The Ultraperipheric
For a period of at least two years, artists will be invited to travel to peripheral areas, where the dynamic interaction between humans and the landscape can be investigated. The final destinations will be determined in consultation with the artists — these can be anywhere in the world.
The Project
The exhibition ‘The Ultraperipheric’ took place from 17 September to 27 November 2011 in Centrum Beeldende Kunsten Emmen. Contemporary artists responded to the ideas of land artist Robert Smithson (1938–73). Smithson created the famous art work Broken Circle/Spiral Hill in Emmen just over 40 years ago, in 1971. Exhibitions and an extensive side programme provided insights into the history and the influence of this work and its creator. In 1971, Smithson started to work on a film about the project, but it was never completed because of his untimely death. Nancy Holt and a Dutch film crew completed the film. A series of art assignments relating to the peripheral areas started in 2012.
The Art Works
The artists have been asked to produce a work (in which the relation between the work and its documentation can be played out) that will somehow define the central or peripheral qualities of the location, be it from geographical, political or social perspectives. They will research the socio-political, legal, economic, psychological, historiographic and representational conditions of the site to expose and counter the mechanisms that are responsible for its current precarious condition, and possibly come up with different interpretations and ideas for land use.
