basistitel) (detail), 1979-1989.
Presented by Club Solo, set-off against Tom Boelhouwer's Floor 1
Mark Pezinger Verlag (Astrid Seme and Thomas Geiger), Den Rechten Loon, 2016.
Presented by RIB.
Navid Nuur, Untitled (Let Us Meet Inside You) (detail), 2005-2016. Presented by Garage Rotterdam.
With her Cordially invited Ottenhof questions the art world. The installation consisted of a seating area, a white structure housing a screen with video-connection to several artists and a guard who decides if you can enter the installation. By being selective in admitting spectators into the installation, Ottenhof ‘visualizes the gap between maker and audience’.

Marijn Ottenhof, Cordially Invited, 2016. Presented by Patty Morgan.
Another artist who comments the art world and its characteristics is Tim Hollander. His installation Institutional Soup could be found in a different building housing Intersections. It reacted immediately to the surrounding fair, which revolves around selling/buying art. Hollander is interested in the surroundings of artworks (think of walls, exhibition texts etc.), he explores the concept of a situation where the artwork stops being the most important object in its ecosystem.

Tim Hollander, Institutional Soup (detail), 2016. Presented by P////AKT.
Next to Institutional Soup the visitor could enjoy Dirk Zoete’s performance The Be-Part exercises. This work reminds me of images of the Dada performances at Cabaret Voltaire, where artists wore costumes made out of all kinds of found materials. Only the Dada pieces were illogical and sometimes even aggressive, where Zoete's performance seemed more coherent and calm.

Dirk Zoete, The Be-Part exercises, 2016. Presented by the Be-Part Platform voor actuele kunst.
In the same space one could find work by Antonio Jose Guzman, The Oceans Academy of Arts, Kok & Deiman, The One Minutes and a group show curated by Vincent van Velsen.

Antonio Jose Guzman, El Órgano Oriental (ELOO), 2015. Presented by Framed Framed.
Detail of group exhibition Mano Y Mano. Presented by Kunsthuis Syb.
In the adjacent warehouse space the visitor could greet Theo Jansen’s Animaris Proboscis, walk into Maurice Bogaert’s Camera Obscura #2, study movement with Zoro Feigl’s Hula, enjoy performances by Rens Muis, Pieter Vos and Folkert de Jong, make a small exhibition with Hester Oerlemans’ Moving Walls and listen to some sound installations by Gert-Jan Prins, Tom Verbruggen, Goodiepal and Peter Fengler.

Theo Jansen, Animaris Proboscis, 2016. Presented by the Verbeke Foundation.
Zoro Feigl, Hula, 2015. Presented by the Verbeke Foundation.

Among all these moving and sound making installations were two artworks in more traditional mediums. Hadassah Emmerich occupied the back wall with five big paintings, which attracted attention by sheer size, repetition and color. And halfway down the hall was Helgi Thorsson’s Domti Unico, a colorful collection of paintings, furniture, including the displays, pottery and concrete sculptures.

Hadassah Emmerich, Cold Shoulder Series, 2016. Presented by Trendbeheer.
Helgi Thorsson, Domti Unico, 2016. Presented by 1646.
All in all Intersections presented a varied but very well balanced program.

Photographs by author.

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