Open. Cahier on Art and the Public Domain, no. 21:
(Im)Mobility. Exploring the Boundaries of Hypermobility
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Advanced communications technologies seem to be paving the way for an increase in physical and motorized mobility. At the same time, these accelerating flows of data and commodities stand in sharp contrast to the elbow room afforded to the biological body, which in fact is forced to a standstill. And while data, goods and capital have been freed of their territorial restrictions, the opposite is true for a growing proportion of the world’s population: border regimes, surveillance and identity control are being intensified at a rapid pace. In short, we are seeing both an uncurbed and uncontrolled increase of mobility and segregating filtrations. This issue of Open explores the internal contradictions of prevailing mobility regimes and their effects on social and physical space.
Media researcher Eric Kluitenberg, guest editor of this issue, charts the many mobility regimes and searches for a perspective on intervention. Philosopher Marc Schuilenburg argues for connectivity with the local, introducing the concept of ‘terroir.’ Cultural critic Brian Holmes analyzes the capitalist mobility system: container transport and just-in-time production. Film stills from the documentary Forgotten Space by Allan Sekula and Noël Burch portray the relation between oceanic shipping lanes and the globalized economy. Architectural historian Wim Nijenhuis wonders what exile means in today’s ‘exit city’. Architect Charlotte Lebbe investigates the external borders of the Schengen Area and sees the rise of a new dispositive surveillance: the Ban-Opticum. Sociologist Merijn Oudenampsen and architect Miguel Robles-Durán interview David Harvey on the spatial effects of capital accumulation. Media theorist Joss Hands writes about the mobilizing capacity of social media in recent events in the Middle East. Media artist and researcher Florian Schneider introduces the concept of ‘transnationality’ in order to tackle the ambivalence of current border regimes. Design critic John Thackara argues for a change in the thinking on mobility. Media theorist Tatiana Goryucheva investigates the preconditions for a democratic design technology for food mobility. Design studio Metahaven and architect Nerea Calvillo each have made a special contribution.
About Open
Open investigates the contemporary conditions of public space and changing notions of publicness in a structural manner in relation to cultural production. This implies an experimental and interdisciplinary exposition of the reality, possibilities and limitations of the current public domain, in particular from sociological, philosophical, political and artistic perspectives. Within the framework of this ‘project in progress’, themes such as safety, memory, visibility, cultural freedom, tolerance hybrid space, the rise of informal media, art as a public affair, manipulative, precarity and privacy have been examined.
Open is edited by Jorinde Seijdel (editor in chief) and Liesbeth Melis (final editing) and appears twice a year in a Dutch-language and an English-language edition. The graphic design is by Thomas Buxò and Klaartje van Eijk. Open is an initiative of SKOR | Foundation for Art and Public Domain, Amsterdam (www.skor.nl) and is published by NAi Publishers. For information, ordering and subscriptions see www.naipublishers.nl/open, contact info@naipublishers.nl or contact SKOR | Foundation for Art and the Public Domain) at: +31.20.672 2525, info@skor.nl | www.skor.nl
