MONITOR MEMEX is located at the Sint Lucas College of Art, Antwerp, where it generates a range of editorial and printed matter that mobilizes original research taking place both on- and off-site. More think-tank than taskdriven institution.
MONITOR MEMEX is in constant motion: it is a renewable reservoir of ideas, an arsenal of discoveries and perceptions.
We embrace an “as found” methodology, reflecting academic discourse from within the school onto the world of contemporary visual culture at large. We function not only as a prequel or testing ground for new work, but also as a participatory interface, both gatekeeper and thoroughfare between the fields of education and cultural production today – our topics and keywords continuously evolving, contrasting, and mutating with the tides of contemporary discourse on both sides of that divide.
If our mission statement is to exemplify this fluid, evolutionary approach to publishing and communication, then it must begin by echoing key elements of that very discourse. The following passages – excerpted from discussions, workshops, lectures and publications – represent the pillars around which we have built our approach to the printed page. An ever-growing selection of keywords, captions and references, this list will serve as a mnemonic device for our accumulated research, a tape measure for its scope beyond the perimeters of the institution. Our publications, varied in form and function, are the punctuation marks within this accumulated research, both documenting and shaping its ongoing evolution.
Over the course of what we hope will be many academic years, MONITOR MEMEX will create a solid mosaic of textual fragments, editions and real-time lectures, a mosaic to map the school’s developmental role within the vast universe of contemporary visual culture.
– B. Vereecken, MONITOR MEMEX
MONITOR MEMEX is in constant motion: it is a renewable reservoir of ideas, an arsenal of discoveries and perceptions.
We embrace an “as found” methodology, reflecting academic discourse from within the school onto the world of contemporary visual culture at large. We function not only as a prequel or testing ground for new work, but also as a participatory interface, both gatekeeper and thoroughfare between the fields of education and cultural production today – our topics and keywords continuously evolving, contrasting, and mutating with the tides of contemporary discourse on both sides of that divide.
If our mission statement is to exemplify this fluid, evolutionary approach to publishing and communication, then it must begin by echoing key elements of that very discourse. The following passages – excerpted from discussions, workshops, lectures and publications – represent the pillars around which we have built our approach to the printed page. An ever-growing selection of keywords, captions and references, this list will serve as a mnemonic device for our accumulated research, a tape measure for its scope beyond the perimeters of the institution. Our publications, varied in form and function, are the punctuation marks within this accumulated research, both documenting and shaping its ongoing evolution.
Over the course of what we hope will be many academic years, MONITOR MEMEX will create a solid mosaic of textual fragments, editions and real-time lectures, a mosaic to map the school’s developmental role within the vast universe of contemporary visual culture.
– B. Vereecken, MONITOR MEMEX
MONITOR MEMEX was founded in 2010 by Boy Vereecken, advising researcher at Sint Lucas, College of Art, Antwerp, Belgium and is supported by Sint Lucas, College of Art, Antwerp and the Karel de Grote Hogeschool. Chief Editor/ Publisher: Boy Vereecken, Coordinator: Kim Gorus, Editorial board: Kim Gorus & Michael Van Beirendonck.
BOOKSTORE
14 – 19 September 2010
11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
DISCUSSION
14 September 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
14 – 19 September 2010
11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
DISCUSSION
14 September 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
WITTE DE WITH
Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Motto is a Berlin and Zürich-based bookstore and distributor with a growing stock of printed matter – ranging from rogue photocopied zines to rigorous philosophical treatises, with a diverse selection of artistic publishing experiments in between. A unique and much demanded opportunity to access the latest in independent publishing, Motto's temporary market space will also serve as a site of exchange for unchartered initiatives in the arts.
Motto's Alexis Zavialoff; Antonia Hirsch and Jeff Khonsary (Fillip, Berlin/Vancouver); Boy Vereecken (MONITOR MEMEX, an imprint of MER. Paper Kunsthalle, and Slavs & Tatars); Remco van Bladel and Freek Lomme (Onomatopee, Amsterdam/Eindhoven), Mats Stjernstedt (INDEX, Stockholm); Dorothea Jendricke (NAK. Neuer Aachener Kunstverein); and Krist Gruijthuijsen (Kunstverein, Amsterdam) have been invited to introduce their production platforms, which combine design, distribution, publishing and exhibition.
Motto's Alexis Zavialoff; Antonia Hirsch and Jeff Khonsary (Fillip, Berlin/Vancouver); Boy Vereecken (MONITOR MEMEX, an imprint of MER. Paper Kunsthalle, and Slavs & Tatars); Remco van Bladel and Freek Lomme (Onomatopee, Amsterdam/Eindhoven), Mats Stjernstedt (INDEX, Stockholm); Dorothea Jendricke (NAK. Neuer Aachener Kunstverein); and Krist Gruijthuijsen (Kunstverein, Amsterdam) have been invited to introduce their production platforms, which combine design, distribution, publishing and exhibition.
Following introductions, an open discussion about the value of operating in institutional gray zones will ensue. This discussion also serves as a preliminary phase for the symposium Rotterdam Dialogues: Morality, the penultimate act of Witte de With's ongoing "morality" program.
In late 2007, a new research project was launched in the Jewellery Design & Goldsmithing studio of Sint Lucas Antwerp: VORMAT (2007-2010), which involved both students and teachers, as well as experts in the field.
VORMAT aims to explore how the use of joining techniques and materials from unrelated domains can lead to new (and innovative) design.
VORMAT aims to explore how the use of joining techniques and materials from unrelated domains can lead to new (and innovative) design.
Working within the VORMAT guidelines, the bachelor and master students of the Jewellery Design & Goldsmithing Department created a series of exceptional ornaments and objects which establish unexpected connections between similar and/or different materials. Subsequently, in December 2009, seven guest curators from the artistic and academic world were given a preview of the show. They were asked to choose two works from the VORMAT collection and to link them to a third object which was related to their own research field. In this way, the technical aspect of the “connections” topic was broadened to include the mental associations of different research fields.
The result of this research experiment is collected in this volume, which is the fruit of a collaboration between VORMAT and the publication platform Monitor Memex.
The result of this research experiment is collected in this volume, which is the fruit of a collaboration between VORMAT and the publication platform Monitor Memex.
VORMAT – Contribution Rik Pinxten
VORMAT – Archive spread
July 2, 2009
Bloomsbury
Fiction is a very important concept for us. We are careful to stay away from fantasy, though. We do not design for today. Our designs are always intended for another time or place and therefore exist as fictions. The are meant as alternatives, but that doesn’t mean they do not technically function. It simply means that the values are at odds with those of today. We think of them as social fictions or even value fictions, sort of related to science fiction but with a shift of emphasis away from technology to the human side. They are intended to remind us that what we see around us, reality, is not fixed and that there are other possibilities.
The idea of an As Found method is, admittedly, tricky, because the term “method” is too closely related to will. As found is not an approach that lends itself easily to being guided by an assertive will; it calls for the will to question. Here the difference between the “as found” and the “found” becomes important. Finding can be a random stumbling upon something. If something is “as found,” it already has a meaning along the lines autonomous action. As Found marks the particularly fragile equilibrium between activity and passivity. It calls for first looking and being receptive to the fine nuances and meanings and setting out from there to make something.
As an approach to design it relies on the second glance. It is an approach that first neutralizes and then starts anew, as it were. Anything that is conventionally considered unfitting, banal, or not worthy of mention can now be seen as entirely different: as fitting, fascinating, and substantial. As Found necessitates a specific evaluation, independently of the concrete example, and it represents its own path to the substance of a work. In the end something can result that is surprising and off-putting, because it is unexpected, because it is not obviously connected to a “personal style.” Because it is perhaps more inventive, despite an conscientious regard for what exists, more novel than something that is supposed to be an invention but proves to be nothing more than bizarre idea, because it lacks any connection. As Found has to do with attentiveness, with concern for that which exists, with passion for the task of making something from something. It is the technique of reaction. Rather than tearing forward with strength of will in order to establish a theme, it should be developed. Only the perception of reality launches the activities of designing or producing. The film director Karel Reisz has said, looking back on his work, “It was about wanting what you got, rather than going out and getting what you want.” As Found is the entryway into the unlimited world of limited possibilities. It need not to be the case that children are the only ones who can find their way in that world, because the adults forgot how at some point.
Platform for Typography and Research Sint Lucas Antwerp presents a periodical tribunal of fine editorial matter, the research quest and issues of diagnosis.
Chalk Talk is an initiative by Boy Vereecken, advising researcher in the Design Department of Sint-Lucas Antwerp.
– METAHAVEN
Research Republic
– DAVID BENNEWITH
You change the sound 'Blah' into letters and it becomes a written word. But, if you look back purely at the letterforms it is still just 'Blah'.
– BOY VEREECKEN
All Ears and Empty Sentiments
Chalk Talk is an initiative by Boy Vereecken, advising researcher in the Design Department of Sint-Lucas Antwerp.
– METAHAVEN
Research Republic
– DAVID BENNEWITH
You change the sound 'Blah' into letters and it becomes a written word. But, if you look back purely at the letterforms it is still just 'Blah'.
– BOY VEREECKEN
All Ears and Empty Sentiments
