On Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th of September 2009, the CASZUIDAS Urban Screen Festival was organized in Amsterdam by Virtueel Museum Zuidas. The CASZUIDAS Urban Screen Festival is a new international festival specially aimed at artworks for urban screens. The focal point of the festival is the contemporary art screen CASZ, which has graced the Zuidas, Amsterdam’s new office and residential district, since October 2007. The screen runs from six o’clock in the morning until twelve o’clock at night; the art it shows is part of daily life in the public space of the Zuidplein in Zuidas, Amsterdam.
On Saturday early afternoon there was a debate initiated -Moving images in Public Life- on the possibilities of the urban screen, both for art and for the city that it is still in its infancy. The medium is expected to contribute to the identity and quality of public space and public life, and this goes for the ZuidAs as well. Does that work? If so, how? And what do artists, architects and the public actually think of this relatively new phenomenon?
Presenter and radio maker Tarik Yousif chaired the debate. Participants were John Wood, Ergün Erkocu, Susanne Jaschko and Jeroen Boomgaard. Both last known from Urban Screens ’05 organized in 2005 by the Institute of Networkcultures. Susanne also curated Urban Screens 08 in Manchester, which was mostly about the content.
All four speakers did a very short presentation about their background and their affinity with urban screens. After they made statement, which was the basis for the discussion. Some statements of the speakers with reactions from the audience you can read here.
Jeroen is following the CASZUIDAS project from the beginning. He is very interested in where to position the screen. Of course you want people to look at your screen, but mostly they don’t. So a place with a lot of people is not always the right place. You should use the spaces where people are looking around more in general. Besides check out in which context people are related to an urban screen. What are people are doing.
Content of screens is also in interesting subject to address following Jeroen. Which art is interesting to screen. A museum is there to show videos, but public spaces maybe not. What kind of images/art do you want to screen in a public space. Focusing on the future it’s strongly recommended to look at other ways to program a screen. Does animation for instance works better on screens. Does that really draw you attention, does is catch you?
As last Jeroen is interested in how we look at a screen and if urban screens can connect people. When you are watching TV you are watching differently at the medium then with an urban screen. It’s also different when you are watching a movie with a start and an end. In cities a small surprise is always around the corner, you are always in expectation of the unexpected, a kind of distracted view. It’s different then watching TV, which used to connect people in the old days. Now maybe not anymore cause they watch TV in their own room, but how do urban screens connect people?
Ergun speaks about the various projects he’s involved in from an architect perspective. Furthermore he addresses the think jamming, a method to involve different people like architects, detectives, rappers, etc. to create urban screens concepts. Statements of Ergun are that urban screens can be a kind of pollution, in this we need define ‘pollution’ before we can say of urban screens are polluted or not.
Susan Jaschko is more interested about the content, looking at the question what would be meaningful content for screens. Should art be involved or should it just be advertising and games, etc. Also the use of political content, you see seldom on urban screens.
She is of the opinion that people should create their own content.
Urban screens can be local, social media
And sustainability rules
John Wood shows some examples of public screens in Tokyo, Budapest, England.
Urban screens can give an identity at architecture. Ergun finds it remarkable that the screen is placed in a location where more intellectuals are gathered and not in deprived area. A reason could be that people living in these neighborhoods are less interested in art?
Susan thinks that the screen is just the medium. It can also be a kind of social medium, which can connect people. Make it accessible as a channel. She refers to Global Youth, a project in Manchester. The focus of this project is to empower young people with the skills and confidence needed to create their own digital content, relating to topics and issues that affect their own lives. Urban Screens can also be seen as a social platform.
The approach as it is now, is more top down and should be more bottom up. It’s necessary to involve the audience to connect them with the art/content being showed. It’s about co-curating it with the audience.
An attendance working at ABN Amro on the ZUIDAS square thinks that the content should create total amazement, an (social) experience, it can open their minds and be more creative.
By amazing them and see new amazing images, which go behind their boundaries. It can stimulate them in daily life.
A remark by another attendance is the one on one experience with the screen. Like for example in the evening when you are alone on the ZuidAs square, you have an amazing experience.
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Jan Schuijren, curator of CASZUIDAS, says that 85% of the audience is very dedicated. They pass by a view times a day, every day, the whole year.
An interesting question he is addressing is, which content works for whom?
Last year October there was an evaluation of the CASZUIDAS project. The audience was asked about their opinion about the screen, the content, etc. Two conclusions, out of a 4-day research were, ‘if you present me a Heineken commercial I watch it. I like them’.
People are used to commercials like that. They see the urban screen as a big TV. Secondly they mention the kind of content. ‘The artistic content is probably not for me’. Generally you see that in museums, which you visit. 90% of the people addresses’ the intervention of the ZUIDAS. It is not urban enough yet.
Jan says that after you speak further with visitors of CASZUIDAS square, remarkable is that they can remember the content very well, even in minor details. Jan is off the opinion that we should give people time to adjust to this slightly new phenomenon. People themselves are not aware of the fact that there is a very positive experience about it yet. They realize it when you question them in dept about what they have been seeing.
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Tarik Yousif
presents radio and television programmes, is creative director of Creative Urbans and columnist, specialized in cultural and social issues. www.tarikyousif.nl
Jeroen Boomgaardspan> is Professor of Art and Public Space at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and works at the department Art History of the Newest Time, University of Amsterdam. www.lkpr.nl
Ergün Erkocuis architect, founder/owner of Concept0031 in Den Haag, author of the book ‘De Moskee’ (NAI uitgevers, 2009) and intendant cultural diversity of the Fonds BKVB. http://www.concept0031.com
Susanne Jaschko is a Berlin based independent curator of contemporary art with a focus on electronic art and digital culture. She curated Urban Screens Manchester 07. http://www.sujaschko.de
John Wood is a British artist, living and working in Bristol. Since 1993 he works together with Paul Harrison, producing video works about the relationship between the human figure and architecture. http://www.faprojects.com
CASZUIDAS – moving images in public space is an urban screen arts initiative established by Virtual Museum Zuidas (VMZ) and SKOR (Foundation Art and Public Space) at Zuidas, Amsterdam, in October 2007.
To watch the video of the CASZUIDAS screen go here.
