BAC
Skeppsbron 24
621 57 Visby
Sweden
+46 498 200335
http://www.balticartcenter.com
BAC – the Baltic Art Center on the Swedish island of Gotland – is a contemporary art centre hosting a range of residencies and productions of new work by Nordic and international artists and curators. In 2009, the following artists and curators are part of the BAC residency and production programmes: Victor Alimpiev (RU), Petra Bauer & Kim Einarsson (SE), Ruth Hege Halstensen (NO), Lise Harlev (DK), Sara Jordenö (SE), Tommy Støckel (DK), Fiona Tan (NL) and Javier Tellez (VE/US).
Concurrently with its residencies and productions BAC initiates contextualizing projects and events. Current projects include:
On the Conditions of Production
Inaugural event: Wednesday 28 October, 5pm
Talks by Pierre Bal-Blanc (CAC Brétigny) and Katharina Schlieben (formerly Shedhalle, Zürich). Screening of the film Argument (1978) by Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall.
On the Conditions of Production is a long term project at BAC hosting a range of different enquiries into the contemporary conditions for art production, made in collaboration with Swedish and international artists, curators and writers. The starting point for the project is the question of the effects on cultural production by the increasingly dissolving boundaries between positions that historically have been seen as separate – such as public institutions and private interest, commerce and critique, process and product, artist and curator, and author and audience. On the Conditions of Production will include various phases of research and presentation. For the inaugural event, curator Pierre Bal-Blanc presents the ongoing project ‘Reversibility’, followed by a talk about the project ‘Work to do! Self-organisation in precarious ‘production’ conditions’ by curator Katharina Schlieben. The film ‘Argument’ by Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall appears courtesy of the artists and LUX London.
Destruction-in-Residence
The project Destruction-in-Residence is conceived as a complement to the program Production-in-Residence, established at BAC in 2004, and will function as a tool for rethinking established frameworks and conventions for art production and mediation. Artists and cultural practitioners are invited to engage with acts of destruction, removal and/or erasure – conceptually, structurally and physically – in relation to the context of BAC.
Destruction No.1: The first intervention as part of the series consists of the invited artist removing his/her name from all publicity connected to the project.
The Secret Cinema
In a time when it is necessary to be connected, when constant communication is supposed to give you the feeling of being part of a community but this community more often than not is fragmented and physically remote, when most of us are visible through social networks and are feeding the attention economy by default – what does it mean to be together at the same time at the same place sharing a common experience, but not knowing beforehand what this experience will be?
Wishing to create a framework where our attention and engagement surpasses the attention economy, the Secret Cinema is an attempt at playing around with strategies of visibility and invisibility to explore the situations and possibilities that might open up through partial secrecy. The Secret Cinema will be a series of screenings and discussions exploring the medium of cinema. The times, dates and place for the screenings will be publicly announced. The title, director and duration of the film will not be disclosed to anyone apart from those attending the event. The first screening will take place at BAC on 10 November at 6pm.
Exhibitions elsewhere of recent works produced by BAC:
Victor Alimpiev To Trample Down An Arable Land (2009) – currently on exhibition at IKON Gallery, Birmingham until 15 November.
Ana Torfs Displacement (2009) – will be presented for the first time in early 2010 as part of Torfs’ solo exhibition at K21, Düsseldorf.
BAC is funded by the Municipality of Gotland, the Swedish Arts Council, the Nordic Council of Ministers and The Foundation for the Culture for the Future.
Director: Lisa Rosendahl
BAC
Skeppsbron 24
621 57 Visby
Sweden
http://www.balticartcenter.com