alexandra crouwers, the plot, 2021, crwrs, alex

Publication / The Plot, The Compositor, and Mourning/Mistakes

VIS #6 – Theme: Contagion

VIS is launching issue #6 (Editor: Anna Lindal) with the theme “Contagion” during Artistic Research Autumn Forum in Trondheim on 19 October.

This is a peer-reviewed publication. Reviewer: Sepideh Karami.

Issue: 6
Theme: Contagion // Smitta
Editor: Anna Lindal
Release: Tuesday 19 October, 17:00 – 17:45 at Artistic Research Autumn Forum 2021

The issue, which features five expositions, deals in different ways with touch, vulnerability and transmission; contagion becomes a creative and destructive concept in the shadow of the pandemic. A talk about the theme between Editor Anna Lindal and Editorial members Eliot Mmantidi Moleba and Gunhild Mathea Husvik-Olaussen is published in addition to the expositions.

Presenting the issue will be new Editorial members Eliot Mmantidi Moleba and Gunhild Mathea Husvik-Olaussen. Liv Kristin Holmberg will participate with a presentation of her published exposition.

Expositions in the issue:

  • Soft to the Touch: Performance, Vulnerability, and Entanglement in the Time of Covid. Jennifer Torrence
  • Corona Influentia och den mörkare materian. Timo Menke
  • Viral Drawings: Transmission BC / QT / AV. Karen Schiff
  • Smitte som skapelsesmaskin. Liv Kristin Holmberg
  • The Plot, The Compositor, Mourning/Mistakes. Alexandra Crouwers

Alexandra Crouwers, visual artist, begins her exposition at ‘The Plot’, a piece of land where a section of forest was afflicted by the harmful bark beetle Ips typographus. The trees were felled and a clearing was left in their place, a gateway for dealing with ecological grief. The exposition is mobile and non-linear and uses many artistic methods and entry points that invite viewers on a journey that is refreshingly provocative, humorous, and rich with reflections. The exposition is centred on the coordinates of ‘The Plot’ with 3D-models, animations, stills, videos, and GIF-animations.

About this exposition

EN

In the Summer of 2019, a small family forest fell victim to a spruce bark beetle plague. Unusually mild winters caused larvae numbers to explode, and extreme drought weakened the otherwise more resilient trees. Expanding patches of dead forest can be found from the North Sea coast to the Baltics. The cleared forest became The Plot: a witness to climate change, and a gateway to dealing with ecological grief. My own eco-anxiety is utilized as a case study: how to deal with this new kind of loss? What is The Plot telling us? How do we move forward without losing hope? The exposition presents The Plot as fertile ground for artistic and collaborative research, including a contribution by Lisa Jeannin, a custom made font, moving image, and an audio work.


SV

Sommaren 2019 blev en liten, familjeägd skog ödelagd efter angrepp av granbarkborre. Ovanligt milda vintrar har inneburit en explosiv ökning av mängden barkborrar samtidigt som perioder av extrem torka har försvagat de annars betydligt mer motståndskraftiga träden. Hela vägen från Nordsjöns kust till Baltikum finns nu växande områden av död skog. Den ödelagda skogen blev The Plot: ett vittnesmål om klimatförändring och en plats för bearbetning av ekologisk sorg. I projektet använder jag min egen eko-ångest som fallstudie. Hur hanterar vi dessa nya typer av förluster? Vad kan vi lära oss av The Plot? Hur kan vi gå vidare utan att förlora hopp? Expositionen introducerar The Plot som bördig mark för konstnärlig och kollaborativ forskning. Den omfattar ett bidrag av Lisa Jeannin, ett skräddarsytt typsnitt, rörlig bild, och ett ljudverk.

Follow Alexandra Crouwers:
Alexandra Crouwers (NL, °1974) is a visual artist working in the digital realm. Her works are made by using a combination of 3D modeling and animation, and post-production, and can take many forms. From 2019 on, she's a doctoral researcher in art and animation at Leuven University/LUCA School of arts, Brussels, under supervision of Wendy Morris.