Difference between revisions of "Aksioma Institute"

Revision as of 18:23, 10 July 2017

The Aksioma Institute is a production and organisation unit for various dealings with contemporary art. It runs its own gallery called Aksioma Project Space and presents internationally renowned performance and new media art projects, collaborates in producing new artworks, publishes books and texts on artists and art, sets up lectures, and represents Slovene artists abroad.

Based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, it was founded in 2002 and is run by the multimedia artist Davide Grassi, today known as Janez Janša.

Creed

Aksioma foremost engages in projects which utilise new technologies, reflecting on the structures of the (post)modern society, as (often) organised also by the technology itself. Focusing on artistic production that explores social and political concerns, it endorses practices which, for example, aim at hacking the role of mass media in contemporary society through various mediums, interpreting the narratives in subversive, critical, or ironic manner.

Though working primarily in the field the new media art, the institute is also active in performing and visual arts.

Projects

In light of more than a dozen (sometimes double so) productions, performances and exhibitions per year, it would be rather hard to thoroughly sum up the directions explored by Aksioma.

Nevertheless, a somewhat random list of its relatively recent projects can give a feel for the topics explored: Sonoseismic Earth (a responsive kinetic installation that presents Earth in the age of the Anthropocene), The World Without Us (a group exhibition exploring 'Narratives on the age of non-human actors'); Random Darknet Shopper (a robot/software entity that was randomly buying and ordering on the 'darknet'); Joey Skaggs in Ljubljana (a visit by the social activist, educator and prankster Joey Skaggs); All Work, No Play (an interactive exhibition of video games that make people critically engage with current socio-political issues; Eternal September (a group exhibition on the relationships between professional art making and the rising tide of amateur cultural movements throughout the Web); and History of the Future (a cinematic archive/multi-media presentation of international science-fiction production and representations of possible realities of the future and the present).

Artists

Known for its vigorous production and co-production realised in Slovenia and abroad Aksioma Institute tends to work with artists whose approach to new media is not just about technology but also about a particular content that suits Aksioma's greater mission. Of the Slovene artists, one can thus name the multimedia artist Sašo Sedlaček; the self-styled pseudo-artist and intimate mobile communicator Igor Štromajer (of the Intima Virtual Base); Neven Korda and his experimental video 'theatre'; Marko Batista, a tech-mixed-media artist, sound researcher, video experimentalist and AV performer; and the interdisciplinary artist Maja Smrekar, the recipient of the Golden Nica 2017.

Among the many artists with whom Aksioma has collaborated are Jennifer Lyn Morone (US), Pinar Yoldas (TU), Jacob Appelbaum (US), Jacob Appelbaum (US), !Mediengruppe Bitnik (CH/UK), Nicolas Maigret (FR), Molleindustria (IT), Golan Levin (US), Josef (Seppo) Gründler (AT), Julian Oliver and Danja Vasiliev (NZ), Michael Madsen (DN), etc.

Janez Janša namechange project

Aksioma has produced several projects by its director Janez Janša, formerly known as [Davide Grassi]. Very visible among them was the project (initiated in 2007) of renaming himself (alongside two other artists, Emil Hrvatin and Žiga Kariž), all three officially taking the name of the then prime minister.

Various projects have taken place in the framework of this namechange and the trio presented it also as the performance Signature Event Context on the Transmediale 2008 in Berlin. In the same year the exhibition curated by Zdenka Badovinac entitled NAME - Readymade was featured in the frame of the Steirischer Herbst Festival of New Art in Graz. Since than it was presented also in ArtLaboratoryBerlin, HONF laboratory Yogyakarta (Indonesia) and in LASALLE College of the Arts, Faculty of Media Arts in Singapore. In 2012 Aksioma Institute ran the first successful crowdfunding project in Slovenia, which enabled the postproduction of the My Name Is Janez Janša documentary film.

My Name Is Janez Janša by aksioma on Vimeo

Publications

Aksioma frequently publishes texts on contemporary art in various formats, books, brochures and catalogues. The publications are as a rule available to read online as well as in print, and are usually available either in English or bilingual.

The titles include Mladen Dolar's What’s in a Name and Domenico Quaranta's Beyond New Media Art; texts on the work of artists like Marko Batista and Sašo Sedlaček; The Pirate Book (offering a broad view on media piracy as well as a variety of comparative perspectives on recent issues and historical facts regarding piracy); and many others.

Aksioma also released some albums, among them an album by the Bast collective Bast – Retinal Cirkus (2007) containing improvisations recorded at Klub Gromka, during the project Burn Out produced by Aksioma.

Collaborations and partners

The Aksioma Institute as a producer and co-producer collaborates with plenty of national and international institutions. In Slovenia, it's frequent partners are or have been Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, the KiBela Art Space, the Museum of Modern Art, the Maska Institute, the Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts, the Kapelica Gallery, the Match Gallery, the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute, Bunker Institute, the City of Women International Festival of Contemporary Arts, and Simulaker Gallery Novo Mesto.

International cooperation

In 2017 they won a Creative Europe grant, this time for a project called State Machines. Art, Work, and Identity in an Age of Planetary-Scale Computation, featuring Drugo more udruge (HR), Furtherfield.org (UK), NeMe (CY), Stichting Hogeschool van Amsterdam (NL).

Their previous projects under the auspices of Creative Europe have been the international cooperation projects Masters & Servers: Networked Culture in the Post-digital Age (2014–2016) and ARSCOPE: Art-Science Co-Operation Environement (2011–2013).

The institute has also worked with festivals and institutions abroad, among them the MNAC - National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, MMSU - Museum of Contemporary Art in Rijeka (RE:akt!), Institute FH JOANNEUM Graz (Brainloop), V:NM Festival in Graz, Kunsthaus Graz etc.

Awards and mentions

External links

Projects

Gallery

Janez Janša at his multimedia performance Vročica satelitne noči [Satellite Night Fever] in the Simulaker Gallery, 2007

Artist Janez Janša at his Machina ZOIS, the Article 23 exhibition, held at Škuc Gallery in 2008

Portrait of Davide Grassi, 2018.

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 {{Teaser|
-[[Aksioma Institute|Aksioma - Institute for Contemporary Arts]] is a non-profit cultural organisation based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, co-founded in [[Established::2002]] by multimedia artist [[Davide Grassi]], today known as [[Janez Janša]]. It engages in projects that take advantage of new technologies in order to investigate and discuss the structures of (post)modern society. It focuses on artistic production that explores social, political, aesthetic and ethical concerns.
+The [[Aksioma Institute]] is a production and organisation unit for various dealings with contemporary art. It runs its own gallery called [[Aksioma Project Space]] and presents internationally renowned performance and new media art projects, collaborates in producing new artworks, publishes books and texts on artists and art, sets up lectures, and represents Slovene artists abroad.
-In 2011 Aksioma opened its [[Aksioma Project Space|Project Space]] in the centre of Ljubljana. The venue presents internationally renowned new media art projects.
+Based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, it was founded in [[Established::2002]] and is run by the multimedia artist [[Davide Grassi]], today known as [[Janez Janša]].
 }}
-{{Vimeo|46937250}}
+==Creed==
+Aksioma foremost engages in projects which utilise new technologies, reflecting on the structures of the (post)modern society, as (often) organised also by the technology itself. Focusing on artistic production that explores social and political concerns, it endorses practices which, for example, aim at hacking the role of mass media in contemporary society through various mediums, interpreting the narratives in subversive, critical, or ironic manner.
+Though working primarily in the field the new media art, the institute is also active in performing and visual arts.
+==Projects==
+In light of more than a dozen (sometimes double so) productions, performances and exhibitions per year, it would be rather hard to thoroughly sum up the directions explored by Aksioma.
+Nevertheless, a somewhat random list of its relatively recent projects can give a feel for the topics explored: ''Sonoseismic Earth'' (a responsive kinetic installation that presents Earth in the age of the Anthropocene), ''The World Without Us'' (a group exhibition exploring 'Narratives on the age of non-human actors'); ''Random Darknet Shopper'' (a robot/software entity that was randomly buying and ordering on the 'darknet'); ''Joey Skaggs in Ljubljana'' (a visit by the social activist, educator and prankster Joey Skaggs); ''All Work, No Play'' (an interactive exhibition of video games that make people critically engage with current socio-political issues; ''Eternal September'' (a group exhibition on the relationships between professional art making and the rising tide of amateur cultural movements throughout the Web); and ''History of the Future'' (a cinematic archive/multi-media presentation of international science-fiction production and representations of possible realities of the future and the present).
+===Artists===
+Known for its vigorous production and co-production realised in Slovenia and abroad  Aksioma Institute tends to work with artists whose approach to new media is not just about technology but also about a particular content that suits Aksioma's greater mission. Of the Slovene artists, one can thus name the multimedia artist [[Sašo Sedlaček]]; the self-styled pseudo-artist and intimate mobile communicator [[Igor Štromajer]] (of the [[Intima Virtual Base]]); [[Neven Korda]] and his experimental video 'theatre'; [[Marko Batista]], a tech-mixed-media artist, sound researcher, video experimentalist and AV performer; and the interdisciplinary artist [[Maja Smrekar]], the recipient of the Golden Nica 2017.
-==New media projects==
+Among the many artists with whom Aksioma has collaborated are Jennifer Lyn Morone (US), Pinar Yoldas (TU), Jacob Appelbaum (US), Jacob Appelbaum (US), !Mediengruppe Bitnik (CH/UK), Nicolas Maigret (FR), Molleindustria (IT), Golan Levin (US), Josef (Seppo) Gründler (AT), Julian Oliver and Danja Vasiliev (NZ), Michael Madsen (DN), etc.
-Aksioma has produced many projects by [[Janez Janša]], such as ''DemoKino'' (Virtual Biopolitical Agora), an anti-entertainment interactive film questioning modern democracy. ''Demokino'' was a virtual parliament that provided participants the opportunity to decide about the questions of life.
+===Janez Janša namechange project===
-The Institute has also produced several projects by [[Sašo Sedlaček]], including his overview exhibition ''Supertrash'' (a coproduction with [[Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts]] and [[Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana]]). Set up at the [[Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts]] and the [[Jakopič Gallery]], it showcased the selection of [[Sašo Sedlaček|Sedlaček's]] projects created during the last ten years.
+Aksioma has produced several projects by its director [[Janez Janša]], formerly known as [Davide Grassi]. Very visible among them was the project (initiated in 2007) of renaming himself (alongside two other artists, [[Emil Hrvatin]] and [[Žiga Kariž]]), all three officially taking the name of the then prime minister.
-In 2012 Aksioma Institute ran the first successful crowdfunding project in Slovenia, which enabled the postproduction of the ''My Name Is Janez Janša'' documentary film. The film focuses on three Slovene artists who officially changed their names into the name of the Prime Minister of Slovenia, [[Janez Janša]] in 2007.
+Various projects have taken place in the framework of this namechange and the trio  presented it also as the performance Signature Event Context on the Transmediale 2008 in Berlin. In the same year the exhibition curated by [[Zdenka Badovinac]] entitled ''NAME - Readymade'' was featured in the frame of the Steirischer Herbst Festival of New Art in Graz. Since than it was presented also in ArtLaboratoryBerlin, HONF laboratory Yogyakarta (Indonesia) and in LASALLE College of the Arts, Faculty of Media Arts in Singapore. In 2012 Aksioma Institute ran the first successful crowdfunding project in Slovenia, which enabled the postproduction of the ''My Name Is Janez Janša'' documentary film.
-Some of the notable performances produced by Aksioma are ''SilentCell Network'', an artistic network for interventions in public spaces by [[Mare Bulc]], [[Janez Janša]], [[Bojana Kunst]], [[Igor Štromajer]]; Nicole Blackman's performance ''The Courtesan Tales'' in Café Belvedere, Vila Bled where visitors could order the courtesan's service a la carte; ''paraSITE'' by Michael Rakowitz and ''Brainloop'' by [[Janez Janša]]. ''Brainloop'' was an interactive performance platform that utilised a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) system, allowing the subject to operate devices merely by imagining specific motor commands. In the second part of the performance, ''Brainloop'' was used to compose a custom soundtrack.
+{{Vimeo|46937250}}
 ==Publications==
-Aksioma published a catalogue of [[Davide Grassi|Davide Grassi's]] selected works in 2004, ''DemoKino'' - Virtual Biopolitical Agora, a book edited by Ivana Ivković and [[Janez Janša]] (2006), [[Janez Janša|Janez Janša's]] biography (2008) written by [[Marcel Štefančič jr]] and published by [[Mladina Magazine|Mladina]] and co-produced by [[Maska Institute]] and Aksioma; and ''RE:akt! Reconstruction, Re-enactment, Re-reporting'' (2009) among others.
+Aksioma frequently publishes texts on contemporary art in various formats, books, brochures and catalogues. The publications are as a rule available to read online as well as in print, and are usually available either in English or bilingual.
+The titles include [[Mladen Dolar|Mladen Dolar's]] ''What’s in a Name'' and Domenico Quaranta's ''Beyond New Media Art''; texts on the work of artists like [[Marko Batista]] and [[Sašo Sedlaček]]; The Pirate Book (offering a broad view on media piracy as well as a variety of comparative perspectives on recent issues and historical facts regarding piracy); and many others.
+Aksioma also released some albums, among them an album by the [[Bast]] collective ''Bast – Retinal Cirkus'' (2007) containing improvisations recorded at [[Klub Gromka]], during the project ''Burn Out'' produced by Aksioma.
+==Collaborations and partners==
-Many of the catalogues are bilingual, for example a monograph of the late Slovene photographer [[Diego Andrés Gómez]] (2007, in Slovene and Spanish) or ''Signature'' (2010, in Slovene and English).
+The Aksioma Institute as a producer and co-producer collaborates with plenty of national and international institutions. In Slovenia, it's frequent partners are or have been [[Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture]], the [[KiBela Art Space]], the [[Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova|Museum of Modern Art]], the [[Maska Institute]], the [[Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts]], the [[Kapelica Gallery]], the [[Match Gallery]], the [[P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute]], [[Bunker Institute]], the [[City of Women International Festival of Contemporary Arts]], and [[Simulaker Gallery Novo Mesto]].
-Aksioma publishes or collaborates with others to publish a brochure for its exhibitions. Aksioma brochure #1 ''Name Radymade'' was published in 2010 (the catalogue with the same title was published two years sooner by [[Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova|Museum of Modern Art]]). Since then they publish about six brochures per year and the publications are available online as well.
-Aksioma also released some albums, an album by the [[Bast]] collective ''Bast – Retinal Cirkus'' (2007) containing improvisations recorded at [[Klub Gromka]], during the project ''Burn Out'' produced by Aksioma.
+==International cooperation==
-==Cooperation==
+In 2017 they won a Creative Europe grant, this time for a project called ''State Machines. Art, Work, and Identity in an Age of Planetary-Scale Computation'', featuring Drugo more udruge (HR), Furtherfield.org (UK), NeMe (CY), Stichting Hogeschool van Amsterdam (NL).
-Aksioma Institute cooperates with many other institutions, for example with the [[Kapelica Gallery]] with which Aksioma has co-produced or co-organized many projects, ''H220'' by [[Marko Batista]] in 2010 being one of them. They also cooperate with [[Match Gallery]] (exhibitions ''EKMRZ'' by Ubermorgen.com, ''15 objects'' by Peter Rauch and ''Fuck the System'' by Eva and Franco Mattes), [[Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts]] (exhibition ''Signature'', for instance), [[Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana plus Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova|Museum of Modern Art]] (exhibition ''Triglav'' in [[Mala Gallery]]), [[P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute]], [[Maska Institute]], [[Intima Virtual Base]], [[SCCA-Ljubljana Centre for Contemporary Arts]], [[Zank]], [[Bunker Institute]] and many organisations and festivals abroad, among them the MNAC - National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, MMSU - Museum of Contemporary Art in Rijeka (''RE:akt!''), Institute FH JOANNEUM Graz (''Brainloop''), Kunsthaus Graz etc.
+Their previous projects under the auspices of Creative Europe have been the international cooperation projects ''Masters & Servers: Networked Culture in the Post-digital Age'' (2014&ndash;2016) and ARSCOPE: Art-Science Co-Operation Environement (2011&ndash;2013).
-They cooperated with [[City of Women International Festival of Contemporary Arts]] to present a lectures ''Hack the Gender!'' by Tatiana Bazzichelli on hacker ethics and Jannifer Doyle's ''Between Friends'' in 2007.
+The institute has also worked with festivals and institutions abroad, among them the MNAC - National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, MMSU - Museum of Contemporary Art in Rijeka (''RE:akt!''), Institute FH JOANNEUM Graz (''Brainloop''),  V:NM Festival in Graz, Kunsthaus Graz etc.
-Aksioma collaborated with the music project [[Bast]] (1998&ndash;2007) and co-organised several performances for the V:NM Festival in Graz in 2007.
+===Awards and mentions===
-In 2014, they were awarded a Creative Europe grant from the European Commission for the international cooperation project ''Masters & Servers: Networked Culture in the Post-digital Age'', which takes place from September 2014 to August 2016. The project involves the co-organising partners Abandon Normal Devices (AND) from Manchester, UK; d-i-n-a (producer of the Influencers festival) from Barcelona, ES; Drugo more from Rijeka, HR; and Link Center for the Arts of the Information Age from Brescia, IT.
 == See also ==
 * [[Aksioma Project Space]]
-* [[Kapelica Gallery]]
-* [[Bast]]
 == External links ==

Difference between revisions of "Aksioma Institute"

Revision as of 18:23, 10 July 2017

Contents

Creed

Projects

Artists

Janez Janša namechange project

Publications

Collaborations and partners

International cooperation

Awards and mentions

See also

External links

Gallery

Operated by

Financed by