The Read-In Series 2013
Tuesday 29 October 2013
The Read-In Series consists of four sessions. Based on critical texts proposed by course tutors Yoeri Meessen (Curator Education & Theory, Witte de With) and Florian Cramer (Lector, Willem de Kooning Academy) the students organise a so called Read-In which consist of a close-reading, a debate and a presentations. Additionally, the students choose a guest speaker for each Read-In who they invite to respond to the critical texts, as such the students help shape the series.
Participation to the Read-In series is free for Willem de Kooning Academy students. Students from other schools and other interested parties are welcome at one or more of the sessions after registration. The session will be held in Dutch. For more information please contact education [at] wdw.nl.
Read-In #1 – Living in the End Times
Tuesday October 29, 18:00 – 20:00
Location: Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Witte de Withstraat 50 Rotterdam.
The topic of the first Read-In session is Slavoj Žižek’s Living in the End Times. For the presentation session from 18:00 – 20:00 the students of the minor Critical Studies invited Lidwien Schuitemaker to respond to key themes from the book. Lidwien Schuitemaker is a philosopher, social scientist, graphic artist, publicist and publisher. She investigates the materiality of thinking theoretically and practically, by her research on form and studies of society. She is the author of among others Philosophy of Visual Arts, Philosophy of Thinking, Filographie: philosophy of thinking in forms, and World without rich and poor.
Read-In #2 – The Return of the Political
Tuesday November 19, 18:00 – 20:00
Location: Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Witte de Withstraat 50 Rotterdam.
The subject of the second Read-In session is Chantal Mouffe’s The Return of the Political. For the presentation session from 18:00 – 20:00, the students of the minor Critical Studies invited Dutch artist Dadara to respond to the central themes of the book. Dadara is the initiator of numerous projects including Exchanghibition Bank and Like4Real. With his multimedia installations, performances and objects he addresses a wide range of pressing contemporary issues, ranging from cuts to arts and culture to the impact of new media on our social life and legacy of Marxism.
80 Words
Friday November 29, 15:30-18:00
Location: Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Witte de Withstraat 50 Rotterdam.
The lecture-performance 80 Words by Sarah van Lamsweerde is a Willem de Kooning Academy event for the minor Critical Studies hosted at Witte the With within the frame of the Read-In Series.
Read-In #3 – The Information Bomb
Tuesday December 10, 18:00 – 20:00
Location: Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Witte de Withstraat 50 Rotterdam.
During the third Read-In session the group will focus on Paul Virilio’s 1996 work The Information Bomb. The students of the minor Critical Studies invited the Dutch architect Wim Nijenhuis to respond to the central themes of the book. Besides an architect, Nijenhuis is an independent publisher and teacher of theory and history on architecture, urban planning and art. During the eighties he introduced the French philosopher Paul Virilio to the Netherlands through radio-broadcasting, readings and articles. The ideas of Virilio have been an important source of inspiration in his books Eating Brazil (Rotterdam, 1999), Een Wolk Van Duister Weten: Geschriften over Stedenbouwgeschiedenis (Eindhoven, 2003), and De Diabolische Snelweg (Rotterdam 2007).
Read-In #4 – On the Understanding of Evil
Thursday January 16, 18:00 – 20:00
Location: Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Witte de Withstraat 50 Rotterdam.
For the fourth and final Read-In of the semester we delve into the work of French philosopher Alain Badiou. Together we’ll take a closer look at his critique and reformulation of the concept of evil in his analytic work Ethics, an Essay on the Understanding of Evil. Invited guest of the evening is Ravian van den Hil who works on the intersection between performative art and curated exhibitions. He is founding member of R/E Collective, a curatorial collective operating between London and Rotterdam.