Foundation Art and Public Space
artist: Jan van de Pavert, Q.S. Serafijn, Stichting G.A.N.G.
located in: TU Delft; faculteit bouwkunde,
client: TU Delft
In collaboration with the architecture department of Delft’s Technical University (TU), SKOR set up a dialogue between students, scientists and experts from other disciplines, including visual artists. The project, which took place in Spring 2003, was titled Mediated Discourse as a Form of Architectonic Intervention.
Mediated Discourse was an experiment in which SKOR sought to investigate the implications that artists’ ideas have on other professionals. It constitutes one of the projects focusing on the interface between art and science that SKOR developed in cooperation with Dutch universities.
Jan van de Pavert
,
Q.S. Serafijn
,
Stichting G.A.N.G.
Workshop Mediated Discourse
photo: Martine van Kampen
The subject matter of Mediated Discourse was the restructuring of Rotterdam’s district, Parkstad. Artists Q.S. Serafijn, Jan van de Pavert and the collective, Stichting G.A.N.G., were approached to contribute their ideas to the discourse and to cooperate with the students in three separate workshops. The artists were chosen on the merits of previous work in which they developed concepts regarding subjects such as urban residual spaces, the relationship between public and private land in built-up, planned areas and the critical analysis of contemporary urban landscape. Each artist had also previously sought to contribute his ideas to other disciplines such as architecture and urban development without solely focusing on an art object.
On 2 April 2003, an excursion was made to Rotterdam’s district, Parkstad, and its surrounding neighborhoods. The excursion was organized by P-reizen, the 'travel agent' of Arnhem’s artists collective, G.A.N.G. The artists were asked to approach the urban area as a dynamic and complex whole that is naturally made up of more than just architecture. P-reizen organized a tour of the area that emphasized its social, cultural and economic circumstances.
Q.S. Serafijn and Jan van de Pavert developed and provided the content of the workshops in collaboration with the representatives of the TU. They focused on the role of existing structures and hypotheses - including the way in which these are manifested in conventional vocal and visual language – in the development of Parkland’s restructuring plan and in the way in which this plan will be communicated to the general public. The final presentations of the workshops took place on 19 June 2003 in the TU’s architecture department.
