Michelle Kasprzak
Michelle Kasprzak, curator at V2_, Institute for the Unstable Media in Rotterdam, introduced participants of Off the Press to the creation of an e-book series aimed to complement the events run by V2_. Michelle begun by briefly outlining the history and activities of the institute.
Vughterstraat 234 (short: V2_) in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the first abode.
The Institute for the Unstable Media started in 1981 as an artist collective in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. The theoretical principles of V2_ were laid down in 1987 with the “Manifesto for Unstable Media”, which grew out of dissatisfaction with the status quo in the visual arts at the time. In 1994, V2_ moved to its current location in the city centre of Rotterdam.
The idea behind the e-book series was to create ‘legacy objects’ for those who could not attend the actual events run by the institute. The events in question include DEAF – Dutch Electronic Art Festival, Test_Lab series, Blowup_series, as well as others. Regarding the institute’s style, Michelle stated that their two main approaches – mixing old and new content, and reframing – allows V2_ to remain agile and be flexible to adjust to the hot topic of the time.
On top of that, Institute for the Unstable Media organises Book Sprints – time-limited (5 days) collaborative book writing. Michelle is responsible for curating participating groups and choosing participants from different backgrounds to come together as an efficient writing group. Michelle remarked that Book Sprints are like weddings : they bring best and worst in people.
dhr. M.J. Dieter during Book Sprint
Contact Michelle Kasprzak :
mk @ v2 . nl
@mkasprzak
You can find a PDF of her original presentation here: Presentation Michelle Kasprzak