Z33

Steve Robyns (1981) is een Limburgse maker, ontwerper en kunstenaar. Met Into The Unknown presenteert Z33 zijn eerste solotentoonstelling, in samenwerking met Kunstenwerkplaats VONK. De expo toont Robyns’ volledige collectie functionele sculpturen, ontstaan vanuit een jarenlange fascinatie voor het buitenaardse. Zijn inspiratiebronnen zijn documentaires en sciencefiction films.

The Seasonal Neighbours exhibition Our Invisible Hands at Z33 examines the role of seasonal workers in the rich global agricultural economy and offers new insights into the interconnectedness of seasonal and economic rhythms and the relationship between humans and plants in the rural landscape. In this article, writer and curator Alice Bonnot expands on the themes of planetary interdependence, organic farming systems and regenerative land practices. The text brings to the exhibition the long-term temporality of ancestral time and questions the unsustainability of the Western relationship to agriculture.

For Archibald Godts (1990) and Theresa Bastek (1990) of Studio Plastique, we live in exciting times. Our current era is characterized by changes, challenges and wicked problems. Studio Plastique focuses on topics that range from resources to production processes, and always try to understand the materials they work with from the bottom up. In their practice, they are very aware of their role, impact and possibilities as a designer in reshaping the world around us. Studio Plastique sees the most value in using curiosity to question or lay bare the impact of larger systems and infrastructures, and are therefore known for research-heavy investigations into the material origins and wider technological infrastructure of our everyday lives.

“Under the spreading chestnut tree
I sold you and you sold me:
There lie they, and here lie we
Under the spreading chestnut tree”

In this essay, André Rottmann examines how Sam Lewitt’s exhibition CURE (the Work) at Z33 problematizes the site of artistic production.

Last year, when we initiated the topic of A School of Schools, it was exactly 99 years ago that the Bauhaus was inaugurated. This ground-breaking German design school actually defined design education around the world. This year, centenary celebrations of the Bauhaus are taking place in nearly every city in Europe. How does A School of Schools contribute to the contemporary dialogue about the Bauhaus?

Staged in Salt Galata’s exhibition space, Time School speaks to the overarching concept of the Biennial, A School of Schools, an investigation into the role of learning, knowledge and education through art and design practice today. Its first iteration was shown in April this year at ALCOVA during Milan Design Week under the name School of Time. This show premiered two interactive installations developed by artist group Commonplace Studio, Jesse Howard & Tim Knapen, and a second installation developed by Teis De Greve. For Istanbul, the Time School exhibition has expanded and is featuring works by four new artists: Danilo Correale, Ecole Mondiale, Emilie Röndahl and Helga Schmid, of which the last three all produced new works for this show.

Each DESIS Philosophy Talk aims to explore how philosophical reflections can not only help understand but also empower new forms of experimentations within cutting-edge design research. The conversation always take place within a specific context which in this case is the exhibition Time School, one of the subthemes developed within the 4^th Istanbul Design Biennial. This talk is a further expansion of the topics that were addressed at the Desis Philosophy Talk #5.4 held previously this year, at the Time School’s first presentation during the Milan Design Week.[1]

I wake up in a splendid mood. It is 4:40 am when I first stand up somewhere on someone’s bed- my cousin Hugo’s- bed, someplace in Lyon. I repack what I had unpacked the night before; but this time with a little euphoria as I close the case.