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BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Pauwstraat, Utrecht, Netherlands

 Lecture

26 November 2005

BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht  

On Fear (war machine and threat)

In his first speech to the American Congress after 9/11, President Bush used the word “fear” five times. Nine days after the attacks, he laid down a strategy for the battle against terrorism with the slogan: “Freedom is at war with fear.” By naming fear as the reverse of freedom, the main enemy of democracy and the main weapon of terrorists, Bush set out on his war campaign against terrorism. Fear of attacks has lead to a state of constant anxiety: we are trying to give the threat a face, to locate the enemy. But the world is confronting a strange enemy, apparently close at hand, immediate and threatening, but also unidentifiable, phantom-like, with no land of its own. The psychology of fear has long played an important part in the collective sub-conscious of people during wartime. It has also been used as a potent tool by those in power. Currently fear seems to be a sufficient instrument not only for terrorists, but also for governments and political parties. In his lecture Philosopher Henk Oosterling will look at the relationship between fear and politics, analyze the current issue of “safety utopia,” and relate it to contemporary art practices. Artists Pavel Büchler and Kendall Geers will discuss the topic of fear in relation to their artistic practice and will present some new projects.

Suggestions from the archive

Learning

10 May, 12.00–12 May, 18.00 2023

Complaint Making: Setting Up Conflict-Positive Spaces for Community Building Praxis

Vishnu would like to share feminist governance tools (FGT) focused on three of many tiers in community building praxis. FGT is based on the values of equity with an emphasis on creating psychologically safe environments, drawing on the use of consent. Decision-making processes, setting up conflict-positive spaces, and complaint-making as diversity work will form the body of this three-day training. Rooted in Vishnu’s autho-ethnographic practice, this work will explore the power dynamics that impact decision-making processes.

Performative

10 May, 12.00–12 May, 18.00 2023

The Diamond Mind II

In this dance training, the people will use a one-minute film of their own movement as material for a booklet—a sixteen page signature—that distributes their presence, their gesture, as an act of EQ. 

Learning

3 May, 12.00–4 May, 18.00 2023

Too Late To Say Sorry? 

A bad apology can ruin a friendship, destroy a community, or end a career. In this workshop, we will investigate the impact of apologies on our relationships and our worlds. Why and how do we make apologies? What can giving and receiving apologies teach us about values and integrity? Should you apologize for something you don’t really feel sorry for? We will explore conflict and how we like to be in conflict with others. We will dive into our own boundaries. We will seek to understand how honoring limits becomes an act of building (or freeing) better worlds capable of holding so many, many more of us.

Learning

28 April, 12.00–29 April, 18.00 2023

Huisje, Boompje, Beestje (D.A.F.O.N.T.)

In this rare masterclass, retired teacher and artist Glenda Martinus teaches participants a thing or two about painting with Microsoft Word. Martinus shares tips, tricks, and secrets on how to use this software to its unexpected potential as a drawing tool. Participants learn how to draw three basic objects—a house, a tree, and an animal—in a seemingly innocent exercise that perhaps contains more layered social commentary. Drawing the worlds we desire does not require expensive tools or education, simply a curiosity to understand how the monster’s tools can topple the house of the master.