Detail of the drawing collage ‘The (singular/symptomatic) case of de Appel’ in the exhibition You Must Make Your Death Public at the de Appel arts center

The (singular/symptomatic) case of de Appel

The work is an attempt to map out the different views on the ‘crisis’ taking place in the de Appel arts center in Amsterdam. De Appel has a history of 40 years with experimental art and has been a central location for many significant performance art pieces in the 70s and 80s. It hosts one of the first and most respected curatorial programmes.

It has been said that the institution survived the budget cuts in arts in the Netherlands in 2011. But a crisis within the institution came to the public awareness suddenly in September 2015 with the news of dismissal of the director Lorenzo Benedetti and a lawsuit following. In April 2016 the case is still ongoing.

The information in the drawing has been collected by the artist in discussion with various members in the art scene, who feel effected by the situation. Also information has been collected from writings in the media about the case.

The work was commissioned by three of the current students of the de Appel curatorial programme and it is presented directly on the walls of the institution.

Download here part 1 of the drawing, which contains two parts

Download here part 2 of the drawing, which contains two parts