Bookpresentation in Hormiga Atómica, Pamplona-Iruñea

Admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:11:09 +0100

Presenting the book in bookstore Hormiga Atómica in Pamplona-Iruñea (C/ Curia 4) with one of the authors, the philosopher Jaime Cuenca Amigo and María Mur Dean from consonni.

Bookpresentation in Joker Comics, Bilbao

Admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:07:07 +0100

Presenting the book in bookstore Joker Comics in Bilbao (Alda. Urkijo, 27) with the artists and editors of the book, Iratxe Jaio and Klaas van Gorkum, and Nerea Ayerbe Elola from consonni.

Bookpresentation in Ochoymedio, Madrid

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:00:50 +0100

Presenting the book in bookstore Ochoymedio in Madrid (C / Martin de los Heros, 11), with one of the authors, the film critic Jordi Costa, and as guest the film director Nacho Vigalondo, together with María Mur Dean from consonni.

Zombie Bike Ride in Amsterdam

Iratxe — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:31:49 +0100

The Amsterdam Rebel Clowns invites you to join a Wild Zombie Bike Ride, at 19.00 in the Cinema bar, OT301 Overtoom 301, Amsterdam.

Take your oldest, dustiest clothes and your bike with you. Facial paint and blood will be taken care of.

In times of capitalist crisis our city breaks further apart into pieces: areas where you should shop-shop-shop, areas for drinks and allowed fun, areas to sleep and watch TV and expanding areas with just boring offices (and many of them empty...). Join a critical mass of Zombies and bring Amsterdam back to life!

www.rebelact.nl

Dead time in Gure Artea

Klaas — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:26:21 +0200

Dead time, the new work by Iratxe Jaio and Klaas van Gorkum, related to the Barakaldo Zombiewalk, will be presented in Museum Artium in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The artists received awards in 2008 in the twentieth edition of the biannual Gure Artea prize, together with Asier Mendizabal (Ordizia, 1973) and Xabier Salaberria (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1969). The exhibition Gure Artea XX, curated by Miren Jaio, shows works by these artists developed over the course of the last year.

Dead time presents the record of a zombiewalk in three simultaneous video projections, as it marches towards a shopping mall in Barakaldo. The walk replicates a scene from Dawn of the Dead (1978) by George A. Romero, the movie that introduced the zombie as an alter ego of the alienated consumer. The video installation is accompanied by photographs of the recently constructed and empty urban spaces that served as a backdrop to the walk, reminding us that public space is primarily given significance through social practices.

The idea of a crowd of grotesquely dressed up zombies, simulating lack of direction and purpose, but fully aware of producing an image (since film first portrayed them, zombies have walked because of and in front of the camera), lends itself to all kinds of contexts: from self-serving subcultural rites to commercial marketing campaigns, from the neo-situationist drift of social activism to artistic performance. As a sign, the mob of zombies owes its porosity and capacity to provoke to its nature as a negative image of the classical representation of the modern collective subject: the marching crowd, united in a common cause.

Quédense dentro y cierren las ventanas / Stay inside. Close windows and doors

Klaas — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:20:32 +0200

Presentation of the book in ANTI-Liburudenda

Admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:40:55 +0200

Anti-liburudenda, the popular cult bookstore located in Bilbao, is pleased to present “Quédense dentro y cierren las ventanas // Stay inside. Close windows and doors”, next Thursday 24th of September at 8.30pm, in their shop on Dos de Mayo 2, Bilbao.

The publication

Admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:25:47 +0200

The publication Quédense dentro y cierren las ventanas // Stay inside. Close windows and doors has finally been printed! Edited by Iratxe Jaio y Klaas van Gorkum and published by consonni, it is a collection of theoretical writings, quotes and memories related to the zombiewalks that occurred in Utrecht and Barakaldo.

It contains texts written by, among others, the cinema critic Jordi Costa, the philosopher Jaime Cuenca Amigo, the director of The Showroom in London Emily Pethick, the artistic director in Fundación Tapies (Barcelona) Laurence Rassel, and a comic by Maaike Hartjes.

95p. / colour / 17cm x 23cm / Spanish-English
ISBN: 13:978-84-937361-0-1
19€ This price does not include sales tax or shipping costs outside Spain.

Distribution in Spain:
Belleza Infinita in bookstores specialized in art and contemporary culture and
SD Distribuciones in bookstores specialized in comics and departement stores.

International distribution
To be confirmed

Buy the book through our website

Contents:

The book is bilingual: in English and Spanish.

“Stay inside. Close doors and windows” by Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum, artists: In a critical recapitulation of their motivations for orchestrating the Overvecht and Barakaldo zombiewalks, the artists investigate the capacity of “direct action” to challenge the definition of public space as provided by the shopping mall. In this text they trace, among other things, the historical ties between today's zombie-consumer and the Situationist flaneur, who explored the city in innovative and unpredictable ways in order to bring about a new awareness of the urban landscape.
“Sand off your rough edges please” by the sociologist and director of consonni, María Mur Dean. Her text explains the particularities of working as an art producer that invites artists to develop context specific art projects, and the particulars of this project in Barakaldo together with the artists Iratxe Jaio and Klaas van Gorkum: the stages of production, the difficulties and the alliances made to realize the project.
“Unconscious consumption: Anatomy of Zombie Life” by the philosopher Jaime Cuenca Amigo. His text analyzes the zombie anatomy as a metaphor for the consumer, taking the Zombie Survival Guide and Zygmunt Bauman's reflections on consumerism as a starting point. The voracious, compulsive and pointless consumption of fresh meat by zombies translates as a perfect analogy to the persistent drive for novelty in consumer society.
”It is us who are the dead. The Living Dead as walking mirror.” by the cinema critic Jordi Costa. His text is a journey through genre cinema, reviewing the figure of the zombie as a flexible metaphor with social undertones. The political reading of the spectacle of monsrosity may have become commonplace starting with George A.Romero's movies, but the roots of the zombie archetype can be traced back even further, to films such as “J'accuse” by Abel Gance in 1938.”

And further:

”Let the carnival begin!” On the carnivalization of activism.
”Haunting the suburbs” A first hand account of the Overvecht Zombiewalk, by Emily Pethick, at the time running Casco Office for Art, Design and Theory in Utrecht, and currently director of the Showroom in London.
”What if...” Fragments from the lecture by Laurence Rassel on fiction as a point of reference for reality. Laurence is a cyberfeminist and artist, member of the Constant collective in Brussels and currently atistice director of Foundation Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona
”Monroeville Mall” On the symbolical function of the mall in George A. Romero's movie Dawn of the Dead.
”Pure motorised instinct” An excerpt from the scientist's tirade on TV in Dawn of the Dead.
”Between life and death” A reflection on the dissolution of that dichotomy by Zaloa Zabala, organizer of the Barakaldo Zombiewalk, at the time member of consonni.
”Megapark Barakaldo” About the changes in the municipality from an industrial era to a services oriented economy, coinciding with the inauguration of the largest shopping mall in the north of Spain.
”Shoppingcenter Overvecht” On the discrepancy between the ideal society envisioned by the urban planners and architects of Overvecht, and actual living conditions in the neighborhood.
”They are fooling you” The lyrics of a song by Eskorbuto, a musical group formed on the Left Bank of Greater Bilbao, and one of the first punk bands to write songs in Spanish.
”I would love to turn you on” On drugs, daily routine and free will.

The designer of the publication is Roger Teeuwen in collaboration with Nele Vos.

ANTI- Liburudenda

Admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:17:45 +0200

ANTI- Liburudenda is a bookstore specialised in art and contemporary culture, founded in Bilbao in 2005. It is the place to familiarise yourself with a broad range of offerings, but always from a critical and alternative point of view.

But ANTI- Liburudenda is also much more than a bookstore. From its space on Calle Dos de Mayo number 2, in the heart of Bilbao, it offers a varied program of cultural events, workshops, talks, concerts, exhibitions, murals and presentations. Visit their website at www.anti-web.com.

944 150 375
Dos de Mayo, 2
48003 - BILBAO

Zombie Manifesto

Klaas — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:03:20 +0200

The Zombie is kind of unglamorous, as far as characters from cinema go. Bereft of consciousness, personality and ambition, the zombie is more of a tragic antihero; a repulsive parody on the ideal citizen, with no other connection to lived experience than the automatic repetitions of old socialization routines.

Yet in all its dogged determination to go after the living, one cannot help but feel sympathy for this marauding sleepwalker. Considering we live in a society where the meaning of 'freedom' and 'participation' are as elusive as quicksilver, it is not difficult to see the undead as a reincarnation of the old court jester, albeit in gory state of decay, holding up a mirror to our sense of humanity and citizenship.

How empowering it must feel, therefore, to walk in its shoes. To reject all meaning and purpose of life, to stop running and start lurching, moaning and gesticulating clumsily. To stumble through the comatose suburbs and haunt its shopping malls, embracing the consumerist promise of individual liberation.

If you have ever pinched yourself to see if you would wake up from this mundane dream called life, know then that you are not alone! Join us in a melancholic revolution without leaders, and sense of direction.

Recent posts