Lawrence Lek: Nøtel (The Hague)

Location: Stroom, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Open: Wednesday to Sunday, 12:00 – 17:00 hrs
Opening: Saturday, 1 September , 17:00 hrs
Followed by Afterparty / club night starting at 22:00 hrs at The Grey Space, Paviljoensgracht 20, The Hague

Stroom School
Stroom School is the in-depth program of activities Stroom organizes parallel to the exhibitions;

Friday 31 August and Saturday 1 September 2018
Two-day workshop Community of Practice
An intensive 2-day workshop centered around the themes of the exhibition by Lawrence Lek. Including a.o. a tour by the curators (Ilga Minjon and Lua Vollaard), a discussion with the artist Lawrence Lek, and the official opening of the exhibition (on Saturday 1 September from 17 hrs at Stroom, followed by an Afterparty from 22 hrs at The Grey Space in the Middle).

Saturday 1 September 2018, 17:00-00:05 hrs
Opening: Nøtel—Lawrence Lek + afterparty: Laser Club #4 x Nøtel
Location: opening at Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9  + Afterparty from 22:00 hrs at The Grey Space in the Middle, Paviljoensgracht 20
Enjoy an unforgettable stay! Join us from 5 pm to 5 am for the opening of 'Nøtel', followed by an afterparty featuring Kode9, Crystallmess, Whitespace (Anni Nöps + Casimir), Torus and more work by Lawrence Lek.

Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September 2018
Nøtel Bicycle Tours: (UN)just Peace
On the occasion of the UN International Day of Peace and the Just Peace Festival, Nøtel invites you to a bicycle tour of The Hague's International Zone. This area is the focal point of The Hague's rebranding effort as the city of Peace, Justice, and Security. Your guide is: Lodovica Guarnieri. Max 10 persons per bike tour. The Sunday tour is sold out. Language spoken: English

Sunday 30 September 2018, 14 hrs
Nøtel Curator Tour with Lua Vollaard
Tour of the exhibition by curator Lua Vollaard.
Aimed at We Are Public members. Language spoken: English

Saturday 20 October 2018, 14:00-17.00 hrs
Nøtel Conference: Luxury Automated City
Conference around Nøtel (The Hague). Three academics from the fields of urbanism, artificial intelligence, feminism and cybersecurity, and nine filmmakers (commissioned through The One Minutes) respond to the future proposed by the city of The Hague. Language spoken: English

Thursday 25 October 2018, 14:00-18:00 hrs
Experience Nøtel, a zerø-star™ hotel with fully-automated luxury
Meet-up, tour, open space discussion, drinks
Stroom Den Haag and the Dutch Future Society (DFS) are co-hosting a tour, experience and open space workshop to talk about the implications of elite travel in the 21st century.
Admission: free for DFS members and invited guests of Stroom

Saturday 3 November 2018, 10.30-11.30 hrs
Futuristic Yoga -Nøtel
Hidden Gym offers yoga classes with a twist and on special locations. This time Hidden Gym organizes a yoga class at Nøtel (The Hague). Instructor: Joy von Winckelmann.

More about Nøtel
"Nøtel Corporation is proud to present our first virtual reality advertisement for the Nøtel, our flagship range of zerø-star™ hotels that embody the concept of fully-automated luxury. Designed by world-leading architects to accommodate today's global nomads, you can rest assured that your secrecy and security is of the utmost importance. Why not indulge in the intelligent sound system at the piano bar, or bathe in the glow of our thermal spa?" - Lawrence Lek, CEO of Nøtel Corporation

With Nøtel (The Hague), Stroom Den Haag presents the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands by Lawrence Lek. This multimedia installation transforms the exhibition space into the marketing suite of the Nøtel Corporation — a fictional hotel chain that promotes a fully automated, luxurious lifestyle. Designed by world-renowned architects, Nøtel offers a secure environment for a future nomadic elite, where secrecy and safety are paramount. Through a science-fiction scenario, Lek invites us to speculate on the future of labor, technology, and the relationship between citizen and state.

The hotel — a kind of archetype of modernist living — is pushed to its extreme in Nøtel. Lawrence Lek proposes that temporary housing might become a model for future architectural developments (think of sharing economy platforms like Uber and Airbnb). In this sense, Nøtel is a project about the future of living, artificial intelligence, the city, and the feeling of belonging — or not belonging — somewhere.

Lek’s fascination with international geopolitical and neoliberal power structures, and the entanglement of governments with commercial tech companies, is amplified in the futuristic scenarios of Nøtel. Trained as an architect, Lek creates digital universes using virtual reality and 3D animation that influence our perception of reality. The exhibition presents a vision of a hyper-luxurious future hotel where domestic tasks are no longer carried out by people (zerø-star™). In the site-specific Nøtel (The Hague), upgrades feature militarized architectural interventions combined with high-tech surveillance and cybersecurity. In doing so, Lek responds to The Hague’s current ambitions as the International City of Peace and Justice, and as a security hub (The Hague Security Delta).

London – The Hague
Nøtel is a joint commission by Stroom Den Haag and arebyte Gallery, London. Lek developed two distinct installations in collaboration with musician Kode9 (Steve Goodman), each tailored to its local context. The exhibition at arebyte — on view from July 19 to September 1, 2018 — focuses on the drastic changes in London in the areas of financial markets, real estate, and social mobility in the post-Brexit era.

Workshop: Community of Practice around Nøtel (The Hague)
Date: 31 August and Saturday 1 September, 2018
Stroom Den Haag's Community of Practice is organizing an intensive two-day workshop in connection with the exhibition Nøtel (The Hague) by Lawrence Lek. A CoP (Community of Practice) is a group of 8–10 professionals from different fields who share a common interest related to the theme of an exhibition. The workshop will include, among other things, a guided tour by the curators (Ilga Minjon and Lua Vollaard), a conversation with the artist Lawrence Lek, and will conclude with the opening of the exhibition (on Saturday, September 1 at 5 PM at Stroom, followed by an afterparty from 10 PM at The Grey Space in the Middle).

More about Lawrence Lek
Lawrence Lek (1982, Frankfurt am Main) studied at Trinity College Cambridge, the Architectural Association in London, and Cooper Union in New York. Recent exhibitions include: 2065, K11, Hong Kong (2018); Play Station, Art Night, London (2017); HyperPavilion, Venice Biennale (2017); Glasgow International, Tramway, Glasgow (2016); SeMA Biennale Mediacity, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul (2016); Missed Connections, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf (2016); Secret Surface, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2016); and The Uncanny Valley, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge (2015). Lek received the Jerwood/Film and Video Umbrella Award in 2017 and the Dazed Emerging Artist Award in 2015. He lives in London, where he is currently working on his PhD at the Royal Academy.

With thanks to:
Nøtel (The Hague) and the Stroom School program are made possible by the Mondriaan Fund, the Creative Industries Fund NL, and the Municipality of The Hague.