ISCP Talk
April 30, 2015

Iván Illich: Stories, Ideas, Conviviality

As part of Beta-Local’s institutional residency at ISCP, journalist and author Nathan Schneider is hosting an open discussion on Iván Illich’s life and legacy. Illich was a polymath: he was philosopher, priest, iconoclast, teacher, unschooler. His influence affected all who have known and read his work, especially in the places he lived, including New York City, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. But the full story of his impact has only begun to be told. Rather than holding a lecture or a panel, participants will share their stories of Illich and his ideas.

In San Juan, Beta-Local runs an open non-curriculum school through which the participating public generates courses and workshops, named La Iván Illich. This pedagogical experiment seeks to connect ideas, skills and experiences from different disciplines to encourage collaboration and critical and aesthetic thinking.

Iván Illich (1926-2002) was known for his critiques of modern, institutional life in spheres including medicine and education. His books include Tools for ConvivialityMedical NemesisGenderShadow Work, and Deschooling Education. Born in Austria, he lived in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, as well as in Puerto Rico and Mexico, among other locations.

Nathan Schneider writes about religion, technology, and resistance for publications including Harper’sViceThe NationThe New RepublicThe Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Catholic Worker, and is a columnist for America magazine. He has published two books, God in Proof: The Story of a Search from the Ancients to the Internet and Thank You, Anarchy: Notes from the Occupy Apocalypse.

Open Studios
April 23–April 25, 2015

Spring Open Studios 2015

Spring Open Studios is a free three-day event when the public is invited to view international contemporary art at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in Brooklyn. Twenty-eight innovative artists are currently in residence, including individuals from 17 countries in Asia, Europe, and North and South America, who will present work in their studios. The studio is a generative space—equal parts production site, office, laboratory and situation—and it can be argued that the studio is more significant today for artistic process than ever before. Open Studios provides access for the public to experience 28 “studio visits,” to see and talk about art in its place of origin and to share conversations with ISCP residents from all over the world.

In addition, Beta-Local, a non-profit arts organization based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, will be in residence at ISCP from April through June, and will take part in Open Studios. Dedicated to supporting and promoting aesthetic thought and practice, Beta-Local has developed a project for ISCP titled TODO TIPO DE FUEGO (All Kinds of Fire), which the organization describes as a “playlist of documents, images, music, publications and public presentations.” ISCP’s gallery will be organized with several stations, each taking a different format according to a particular theme, and involving ISCP residents as well as New York City cultural practitioners.

During the April 23rd reception, at 7pm, ISCP is pleased to announce that Brooklyn City Council Member Antonio Reynoso will make remarks. Council Member Reynoso has been a steady advocate for and supporter of ISCP’s public programming since its move to East Williamsburg.

Saturday, April 25th, 4pm: A public introduction to Beta-Local with guest collaborators Maria del Carmen Carrión, Elizabeth Hamby, Felipe Mujica, Hatuey Ramos Fermín, Jeanine Oleson, Andy Robert, and Johanna Unzueta.

Participating artists in Open Studios:

Rikke Benborg (Denmark), Sung-Chih Chen (Taiwan), Sun Choi (South Korea), Silvia Giambrone (Italy), Ishu Han (China and Japan), Hannah Heilmann (Denmark), Mark Hilton (Australia), Isa Ho (Taiwan), Siggi Hofer (Austria), Martin Höfer (Germany), Saskia Janssen (The Netherlands), Wanda Koop (Canada), Anjana Kothamachu (India), Aleksi Linnamaa (Finland), Zachari Logan (Canada), Zeinab Shahidi Marnani (Iran), Kristina Matousch (Sweden), Elizabeth McIntosh (Canada), Alasdair Mcluckie (Australia), Ingo Mittelstaedt (Germany), Annesofie Sandal (Denmark), Jacolby Satterwhite (United States), Selma Selman (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Theodore Sims (Canada), Anne Sommer (Germany), Pilvi Takala (Finland), Tori Wrånes (Norway), Pleurad Xhafa (Albania)

TODO TIPO DE FUEGO playlists are selected by:

Melissa Álvarez Xiloj, Javier Arbona, Karenin Biaggi, Leticia Beatriz (Emilia Beatriz Muller-Ginorio & Julia Letitia Scott), Stephan Benchoam, Raimond Chaves & Gilda Mantilla, Ramiro Chávez, Celine Condorelli, Mike Cooter, Jorge González, Anahita Hekmat, Juan Luna Avin, Francis McKee, Laura Mergoni, Ana Maria Millán, Sofia Olascoaga, Omar Obdulio Peña Forty, Marina Reyes Franco / Museo La Ene, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Maria Scharrón, and Carla Zaccagnini, among many others.

ISCP Open Studios Sponsors:

Alfred Kordelin Foundation, Finland; Art Jameel, United Arab Emirates; Arts Council Korea, Korea; Asian Cultural Council, United States; Australia Council for the Arts, Australia; Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Austria; Canadian Council for the Arts / Le Conseil des Arts du Canada, Canada; Creative Saskatchewan, Canada; Danish Agency for Culture, Denmark; Dr. David & Margery Edwards Trust, Australia; Edge of Arabia, United Kingdom; Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Finland; Fondazione Spazio13, Italy; Foundation for a Civil Society, United States; Ian Potter Foundation, Australia ; IASPIS-International Artists Studio Program in Sweden, Sweden; Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, India; Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen, Germany; Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany; Luigi Troja, Italy; MacKenzie Art Gallery, Canada; Manitoba Arts Council, Canada; McKay Finnigan and Associates, Canada; Ministry of Culture, Taiwan; Mondriaan Fonds, The Netherlands; Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Germany; Norbert Salenbauch, Germany; Office for Contemporary Art, Norway; Royal Bank of Canada, Canada; Saastamoinen Foundation, Finland; Toby Devan Lewis Foundation, United States

ISCP thanks the following contributors for their support of this Open Studios event:

Austrian Cultural Forum, New York; Consulate General of Denmark, New York; Consulate General of Finland, New York; Consulate General of Sweden, New York; The Greenwich Collection, New York
MillerCoors, Chicago; New York City Council District 34, New York; New York State Council on the Arts, New York; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York; Royal Norwegian Consulate General, New York

 
Opening Reception: Apr 23, 2015, 6-9pm
Download Open Studios Newspaper

Exhibition
April 16–June 19, 2015

Beta-Local at ISCP: TODO TIPO DE FUEGO (All Kinds of Fire)

Since 2011, ISCP has also hosted an institution-in-residence. This annual residency was initiated to support cultural exchange by bringing an international perspective into a local context. This year, ISCP has invited Beta-Local, a non-profit arts organization based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to be in residence at ISCP from April through June, and to take part in Open Studios.

Dedicated to supporting and promoting aesthetic thought and practice, Beta-Local has developed a project for ISCP titled TODO TIPO DE FUEGO (All Kinds of Fire), which the organization describes as a “playlist of documents, images, music, publications and public presentations.” ISCP’s gallery will be organized with several stations, each taking a different format according to a particular theme, and involving ISCP residents as well as New York City cultural practitioners.

Beta-Local is dedicated to supporting and promoting aesthetic thought and practice through various programs in San Juan including La Práctica: a nine month research and production program where a group coming from diverse disciplines work on a project from concept to presentation; The Harbor: a residency program for visiting international artists, architects, designers and other cultural producers who develop projects, workshops and offer lectures on a variety of subjects; and La Ivan Illich, an open non-curriculum school through which the participating public generates courses and workshops, either as resource or request.

TODO TIPO DE FUEGO playlists are selected by Melissa Álvarez Xiloj, Javier Arbona, Karenin Biaggi, Leticia Beatriz (Emilia Beatriz Muller-Ginorio & Julia Letitia Scott), Stephan Benchoam, Raimond Chaves & Gilda Mantilla, Ramiro Chávez, Celine Condorelli, Mike Cooter, Jorge González, Anahita Hekmat, Juan Luna Avin, Francis McKee, Laura Mergoni, Ana Maria Millán, Sofia Olascoaga, Omar Obdulio Peña Forty, Marina Reyes Franco / Museo La Ene, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Maria Scharrón, and Carla Zaccagnini, among many others.

Past TODO TIPO DE FUEGO programs at ISCP:

Saturday, April 25th, 4pm:
A public introduction to Beta-Local with guest collaborators Maria del Carmen Carrión, Elizabeth Hamby, Felipe Mujica, Hatuey Ramos Fermín, Jeanine Oleson, Andy Robert, and Johanna Unzueta. For this event, Beta-Local has invited a group of collaborators with a dual purpose: to introduce Beta-Local and for a series of short presentations focused on interests and influences essential to the collaborators’ work, although not visible or evident in their final projects.

Thursday, April 30th, 6:30pm:
Iván Illich: Stories, Ideas, Conviviality

Tuesday, May 12, 6:30pm:
AMÉRICA: Panel Discussion

June 2:
Jorge González: Understory

June 10:
A Rehearsal by Felipe Mujica and Johanna Unzueta

TODO TIPO DE FUEGO is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

 

Opening Reception: Apr 16, 2015