Circles of Focus: The Fall Experiment

Research residency and public events:
19 September - 14 October 2016
Exhibition:
15 October - 13 November 2016
Opening: Saturday 15 October 2016, 17 hrs
Location: Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Open: Wednesday - Sunday, 12-17 hrs
Entrance: free
>> Download exhibition guide (pdf)

Sunday 13 November 2016, 12-16 hrs
Closing event with hair donation project DONATE WHAT YOU DO/N'T NEED >> read more

With the exhibition Circles of Focus: The Fall Experiment at Stroom Den Haag, Christine Borland and Brody Condon present the latest results of their ongoing research project, which explores the donated human body as an agent for artistic research and practice. The artists' residency and exhibition focuses on the question: can a sculpture constitute a legally binding body-donation bequest? Their means of inquiry includes sculptures made from Leiden clay and ‘blooms' of locally produced raw iron ore, a participatory parlour performance and public consultations with legal experts.

Circles of Focus
Since 2011 Borland and Condon's collaborative project has resulted in a series of symposia, performative workshops and art works. At Stroom they follow up the 2015 exhibition Circles of Focus at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) Glasgow. With ‘The Fall Experiment' at Stroom the artists form new partnerships in the Netherlands to appraise the posthumous enactment of a sculptural ‘proposal' for prospective body donors.

The Fall Experiment
Influenced by re-creations of 18th century Dutch physics experiments Borland and Condon have shifted their attention to the ‘Theater of Physics', represented at Museum Boerhaave in Leiden. In 1722 Leiden professor Willem 's Gravesande publicly demonstrated a controversial experiment; dropping metal spheres into clay to measure the 'life force' of a body in motion. The ‘Fall Experiment' disproved an established Newtonian theory, sparking both popular and scientific debate concerning God's relation to the physical world.

PUBLIC EVENTS
Their period of residency at Stroom will involve a series of public events with presentations by experts and the participation of ‘proxy' donors who have been working with the artists. These include going outdoors for the sourcing and processing of local, raw materials to be used for a newly enacted ‘Fall Experiment' at Fundatie Voorhoeve (The Hague).

Tuesday 20 September 2016, 13-16 hrs
Clay Event
Location: in the vicinity of Leiden (t.b.a.)
Tiemen Cocquyt, curator of Museum Boerhaave, will give an informal lecture about the historic 'fall experiment', conducted by Willem 's Gravesande in 1722. The clay will be harvested in collaboration with Atelier NL.
>> read more

22 - 25 September 2016
Iron Bloom Event
Location: in Archeon, Alphen aan den Rijn
During a period of four days Jan Jennissen will create ‘blooms' of locally produced raw iron ore on location at Archeon, using a pre-historic production method. On Sunday 25 September from 15 to 17 hrs Jan Jennissen and the artists Christine Borland and Brody Condon will tell more about the production process.
>> read more

Friday 30 September 2016
Legal Event (including a staging of ‘The Fall Experiment')
Location: Fundatie Voorhoeve (Dunne Bierkade 18, The Hague)
In the setting of an 18th century parlour there will be recreations of  the fall experiments using the clay of the Clay Event and blooms of the Iron Bloom event. The results will be discussed by legal experts.
>> read more

Friday 14 October 2016, 15-17 hrs
Open-air firing Event
Location: Stroom Den Haag, backyard Maziestraat, The Hague
The clay tablets that were produced during the previous events will be baked in an oven of sandy loam. In the week before the opening Ingrid Mol and students of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie will build the oven in the backyard of Stroom. On Friday 14 October from 15 to 17 hrs there will be an informal meeting around the fire, where the audience can have a conversation with the artists.
>> read more

Saturday 15 October 2016
Festive Opening Exhibition
Location: Stroom Den Haag
>> more information will follow

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of activities.
>> More information will follow soon

Christine Borland is a Scottish artist and one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who came to international prominence in the 1990s. In 1997 she was a nominee for the "all women" Turner Prize at Tate, London. Solo exhibitions include the Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia), Kunstwerke (Berlin), De Appel (Amsterdam), Fundação Serralves (Lisbon), Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Zurich) and recently Cast From Nature at Glasgow Sculpture Studio & Camden Arts Centre (London). Christine is a Professor of Fine Art at Northumbria University (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) and was recently awarded a major commission by 14-18 NOW, the UK's art programme for the First World War centenary.

Brody Condon is an artist based in Berlin. Condon crafts unscripted group encounters, which are often documented and exhibited as video installations. He received his MFA from the University of California, San Diego and participated in the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. His work has been presented at the Stedelijk Museum Post CS, Sonsbeek 2008, and Museum Het Domein in the Netherlands; the New Museum, Greater New York at MoMA PS1, and Performa 09 in New York; as well as the Hammer Museum and LACMA in Los Angeles.
http://tmpspace.com

Circles of Focus: The Fall Experiment has been made possible through collaborations with various experts and institutions, including the Museum Boerhaave, Atelier NL, Archeon, Jan Jennissen, Museum Tot Zover and CCA Glasgow, and is financially supported by the Mondriaan Fund and the city of The Hague.

See also:
Symposium Death Animations
4 March 2016 at Stroom Den Haag

PRESS
Metropolis M #6, December 2016 (in Dutch)

15 Oct '16 - 13 Nov '16
Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Entrance: free