From June 26th to 28th, 2015, the 1st conference of the office medienwerk.nrw took place at PACT Zollverein (Essen) on the topic “Crossing Branches and Borders in Contemporary Art“. Artists, curators and scientists from the fields of media-, performance- and visual art examined current artistic practices in lectures and panels. The focus was on positions, which leave their traditional representation in favour of other presentation-contexts; and those ones, who change the experience of spatial and temporal structures at their performance venues and blur the boundaries between the various artistic disciplines.

The focus of the discussion was the recurring convergence of traditional artistic disciplines such as film, visual arts, performative arts and media art, in which the classical boundaries between the genres seem to dissolve once again.

In four panels – two on Saturday and two on Sunday – various aspects of this development were discussed with experts and the interested public. The conference was opened with a keynote speech on Friday. This was followed by a lecture-performance by Swedish artist Erik Bünger (“The girl who never was“). In addition, some artistic positions could be seen at various locations of PACT Zollverein – by Cécile B. Evans, Balz Isler, Erik Bünger and Laura Brechmann, Dwayne Holiday, Tania Reinicke, Stephanie von Gelmini, Anne Weyler (EIN collective).

The current interest of visual-art-institutions in the ephemeral, in artistic strategies, which rely on situativity, fleetingness and experience, seems to be symptomatic of new alliances, shifts of responsibilities and changes of perspective in contemporary art based on over 40 years of avantgarde developments. In this context, the conference asked on which medial constitutions and social developments artists react today when they change their context and make disciplinary boundaries permeable.

At the beginning of the conference the following questions have been formulated: How will the transfer of forms between disciplines influence the practice and self-image of artists and institutions? How do artists and curators interact between disciplines today? How do recipients, visitors and spectators deal with the trend towards the dissolution of traditional disciplinary boundaries?

TALKS AND LECTURES WITH: Inke Arns, Hans Bernhard, Nadja Elia-Borer, Melanie Bühler, Dieter Daniels, André Eiermann, Cécile B. Evans, Paul Feigelfeld, Judith Funke, Stefan Hilterhaus, Michelle Kasprzak, Daniel Kötter, Serge Laurent, Kirsten Maar, Jessica Nitsche, Manuel Pelmus, Laurence Rassel, Sabine Maria Schmidt, Jörn Schafaff, Bettina Steinbrügge, Vivian Ziherl

ARTISTICAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY: Erik Bünger, Cécile B. Evans, Balz Isler and Laura Brechmann, Dwayne Holiday, Tania Reinicke, Stephanie von Gelmini, Anne Weyler (EIN collectively)

SCHEDULE

Friday, June 26th, 2015

7:00 p.m.: Opening of the exhibition-rooms (Erik Bünger, Balz Isler, Cécile B. Evans, EIN collective)
7:30 p.m.: Welcome, big stage
8:00 p.m.: Keynote: Vivian Ziherl (If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, Brisbane/Amsterdam), big stage, in english language
9:15 p.m.: Lecture-Performance: Erik Bünger (Berlin, “The girl who never was“) small stage, in english language with German subtitles
10:15 – 11:00 p.m.: Exhibition rooms opened

Saturday, June 27th, 2015

12:30 p.m.: Opening of the exhibition-rooms
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.: Panel 1: Historical perspectives of the border-crossing (with: Jessica Nitsche [moderation], Dieter Daniels, André Eiermann, Nadja Elia-Borer, Sabine Maria Schmidt)
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.: Panel 2: Border-crossing and the question of temporalities (with: Judith Funke [moderation], Daniel Kötter, Kirsten Maar, Manuel Pelmus, Laurence Rassel), in English
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.: Conversation with Serge Laurent (Curator Centre Pompidou, Paris), in English
7:00 – 10:00 p.m.: Get-together

Sunday, June 28th, 2015

12:30 p.m.: Opening of the exhibition-rooms
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.: Panel 3: Digital (de-)limitation (with: Melanie Bühler [moderation], Hans Bernhard, Cécile B. Evans, Paul Feigelfeld, Michelle Kasprzak), in English
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.: Panel 4: Cross-disciplinary curating (with: Jörn Schafaff [moderation], Inke Arns, Stefan Hilterhaus, Bettina Steinbrügge)
6:00 p.m.: End of the conference

Projectmanagement and concept: Fabian Saavedra-Lara, Klaas Werner

The office medienwerk.nrw and the conference were supported by the Ministry for Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sports of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Office hosted by: Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund.