12 Oct 2008

The Precarious State #1 at De Inkijk

Late 2008 will mark the start of another program at De Inkijk, an exhibition space owned by SKOR and located on the corner of the Ruysdaelkade and the Stadhouderskade in Amsterdam. For the first project, The Precarious State, SKOR commissioned artists Eliza Newman-Saul, Paloma Polo, Katarina Zdjelar and Noa Giniger to develop an art project. Each artist will be able to use De Inkijk for a period of one month in order to reflect upon the concept of identity.

De Inkijk
Stadhouderskade, 46
1072 AA Amsterdam
Opening: 17 October 2008 - 6.00 pm

Performance - 7.00 pm

The Precarious State


The concept of national identity dominates the public arena. Indeed, language; nationality; religion; a collective past; and shared values, give people 'a sense of belonging'. And yet, in this era of migration and globalization, it is still necessary to consider the possibilities of constructing one's identity and establishing oneself in a foreign environment. According to Nicolas Bourriaud, the era of radicality ('radical' in the sense of having roots) is over. Rather, what lies ahead is personified by the radicant: 'instead of returning to origins it will let its roots grow in keeping with its forward movement. [...] The radicant does not inhabit an ideal structure [...], but rather a precarious state. It constructs its route from what it finds.'1

SKOR believed that it would be interesting to approach the concept of cultural identity from this angle. Accordingly, the four artists have examined the issue by using the below questions as guidelines:

·What kind of path must/can someone follow in order to rebuild his/her identity?


·Which mechanisms are at work to allow individuals to feel like they belong to a group? 
·Could De Inkijk function as a 'space of translation' (according to Bourriaud 'a common place including me and the other')?

With The Precarious State, SKOR questions whether there are any new angles from which to view the concept of identity.

About Eliza's Project 
The first work that will be exhibited in De Inkijk as part of the project, The Precarious State, is the installation, Everything is Equally Familiar, by Eliza Newman-Saul (United States, 1980). The installation will be on display in De Inkijk from 17 October and will showcase a collection of slides that Newman-Saul took of her own family. These slides will be projected onto the windows of De Inkijk and before the presentation takes place, she will send out a postcard featuring a narrative. On the day of the opening she will also give a performance. With this project, Eliza Newman-Saul will investigate what it means to be uprooted.

On the day of the opening she will give a performance at 7 p.m.

1. 'On Altermodernity. Nicolas Bourriaud in an e-mail interview with Rita Vitorelli', Spike 11, 2007.