Open is a cahier that reflects upon contemporary public space from a cultural perspective. Through a thematic investigation into the changing conditions of public space and through new ideas relating to this space, Open aims to make a structural contribution to the development of theories about these subjects and to function as a platform for reflection on socio-cultural and artistic practices.

As of January 2013, there have been significant changes in the organisation and activities of SKOR (read more here). In case you would like to consult the old website, please go to http://classic.skor.nl.

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Open 24: Politics of Things: What Art & Design do in Democracy

In 2005, in the book and the exhibition Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy, Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel asked themselves how democratic politics could function better and what the role of things, objects, issues and art might be within that.

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Open! Art, Culture & the Public Domain. Key Texts 2004 - 2012

12.07.2012

This anthology brings together key texts on the field of art, culture and the public domain published in 'Open' by NAi Publishers and SKOR | Foundation for Art and Public Domain from 2004 until 2012.

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Open 23: Autonomy. New Forms of Freedom and Independence in Art and Culture

In this time of ideological and political crises, in which people and things are increasingly thrown back on their own resources, autonomy is becoming attractive again.

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Open 22: Transparency. Publicity and Secrecy in the Age of WikiLeaks

Taking WikiLeaks as an illustrative example, 'Open' 22 investigates how transparency and secrecy relate to one another, to the public and to publicity in our computerized visual cultures.

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Open: Emergency Issue. The New Politics of Culture

The Dutch government’s new cultural plan and the cutbacks have intruded on our comfort zone and roughly awoken us from our reflective and theorising positions as critical observers.

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Open 21: (Im)Mobility. Exploring the Boundaries of Hypermobility

This issue of 'Open' explores the internal contradictions of prevailing mobility regimes and their effects on social and physical space.

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Open 20: The Populist Imagination. On the Role of Myth, Storytelling and Imaginary in Politics

This issue of Open deals with the imaginary, storytelling and myth in populism and politics in general.

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Open 19: Beyond Privacy. New Perspectives on the Private and Public Domains

In 'Open' 19, the concept of privacy is examined and reconsidered from the legal, sociological, media theoretical and activist perspectives.

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Open 18: 2030: War Zone Amsterdam Imagining the Unimaginable

Using Amsterdam as a test case, this issue of ´Open´ is about questions and problems facing contemporary Western cities in general: fear and safety, privacy and biopolitics, control and militarization, globalization and virtualization, commercialization and neoliberalism.

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Open 17: A Precarious Existence. Vulnerability in the Public Domain

This issue of 'Open' addresses precariousness in a cultural and social context and deals with such matters as the functioning of the art scene and the conditions of the precarious city and public space.

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Open 16: The Art Biennial as a Global Phenomenon. Strategies in Neo-Political Times

This anniversary issue of 'Open' focuses on the art biennial as a global phenomenon.

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Open 15: Social Engineering. Can Society be Engineered in the Twenty-First Century?

This issue of 'Open' reflects on old and new forms of the philosophy of social engineering in relation to the urban and social space and to the (communal) life therein.

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Open 14: Art as a Public Issue. How Art and Its Institutions Can Reinvent the Public Dimension

The public sphere is an ideological construct that must be constantly reinvented and redefined. The impact of neoliberal forces is compelling even art and its institutions to reinvent, reformulate or re-legitimize their public dimension and involvement.

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Open 13: The Rise of the Informal Media. How Search Engines, Weblogs and YouTube Change Public Opinion

This issue of 'Open' examines what the implications of the rise of the informal media are for the public sphere.

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Open 12: Freedom of culture. Regulation and privatization of intellectual property and public space

This issue of 'Open' focuses on questions regarding the privatization of intellectual property and presents several alternative approaches to urban design that aim to restore the communal dimension to public space.

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Open 11: Hybrid Space. How wireless media are mobilizing public space

'Open' 11 investigates the implications and possibilities offered by wireless, mobile media in the hybrid public space.

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Open 10: (In)tolerance. Freedom of Expression in Art and Culture

No discourse seems more hollow at the present moment than that about tolerance and freedom of expression: in Western culture these concepts are scarcely capable any longer of generating meanings that apply and appeal to all of us.

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Open 9: Sound. Sound in Art and Culture

Public space is not only visually but also acoustically manifest: public nature is a function of visibility and audibility.

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Open 8: (In)visibility. Beyond the image in art, culture and the public domain.

The degree of visibility of social, political, economic and cultural events through public images is regarded as an indicator of the level of democracy in a society. Visibility is associated with openness and communication, with social order and political stability.

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Open 7: (No)Memory. Storing and recalling in contemporary art and culture

The present organization and experience of the public domain are to a significant extent defined by the tension between individual and collective, old and new, autochthonous and allochthonous memories. It is therefore imperative to re-examine the content, the control and the place of memory within the public domain.

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Open 6: (In)security

There is a yearning for security in today's public domain. The individual and the community are increasingly demanding protection and control over the space, themselves and others. A society of control is looming, but one lacking a clear idea about the nature and the origin of its underlying fears.

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Open 5: Not realised

This edition of 'Open' focuses on not realised, and therefore unknown, projects.

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Open 4: Art in the changing landscape

The Dutch landscape is rapidly changing from a landscape devoted to production to one devoted to consumption. It is increasingly being used for the benefit of city dwellers. The recreational function of the landscape has grown exponentially.

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Open 3: Art in psycho-geriatric hospitals

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