Spatial Practices: Dutch Artistic Research Event

EDITORIAL 3–4
S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S 5–8
DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
ANDRE AS MUELLER 9 – 18
ESCAPING THE GRID
ERIK A JACOBS LORD 19 – 28
S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
WIM MARSEILLE 29 – 40
C R E AT I V E C A S T S
ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU 41 – 49
TRANSERIUM, A NON-PL ACE
ILSE BEUMER
REASEARCH REPORTS 50 – 54
M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
COLOFON 56
6
JOURNAL OF ARTISTIC RESE ARCH WINTER 2009
EDI TOR I AL 3 – 4 EDITORIAL 3
Contemporary spatial design and the spatial research linked S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
to it seem to fan out in all directions. Public space, counter - 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
space, space of the non - place, interior space, self - managed ANDRE AS MUELLER
space, urban space, found space, spaces of flow, space 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
of creativity, smooth space, and striated space are just some ERIK A JACOBS LORD
of the space concepts that appear in MAHKU zine # 6, an issue 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
devoted to spatial practices. Obviously, practice in this spatial WIM MARSEILLE
context refers to activity and action in space not necessarily 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
performed by consumers of space - although that does not ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
seem to be excluded in the self - managed space radiating 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
a Bourriaud ambience – but rather by professional designers ILSE BEUMER
of space.
RESEARCH REPORT
In spite of the ample archive of spatial concepts, the profession 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
of spatial designer is not an easy one to define in the 21st century.

Whereas artistic interventions in space, in whatever form, open up 56 C O L O F O N
a reservoir of knowledge produced by social interactions, – once coined

relational aesthetics by Nicolas Bourriaud – enactments, and other
performance - based phenomena related to the domain of visual art,
the spatial design profession seems to drown in its spatial concepts
without reaching theoretical shores. In other words, both interior
designers and public space designers still lack a generally accepted
and inspiring form of knowledge production.
What, then, could knowledge production and a relevant theoretical
discourse mean for those professional space designers?
A phenomenological approach, in the sense of turning to designed
space as such, seems inevitable. But how should one understand
a designed space? Is it a constructed environment, as Parsons New
School for Design claims, in an Art & Education e - flux? Is it bringing
space to life in both interior and exterior forms? Do future theorists
of designed space have to engage in objects connoting space and,
for example, turn to Heidegger and his forms of Zuhandene developed
in his rather dense work Time and Being? Could one even ask space
designers to indulge in that type of philosophical deliberation?
Both interior designers and public space designers could look at the
domain of visual art for models and inspiration for developing a
spatial design discourse. In that visual domain, theorists, curators,
and artists collaborate in developing a field of artistic research while
scanning exhibitions, trends, and individual works of art. Spatial
design could address similar questions, including: What does
our 21st century designed space, environment, or surroundings
look like? What models of analysis could work in scanning them?
What are the trends in those designs? What are examples of high
- quality, professionally excellent designs? How could those three
traces together produce novel concepts, insights and links with
a theoretically inspirational field? These issues echo the initial
background of the DARE # 3 Graduate exhibition Spatial Practices
( Academiegalerie and Dutch Design Center, August 29 - September 12 )Ω, Ω P P. 5 - 8
and the Spatial Practices symposium held at the Utrecht Centraal

Museum on September 10, 2008.
Indeed, spatial design has the capacity to create its own mode of 3 – 4 EDITORIAL 4
knowledge production. Spatial research is able to produce a novel field

of knowledge accompanied by a novel conceptual framework linked S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
to spatial practices. MAHKU zine # 6 issue scans contemporary ventures 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
and explorations in that future field of theory called spatial design ANDRE AS MUELLER
knowledge production. ( AWB )! 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
ERIK A JACOBS LORD
19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
WIM MARSEILLE
2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
ILSE BEUMER
RESEARCH REPORT
50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
56 C O L O F O N
S PAT I A L P R A C T I C E S 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3 S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3 5
ANDRE AS MUELLER ANDRE AS MUELLER
9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
After last year’s discussion on The Politics of Design, the third DARE ERIK A JACOBS LORD
symposium’s title, “Spatial Practices”, seemed to shift the focus away 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
from an all-embracing political debate towards specific, pragmatic WIM MARSEILLE
and applicable practices. Held at Centraal Museum Utrecht on 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
September 12th, the symposium presented talks by two artists, ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
two architects and an architecture theorist. Its central theme was 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
the potential of spatial research for current cultural practices. ILSE BEUMER
In recent years, the term spatial practice has been used to describe
new forms of interdisciplinary practices responding to the rapid RESEARCH REPORT
transformations of the contemporary city and the politics of territorial 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
relations. Spatial practice describes both the critical analysis of spatial

relations, and various forms of interventionist strategies. 56 C O L O F O N
Spatial Practice is a term coined by Henri Lefebvre in The Production

of Space, where he conceptualizes three basic types of spaces: Lived
Space, Perceived Space, and Conceived Space. This model tends
to distinguish among the symbolic meanings enacted in spatial form
( lived space ), the spatial patterns of everyday life ( perceived space ),
and space as it is conceived through technocratic acts such as planning
(conceived space ). Spatial Practice is introduced and described by
Lefebvre as a wider conception of practice superordinate to and
including any form of social practice, be it revolutionary or reformist.
By that definition, Spatial Practice denotes any practice that challenges
and alters existing configurations of space, based on the assumption
that space is a product –shaped by conflicting forces that act upon it.
Though this applies to any of the three above - named categories,
Lefebvre assigns Spatial Practice mainly to the category of Perceived
Space. It is here, in the space of social relations, of production and
reproduction, and of experiences of daily life, where Lefebvre locates
potential for the projects concerning alternative and counter - spaces.
The construction of such alternative spaces is one objective in the
work of Apolonija Sustersic. Though working within the art context,
her projects are often realized in public space, deal with urban politics,
and rely on the participation of the neighbors. Her concept of space
includes social networks, paralleled by economic networks,
from the micro-strategy of a free exchange shop to the analysis
of powerful restructuring efforts like gentrification. The video
and film archive “Video Home Video Exchange”, realized in 1999
in the Westfälischer Kunstverein in Münster, was a strategy to
motivate the local audience into becoming an active part of their
neighborhood. The act of exchange itself, where visitors could
exchange their private home videos for feature films, stimulated
participation and thus restructured the space of the community.
The temporary Community Research Office at IBID Projects in
DA R E # 3 , O P EN I N G P ER F O R M A N C E , S PAT I A L P R AC T I C E S
East L ondon was set up to monitor the process of gentrification
in the local area. It attempted to explore the reasons, processes
and consequences of change within urban development,
where galleries and independent art spaces play an increasingly 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
important role.
For the project Garden Service, Sustersic, together with architect S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
and theoretician Meike Schalk, installed a public art piece along 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3 6
the Royal Mile, the gentrified center of Edinburgh’s tourist industry. ANDRE AS MUELLER
They transformed a neglected piece of public land into a garden with 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
a simple trick: a stairway of five steps, installed to span a wall used ERIK A JACOBS LORD
to separate the land from the street. Besides the material elements 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
of the stairs, benches, a table, and some flower pots, “Garden Service” WIM MARSEILLE
consisted of programmed sessions of Sunday afternoon tea talks with 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
the local inhabitants. The discussions were open to all and turned ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
the garden into a forum for local initiatives focusing on city planning 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
and environmental activism. ILSE BEUMER
Staffan Schmidt presented his and Mike Bode’s project Off the Grid,
conducted as an artistic research PhD at the University of Gothenburg. RESEARCH REPORT
The project put inhabitants of a Swedish social housing estate in 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
a video interview dialogue with owners of so called off - grid homes

in the Northeastern US. The term “off - grid” refers to living 56 C O L O F O N
autonomously, in a self - sufficient manner, without reliance on public

utility services like the municipal water supply, sewers, gas relectrical
power grid.
The project merged seemingly incompatible experiences: eight
residents in Husby, an immigrant community outside Stockholm,
and eight households not connected to the utility grid, in upstate areas
of New England and New York State. The interviewees were paired
together and handed unedited copies of each other’s reflections.
The conversations revolved around three topics: travel, self - definition,
and community. Both groups – despite their extremely different
housing situations – consider the immediate living environments as
a tool to define their identities. Self - definition stands out as central:
it is opposed, delayed in its implementation, violated or threatened
– still, all participants individually or collectively struggle to uphold it.
The alleged freedom of the off - grid homeowners to control their
DA R E # 3 , AC A D EM I E G A L ER I E , K R I S VA N V EEN , FI N E A R T
environment seems to be the model for the residents of the Swedish
welfare system, too.
ARTISTIC RESEARCH
Both speakers described their work as a form of artistic research

aimed at the production of cultural knowledge. For Apolonija Sustersic,
the experiences generated in various projects add up to a body of
DA R E # 3 , O P E N I N G S P EE C H , H A R M S C H ELT EN S ,
knowledge – e.g. about participation methods or communication D U TC H D E S I G N C E N T ER
strategies – that then can be made available for other projects. But at
the same time her projects can be seen as very concrete educational
work, involving local inhabitants in the production of specific
knowledge about their local situation. Staffan Schmidt worked in
the format of a scientific report, applying research methods and
documentation techniques ( e.g. interviews ) from the social sciences.
His project produced a form of artistic knowledge, that is not directly
DA R E # 3 , AC A D EM I E G A L ER I E , M A FI N E A R T
applicable, yet it might change the configuration of imagined spaces
for its participants and viewers.
The idea of research is not a new phenomenon in the field of
architecture. Research on design methods emerged in the 1960s 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
and ultimately led to a break with modernist planning ideals.

Architects and designers began to recognize the political S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
entanglements of their disciplines, and experimented with strategies 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3 7
of participation, advocacy planning, or community design. ANDRE AS MUELLER
Activist strategies appeared in architecture and approached the urban 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
public space as a field of interventions. A concept that was developed ERIK A JACOBS LORD
in this context is Participatory Action Research, a method that 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
approaches a given situation through research activities, involving WIM MARSEILLE
participants and existing local social networks. By combining the idea 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
of research with the idea of practice, this term might be an umbrella ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
term for all the projects discussed in the symposium. 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
Philipp Misselwitz talked about a collaborative research process to ILSE BEUMER
redefine the role of an art institution and its relation to the city in what
he calls a Post - Public Environment. The project, done in collaboration RESEARCH REPORT
with Nikolaus Hirsch, Markus Miessen and Matthias Göhrlich, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
accompanied the diverse activities of the European Kunsthalle

Cologne during its founding phase in 2005 - 07. Since the new 56 C O L O F O N
institution did not have its own exhibition space, the relation to its
public had to be rethought, and a concept for temporary exhibitions
in various public spaces was developed. In doing that, exhibition -
making became an interventionist practice and, at the same time
a laboratory for the development and testing of new institutional
models blurring the traditionally static boundaries between institution
and city.
For the exhibition project Models for Tomorrow, a range of publicly
accessible sites in urban space were used. The exhibition venues offered
various spatial concepts with varying opening times, represented
commercial or public interests, located in the center or on the city’s
periphery. The temporary, ‘unstable’ appropriation of found spaces
for programmatic work opened up a field of possibilities to rethink
the established ‘stable’ model of a Kunsthalle.
Lukasz Stanek presented comparative research on Nowa Huta, “the first
socialist city in Poland”, and Spangen, the working class neighborhood
in Rotterdam. He argued that the current situation in both cities must
be understood as post - socialist, since both cities experienced a major
rupture in the late 1980s, related to the end of the Keynesian welfare
state system. With the collapse of socialism in 1989, the housing
production in Nowa Huta went quiet, while the economic basis of
DA R E # 3 , P ER F O R M A N C E , H EL E N G R A S , FA S H I O N
the city, its steel production, was suddenly challenged by a globalized
steel market. Spangen experienced a similar crisis a year earlier when
the almost 80 - year old Dutch housing act was dismantled and housing
corporations were allowed to enter the real estate market. Both events
marked a break with collectivist ideas. Collective consumption, and the
supply of housing as part of the welfare system, turned into individual
consumption and homeownership as part of a housing market.
Despite the drastic changes in the last 20 years, Stanek argued,
these post - socialist cities could not be reduced to sociological fossils
nor tourist attractions. Instead, their transformation into neoliberal
structures must be understood as mediated by the experiences
of the local past. The vision of the socialist city, the memories of
the inhabitants, the persistence of the practices of everyday life
and the material layout of the city still influence and mediate the 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
restructuring of space in both Nowa Huta and Spangen.

Doina Petrescu from the Paris-based Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
( Studio for Self - managed Architecture ) pointed out the political 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3 8
dimension of their spatial practice. Devising micro - urban tactics, ANDRE AS MUELLER
they aim to reconstruction ‘spaces of proximity’ from the margins 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
of the capitalist city. As an example Petrescu presented a project ERIK A JACOBS LORD
for a community garden in the Paris district of La Chapelle, 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
which has a large immigrant population. The community garden WIM MARSEILLE
and a recently squatted house close by explore the possibilities of 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
a collectively self-managed space. Using recycled materials and ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
with the help of many local residents, a vacant plot was transformed 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
into a space for public meetings for the entire neighborhood. ILSE BEUMER
The process of constructing as a collective experience and the

appropriation of city spaces by inhabitants through participative RESEARCH REPORT
activities created a collective subjectivity. That this practice is at the 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
same time political, social and cultural became evident when the garden
turned into a forum for political debate on local conflicts, e.g. between 56 C O L O F O N
community activists and the city’s administration.

All projects presented during the symposium shared the fact that
they operated on the margins of the current capitalist production
of space rather than in the center. The situation that Lukas Stanek
observed in the post-socialist environments of Nowa Huta and
Spangen seems to be rather typical conditions in which we currently
work, as architects or artists concerned with spatial transformations.
They are characterized by a dismantling of welfare - state social
security networks, and their replacement by neoliberal demands
for self - management. The interviewees in Staffan Schmitt’s video
Off the Grid showed two distinct reactions to that dilemma, both
confirming the neoliberal transformation of space: the dropouts
discount the achievements of the welfare state in order to avoid
its obligations, which they see as constraining their freedom.
The social housing inhabitants, on the other hand, try to achieve
a certain ‘self - definition’ within the homogenizing welfare state
system.
That raises the question of whether the idea of spatial practice is
DA R E # 3 , D U TC H D E S I G N C E N T ER , M A D E S I G N
necessarily confined to marginality, to peripheral and temporal
interventions. Or might there be a possibility to think and operate
spatial practice as a pervasive practice that could eventually push
the production of space towards more emancipatory models?!
DA R E # 3 , M A H K U G R A D UAT I O N C ER EM O N Y
ESCAPING THE GRID 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
S M O O T H A N D S T R I AT E D S P A C E S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
IN ARCHITEC TUR AL DESIGN 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
ANDRE AS MUELLER
ERIK A JACOBS LORD 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 9
ERIK A JACOBS LORD
What if our everyday spaces were comprised of more than what can 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
be seen with the naked eye? They would not only appeal to the eyes, WIM MARSEILLE
but to the nose, fingertips, and ears. This type of space would 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
be difficult to define or even lay down in a plan because it cannot ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
be described in black and white, just as a menu entry cannot define 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
the define the delicate flavors of a dish, only list them. This space ILSE BEUMER
needs to be touched and lived in, explored with the senses, not only
consumed with a rational eye. It is sometimes an impractical RESEARCH REPORT
space because it is for people who, by nature of being human beings, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
are not practical themselves all the time themselves. This is a space
that, when it feels like it, reaches towards poetry. 56 C O L O F O N
Wolfgang Laib’s Wachsraum ( 1992 ) has these difficult, impractical,

yet poetic qualities. A narrow but tall corridor is lined with plates
of beeswax and lit by a single bare bulb. The honest nakedness of
the bulb contrasts with the rich scents of the beeswax. The walls
glow, but are impossible to render well in a photograph – the lighting
is difficult and there is no natural way to get the image in frame.
The space is actually too narrow, too tall without a standard functional
reason. There is only the need to make an extraordinary impression.
To experience it, you have to be there, walk through it, inhale deeply
and run your fingers along the wall, taking in physical impressions
that a reproduction could never give. Unfortunately the Wachsraum
is relegated to a museum. What if it were possible in everyday life
to have a wall worth stroking, or a special room in the house which
is there for the sake of fun or mystery? This essay is about escaping
the grid – the grid society sanctions for us, the grid our streets are
laid out upon, and the grid inside the construction of our dwellings.
Ringleaders Masterminds of the escape plan are Gilles Deleuze
and Félix Guattari. Their book A Thousand Plateaus introduced
fascinating new concepts of looking at the world which still inspire
philosophers, artists, and thinkers to delve into concepts presented
in that work. Here I will explore the DeleuzianΩ notion of smooth ΩW HEN D EL EU Z E A N D T H E A D J E C T I V E D EL EU Z I A N
A R E C I T E D I N T H I S E S S AY, I T I S A R EF ER E N C E
TO T H E W O R K O F B OT H D EL EU Z E A N D G UAT TA R I .
and striated space as characterized in A Thousand Plateaus and the
significance it could bring to the physical space of architecture.
Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of smooth and striated space is
clarified in a collection of six models, one that is not final but open
to expansion ( D & G 1987: 499 - 500 ). Each model sketches a different
facet of the smooth/striated spatial relationship with a changing
underpinning of the notion of space for each model. Although some
of Deleuze and Guattari’s examples of smooth and striated space
involve procedessural change over long periods of time ( the taming
of the desert, the striation of the sea ), the transition and meeting of
the two spaces can blossom like the unfolding bellows of an accordion,
or burst out in violent fits like the wandering line an erratic heartbeat
draws onto graph paper.
Architectural space, as discussed in this essay, is suspended between 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
the spatial, aesthetic, physical, and artistic models just as the field
of architecture requisitely crosses into multiple disciplines in order S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
to be realized. An architectural project may be well-engineered but 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
aesthetically lacking, like European housing blocks from the 1980’s. ANDRE AS MUELLER
Or, it could be aesthetically beautiful but not engineered well, as with 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 10
the extension of Terminal 2E at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris ERIK A JACOBS LORD
which failed due to structural problems. Or perhaps the engineering 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
was good, but the physical construction process was improperly done WIM MARSEILLE
prohibiting the chemical process of curing concrete or good welds 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
between steel joints. Just as a building cannot be evaluated on just ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
one of these levels, so must a Deleuzian architectural space contain 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
or transverse several concomitant models. ILSE BEUMER
Architectural space touches on the Deleuzian technological model

because it is constructed, the maritime model because people travel RESEARCH REPORT
in and navigate buildings ( the routing of space ), the physical model 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
because architects must respond to gravity, and the aesthetic

model because form and function are inseparable in the practice 56 C O L O F O N
of architecture. For the purposes of this essay, architectural space

will be handled as one fluid entity, the smooth and striated
space with which, and within which the ( interior ) architect works.
Before discussing architectural smooth and striated space, it will
be helpful to look first at how smooth and striated space is defined
by Deleuze and Guattari in A Thousand Plateaus. At first they define
the spaces only by their relationship to each other:
“ Smooth and striated space – nomad space and sedentary space –…
are not of the same nature. No sooner do we note a simple opposition
between the two kinds of space than we must indicated a much
more complex difference by virtue of which the successive terms
of the oppositions fail to coincide entirely. And no sooner have we
done that than we must remind ourselves that the two spaces in fact
exist only in mixture: smooth space is constantly being translated,
transversed into a striated space; striated space is constantly being
reversed, returned to a smooth space. … [ T ] he principles of the mixture,
which are not at all symmetrical, sometimes [ cause ] a passage from
the smooth to the striated, sometimes from the striated to the smooth,
according to entirely different movements”. ( D & G 1987: 474 - 5 ).
Smooth and striated spaces exist neither independently of each other,
nor in any fixed proportion to each other. Movement between the two
spaces is fluid, but does not have to be proportional or controlled;,
that is, it could occur suddenly and violently or creep slowly along.
Deleuze and Guattari use the sea as an example of smooth and
striated space ( D & G 1987: 479 ). The sea was, at first, a purely smooth
space. The earliest nomadic navigation was based on colors, sounds
and noise – haptic navigation – based on sensory input. As the sea was
gridded, cut into sections like a spherical pie, the space was gradually
striated as the stars were traced in the sky and parallel lines mapped.
Charts and calculations created an overlay system with the intentions
to reveal and dominate. The same occurred thing happened to the skies
once aeronautical space was explored. Once the domain of the birds,
R EG U L A R C R O S S I N G S O F A I R C R A F T.
the skies are now striated by the regular crossings of aircraft.
That is not to say that there is no more smooth space inof the sky:
one just has to observe starlings steal it back at dusk, swooping and 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
swaying along enigmatic and unmappable paths through the air.

Metal birds and natural birds are part of the smooth and striated S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
whole in continuous mixture, sharing and struggling side by side. 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
Important to architectural smooth and striated space is the notion ANDRE AS MUELLER
of nomadic line. With this Deleuze and Guattari contrast the line of 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 11
so - called primitive nomadic or smooth art – close-range, non - optical, ERIK A JACOBS LORD
haptic and expressive ( D & G 1987: 493 ) with that of striated art, 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
which uses distant vision, clear orientation, and central perspective WIM MARSEILLE
( D & G 1987: 494 ). Deleuze and Guattari write that Egyptian art uses 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
a horizon - free close - range visualization while the Greeks conquer ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
depth and perspective with the use of optical space. Later, the authors 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
contrast the abstract ( smooth ) line with the concrete ( striated ) line. ILSE BEUMER
The line is broadened into a plane, planes expand into the third
dimension. Egyptian art ( reliefs as opposed to sculpture ) could be RESEARCH REPORT
termed smooth in regards to its treatment of the background plane 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
( no horizon, figures float ), however its rigidity and regularity pulls

it into striated space. At the Egyptian temple in Karnak, massive 56 C O L O F O N
carved columns rise in a strict grid. This is the ultimate striated

S PAC E O F P I L L A R S .
space, the “space of pillars” ( D & G 1987: 370 ). Egyptians built for
permanence, ruled with fear and upheld static traditions which
assured longevity. The gravity and heaviness of the temple building
illustrates the striation of Egyptian culture, however smooth
– elements the carved forms floating in space on the columns –
are indivisible from the whole.
Roman architecture incorporates more smooth elements in
comparison to other ancient cultures: the curved form of the arch
plays against the heavily striated Greek architecture from which their
building archetypes were inherited. Yet the arch in its symmetrical
form is still inherently striated. The Colosseum in Rome ( finished
80 A.D. ) integrates more curved forms than any other known Roman
building, however the arches are balanced in an elliptical grid.
Smooth elements, however, invade Roman villa interiors via the wall
paintings used for decoration. Both the Second and Third painting
V I L L A AT B O S C OT R E C A S E .
styles incorporate “smooth” qualities. In the high Second Style of
painting, depicted here on the left from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor
at Boscoreale ( ca. 40 - 30 B.C. ) perspective is used, but it is acentered.
Each element implies a different vanishing point, a dislocation for
the eye and shattering of central perspective. The Third Style of
wall painting, represented here by the “Black Room” of the Imperial
Villa at Boscotrecase ( last decade of 1st century B.C. ) tended toward
the surreal abstraction of architectural elements which floating
against undefined backgrounds. Over the evolution of Roman
painting, smooth elements emerge and retreat over time in contrast
to the more clearly striated architectural forms.
Smooth space and striated space did not spring into being emerge by
being written about in the 1980’s; the underpinnings and forces have
always been there in some shape or form, covertly or not, as in the
examples from Egypt and Rome. Although it is not possible in this
essay to catalogue smooth and striated space throughout architectural
history, the case of Le Corbusier is particularly interesting. Corbusier’s
book, Towards a new architecture and in particular the Villa Savoye
laid out and exemplified his principles of architecture. His design 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
attitude, like that of many of the Modernists, was based on the

mastery of nature, clean gridded elements which celebrated the S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
achievements of industrialization. The Ville Radieuse plan of 1930 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
( Frampton 1992:180 ) was a Modernist – and perfectly striated – utopia ANDRE AS MUELLER
whose powerful influence still echoes throughout European housing 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 12
developments today. Yet despite Corbusier’s mastery of striated space, ERIK A JACOBS LORD
smooth space snuck in the back door, not being the kind of visitor 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
to knock. Corbusier’s paintings made later in life exhibit many signs WIM MARSEILLE
of Deleuze and Guattari’s aesthetic model: abstract line, lack of clear 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
horizon, and close-range vision. A “smooth” Corbusier is wholly present ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU

at the Chapelle Notre Dame in Ronchamp, France ( 1950 - 55 ), where 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
the crab-shaped roof volume sidles up to thick concrete walls to only ILSE BEUMER
float above them. Small windows pierce through the walls, allowing
light to paint an otherworldly sphere. The walls are covered with gunite RESEARCH REPORT
( Kostoff 1985: 732 ) or concrete sprayed onto a surface to create a deep 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
texture which catches and plays with light. Corbusier uses all of these
effects which appeal to the senses in what could be called a haptic 56 C O L O F O N
space. The grid, the basis of striated space, is subjugated to make

way for undulating forms, non-orthogonal connection and continuous C H A P EL L E N OT R E DA M E I N R O N C H A M P, F R A N C E .
figural variation. Aside from the treatment of the space, the structured
program of Catholic religious space is applied as rigorously as ever,
where the absolutely striated laws of the Church prevail.
The crucial question an ( interior ) architect might ask is how to take
account of smooth and striated forces in one design model, even if
this is trying to tame the untamable or control the uncontrollable.
Can a space with both smooth and striated elements even be designed,
or must by definition smooth space come from outside, stealing in
like a thief at night, rising out of a dark hiding place? One answer
can be seen in the Watts Towers in Los Angeles, California. Here the
artist Simon Rodia did not build to any plan but with found material
and a “bottom-up” process of local decisions. His ideas changed
during construction, meaning the construction changed during
the building process. His structures adhere to fluid logic yet are
heterogeneously constructed out of steel, cement and various other
debris such as glass, china and broken bottles ( Harris 2005: 52 - 3 ).
Rodia built his structures with close-range vision using his senses
to create instead of sitting at a desk drawing plans and sections.
Unfortunately this construction technique is not possible for designers
working commercially, and certainly not for buildings which must
be inhabitable. However, one could ask how possible it is for a designer
– the person in control, the One Who Striates – to design smooth spaces
into their work, that is, to let the smooth space in.
A number of architects have spent their careers working with methods
to make their work more dynamic by introducing new ways of
designing or changing the role of the architect from God - like figure
to the manager of architectonic elements. Kas Oosterhuis’ Trans-ports
( 2000 ) designed for the Architecture Biennale in Venice is a building
which works like a giant, flexing muscle. The designer may program
the computers that control the building, but in this case external
data transported over the Internet as well as actions of on-site visitors
determine the form or stance of the structure, which in turn may
be any stage of tense or relaxed depending on all of the variables. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
The designer here is not designing the form, but the possibility
of what the form may become. As Deleuze and Guattari state, the act S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
or the space of becoming is, after all, inherently smooth ( D & G 1987: 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
486 ). The grid in Oosterhuis’ design has been subsumed into a ANDRE AS MUELLER
mechanical skin which is connected to computers that serves as its 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 13
sensory input channels. The computer programs written in a rigid ERIK A JACOBS LORD
programming language exist in striated space, and the sensory input 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
and output which cause the changing of the skin occupy smooth space WIM MARSEILLE
in this work. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
The work of Frank Gehry and Greg Lynn also hovers at the “smooth” ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
end of the spectrum. Both architects are known for their work with 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E

the non - standard forms known as blobs. However when architectural ILSE BEUMER
space is fully striated ( such as Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram building,
New York, 1958 ) or fully smooth ( Gehry’s Experience Music Project, RESEARCH REPORT
Seattle, 2000 ) the result can be less than provocative. A mixture of 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
smooth and striated space and the tension or conflict between them
is not only necessary ( they do not exist independently of each other ) 56 C O L O F O N
but spatially more compelling. UN Studio explore specifically the

mixture of the two spaces in their “blob to box” model which they K A S O O S T ER H U I S , T R A N S - P O R T S
developed for the Music Theater in Graz ( 1998-2008 ). Here they ( 20 0 0 ).
combine the strict technical program of the theater ( black box )

with more informal routing created for the milling audience milling
about ( blob ). The two functions of theater and lobby and are combined
into two discrete programs where movement from striated space
to smooth space is choreographed. However, what happens when
blob and box, the smooth and striated spaces, commingle and stage
their dance in front of an audience for all to see? The crux of the
matter of smooth and striated space for the designer may just be
in the struggle between the two spaces, where they meet and/or
repel each other and how one traverses into the other.
But to be clear: it is impossible to design a smooth space, just as it
is impossible to design the sea, a desert or the wind as described
by Deleuze in his chapter on smooth and striated space in A Thousand
Plateaus. A translation from the philosophical to spatial context is,
in a strict sense, difficult if not impossible. This is the paradox that
any designer must contend with and resolve for herself. Solutions
such as Simon Rodia’s towers address fluidity and flexibility
during the construction process, while Kas Oosterhuis uses precise
technology to make a flexible structure. Corbusier’s chapel meanwhile
could be termed a non - optic space that works primarily on a sensory
level. These examples show the open - ended possibilities when working
with the Deleuzian notions of smooth and striated space. While the
mixture of smooth and striated spaces in physical spaces adds another
dimension to design, their presence need never be a goal in itself
but a means of achieving more interesting, provocative work.
Crucial to smooth and striated space, but especially to the designer
thereof, is the manner of transition from one space to the other
and back. Deleuze and Guattari discuss the meeting point of smooth
and striated space with the notion of the clinamen, defined by
Lucretius in the first century B.C. Deleuze and Guattari see the
clinamen as the difference between the straight line and the curve,
“ the smallest deviation, the minimum excess” ( D & G 1987: 371 ). 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
They again refer to the clinamen in their physical model of smooth

and striated space: the transformation from striated to smooth space S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
happens either by declination ( the smallest deviation ) or by vortical 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
flow ( D & G 1987: 489 ). Smooth space, “the space of contact”, ANDRE AS MUELLER
systems of sounds or colors ( D & G 1987: 371 ), occupies this tiny 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 14
space of deviation. This is where the action is, the crucial moment ERIK A JACOBS LORD
in which one atom veers off in a slightly different direction than 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
the rest, causing a chain reaction of events to occur, or the genesis WIM MARSEILLE
of new forms. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
In Lucretius’ atomist model of the universe, the world began as atoms ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU

falling through the void in what we now call laminar flow. Without 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
the clinamen, the “minimum angle of formation of a vortex”, atoms ILSE BEUMER
would not have been able to collide or interact and the world would
not have been able to form ( Serres 2000: 6 ). The vortex brings RESEARCH REPORT
development and opportunity for interaction and growth. 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
Physics has told us that first there was atomic chaos and that
order emerges from disorder, but really it is the other way around 56 C O L O F O N
( Serres 2000: 27 ). Disorder sets the stage for becoming. It generates,

produces, and evolves. Vortical flow – one of the escape routes
from striated space – arises out of and returns to laminar flow,
or the flow of sheets of air or water which glide over each other
in varying densities.Ω If the parallel ( striated ) layers are disturbed, Ω H T T P : // H Y P ER P H Y S I C S . P H Y - A S T R . G S U . E D U / H B A S E / P F R I C . H T M L
vortical or whirling turbulent ( smooth ) flow is produced.

V O R T I C A L F LO W
While examples of flocking and turbulent flow logically lean towards
chaos theory and the notion of randomness or chance, it is notable
that Deleuze and Guattari, while writing about smooth and striated
space, do not invoke either of the aforementioned terms or the
language of chaos theory in A Thousand Plateaus. One could
speculate that this was a conscious choice, as chaos theory predates
the text by several decades. Turbulent flow does not imply randomness
or chaos, and neither does the concept of smooth space. Smooth
space may make a dramatic entrance worthy of a self-obsessive diva
or wander in quietly like the mind of an abstracted professor,
but never accidentally.
“ For a long time turbulence was identified with disorder or noise.
Today we know that this is not the case. Indeed, while turbulent
motion appears as irregular or chaotic on the macroscopic scale,
it is, on the contrary, highly organized in the microscopic scale.
The multiple space and time scales involved in turbulence correspond
to the coherent behavior of millions and millions of molecules.”
( Prigogine and Stengers 1984: 141 ).
Turbulence is at once a boon and bane, destructive and constructive.
A spinning top is the vortex in action, stable and instable, order and
disorder at once, indeterminate in its short life ( Serres 2000: 30 ).
Via the clinamen, the minimal angle, the vortex is a mechanism
of escape, growth and ( re )birth, a way out and back again, one path
between smooth and striated space.
Jumping from Lucretius to Heisenberg and from the atom to the atomic
particle, one step smaller and more elemental, the world of subatomic
physics is even more uncertain than that of Lucretius’ atom.
Subatomic particles are the nomads of the universe: elusive,
evasive, difficult to find or measure. One doesn’t know exactly their 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
velocity, where ( or when ) particles are according to the Heisenberg

Uncertainty Principle, but one can predict the probability of where S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
they may be and how fast they are going ( Kaku 1994: 114 ). A picture 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
from the bubble chamber at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland ANDRE AS MUELLER
shows pi mesons in liquid hydrogen, creating spirals as they decay.Ω Ω H T T P : // C D S W EB . C ER N . C H /

R E C O R D / 39 474
9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 15
Here the particles shoot violently yet gracefully from a straight ERIK A JACOBS LORD
to a vortical path, winding away into new forms at different levels 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S

of energy. These particles are not just swerving, they are WIM MARSEILLE
transforming into a wholly new state. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
Let us consider the impact that working in and around the space ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
of the clinamen has for architectural designers. As discussed earlier, 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
achieving a truly smooth space may be in itself impossible. ILSE BEUMER
However, architects such as Bernard Tschumi and Rem Koolhaas

have dealt with the issue by interpreting the built environment as RESEARCH REPORT
a fluid cinematic experience. Rather than as static object, architectonic 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
spaces as viewed through a first-person frame of reference are

perceived successively, like scenes in a film. These can be edited 56 C O L O F O N
according to artistic vision of the director who choreographs jumps

in time and place and manages the storyline. By viewing space in this A P I C T U R E F R O M T H E B U B B L E C H A M B ER
fluid, dynamic way, a layer of smooth space can be grafted onto the AT T H E C ER N L A B O R ATO R Y I N S W I T Z ER L A N D
architectonic object even though the object itself may not posses
the qualities of smooth space.
Bernard Tschumi did a series of explicit translations of film form
( cutting, jumping, device and counterpoint ) in his Screenplay Series
( 1978-82 ). Scenes from films inspire sequences and entire programs
of architecture ( Tschumi 1997: 15 ). Beyond this early work, Tschumi
has spent years exploring the connections between motion and program
in his work. Just as progression is a necessity within several Deleuzian
models of smooth and striated space, time becomes a key factor once
architecture becomes filmic and processual.
Along with the fascination of time and film in architecture, Tschumi
experiments with and uses “in-between” space frequently in his
work. According to him, “in-between space is activated by the motion
of bodies in that space” ( Tschumi 1997:21 ), meaning that only
the movement of users in the space – a wholly unpredictable flow –
completes the space. His in - between spaces are often literally formed
between two shells or skins and are, without the attendant users or
program-makers, indeterminate in nature. In my view this connects
again with the notion of clinamen in the sense that a clinamenic
space is where the tide of smooth and striated space shifts.
When applied to human experience, the vortex, the outcome of the
minimal angle, takes on a more sinister quality. When dizziness
or vertigo occurs, “the circumferential fringe of vision swirls in on
the perpectival vanishing point in a vortex of potential experience,
A V O R T E X O F P OT E N T I A L E X P ER I E N C E
“like turbulent water around a drain.” ( Massumi 2004: 325 ). Up and
down are confused, the horizon and ground plane seem to rotate as
in a vortex and in some cases the eyes themselves move in circular
motion.Ω ( While vertigo is not generally desired as a condition, there Ω H T T P : // W W W . N EU R O LO GYC H A N N EL . C O M / V ER T I G O / D I AG N O S I S . S H T M L
are those that pay for the experience at amusement parks). Vertigo, or
vortical experience, has been designed into architecture as a tool for
transformation through the intentional ungrounding of the user. Two
examples show this effect particularly well: the Garden of Exile in 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Daniel Liebeskind’s’ Jewish Museum ( 1999 ), where uneven ground

and tilting columns produce disorientation if not nausea. Lars Spuybroek S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
uses the vortex as a generative principle of form in his project for an 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
exhibition space, wet GRID ( 1999 - 2000 ). Not only was the structure ANDRE AS MUELLER
produced by interaction of vortices on a set of parallel lines, but by the 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 16
placing works of art above, below and around the visitor, imploring ERIK A JACOBS LORD
a tilting of the head, an arching of the back and other extreme 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
positions. Vertigo and the vortex become part of the experience of WIM MARSEILLE
space. ( Spuybroek 2004: 157 ). The vortex functions as a manifestation 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
of smooth space, in feeling or in form. More importantly, it is an ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
example of how smooth space can be designed via Spuybroek’s analog 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
machine, which produces vortical, vertigo - inducing forms. The vortex, ILSE BEUMER
the progeny of the clinamen, breaks up the grid and instead of

drawing a line between two points, spirals and dances around them. RESEARCH REPORT
Dancing brings us back to where the clinamen was first described, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
by Lucretius over two millennia ago. The inbuilt contradiction

of turbulence – of order that it creates but can also disrupt– can 56 C O L O F O N
also be found in the language, in the gap between turba and turbo.
Turba is a multitude, confusion and tumult, disorder. The Greek
!"#$%, turbé, is also used to describe the mad dancing in Bacchic
festivals ( Serres 2000: 28 ). And there is a difference withto turbo,
which describes the vortical and comparatively ordered movement
of a spinning top, stable even while it leans and sways,
but which only gives an illusion of rest. This is the movement
of the wind, and of water. Lucretius writes of the streaming - chaos
or laminar flow in the void, and the cloud-chaos, a fluctuation of
oppositions ( Serres 2000: 30 ). There is no true rest in Lucretius’
universe, but only flow and streaming chaos changed by declination,
the minimum angle, the vortex forming to create and destroy.
The world around us is a flowing, dynamic system, whether
we characterize it by the fall of atoms or the spinning of quarks.
Even on the human scale there is a flow to life, a fluidity that
surrounds us in nature, the seasons, in the path of a life. Yet as
much as science tells us about nature or what we can observe
ourselves, the architectonic objects produced by our culture place
a greater value on static, rigid forms. Architecture is now in rehab
after its long-term addiction to the grid. At the height of Modernism,
and later during the reign of the “superstructure”, the grid on
the engineer’s drafting table had thewas in danger of becoming
more important than its inhabitants. By using the notions of
smooth and striated space as tools of analysis and design, the grid
can be mollified. The minimum angle can be set free to spiral away,
dancing towards chaos and back, flowing between layers of smooth
and striated space causing crashing storms or lulling them back
to laminar flow.
CONCLUSION
“Do not multiply models,” write Deleuze and Guattari ( D & G 1987:499 );
but in this case, Messieurs, I will have to disappoint you. To understand
smooth and striated space in terms of the physical environment
I must do both multiplication and division. Architects are the ultimate 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
jacks of all trades. Vitruvius wrote in 27 B.C. that a good architect

must be educated in manual skills, scholarship, history, drawing, S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
philosophy, medicine, and astronomy, ( though not expected to master 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
all of them ), and today while the required fields of knowledge ANDRE AS MUELLER
have shifted, the generalist approach of the architect remains.Ω Ω H T T P : // W W W . L I H .

G R E . AC . U K / H I S T H E /
9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 17
VITRUVIUS.HTM
Because the field of architecture touches on so many aspects such ERIK A JACOBS LORD
as physics, material technology, social questions, psychology, art 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
and philosophy, there is not one singular notion of smooth and WIM MARSEILLE
striated space which could fit architecture as a whole. Instead, smooth 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
and striated space simultaneously translates, traverses and reverses ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
through a varying conglomeration of layers. Architectural space 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
cuts through this to reveal a brilliantly variegated yet irrevocably ILSE BEUMER
fused cross section of its totality.

The space of action at the clinamen, or the transformation from RESEARCH REPORT
smooth to striated space and back, is present on scales from the 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
subatomic to macrocosmic, yet part of the routine of daily life

which may go utterly unnoticed. When approaching concepts 56 C O L O F O N
of smooth and striated space in architecture, the designer can

use the notions of clinamen and indeterminacy to initiate change
within designed spaces. Just as the examples here have shown,
smooth and striated space can be observed at many levels
simultaneously, not as a rigid program but as a dynamic and
omnipresent part of life. Architectural space is thus, in the Deleuzian
sense, the coalescence or multiplicity of all possible smooth and
striated spatial relationships within reach of the project. Designers
are used to working with the directions of the wind and sun, but
what about birdsong, the scents of cooking food cooking, or the
path the cat takes while surfing sunbeams? Designing a space
based on its smooth and striated aspects can be a source of new
methodologies for approaching architectural space, whether done
as a back room analysis, in a daydream, or as a significant role in
the approach of the designer. In other words, this approach provides
plenty of ways to let smooth space dance around the grid, to escape
it and ricochet back.
Spatial analysis and design only become richer when smooth and
striated spaces are taken into account. Even the design process
can benefit, as many designers have already proven. The mixture
of smooth and striated space exists from site level to details and
materials, but also in the emotional mixture of the spaces, use
of sensoryial elements, variation of long- and close-range elements
and homogenous and heterogeneous spaces. Not all projects may
involve all layers, but in every case the opportunity for playfulness
F R A N K G EH R Y ’S E X P ER I E N C E M U S I C P R O J E C T, S E AT T L E ,
and variation exists. ! USA: “N E V ER B EL I E V E T H AT A S M O OT H S PAC E W I L L
S U F FI C E TO S AV E U S ” ( D & G 19 87 : 50 0 ).
SOURCES
Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari

A T h ous an d Pl at e aus: Capit alism an d Schizophre ni a ,
trans. Brian Massumi
London, University of Minnesota press ( 1987 ).
Frampton, Kenneth 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Mod er n Archit e c ture: a Cr it i c al His t or y, 3rd e d.

London, Thames and Hudson, Ltd ( 1992 ). S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
Harris, Paul ANDRE AS MUELLER
To Se e w ith th e Min d an d T hink through th e E ye: 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 18
D e l euze, Fol ding Archit e c ture, an d Sim on Rodi a’s Wat ts To wer s” , ERIK A JACOBS LORD
p 36 - 60 of Ian Buchanan and Gregg Lambert eds. Deleuze and Space 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
Toronto, University of Toronto Press ( 2005 ). WIM MARSEILLE
2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
Kaku, Michio ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
Hy per spa c e 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
“ New York, Anchor Books ( 1994 ). ILSE BEUMER
Kostoff, Spiro RESEARCH REPORT
A His t or y of Archit e c ture , Se t t ing s an d Ritu als 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
Oxford, Oxford University Press ( 1985 ).

56 C O L O F O N
Prigogine, Ilya and Isabelle Stengers

O rd er O ut of C h a os
London, Bantam ( 1984 ).
Serres, Michel
T h e Bir th of Phys i cs
trans. Jack Jawkes
Manchester, Clinamen Press ( 2000 ).
Tschumi, Bernard
Archit e c ture in/of Mot ion
Rotterdam, NAi Publishers ( 1997 ).
S PAT I A L S C E N A R I O S 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
WIM MARSEILLE S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
Since research emerged as an influential factor in art and design, ANDRE AS MUELLER
interior designers have become aware of their poor theoretical 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
background. In 2002, the magazine de Architect devoted an entire ERIK A JACOBS LORD
issue to that lack of theory. In the preface, Janny Rodermond 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 19
stressed, “Nonetheless our educational system lacks a comprehensive WIM MARSEILLE
stockpile of information on the history of the interior and on current 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
developments and assignments. Without such a source and its ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
ongoing development Interior Architecture cannot shed its stylistic, 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
ornamental image” ( Rodermond 2002: 8,16 ). In the magazine, ILSE BEUMER
the cases presented showed promising practices incorporating

a variety of research methodologies in the process of design. RESEARCH REPORT
Yet, there were neither theories as basis nor concluding reflections 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
to help in developing theory. One could say interior design is based

on the references of case studies like a ‘science of jurisprudence’ 56 C O L O F O N
( Van Aller 2003 ).

The renowned interior design cases seem to merely form a collective
memory of references functioning as standards in practice-based
research. In addition, many interior architects are convinced that
the quality of the interior space is hard to define and even impossible
to photograph. “The interior space cannot really be represented;
you have to go there!” ( Spanjaard 2007 ). Indeed, the human
experience is celebrated to such an extent in interior design
that representations are considered insufficient and any reflection
on design ideas tends to be ignored. How do interior designers
deal with the lack of a theoretical discourse and research attitudes?
To be sure, the field of interior design contains historical reviews,
topical reflections, magazines full of case studies, discussions
and symposia. However, in spite of all those publications, there
is no general body of texts considered the theoretical basis for the
profession. In the context of their interior design theory reader Intimus,
Mark Taylor and Julieanna Preston state that when investigating
several readers used in art schools and universities, there was a lack
of a common collection of essays for interior design reflection.
“Initial informal surveys of interior design/interior architecture
and spatial art university programs revealed that not only approaches,
outlooks and pedagogical philosophies differ, but also the scope
of theoretical texts rarely repeat or identify a distinct set of readings,”
they claim ( Taylor and Preston 2006: 6 ). All educators seem to borrow
from different disciplines such as geography, sociology, anthropology,
philosophy, and gender studies.
In everyday practice, input for designers and their sources of inspiration
differ greatly and seem to be mainly related to educational background.
Their reference tools, however, seem to be mainly connected to a
design attitude. For example, interior facilitators need an immense
“library of materials” necessary for a design process where
expenses and delivery time are the decisive factors ( De Bont 2008 ).
In conceptual interior design offices, all kinds of visual sources serve
to illustrate the design concept presented to the client. Such visuals
are specifically utilized in design competitions where the designer is 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
absent at the time of presentation ( Hasanzadeh 2008 ). The variety of

sources of inspiration and reference tools in the interior design field S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
make it hard to generate a coherent theoretical design discourse. 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
The scattered picture so far generates two questions. First, is there ANDRE AS MUELLER
an effective definition of interior design? Second, what is in fact 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
the relation between theory and practice in interior design? These ERIK A JACOBS LORD
questions are closely related in the discussion on interior design and 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 20
the development of a theoretical discourse and research attitudes. WIM MARSEILLE
An important trace in the origin of interior design lies historically 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
in craftsmanship. “Since furnishing is made out of different ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
materials a designer has to coordinate the cooperation of craftsmen.” 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
( Boonzaaijer 1985 ) In the various European countries, other artisanal ILSE BEUMER
traditions have been influential in the profession. In France and

Britain, wall decoration and upholstery were part of the profession, RESEARCH REPORT
where the interior designer, or decorator, coordinated the dressing 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
of space. In Germany and the Netherlands, interior design implied

the coordination of carpentry, so the designer was known as an 56 C O L O F O N
‘ Indoor Architect’. In Italy, even today, one does not use the term
interior designer; there are only architects or product designers.
As the job of coordination expanded, interior designers started
to distinguish themselves from the practical craftsmen and the
commercial salesmen of interior equipment. Not only did interior
designers highlight their aesthetic and artistic talents, they also
proclaimed a doctrine of conventions for rationalized living and
improved quality of life. The profession of interior design established
associations and foundations promoting those ideals. In the
Netherlands, the association Goed Wonen ( Good Living ) is a 1960s
example of that trend.
Similar to architects, interior designers organized themselves into
professional organizations and devoted much time and energy to
discussing the boundaries of their discipline. The interior designer’s
position between architect and interior decorator was a difficult
balance. In characterizing interior design as spatial profession,
ornamentation and styling were rejected while an emphasis on the
human scale set the profession apart from the architectural domain.
The formulated competencies for the interior design profession had
to be met by educational institutions. The result was a compromise
in skills, knowledge and attitudes aiming at an all - round profession
for interior architecture.
Today, the organization of indoor space has become so complex
that teamwork is needed, whith the interior designer not always
in the leading position. The profession’s artistic and aesthetic
approach is no longer sufficient for dealing with commercial,
logistic, economic and organizational factors. The one - way process
from assignment via design to completion must become less rigid,
including a flexible time factor required by economic factors.
The traditional phases of briefing, debriefing, sketch design,
final design, contracting, and building are now interconnected,
resulting in a process of propositions and adjustments.
What is the impact of the development of the profession of interior
design on today’s need for a theoretical discourse and research
attitudes? In three examples of designers with roots in different 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
disciplines, I will explore how strategies in design could affect

a theoretical discourse. Marcel de Bont, interior facilitator, educated S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
as a manager, now designs turn-key offices. ( www.huisvesting.nl ) 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
Ronald Hooft, artist designer, has a background in fine art, now ANDRE AS MUELLER
designs avant-garde restaurants together with architect Herman Prast. 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
( www.pratshooft.nl ) Herman Verkerk, event architect, educated ERIK A JACOBS LORD
as an architect, is now engaged in interior design for the cultural 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 21
sector. ( www.eventarchitecture.nl ) WIM MARSEILLE
Interior facilitator Marcel de Bont takes the burden of relocating 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
an office and shows the client step by step which decisions must ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
be made. The pragmatic agenda implies management and economy, 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
but hardly generates new insights in the development of a theoretical ILSE BEUMER
discourse for interior design. Artist designer Ronald Hooft has

a reputation of creating a design novelty in the restaurant world. RESEARCH REPORT
In a fluent process of creativity, the location is being stripped, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
negotiations on kitchen equipment are starting, while design sketches

are still rough outlines. In Hooft’s flexible process an overall view is 56 C O L O F O N
important. “In parts of the sketches we know exactly what it will be;
others are more flexible so they can change over the years. The spatial
quality always should allow change, so you do not have to modify the
construction. In our concept, the way things are attached to another
is important: a floor to a ceiling, or a staircase as a transition area
or resting area. That how what the interior architect is distinguished
from the decorator.” ( Hooft 2008 ) Event architect Herman Verkerk
does not propose a set of options, but creates a well - argued “optimum”
– a cycle of acting and checking – for reflection. “Reality is adaptable;
lines in your drawing have multiple interpretations whereas
the amount of contextual information continues to increase,”
says Verkerk. ( Verkerk, 2008 )
These examples show how multidisciplinarity in the field of interior
design results in new approaches to the field. Both the artist designer
and the event architect fully embrace complexity and design in
a flexible and fluent process of propositions and adjustments.
That fluidity of process seems to reflect our current Internet society.
In The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy,
Society and Culture, Emanuel Castells develops the concept of ‘spaces
of flow’. Complexity and fluidity are captured in that 21st century
notion of space. The spatial approaches of designers tend to vary
between fixed identifications of the context to playful embracing
of the fluid complexity. Yet, the developments in the practice of
the profession seem to inevitably progress toward stressing the fluid
and the complex. Such a design attitude could imply a multitude
of fluent perspectives, rearrangements and scenarios. Such shift
in design attitude could be demonstrated by further design practices.
One of the icons of modernism, the butterfly chair by Arne Jacobsen,
illustrates how contradiction, categorization and composition form
the premises of functional design. The chair is divided in its two
functional parts, a seat and a frame. The design process continuously
optimizes the designated functions. The seat and back ought
to be warm and bendy and thus made of plywood, while the frame
has to be strong and thin, and so manufactured from metal.
Even aesthetically, the categorization continues: the parts are divided 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
clearly in a distinctive connection; the seat’s bright colors attract

attention while the frame’s appearance is downplayed in reflective S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
chrome. The entire chair is a composition; it is literally constructed 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
as an idealist expression. ANDRE AS MUELLER

st
Conversely, 21 century design is not based on functional 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
design, implying the notions of contradiction, categorization ERIK A JACOBS LORD
and composition. Today, design instead points to perspective, 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 22
rearrangement and scenario. For example, for an “ideal home”, WIM MARSEILLE
designer Hella Jongerius created a collection of layered perspectives 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
filled with all possible choices of doors, plates, curtains and chairs. ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
Jongerius’ color collection for Vitra rearranges historical colors 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
used by Vitra to which transparent colored sheets are added so ILSE BEUMER
as to increase the number of possible color scenarios.

While the modernists loved to project their ideal on a ‘tabula rasa’, RESEARCH REPORT
today different perspectives are included as a means to reveal 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
an insight in the unique case at hand. In this approach, two shifts

are crucial. Firstly, the external spectator has become an internal 56 C O L O F O N
participant. There is no longer the wish to come to an eternally

valid analysis; the goal is to arrive at a particularly interesting
option where contradiction shifts to multiple perspectives. Secondly,
mapping the complete design contexts is decisive for arriving at
a new understanding. The design is an attempt to reveal and elaborate
on that understanding of the situation, so the act of design is mostly
a rearrangement of existing facts rather than deliberately constructing
forms following their predominant category of functioning. As a result
the design is a flexible scenario rather than a fixed composition.
Let’s explore these three characteristics of perspective, rearrangement
and scenario further in interior design practices and see how they could
play a role in a theoretical discourse. In his work, Herman Verkerk
aims at a nuanced reality. Instead of making the design context
abstract, interpreting it rigidly or starting from scratch, Verkerk
analyses the design context as closely and from as many perspectives
as possible. That analysis, however, is not directly connected to
the result. It is a way of getting a well - balanced grip on the case.
Verkerk says, “In the end it is a matter of what you take as the context,
what data you accept to work with as a frame. That battle with the
context is interesting. That is why analysis is so important, because
it provides you with the information to transform a negative or
neutral feature to a positive one. So when there is a repulsive ceiling
H ER M A N V ER K ER K , C O M I N G S O O N , A R N H EM .
at the ‘Coming Soon’ shop , I think: Hmm, lovely, an ugly ceiling.”
The modernist characteristics of contradiction, categorization and
composition are still present in the design process but no longer play
a dominant role. Streams of notions go beyond contradiction;
categories are created in a fluent way, and compositions appear
in a dynamic setting. The “optimum” and nuanced reality Verkerk
works with is an attempt to create a specific context. Perspective,
rearrangement, and scenario as characteristics of a topical design
attitude are only partially incorporated. Many perspectives are utilized
to arrive at a nuanced image of the context. Processing the information
is based on rearrangement, such as observing and drawing in
photographs, observing and reorganizing the photos. But the action
to make a design is closer to a composition than to a rearrangement. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
The result is not so much a scenario but as Verkerk calls it “an optimum
to formulate a new coherence of many distinct aspects.” S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
Interestingly, in Verkerk’s work, the alternation between analysis 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
and design slowly moves toward a proposal that can be considered ANDRE AS MUELLER
both as analysis and design. As a consequence, rearrangement 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
and composition are interrelated. Though pure rearrangement ERIK A JACOBS LORD
would stick to the components at hand, and strict composition derives 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 23
from additions in an empty setting, Verkerk works slowly towards WIM MARSEILLE
an “optimum”, a best possible compromise arranging components 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
as the design context requires. In so doing, he adds information ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
coherently to arrive at a nuanced reality. An added layer unifies 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
the complexity of interests. Flexibility is integrated in the design ILSE BEUMER
result, but since it is not explicit, as in a combination of scenarios,

the insights into the particular design process are hard to grasp. RESEARCH REPORT
An analysis of the design attitude, however, reveals the crucial 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
points of attention, motivation and interpretation.

Ronald Hooft celebrates complexity in another way. When he introduced 56 C O L O F O N
R O N A L D H O O F T, H A R K EM A .
the case of his famous design for the Harkema restaurant , he did not
talk about an aesthetic concept but started listing an immense amount
of data, making it absolutely impossible to brief the commissioner.
“ You can’t get a shark tank” is the office slogan. Hooft does not try
to solve the design puzzle in its totality, but works step by step
defining the crucial points of tension. For a new restaurant, he does
not make plans, just a sketch, to be able to talk about the atmosphere.
“ If I’d made a computer drawing right now, the client would think
there was already a design, while the crucial point at the moment is
to see if the kitchen supplier can do 70 cm less to create space needed
to improve the route to the toilets.” What Hooft actually does is set
up a complete arrangement in his mind and then decide what parts
have to be adjusted to create a clear design. Multiple perspectives,
rearrangements, and scenarios all play a role in the design process.
In addition, design aspects imply function, logistics, routing,
atmosphere, materials, colors, acoustics, commerce, legitimation,
and graphics, and a host of other criteria such as commercial profit,
wellbeing, and critical awareness. When we view Hooft’s interiors
as artistic installations, the complexity, the critical visual form
of the design, and the decisive details become crucial.
Thus, designers do have particular ways of approaching the design
context, and use various perspectives, rearrangements and scenarios
to enrich the given context. It is interesting to see how Herman
Verkerk has no preset ideal in any design context, but looks for unique
cultural value, whereas Ronald Hooft creates a piece of work where
space and experience are integrated. Could one conclude that the
three notions of perspective, rearrangement, and scenario indeed
are strong analytical tools and could act as a starting point
for producing a theoretical discourse and a research attitude?
Unfortunately, in the design processes discussed, perspectives
are not strictly mapped in a rearrangement. The design result as such
is complex and enriched by layers of information. A representation
of the design will bring forth new interpretations and force the design
to produce another process of discourse production.
Verkerk has collaborated for years with photographer Johannes 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Schwartz in an attempt to create a significant representation of

his oeuvre. Coming Soon Arnhem provides images properly framed S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
to exclude the building parts that would spoil the illusion ( Coming 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
Soon Arnhem 2007 ). Schwartz manages to give an interpretation ANDRE AS MUELLER
of the design implying the concepts in his two-dimensional art and 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
creating compositions that form a new critical reality ( Verkerk 2008 ). ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Verkerk says, “I was at first shocked by the butt - naked character, 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 24
but it sure is distinctive! And I am fond of the drawings that go along WIM MARSEILLE
with it. They give a representation of the design in another way. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
It remains difficult though, reproduction.” ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
Hooft accepts that his interiors do not easily reveal his intentions 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
and simply starts a new chapter with replaying the former. ILSE BEUMER
“ The concept does not come across so well, it is a manifestation

that the consumers get in magazines. But we are flexible while RESEARCH REPORT
creating and can make something more decorative, or gloomy, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
or clear. We can be very diverse but as soon as you have made

something people want that particular style signature. It takes 56 C O L O F O N
more time to give a proper representation. Now we are doing a hotel

and were asked to make a plan straight away. But it does not have
any significance when you do not analyze and investigate all
parameters, the program of demands. So instead we guide the
commissioners through a completed work of ours to show we are
capable to handle complexity and organize space satisfactorily.
So, the prints are in the magazines but we like to walk through
the real site instead and tell about the organization, and the complex
information and work a designer needs. You have to convey that,
otherwise people do not understand why you ask so much money.”
In both Verkerk’s and Hooft’s design processes, representation is
another layer to the work as a new translation directed by the chosen
medium. Would stricter pursuite of the process of perspective,
rearrangement and scenario give more coherence?
To test the possibility of a design process where the forms of design
derive more directly from an analysis, I initiated a workshop at the
Utrecht School of the Arts. The workshop, called ‘Fullness’, intended
to explore to what extent it would be possible to make a design based
W O R K S H O P, “F U L L N E S S”.
directly on the analysis of the context . To begin, students were trained
in how to handle data in a complex design context by mapping
the appearance from different perspectives. Next they were asked
to design a staircase in a particular classroom. As an investigation,
they made a model of the existing design context taken from
a particular perspective. Crucial at this point was that the entire
phenomenon was taken into account from a specific perspective.
If the perspective was, for example ‘frames’, then all phenomena
were assessed on their framing quality. In this way, the mapping
of the design context revealed hidden qualities, and students were
amazed to see the diversity of models produced by one and the
same existing design context. After the distinctive interpretation
of the reality of the space, the design was simply a continuation
of the chosen visual means used in the mapping.
How can this study be significant for the development of a theoretical
discourse? Two phenomena are striking: mapping of data is an
illustration of a mental attitude as such; and interpretation is clearly 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
evident in the design outcome. An academic case bears the advantage

of simplification. In such an assignment, aspects can be neglected S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
although they are inescapable in reality. The challenge of the application 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
of a ‘mapped design process’ would be to investigate the possibility of ANDRE AS MUELLER
preserving a selected perspective in the final interpretation. 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
Would such a ‘mapped design process’ more easily generate a ERIK A JACOBS LORD
theoretical discourse and a research attitude? That is tempting 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 25
to assume. The design result is directly based on the interpretation WIM MARSEILLE
of the context, and the analysis is mapped in a communicative and 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
intelligent visual. However, the production of a theoretical discourse ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
in the field of interior design depends on a variety of factors whereas 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
the daily practice of interior design does not necessarily feel the ILSE BEUMER
urge to partake in it. Yet, notions such as perspective, rearrangement

and scenario offer at least a toolkit for the start of both a research RESEARCH REPORT
attitude and an theoretical discourse based on forms of analysis. 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
CONCLUSION 56 C O L O F O N
In an exploration of current positions in interior design, I have tracked

various contexts, developments and influences that could affect the
production of a theoretical discourse in interior design. Generally
speaking, a theoretical discourse in interior design and a related
research-based attitude are badly articulated, although the desire
to be part of them is widely expressed. In this study, I came across
a number of viewpoints, each with its own background, interest
and validity. Let us summarize them and see how they could produce
a sound conclusion with a future vision for interior design and theory.
From a purely theoretical viewpoint, there is a wish to arrive at an
investigation of the history of interior design. A categorization could
serve to produce a vocabulary in generally valid terms, strengthening
the profession and signifying its specific qualities. This wish, however,
seems to be based on a modernist understanding of the practice of
interior design, where reflection can only lead to a body of theory
initiating good practice. In particular, architecture manuals, with
their typologies and standardized measures, have served as a toolkit
for modernist design. Interior design did not generate a similar
theory, perhaps due to its wish to operate in a more human or artistic
mode. Now that design practice is no longer oriented towards preset
ideals, recapturing such a theory seems quite outdated.
How then could a ‘body of theory’ and a related theoretical
discourse be created? Topical theoretical texts on interior design
could be selected and interrelate to one another. The reader
Intimus mentioned above is an example of this. Two factors make
such an endeavor difficult. There is hardly a heritage of manifestos
or reflections by interior designers and the textual sources of
inspiration are very disparate. So far, no editor has had sufficient
authority to launch a general accepted reader on a theoretical
discourse in interior design. Well - known architects or interior
designers such as Rem Koolhaa or John Pawson, took a better
chance in composing an inspirational book with a selection of
texts and images.
The relation of practice and theory has radically changed 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
under the influence of the postmodern. As mentioned above,

the modernist design process was based on standards and ideals. S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
Therefore, theory could play an initiating role by describing 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
cases and distilling values to help design the ultimate form. ANDRE AS MUELLER
Research consisted of investigation and abstraction, implying 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
notions such as contradiction, categorization, and composition. ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Theory was clearly distinct from practice and was celebrated wit 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 26
a scientific authority to be applied in practice. WIM MARSEILLE
Postmodern theory did not seek to articulate the absolute but 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
introduced a multi-perspective approach to theory. Research ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
transformed into an ongoing reflection aiming to reveal a variety 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
of understandings in different design contexts. Consequently, the ILSE BEUMER
results are not ending in a proclamation of certainties, but continue

to generate a discourse of complex reflection. RESEARCH REPORT
In The Ref lective Practitioner, Donald Schön argues that the 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
professional practitioner continuously reflects in action. “The unique

and uncertain situation becomes understandable in the attempt to 56 C O L O F O N
change it and changes in the attempt to understand it,” he reports on

the mutual interaction between insight and change or, perhaps better
put, between reflection and creation ( Schön 1983 ). A new insight
changes the perception of the design context, and a manipulation
of the design context reveals a new insight. The goal is neither
the insight nor the change, but to keep the process of creation and
reflection going. Here the potency of the designer as researcher
becomes evident.
The topical design process is conducted in a variety of ways, each
providing another scenario for generating theory. However, it should
be noted that the fluid pragmatic characteristics of the attitude runs
the risk of becoming nihilistic. When the ideal is dismissed and
the socio - economic objectives are taken for granted, no goal is left
but efficiency. The case of the interior facilitator illustrates how such
a practice lacks development and significance. The only theory that
probably could be distilled from this is on applied management.
The most exposed strategy for affecting theory by interconnecting
creation and reflection is found in product - based interior design.
The reflection in action here has led to a design process in which
a variety of perspectives are fully embraced and the mapping of
the design context leads to rearrangements that reveal new insights.
In the best cases, the work itself functions as a signifier, and suggests
that creation and reflection are enveloped in the final piece of design.
A substantial amount of design has proven so provocative that reports
and theoretical reviews offered it a position occasionally equated
with the critical, challenging qualities of fine art.
The design processes of Verkerk and Hooft may likewise be described
as reflection in action. Their design proposals are suggested as
hypotheses to check the consequences. The difference between
the two designers only lies in the way of communication with the
client. Verkerk continues the cycle of acting and checking internally
and presents that as an “optimum” to the client; while Hooft is
playfully checking the crucial points along the process of reflection
in action.
The problem in generating a theoretical discourse out of the delivery 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
derives from the fact that the analysis is not mapped exclusively and
the reflections are not reported. In daily practice there seems to be S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
no necessity to do so. There is no lively discourse on new approaches, 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
and forms of representation are merely occasional initiatives from ANDRE AS MUELLER
the designers. Verkerk published some of his researches; Hooft surveys 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
his ideas in installations or one - offs. ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Innovative use of mapping media, like that exposed in the ‘fullness’ 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 27
workshop, could be one tool to help visualize the interpretations WIM MARSEILLE
of the design context, and so provoke a discussion that positions 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
a variety of viewpoints. Theory would then provide us with positions ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
to enable an underpinning navigational direction and so contribute 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
to the development of the profession. ILSE BEUMER
In a theoretical review of the attitude of topical interior designers, it

appears possible to abstract notions such as perspective, rearrangement RESEARCH REPORT
and scenarios as a toolkit for analysis and the start of a theoretical 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
discourse. Thus, any attempts to distill a theory out of design work

would be to discover design attitudes and elaborate on what significance 56 C O L O F O N
that attitude might have in certain contexts. Reflection on just the

design outcome will inevitably lead to new interpretation, interesting
in itself but with uncertain feed back for the theory of interior design.
The wish for a theoretical discourse and a research-based attitude
in interior design stems from different motivations. Theory once
was part of the feedback loop with the practice of design, but never
matured in interior design. Now that the process of design has been
transformed and forms of artistic research have emerged in the
theoretical domain, the relation of theory and practice has altered.
For textual theorists, the challenge would be to elaborate on attitudes
of designers and introduce tempting significations to stimulate
the discourse. For designers, there is an opportunity to strengthen
their work with a discernible interpretation of the context,
and to create a theory in visuals.!
SOURCES
Van Aller, Annelies

personal conversation
Utrecht ( 2003 )
De Bont, Marcel
unpublish ed int er v ie w
Amersfoort ( 2008 )
www.huisvesting.nl
Boonzaaijer, Karel
personal conversation
Zeist ( 1985 )
Castells, Manuel
T h e Rise of th e Ne t work Soc ie t y, T h e Infor m ation A ge:
E conomy, Soc ie t y and Culture Vol. I
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers ( 2000 ).
Coming Soon Ar nh em; 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
www.comingsoonarnhem.nl
www.landstradevries.nl S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
www.eventarchitectuur.nl/wordpress/?p=38 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
ANDRE AS MUELLER
Hasanzadeh, Lisa 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
unpublish ed present ation ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Amsterdam ( 2008 ) 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S 28
www.concreteamsterdam.nl WIM MARSEILLE
2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
Hooft, Ronald ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
unpublish ed int er v ie w 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
Amsterdam ( 2008 ) ILSE BEUMER
www.pratshooft.nl
RESEARCH REPORT
Rodermond, Janny 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
d e Archit e c t 20 02/8, “An Arg um ent for More

D isc iplin e-R el at ed Information”. 56 C O L O F O N
Schön, Donald A.
T h e R ef l ec tive P ra c tition er, How P rofessionals
T hink in A c tion
New York: Basic Books ( 1983 ).
Spanjaard, Kees
Amsterdam (2007)
Taylor, Mark and Julieanna Preston

Intimus Int er ior D esig n T h eor y R ead er
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers ( 2006 ).
Verkerk, Herman
Amsterdam ( 2008 )
www.eventarchitecture.nl
C R E AT I V E C A S T S 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
INTRODUCTION ANDRE AS MUELLER
What is divination? It is the art or act of foretelling future events ERIK A JACOBS LORD
or revealing secret knowledge ( sometimes supernatural ) by means 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
of augury or a supernatural medium. You could also regard it WIM MARSEILLE
as an inspired guess or premonition. The traditional definition 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 29
of divination encompasses its facts as well as the social and ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
psychological implications and influences. One should not confuse 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
divination with fortunetelling; where divination is based on rituals ILSE BEUMER
and has a social effect, fortunetelling serves the individual for his
or her personal purposes. RESEARCH REPORT
Divination is still in use today among many African countries if 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
not all. There is no culture that does not contain one form of
a divining system or another. Many people speak of divination 56 C O L O F O N
as a superstition, and it is through this superstition that divination

holds some credibility. The local African people have built their
lives on foundations of a faith, but where we as westerners might
call it superstition, they call it traditional healing. An African diviner,
or Sangoma, is successful because of his understanding of the minds
of his people. The success is mainly measured by how effectively the
diviner can solve cultural, social, psychological, and physical problems.
To show that the power of divination largely relies on its social influence,
an example is needed. Julian and Tara, a couple from one of
Johannesburg’s residential areas in South Africa, had not had any
break-ins since a Soweto Sangoma “fortified” the perimeter of
their home with protective spirits. In an hour - long daytime ritual,
the medicine man shuffled and danced along the perimeter, chanting
and calling loudly on the spirits to take residence on the couple’s
property and bring all manner of awful misfortune to those who
attempt any mischief.
As much as anything, the Sangoma was preying on the beliefs of
everyone within earshot. He was letting them know that spirits were
now resident on Julian and Tara’s border and would be unsparing in
the way they dealt with trespassers. This is not to say that he did not
actually unleash vengeful spirits from his kudu skin medicine bag.
So the spirits live as surely in the boundary’s shrubs as they do in
the minds of the people in the area. Either will do.
This example shows how important the social influence is in
the treatment of a problem through the use of African divination.
It is based on the belief that power resides in spells and medicines
that can be used by humans to control their environment. As South
African social anthropologist David Hammond - Tooke points out,
“ Magic in itself is morally neutral and its nature depends upon
its use.”
THE APPRENTICE
As an apprentice to a Sangoma, a young person would begin

by inheriting knowledge about his culture, his traditions,
his environment and his people. Learning about the myths, 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
history and traditions of his people give a good foundation for

an apprentice. Even though some knowledge might be outdate S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
in comparison to the western belief system, it is important 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
for the apprentice to know all the intricacies about his people. ANDRE AS MUELLER
Social, traditional symbols and metaphors need to be learnt 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
and play an important role in the process of traditional healing ERIK A JACOBS LORD
and divination, and allow for deeper connections to the people 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
and their psyches. This knowledge plays an important role for WIM MARSEILLE
the Sangoma when treating problems and provides understanding 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 30
on how his people think. Another important aspect in an apprentice’s ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
learning period is the collection of and the building of relationships 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
to his divinatory tools. ILSE BEUMER
These tools are objects that consist of bones, stones, sticks, shells
and other such paraphernalia. The process of collection takes years RESEARCH REPORT
and is a long process of building relationships with each object. 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
Each object in the collection represents some aspect of society

TA B L E 1: S Y M B O L I C O B J E C T S U S E D I N
and life. Table 1 shows a few Zulu divinatory meanings and some 56 C O L O F O N
A F R I C A N D I V I N AT I O N .
of the items that represent them. Throughout Africa, Sangomas MEANING Symbolic objects used
use certain objects that are standard and represent the same thing W E A LT H H o of tips , a b alone shells , le o p ard b ones or te eth,
throughout different tribes. They also use objects that are unique nu t shells , tur tle shells , c at tle b ones or te eth.
and personal and are found by the individuals themselves. LUCK A b al one shells , le o p ard b ones o r teeth , nut shells ,
Starting off with an object, the Sangoma would need to build se a shellsb ones , hyen a b o nes , c ro c o d ile b o nes ,
ant b e ar b ones .
a relationship with it, and that is done through meditation. LOSSES, Tur tle shells , se a shells , m onkey b ones , se a urc hin
By holding the object in his hands and at the same time recalling D E AT H sp ines , d o g b o nes , hyen a b ones , c ro c o d ile b o nes ,
ant b e ar b ones .
all his knowledge, personal experiences and memory about the SECRETS, Tur tle b o nes or b roken shells , spid er s , m o nkey
aspect the object represents, he in a way embeds the information SACRED b ones , nut shells , duiker b o nes , ant b e ar b o nes .
into the object through touch and thought. After hours, days KNOWLEDGE, Tur tle shells , lion b o nes o r teeth, nut shells .
and even weeks of building a stronger relationship with the object, STRENGTH
he is then ready to move on to the next object. After years of collecting F A M I LY, S e a urc hin spines , c ow teeth , nut shells ,
objects and building up a collection, the young Sangom is now ready LIFE b a b o o n b ones .
to start practicing on his own. KINDNESS S p r ing b ok b ones , nut shells .

By understanding the social dynamics, we can put the superstition
and fantasy aside for one moment and look solely at the process, LEADERSHIP L io n b o nes o r teeth, le o p ard b ones or te eth.
at the system. If I simplified divination, it would go like this:
a question is asked, and by using a group of symbols, an answer TIME, S p r ing b ok b ones , m onkey b o nes , le o p ard b ones ,
is formulated through interpretation. The question can be anything, CHANGES, sp iral se a shells , duiker b ones .
LIFE
anything relevant to the problem at hand, like career choices, WISDOM, C ow r ie S hells
illnesses and relationship problems. By using symbolic objects DECISIONS
through the system, probable answers are generated. Each individual O B S TA C L E S , T ig er ’s Eye G emsto nes
object is a key that helps the Sangoma remember an aspect of ILLNESSES
society; like love, money, masculinity and fear. When these objects I M M O R TA L I T Y, S n ake sk in or b ones .
are thrown down, they fall randomly to the floor. The Sangoma REBIRTH
would then interpret the objects according to their position and

topography in relation to each other. The answer is an interpretation
by the Sangoma in reference to the question asked. The random
arrangement of symbolic objects, followed by an interpretation
of the physical and symbolic relationships between these objects,
forms the basic rule of many divinatory tools. The information that
is useful to us through divination is embedded in our nonconscious
and in the complicacies of relationships between the various aspects,
people and items that make up our lives. This information in our
nonconscious is illusive yet divination allows us to access it. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
In order to improve our understanding of information we need to

categorize it a bit better. Ludwig Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
and he had a rather simple idea; he distinguished between what are 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
known as macrostates and microstates. In physics, macrostates are ANDRE AS MUELLER
such things as temperature, pressure and volume. Macrostates could 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
be seen as primary objects or concepts that can be broken down into ERIK A JACOBS LORD
many smaller independent fragments. Microstates consist of accurate 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
descriptions of the behavior of each of these individual fragments. WIM MARSEILLE
Alone, microstates do not play important roles in the understanding 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 31
of the bigger picture; it is the combination of microstates that give ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
understanding and insight. Macrostates and microstates can be 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
related to information. ILSE BEUMER
E X F O R M AT I O N E XC H A N G E RESEARCH REPORT
In everyday life, we could consider information as a summary

of an experience. We recount the macrostates of our lives, never 56 C O L O F O N
the individual microstates that make up the experience.

The microstates have been discarded leaving behind what we
consider information. There is however more potential information
in a microstate than in a macrostate. If we were to converse
the intricate little details that re-volve around the mediocre events
that make up our daily lives, we would not have enough time to reach
the petty events themselves though, so we summarize. Not that the
details are not important or that we don’t pay attention to them
( we most certainly do ), it’s just that they play a more important role
to our nonconscious than to our conscious minds.
Exformation is a term coined by Danish physicist Tor Nørretranders.
Exformation is everything we have in our heads but do not actually
say out loud. As an example, if I were to talk about sheep, it would
only be intelligible for the other person if they had a prior idea of
what sheep are, their behavior and their purpose. This knowledge
might be expected due to the very important part sheep have played
in our history and culture.
One cannot measure the exformation of a statement because it
all depends on an individual’s prior knowledge of the subject.
But information can be measured, because it is so compact and
fits into one sentence: “Humans can be sheep sometimes.”
This sentence is a macrostate and a metaphor and compares
human behavior to the behavior of sheep. Sheep are gregarious,
thus very social and enjoy the company of their own kind.
They also travel together and are usually led by one individual
to the chosen destination of that individual. Microstates like these
play important roles in the understanding of the macrostate.
Therefore by saying that humans can be sheep sometimes,
the statement identifies the times when humans flock together,
follow and do not act independently as their free will permits.
The knowledge about sheep, as in this example, not only covers
the scientific and behavioral facts that an individual might know
about sheep, but also any personal experience he or she might have.
All the intricate knowledge that the individual might have collected
throughout life, whether valuable to this macrostate or not, 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
could act as exformation.

Traditional healers, like Sangomas, rely on the exformation that S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
is buried within their minds. Their experiences and their prior 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
knowledge about multiple facets of life build up their divining ANDRE AS MUELLER
vocabulary. This divining vocabulary is made available to the 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
Sangoma through his divinatory tools. The bones, sticks, shells ERIK A JACOBS LORD
and other objects allow for the Sangoma to extract the already 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
available exformation in the nonconscious and to articulate it WIM MARSEILLE
in a more condensed way, as information, through a casting. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 32
ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
MICRO - M A C R O S TAT E S 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
Symbols could be seen as macrostates. A single item, representing ILSE BEUMER
a greater amount of information, or better said exformation.

Without the knowledge behind the symbol, the reference would RESEARCH REPORT
not exist. This knowledge however is not conjured out of thin air, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
it is taught. We learn to read signs.

In divinatory methods such as African bone-throwing, tarot readings, 56 C O L O F O N
or tea-leaf readings, the external symbols ( the bones, the cards,

the leaf markings ) represent states in society that we understand
and experience in our everyday lives; emotions, people and other
influences and behaviors.
To become a diviner you would begin by building up symbolic
references. Each object would entail a new-found relationship
between you and the exformation it embodies. The process would
demand conscious acknowledgement of nonconscious exformation.
For example, for a Sangoma, a cowrie shell could represent time.
Time has played a very important role in our lives and our personal
experiences of time till today, built up our knowledge and our
understanding of it through our memories. After embedding
the knowledge into the shell it becomes a symbol of every single
experience, all your knowledge and all your intuitive understanding
of time. When you come across this glossy shell in a casting, a mass
of exformation is implied through it.
The relationship the apprentice would need to establish with
a cowrie shell would be interrelated to that society. Representations
and interpretations of the shell change with every reading or cast.
Each object in a cast stands alone in its meaning, and more
importantly, forms a symbiotic relationship with the other
objects around it.
So we could say that the combination of a certain number
of macrostates, represented in this case as the symbolic objects
of a Sangoma, together with the problem that is to be solved,
form an arena for the Sangoma to invent solutions that might
not have been recognized before.
SECRET USERS
The dead were often treated as though they were still alive ( being
seated on chairs, dressed in clothing, and even fed food ); dead
bodies were presumed to be still living and the source of auditory
hallucinations. Jaynes argues that divination, prayer and oracles
developed when consciousness took over and when the “voices 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
of the gods” died with bicameralism during the second millennium

BC. Diviners like the Sangomas and religions like Christianity can S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
be seen to have replaced the loss of the bicameral mind and have been 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
a part of our societies until today. ANDRE AS MUELLER
Divinatory systems have survived these thousands of years just 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
like our modern day religions have. And just like our religions ERIK A JACOBS LORD
the divinatory systems aim at offering a renewed connection from 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
man to divine being. We could therefore see that consciousness WIM MARSEILLE
and divination run hand in hand, and until traces of bicameralism 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 33
are utterly eradicated from our minds, the latter will still exist in our ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
societies; if not as a central pivot, then as something that will always 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
seem intriguing to us. ILSE BEUMER
CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH REPORT
You may now ask what consciousness really is. If I were to try 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
and define consciousness I would like to start by saying what it is

not. Consciousness is not perception, it is not cognition, and it is 56 C O L O F O N
not knowledge. Consciousness could be defined as an awareness of

self. Jaynes gave us a great definition of it: “Consciousness is a much
smaller part of our mental life than we are conscious of, because
we cannot be conscious of what we are not conscious of. How simple
that is to say; how difficult to appreciate! It is like asking a flashlight
in a dark room to search around for something that does not have any
light shining upon it. The flashlight, since there is light in whatever
direction it turns, would have to conclude that there is light everywhere.
And so consciousness can seem to pervade all mentality when actually
it does not.” ( Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the
Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind ).
According to Tor Nørretranders our conscious minds only process up
to forty ( 40 ) bits per second, where as our nonconscious minds can
process up to eleven million ( 11,000,000 ) bits per second.
This shouldn’t worry us because both the conscious and the
nonconscious minds both play important roles. Our nonconscious
minds handle all the microstates that enter through our senses.
These details are often too overwhelming and do not necessarily
play such an important part individually, like all microstates,
but form part of the macrostates that our conscious minds use
to communicate. Macrostates require far fewer bits per second
to be transmitted, compared to microstates. On the right are some
M E A S U R I N G C O N S C I O U S B A N D W I DT H
example activities and their required conscious bandwidth.
A C T I V I T Y/ M A C R O S TAT E Bits / Se c
Our senses are directly linked to our nonconscious. Incoming information
SILENT READING 45
( microstates ) from our senses is matched with data in our memories,
and undergoes a process before it is relayed to our consciousness in READING ALOUD 30
order to be articulated ( as macrostates ). Very little of the original

TYPEWRITING 16
sense remains and is present in the resulting action of consciousness.
Because the nonconscious processes, filters and summarizes P I A N O P L AY I N G 23
the incoming exformation, the original input is lost and we cannot

M U LT I P LY I N G A N D 12
truly experience it firsthand; we only experience the condensed ADDING TWO NUMBERS
macrostate as information. The exformation, although it may sound COUNTING OBJECTS 3
passive, does actively influence our behavior; but we do not always

have control over how it does that.
The nonconscious works primarily on the principle of association. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Like the Memory Card game ( having microstates acting as the cards ),
the nonconscious associates related and similar subjects. But unlike S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
the memory card game, it can also associate seemingly unrelated 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
subjects that do not normally occur together. Because in this case, ANDRE AS MUELLER
exformation chiefly belongs to the nonconscious, information 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
to the conscious. Due to the nonconscious power of unrelated ERIK A JACOBS LORD
association, our ability to create metaphors and symbols arises. 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
So we see that our nonconscious is a well of exformation waiting WIM MARSEILLE
to inform. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 34
It would be great if we could easily access what is in our nonconscious ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
minds but unfortunately we cannot. Divination, however, could 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
allow us to improve the relationship between the conscious and ILSE BEUMER
the nonconscious in order to access this exformation and to articulate

it consciously as information. RESEARCH REPORT
REMOVING THE MASK

56 C O L O F O N
Spirituality and rituals form a foundation for African divination.

A Sangoma’s work is effective through ceremonial events and
beliefs of certain types of magic. Magic possesses two contrasting
components: white magic and black magic. White magic would
generally involve rituals that are open to the society and they are
usually practiced by Sangomas, where as black magic is secretive
and usually used against the good of the society. Witchcraft and
sorcery are two types of black magic that are practiced in Africa.
In Africa witchcraft forms a fundamental part of most people’s
thinking about illnesses and misfortune. For the Sangoma it
is imperative to have a thorough understanding of the people
who hold such beliefs. There is a very close resemblance between
the foundations of witchcraft and western religions; magic and faith.
Both have provided for secular and social stability.
The belief in witchcraft arose from the people’s need to find
a cause for their misfortunes. Sangomas, apart from healing these
misfortunes caused by malevolent witchcraft ( hence witchdoctor ),
have additional technical and social skills. Sangomas are involved
in exploring the supernatural and in making the unknown accessible
to everyday life; we thus call them diviners.
Whether or not he or she is involved in healing, a diviner’s prime
function is to grasp consciously, and to bring out into the open, the
secret and nonconscious motives causing an individual to become ill,
or to create a social disturbance. Diviners are in fact the psychologists,
psychiatrists, physicians, priests, confessors, councilors, and
historians of their people. All these functions are brought together
to form a highly effective institution that depends greatly on social
consensus. To be valuable in an individual situation, or valid in
a social context, a diviner and a technique of divination need only
have dramatic truth.
“ Mystery is the catalyst for imagination”, words of wisdom by
J.J. Abrams from his TED presentation in March 2007, entitled
Mystery Box. Mystery is when something is not fully comprehended,
when it confuses and evades understanding. In order to fully
understand the effects of mystery, one can define transparency. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Transparency occurs when there is no distortion between what

is conveyed and what is witnessed. When transparency is achieved S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
in the present, an unambiguous future can be predicted. Transparency 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
allows for the witness to control the next step. By having this ANDRE AS MUELLER
knowledge, the witness is confident in making any decisions that 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
might change the situation’s known outcome. Transparency provides ERIK A JACOBS LORD
a calm and predictable situation that is powered by the knowledge 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
currently at hand. Transparency satisfies when the situation at hand WIM MARSEILLE
is familiar and does not need improvement. But transparency can 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 35
sometimes lead to stagnation; leaving the witness wondering “If it ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” One thing that does challenge transparency, 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
that lures us into a creative state of mind and that unclenches our ILSE BEUMER
brain, is mystery.
By offering suspense, intrigue, curiosity, and a little bit of fear, African RESEARCH REPORT
divination has managed to push the boundaries of the fantastical 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
and yet stay practical. Apart from the superstition, the tradition,
the psychology and the mystery behind it, African divination has 56 C O L O F O N
an underlying system that is common to all form of divination.

The system is comprised of symbolic objects and their interpreter.
Through this system, the diviner is relieved of the burden of
remembering all the possible dynamic outcomes of a situation.
Once uncertainty enters our lives through problems at home or at work,
an opportunity to harness the mystery behind the uncertainty enters
too. Solutions could be hidden between the bits and pieces that make
up our problems. In light of Part 2: Exformation Engine; bits and pieces
represent microstates that generate macrostates. The details of our
microstates are, however, hidden in our nonconscious minds.
In order to access the exformation that lies in our nonconscious,
one must possess the skill to hover between a conscious and a
nonconscious state of mind. Liminality is one such skill that blurs
the boundary zone between two established spatial areas Ethnographer
and folklorist Arnold van Gennep described the phases of liminality
in his book The Rites of Passage; by reaching a liminal state of
consciousness, where one would be on the border of the nonconscious
and the conscious spatial areas, one would have access to all the
exformation and microstates of the nonconscious and also be able
to consciously contextualize to form informative macrostates.
Diviners have this ability and can reach a state of liminality through
trances induced with the possible help of herbs and medicines.
A diviner’s importance is partially based on his or her experience
in dealing with the different states in a trance. They have the experience
and the skills to understand and interpret.
Chance plays a very important role in divination. Each reading
or cast opens up countless probabilities of interpretation When
dealing with chance, one will inevitably come across randomness.
Randomness is when something occurs without an identifiable
pattern, and alone simply represents unintelligible confusion.
But when randomness is introduced in combination with an
established pattern, change is made possible.
Our nonconscious cannot be categorized and is like a messy
basement filled with all the microstates learnt throughout life,
yet thanks to Julian Jaynes’ definition of consciousness in his 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
metaphor The Flashlight ( Part 3: Secret User ), we can paint a clearer

picture for ourselves. If we were to use our flashlights to see into our S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
messy basements, it will seem that we “permeate” the basement 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
and its contents. But because we will look for answers in a structured, ANDRE AS MUELLER
conscious and logical way, we will not be able to find creative 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
solutions; we will be limited to the micro - states that reflect the ERIK A JACOBS LORD
predictable patterns of our consciousness. Therefore divination offers 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
an established pattern ( the system, symbols as objects, randomness ) WIM MARSEILLE
that is flexible enough to encourage innovative possibilities 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 36

( personal interpretations through experience ), derived from ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
an elusive nonconscious. 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
ILSE BEUMER
C R E AT I V E C A S T
RESEARCH REPORT
Instinct lies at the most basic programmed level of our nonconscious 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
mind and cannot be removed. It is based in our nonconscious

and never surfaces in our conscious minds. However, its results 56 C O L O F O N
and effects can be acknowledged by our conscious minds.

Instinctual behavior is shaped by biological necessities such
as survival and reproduction; it is immediate and requires no
conscious thought to work. This is proof that our senses are directly
connected to our nonconscious and that not all microstates need
be attached to macrostates. Because instinct remains among
microstates, it does not surface to the conscious mind to be uttered
as a macrostate before it kicks in.
One step up and we find the level of intuition. Intuition is defined
as awareness without logical thought. When an outcome that helps
us grasp the hidden nature of things arises, that’s when you know
intuition has occurred. Though instinct tells us to run, intuition
guides us in which direction.
In her book Natural - Born Intuition, Dr Lauren Thibodeau introduces
intuition as a sixth sense appended to our already existing five:
sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Her definition of intuition
is a combination of the five senses and also incorporates each person’s
unique life experiences and values.
In Thibodeau’s book, intuition is interpreted more as a verb than
as a noun. Intuition can be compared to knowledge; whereas
knowledge, or cognition, is the general awareness of information,
facts, ideas, truths and principles; it is also an external entity
and many people can share this awareness. It is through logic
that knowledge is valid and its purpose is to be available to everyone.
Intuition on the other hand is defined as being based in the present
and by being internal, personal and subjective. Like a lot of left - right
brain associations, knowledge could represent the left half of the
brain and intuition, the right half.
In the process of relationship - building performed by Sangomas
in African divination, both the worlds of intuition and knowledge
are used. The earthly world of the physical item, to which
the relationship is being built, is linked to earthly experiences,
the logical understanding of how things work and the direct physical
attributes the object and its symbol possess. The earthly world
of the item and its symbol is available to all Sangomas. The unseen 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
world of the object is intricately linked to, and only to, the Sangoma
as an individual. The personal experiences, the feelings attached S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
to them and the intuitive understanding of the item cannot be shared 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
by the many that practice African divination. It all happens in the mind ANDRE AS MUELLER
and soul of the diviner; all that happens in the unseen world of the 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
diviner is linked to his/her intuition. ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Intuition is just as complex ( if not more ) than the logical mind. 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
Intuition can be broken up into four categories: visual, auditory, WIM MARSEILLE
sensory and gut/body - based intuition. We all utilize a certain 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 37
percentage of each category, but visual intuition, however, is used ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
the most. 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
ILSE BEUMER
DIVINE INTUITION
The visual, today, plays a very important role in our decision - making. RESEARCH REPORT
We design logos, posters, adverts, clothing, homes ( interior and 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
exterior ), products and technology all on how we perceive them,

how they visually trigger a response. How things ‘look’ is such 56 C O L O F O N
a big process in our minds that it affects almost everything in

our lives, from food to religion.
Visual input has played an important role in society throughout
history. Even in prehistoric rock art found in Africa, pigments from
stones and plants were used to communicate. African tribes paint
their homes in vivid colors; their clothes are covered in multicolored
beads; every aspect of their lives is garnished with stimulating visual
characteristics. We could take a look at our everyday language and
see that we often refer to color in our speech to describe moods and
emotions. We say, “he was green with envy”, “you look blue today”,
“purple with passion”. We also use visual references in our speech such
as “I wish I’d seen that coming” or “I see what you mean”.
If we were to pay attention and notice how many times we use visual
references in our speech, we would be amazed how important
the visual is.
As you can imagine, there are so many symbols in our world today;
not only visual, but also linked to our other senses. Symbols are not
only the symbols we know like the cross, the horse shoe, the book,
the shopping cart or the broken wine glass on the side of a cardboard
box. Symbols can also be personal references to events that we have
experienced in our childhood and throughout our lives.
Take the jasmine shrub for example; it is not a symbol known to many,
representing one thing. The jasmine shrub could represent something
specific to me though; it could remind me of my grandmother.
It could symbolize the green fingers she has, the nourishing,
the motherly nature, the patience and concern she showed when
she cared for her flowers ( and in turn her grandchildren ).
The jasmine shrub is a symbol that visually and olfactorily triggers
feelings that are personal to me. These feelings, irrelevant of
the fact that I am in tune with my emotions at the time, will arise,
influencing what I have on my mind at that moment and the actions
that will follow. These feelings form a part of my intuition.
The fact that I acknowledge the symbol consciously means that
I can also document it and keep a track of it for future references.
There are many personal symbols in our everyday lives. Some we 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
do not consciously realize when we experience, but still play an

important role in our intuition. By documenting these symbols, S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
we are able to build up our own personal dictionary of symbolic 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
meanings. ANDRE AS MUELLER
As adults we tend to mask our intuitive senses. The overwhelming 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
incoming stimuli, the mounting duties, and bombarding stresses ERIK A JACOBS LORD
build up to form a massive pillow that smothers any intuitive sense. 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
Headaches, butterflies in the stomach and backaches are some ways WIM MARSEILLE
the body uses to communicate to our conscious minds. We often have 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 38
the motto “no pain, no gain” and confuse intuitive messages with ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
fatigue, bad eating patterns or a bad mattress. In fact, the physical 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
effects of stress are signs from the body telling us that we are ILSE BEUMER
overdoing it.
Intuition represents the bridge between our nonconscious and our RESEARCH REPORT
conscious minds. Through the different kinds of intuition, whether 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
it be visual or gut/body - based, our nonconscious mind reaches out

to communicate. Sometimes logic can be deceiving. Sometimes 56 C O L O F O N
the routine of daily life makes us stagnant. Information and guidance

is not always external and sometimes external guidance and influence
can be misleading. Intuition is the nonconscious’ voice and it speaks
through our intuitive senses.
By removing the mask of divination, an intricate system between
symbols and interpretation is revealed. For this system to be effective,
the users need to be open to it. Divination cannot be mastered if
it is approached by sheer logic and constructive association.
Only by allowing intuition to bridge our conscious and our
non - conscious minds, can we truly harness what divination
has to offer.
A C C E S S I N G C R E AT I V I T Y
Creativity is something often associated to the design field. But what

is it exactly? There are roughly one hundred scientific definitions
of creativity; therefore it is not difficult to claim that creativity is
a puzzle, a paradox and shrouded in mystery. Many people conjure
up creativity without a conscious understanding of how it came to be.
In the dictionary definition of creation, to bring into being or form
out of nothing, creativity seems to be not only beyond any scientific
understanding, but even impossible. It is hardly surprising, then,
that some people have explained it in terms of divine inspiration,
intuition, or insight. If we look a few paragraphs back, intuition
is defined as communication from the nonconscious to the conscious
mind. If we were to allow creativity to possess this definition for
a while, it might help us understand it better.
The new definition of creativity would sound like this: Creativity
is a method of communication used by the nonconscious mind
to guide our conscious mind into making decisions.
Maybe not all decisions, but in light of this new definition, creativity has
now become something internal. If we were to approach creativity from
this perspective, then every one of us has the potential to be creative.
We all have a friend that we could consider creative. We might
sometimes consider ourselves to be creative. This creativity flourishes
when there is usually little or no influence by logic and deliberation. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
By becoming child-like; idealistic and experimental, we discard

the habitual manner with which we often deal with problems. S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
Issues no longer need to be solved traditionally. We borrow ideas 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
from one context and project them onto new circumstances without ANDRE AS MUELLER
realizing that we have been creative until we take a step back. 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
There is no doubt that at some point at work or in our daily lives, ERIK A JACOBS LORD
creativity has sprung up to surprise us. We need to understand 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
that creativity is not a talent; it does not materialize if or when WIM MARSEILLE
we get inspired. Creativity is a skill. It can be learnt and developed. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 39
There is however some confusion about creativity. A creative solution ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
needs to have value, it needs to be credible. To reach a creative 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
solution, there also needs to be a creative process. During this process ILSE BEUMER
of challenging the old, combining the known and experimenting

with new, there is a slight chance that we might not succeed in RESEARCH REPORT
developing something truly creative. But this should not discourage 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
us and we should not name these hiccups as mistakes or errors,

but as experiences. The search for something inventive is a journey 56 C O L O F O N
that requires full participation.

Divination is one method that encourages the development of creativity.
It is a tool that challenges our logic. If we were to approach problems
using our regular logical thinking, we will only reach solutions that
make sense to us. And so, by looking within and trusting intuition,
quantum leaps of creativity will be achieved, in turn breaking the linear
functionings of consciousness.!
SOURCES
Arnold van Gennep

T h e Rit es of Passage
London: Routledge ( 2004 ).
David Hammond-Tooke
T h e Bantu- speaking Peopl es of South er n Af r ica
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, ( 1974 ).
Edward de Bono
How To Have Creative Id eas
London: Vermillion ( 2007 ).
Edward de Bono
L at eral T hinking
London: Penguin ( 1970 ).
Julian Jaynes
T h e O r ig in of Consc iousn ess in th e Breakd ow n
of th e Bicam eral Mind
New York: Houghton Mifflin Company ( 1976 ).
Lauren Thibodeau 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
Natural-Bor n Intuition
Franklin Lakes: Career Press ( 2005 ). S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
Lyall Watson ANDRE AS MUELLER
Lightning Bird 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
London: Hodder and Stoughton ( 1982 ). ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Philip M. Peek WIM MARSEILLE
Af r ican D iv ination Sys t ems 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S 40
Bloomington: Indiana University Press ( 1991 ). ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
Raymond Buckland and Kathleen Binger ILSE BEUMER
T h e Book O f Af r ican D iv ination

Vermont: Destiny Books, Inner Traditions International Ltd ( 1992 ). RESEARCH REPORT
Tor Nørretranders
T h e User Illusion 56 C O L O F O N
New York: Viking, Penguin Group ( 1991 ).

TR ANSFERIUM, A NON - PL AC E 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
ILSE BEUMER S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
TRANSFERIUM ANDRE AS MUELLER
‘Extra North - Holland Transferia for Nineteen Million Kilometer - ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Reduction’, was the headline for a 2004 article in Verkeerskunde, 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
a magazine for public space professionals. The additional transferia WIM MARSEILLE
are the result of a successful 1993 pilot developed by the Dutch 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
Ministry of Transport in cooperation with the Dutch highway service ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
( ANWB ) and transport companies at nine locations in the Netherlands. 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 41
The purpose of this pilot project was to improve accessibility and ILSE BEUMER
quality of life of cities, a concept that had be attractive to the general

public. Drivers need to be persuaded to park their cars at transferia RESEARCH REPORT
and then take public transportation into the city. More wide - scale 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E
use of tranferia would create cities not dedicated to cars. Transferia

could turn that utopia into reality. 56 C O L O F O N
The current transferia offer safe, fast and comfortable transfer points
from cars to public transportation, such as the train, subway, tram,
bus, or boat. Safe implies constant video surveillance of cars and people;
fast means well - organized, little wasted time, and frequent and fast
public transport; comfortable refers to covered walkways between the
parking lot and the boarding area, heated waiting rooms with restrooms,
phones and travel information. Usually, transferia have bicycle racks
and a snack kiosk as well. Greater transferia even boast facilities like
tourist information centers and restaurants. Most of the transferia are
on the edge of cities where highways and public transportation meet.
Therefore, transferia could reduce traffic jams and parking issues in
urban areas.
At transferium Ridderkerk, cars can be parked for free. The public
transportation link here is to the Fast Ferry, to downtown Rotterdam
or Dordrecht. The location is suitable for cars coming via highways
A15 and A16. Moreover, the location offers a beautiful view of the
junction between the Noord, Lek and New Maas rivers. The free
parking and the magnificent view are what should attract visitors,
T R A N S F ER I U M R I D D ER K ER K .
since other facilities are lacking . Instead, transferium Ridderkerk
looks cheap, grey, and static, thus, it does not meet the transferium 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
and facilities goal from the 1993 pilot. A design by Zwarts & Jansma
D E S I G N Z WA R T S & J A N S M A
( 1999 ) , shows how facilities may be fitted into the transferium. S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
ANDRE AS MUELLER
ERIK A JACOBS LORD
WIM MARSEILLE
2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 42
ILSE BEUMER
The design looks upgraded and comfortable, but still not very dynamic. RESEARCH REPORT
T R A N S F ER I U M
The busy transferium Amsterdam Arena stands in immense A M S T ER DA M A R EN A
contrast to Transferium Ridderkerk with its quietness and simplicity.

Amsterdam Arena transferium has more to offer than parking 56 C O L O F O N
( underground beneath the field ) and transport connections alone.

A big, commercial boulevard runs through the location and offers

shopping, sports and leisure. Those facilities have fully absorbed
the transferium’s surroundings. Because of the multiple use of space,
the Amsterdam Arena transferium does not seem to have any
boundaries, indicating optimal use of location. In addition, there
are benches, lampposts, bicycle parking, and facilities everywhere. A M S T ER DA M A R E N A , B I G C O M M ER C I A L B O U L E VA R D
Does such integration of functions convey the potential value of
transferia? Are they urban junctions? Or are they just isolated islands
in the landscape?
TRANSFERIUM AS NON-PLACE
In Non - places, Marc Augé states, “If a place can be defined

as relational, historical and concerned with identity, then a space
which cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned
with identity will be a non - place.” ( Augé 1995: 77, 78 ) Augé creates
the concepts of ‘places’ and ‘non - places’. The ‘places’ have an
anthropological connotation; they are social spaces full of monuments
continuing over time and generations, like a historical city center
with its own identity and history.
Augé mentions several examples of non - places: highways, airports,
train stations, hotel chains, amusement parks, supermarkets, and
means of transportation themselves. To that list transferia can be
L EF T : T R A N S F ER I U M B A R N E V EL D - N O R T H
added. The transferium is a non - place where individuals are M I D D L E : T R A N S F ER I U M L EI D E N ‘T SCHOUW
R I G H T : PA R K & R I D E L EL A N T S A LT I N G ( G R E AT BRITIAN)
freed of their identity, their historical and social bonds. The transferium 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
as non - place creates the “shared identity of passengers, customers,

or Sunday drivers.” ( Augé 1995: 101 ) One could say that the drivers S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
and travelers of the transferium are lost in a temporary, dynamic flow. 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
The space of travelers is the archetype of the non-place. ANDRE AS MUELLER
I N F O R M AT I O N D E S I G N ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Non - places are defined by the use of words and pictures. They form WIM MARSEILLE
the manual for these transit places. Augé states, “The link between 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
individuals and their surroundings in the space of non-place is ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
established through the mediation of words, or even texts”. ( Augé 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 43
1995: 94 ) The information can be provided in different formats, but ILSE BEUMER
mostly it is in the form of signs along the route. There are, however,
topical examples of information absorbed in the design of the location. RESEARCH REPORT
T ER E S A S A P E Y, H OT EL
The parking garage of the Hotel Puerta de América in Madrid P U ER TA D E A M ÉR I C A ,
MADRID
( 20 05 ).
56 C O L O F O N
designed by Teresa Sapey is such an example. The garage uses

information in the form of icons. These icons, constructed from the
work Liberté by French poet Paul Éluard, tell you where the exit is and
point you in the right direction. Other icons do not give information
T ER E S A S A P E Y, H OT EL P U ER TA D E A M ÉR I C A ,
about the garage itself, but express the freedom of art. The entire MADRID ( 20 05 ), E X P R E S S T H E F R EE D O M O F A R T .
design and text of the symbols shows, as it were, the road to freedom,
drawing a symbolic contrast with the dark underground space.
Another example is the 10 - mile spiral, a concept for Las Vegas by

Aranda/Lasch. With the goal in mind of avoiding traffic jams and
‘ unjamming’ Las Vegas, the architects designed a structure/building
ARANDA /LASCH, 10 - MILE SPIRAL, LAS VEGAS

( 2004 ).
‘D IR T Y ’ SPIR A L
A N A LGORI T HM ( SEE OPP OSI T E ) IS EMPLOY ED TO DERI V E A HELI X ,
W HOSE R A DIO ‘ VA RIES ’ R A N DOMLY A S I T CLIMBS A N D T HEN FA LL S
BACK DOW N TO T HE VA LLE Y FLO .
E X T RUD E
DIM N O : N O = 70 A S T RUC T UR A L CURB IS E X T RUDED TO 4.6 M TO S T IFFEN T HE R A MP.
DIM A RRP OIN T, N
REDIM A RRLINE ( NO )
INI T I A L R A DIUS
DIM R A DIUS : R A DIUS = 10
CRE AT E HELI X
FOR N = 0 TO N O S T EP 1
A RRP OIN T = A RR AY ( R A DIUS )*SIN ( N ),
( R A DIUS )*COS ( N ), N / 2 ) INT ERSEC T ION - LOA D T R ANSFER
A RRLINE ( N ) = A RRP OIN T IN T ERSEC T ION P OIN T S BE T W EEN T HESE S T RIP S A RE T R A NSFER
DIM R A N DOM < . 5 T HEN P OIN T S T HROUGH W HICH T HE S T RUC T URE ’ S LOA DS A RE
R A DIUS = R A DIUS + 1 + ( RN D ( ) * 1,5 ) CH A N NELLED TO T HE GROUN DS .
EL SE
R A DIUS = R A DIUS + 1 - ( RN D ( ) * 1.5
EN D IF
NE X T
B E A MS
T HE S T RUC T URE IS OP T IMIZED TO A LLOW V IE W S OU T OT
T HE VA LLE Y : M AT ERI A L IS RE TA INED IN T HE A X I A L LINE OF
S T RES S A N D REMOV ED W HERE T HE CURB IS N OT DOIN G A N Y
S T RUC T UR A L WORK .
where the arrival of the drivers is slowed down by their moving in 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
the spiral. On the spiral lanes, texts from well - known signs along
the Las Vegas roads such as ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ or ‘Drive Safely’ S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
connect the city to the parking garage users. But that is not the only 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
form of information the architects have employed in their design. ANDRE AS MUELLER
To give the spiral a symbolic relationship with Las Vegas, the gambling 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
capital of the world, the architects used images of numbers, colors, ERIK A JACOBS LORD
and bank notes on the lanes of the spiral to introduce the ‘slow’ 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
drivers to gambling in Vegas. WIM MARSEILLE
Information in words, texts, and images, in the non-place ensure 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
it becomes part of the rhythm of daily life. Marc Augé states, “Words ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
and images in transit through non - places can take root in the – still 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 44
diverse – places where people still try to construct part of their daily ILSE BEUMER
life.” ( Augé 1995: 109 ) A design by Buschow Henley Architects

BUSCHOW HENLE Y ARCHITECTS,
illustrates how close daily life and non-place can get. In their concept ‘ PA R K+ J O G ’, SALFORD
RESEARCH REPORT
( 19 9 8 ).
56 C O L O F O N
for ‘Park + Jog’, a form of daily life is constructed by using a transfer

point. Through symbols, people are encouraged to park their car at
the end of the highway, then change clothes and jog, swim, walk or
ride to Manchester City. After a hard day of work or classes, people
can jog back, take a refreshing shower at facilities on the roof terrace
of the car park, and drive home.
T R A N S F E R I A L O C AT I O N S
While the city plays a prominent role in daily life, transferia and
park&rides seem to be forgotten places. But these places could use
that location between city and highway. The city is like an interior,
where people return through the entrance every time. The entrance
could be a transfer point in the form of a transferium or park&ride,
a link between the city, with its public transportation network,
L EF T : T R A N S F ER I U M H O O R N , N E A R TO T H E C I T Y.
and suburbia, with its roads for private vehicles. The entrance R I G H T : T R A N S F ER I U M B R EU K EL E N .
should fit the interior and it should be an invitation to the world. 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
An entrance between an inner and outer space has two sides, and
can have different views to the inside and outside. The transfer point S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
is a neutral point on the map with a temporary use. The abstract 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
character makes it hard to integrate the transferia in their surroundings. ANDRE AS MUELLER
Transferia should absorb the qualities of the entrance/exit to really 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
function as a dynamic doorway and to give entering and leaving ERIK A JACOBS LORD
a flowing shape. 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
WIM MARSEILLE
S TAT U S A N D A P P E A R A N C E 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
Transitional places such as highways could be viewed and designed 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 45

th
from different angles. For example, the mid - 20 - century German ILSE BEUMER
Autobahn was intended to be a cultural aesthetic monument, to stir

feelings of national pride in drivers and passengers. The Autobahns RESEARCH REPORT
R EI C H S AU TO B A H N ,
were strongly embedded in the landscape. Another example is N E A N D ER TA L
( 1936 ).
56 C O L O F O N
the parkway, a ‘human’ road as part of nature, supply following

MERRIT PARKWAY, CONNECTICUT USA
the language of the land. “There must be unrestricted freedom (1935- 1940 ).
of movement and a pliable traffic flow, which can be maintained
regularly. This flow should be without interruption or collision.”
( Nijenhuis & van Winden 2007: 82 ).The lanes offer the driver a
view of the landscape. When speeding along the lanes, new images
are revealed time and again to drivers and passengers. The driver
“ experiences the spaces of the landscape as an exciting succession
of wide and narrow views,” writes Hans Lorentz in ‘Die Mitarbeit
de lebendigen Natur”. The subtly designed landscape areas guide
the driver and “anticipate a sublime experience without active
interaction of consciousness. The beauty of the road, then, lies in
the rhythm of the change of space and the rhythm becomes a feeling
of tension and release” ( Nijenhuis & van Winden 2007: 134 ).
“These roads and highways, however, could not satisfy the rapidly
rising demand of mobility. And as Wilfried van Winden states,
landscapes urbanize and the cities are like parasites on the highway
networks” ( Nijenhuis & van Winden 2007: 83 ).
Today, the highways are no longer part of an aesthetic culture.
This is also true for highway parking spaces and transferia/park
& rides. Why are these dynamic spaces not appreciated? How can
these culturally neglected non-places regain aesthetic qualities?
Wilfried van Winden claims that the Parisian Périphérique could
be considered the contemporary urban highway. It is tempestuous
T H E P H ER I P H ER I Q U E , PA R I J S .
and dynamic; it could be called the diabolical highway. A design
for a parking lot over the river Seine by the architect Konstantin
S. Melnikov from 1925, never constructed, has both dynamics and
representation.The dynamic structure of steep slopes and parking 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
decks offer the motorist a spectacular view of the Seine Melnikov

KO N TA N T I N S . M EL N I KOV,
wanted to please the user with his design. C A R PA R K O V ER T H E S EI N E
S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
( 1925 ).
ANDRE AS MUELLER
ERIK A JACOBS LORD
WIM MARSEILLE
2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
Indeed, a spectacular view can be a tool to make a transferium ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
exciting. OMA, however, has employed dramatic techniques 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 46
in its L’Espace Piranésien design ( part of the master plan ILSE BEUMER
L’E S PAC E P I R A N E S I E N , EU R A L I L L E
for Euralille ). OMA’s challenge was to create a Gordian knot ( 19 8 8 -19 91 ).
RESEARCH REPORT
56 C O L O F O N
out of a small junction where metro, train, highway, and sidewalks

intersect. A mixture of ramps, elevators, escalators and railroad tracks
were used to make the Eurostar station as dramatic as possible.
Dramatics are also evident in the aerial photo of the park with pool
and metro station Nus de la Trinitat opened in 1990 in Barcelona and
E N R I C B AT L L E , N U S D E L A T R I N I TAT, B A R C ELO N A
designed by Enric Batlle. An enormous nexus of roads circumvents ( 19 9 0 ).
a reasonably small park, which seems to have adjusted itself to its
surroundings. But when one enters the park, the roads are hardly
present and the place makes a silent and monumental impression.
M O B I L I T Y A N D S PAC E
“ The retreat of the dynamic perception made traveling a paradoxical

experience: in the heart of the outer movement one would experience
the absence of the world and a standstill in space. One feels no
distance between departure and arrival” ( Nijenhuis & van Winden
2007: 130 ). “The observation of the surrounding starting from
the movement” ( Nijenhuis & van Winden 2007: 81 ) is, in Nijenhuis’
view, the new ‘artistic vision’ where public space could be involved.
It is a dynamic thought that can be illustrated by Futurism and
U M B ER TO B O C C I O N I , M U S EU M O F M O D ER N A R T, N E W YO R K .
its love of speeding cars. The figure right gives an example of
a futuristic image by the artist Umberto Boccioni. The artist did
not seek pure form, but pure pliable rhythm. He constructed the
action of bodies. Such dynamics, translated into architecture,
produces spiral structures instead of static buildings.
A flow of mobility guided by a design of action can be noticed
in the Master plan of Stirling Wilford & Associates ( in association
with Walter Nägeli ) for the Braun headquarters in Melsungen.
The visitor and employees are taken on a journey built out of short
environmental encounters, first as drivers and later as pedestrians.
At the entrance, the road follows a canal around a lake. After a viaduct 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
and a pass - through an opening in a heavy concrete wall, the formal

landscape abruptly transforms into an informal one with industrial S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
buildings. Once in the parking garage, a spiral brings the motorist 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
from deck to deck. When leaving the parking garage on foot one is ANDRE AS MUELLER
led to a destination via dramatic bridges and staircases. The parking 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
building and the landscape are indissolubly linked and the mobility/ ERIK A JACOBS LORD
action experience creates surprised motorists. Simon Henley says 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
about this plan, “Pleasure comes from the devices employed to move WIM MARSEILLE
cars and people through the section, from the light, and from the 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
intimate encounters that particular situations afford.” ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU

S TIRLING W ILFORD,
( Henley 2007: 81 ) 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 47
B R AU N H E A D Q UA R T ER ,
M EL S U N G E N
ILSE BEUMER
( 19 8 6 -19 92 ).
RESEARCH REPORT
56 C O L O F O N
A transferium is part of the dynamic world of mobility. Also Sain’Elia

L EF T : A V I L L E C O N T EM P O R A I N E ( 1922 ),
( Città Nuova 1914, and Le Corbusier ( La ville contemporaine 1922, )
R I G H T : S A N T ’ EL I A ( 1914 ).
used a hybrid form of mobility to reach their goal of “absorbing the

dynamic world of mobility into the static world of the city.” Sin Centre
M I C H A EL W EB B , S I N C E N T R E LO N D O N ,
( 1959 - 62 ) by the English architect Michael Webb is another hybrid ( 1959 -19 62 ).
design, where both vehicle and pedestrian are incorporated into a
circulating, mobile system ensuring that the large flow of people is
easily guided through different spaces. In the Roissy - Charles airport
of the architect Paul Andreu, different worlds of mobility remain

separated. The architectonic layer encompasses the whole.
FUNCTION OR FORM PAU L A N D R EU , A I R P O R T R O I S S Y - C H A R L E S D E G AU L L E

( 1959 -19 62 ).
Hybrid designs for transferia combine different means of transportation,

while employing diagrams and structures, often three - dimensionally
translated. The above-mentioned Aranda/Laschs 10 - mile spiral
is a complex design for a parking solution combined with a road
originating from a “dirty” spiral flowing from algorithms
( a mathematical approach to achieve a architectonic solution ).
The dirty spiral has undergone several metamorphoses and has 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
become a structure of its own, more a dynamic building than

an infrastructure. “What makes the multi-store car park recognizable S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
–is it the function or the form?” asks Simon Henley ( Henley 2007: 207 ) . 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
The function of a transfer point in a transferium is clearly determined ANDRE AS MUELLER
by the governmental rules and has to meet requirements on functional 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
levels as well. But the shape is free of restrictions. What is this shape? ERIK A JACOBS LORD
How can it transcend the function? A shape must be attractive and 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
dynamic and be able to take the commuter on a journey through WIM MARSEILLE
the transferium. The function can be subsequently connected to the 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
shape. If the shape has a guiding and recognizable effect, the shape ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
can become more abstract, like in Zaha Hadid’s works. 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 48
Zaha Hadid Architects have based their car park Hoenheim - Nord ILSE BEUMER
Z A H A H A D I D A R C H I T E C T S , PA R K+ R I D E
in Strasbourg on the concept of “patterns of movement”. Hadid H O E N H EI M - N O R T H , STR ASBOURG
( 19 9 8 -20 01 ).
describes this concept as “a field, where the patterns of movements RESEARCH REPORT
56 C O L O F O N
are engendered by cars, trams, bicycles and pedestrians, each has

a trajectory and a trace, as well as a static fixture. It is the transition
between transport types that is rendered as the material and spatial
transitions of the station, landscaping and the context.” ( Henley
2007: 83 ) The result is a car park resembling an abstract work of art.
The graphic shape has clearly transcended its function in this design.
The static parking lot has changed into the form of an inspiring
dynamic field, which creates more possibilities than the function
of parking alone.
CONCLUSION
The potential of the transferia does not lie in the implementation

of functions, but in the design of the place. The design must guide
travelers on their daily trip through the transferium from arrival
to departure. Shapes such as slopes, symmetries, diagonals and semi
circles, turn the transferium into a dynamic and impressive design.
But also the routing through the transferium and its buildings is
a true challenge. The use of staircases, walkways, views, columns,
can give a transferium a dramatic character. By shaping a transferium
aesthetically, movement can be created, turning the outside space
into an interesting experience.
Transferia are a flowing link between city and highway. The continuous 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
motion of arrival and departure implies the dynamic notion of speed.

The speed can produce shapes; a spiral has the capacity to create speed S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
and a moving panoramic view. Instead of forcing the drivers to drastically 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
reduce speed when leaving the highway and entering the transferium, ANDRE AS MUELLER
the design can be dynamic with the help of spirals, slopes, curves and 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
certain material to turn the flow of speed up or down. The information ERIK A JACOBS LORD
at a transferium can be designed incorporating different layers of speed 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
while guiding the traveler through the transferium. WIM MARSEILLE
The transferium design should create an attractive and supple transfer 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
for the travelers. The fluent motion and expressive information could ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
all contribute to what a transferium should be: an experience between 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E 49
city and highway.! ILSE BEUMER
SOURCES RESEARCH REPORT
Augé, Marc ( 1995 )

Non pl ac es: Introdu c tion t o an Anthropolo g y of 56 C O L O F O N
Super m od er nit y
New York: Verso Books.
Henley, Simon ( 2007 )

T h e Archit e c ture of Parking
London: Thames & Hudson.
Nijenhuis, Wim & Wilfried van Winden ( 2007 )

D e D iabolisch e Sn elwe g
Rotterdam: Uitgeverij 010.
RESEARCH REPORTS 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PA C E S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
The ambition of Henk Slager's professorship in Artistic Research ANDRE AS MUELLER
is to connect with concrete developments in the field of visual art. 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
This year, Henk Slager's curatorship of the 7th Shanghai Biennale, ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Translocalmotion, offered an excellent opportunity for such 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
( connection. www.shanghaibiennale.com ) During Translocalmotion, WIM MARSEILLE
the Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design was able to 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
elucidate its focus on Research - Based Practices further in the context ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
of an international platform. Two MAHKU Fine Art lecturers – Tiong 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
Ang and Jeanne van Heeswijk– were invited to develop new projects ILSE BEUMER
for the 7th Shanghai Biennale. Both projects stressed the mapping
of the micro-political conditions constituting Shanghai's public space. RESEARCH REPORT
Similar projects were executed by artists such as Ricardo Basbaum, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E 50
Ursula Biemann, Mariana Castillo Deball, Lonnie van Brummelen

& Siebren de Haan, Inci Evenir, Harun Farocki and Hito Steyerl. 56 C O L O F O N
Furthermore, two lecturers at MAHKU's MA Design faculty worked

as editor ( Annette W. Balkema ) and designer ( Chris Vermaas )
on a parallel publication: The Shanghai Papers ( Hatje Cantz,
Ostfildern, 2008 ). For this second Translocalmotion "catalogue",
participating artists were invited to discuss their own research
projects. That points to another important emancipatory focus
of the professorship in Artistic Research, i.e. artists' contextualization
of their own artistic practice.
Alongside these artistic explorations, research-based practices, and
documentary aesthetics, the curator organized an international
symposium directed towards the evaluation and discussion of similar
research issues such as the topic of knowledge production, ( public ) art
as a tool for urban research and, ultimately, current curatorial models.
The symposium, Mapping Public Space, took place on September 8
in the Shanghai Art Museum before the opening of the 7th Shanghai
Biennale 2008.
Mapping Public Space started with a keynote statement by Irit Rogoff
( Goldsmiths’ College, London ). Rogoff addressed the concept of
Documentary Turn, a concept that should not be viewed, she claims,
as a focus on commentaries and coverages, since that would stress too
much the issue of user reduction evoked by the image of consumptive
knowledge. Rather, a documentary turn relates to a temporal
suspension, an intensifying enactment of Agamben’s Homer Sacer,
“ he who has been killed but not yet sacrificed.” Rogoff considers
this a clear shift from a discussion of disasters and catastrophes as
traumatic events towards an understanding of a necessary temporal
suspension which is part of the processes of "trying to know".
Thus, the documentary turn of artistic practice could be viewed as
a form of knowledge in suspension, a form of knowledge production
starting from the creative practice in the form of an actualization and
interconnection of modes of the discourse on security, the globalizing
economy, and the implied consumptive rhetorics of a need to know.
Mika Hannula ( Gothenburg School of A rt/MAHKU ) outlined
a theoretical approach to the analysis of public space as constant
process. In and through the acts and interventions of contemporary 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
art, public space is about becoming a specific and particular place.

Thus, public space is a process moving from a general space towards S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
a unique place: a place created and generated both physically and 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
discursively and relying greatly on our ability and willingness ANDRE AS MUELLER
to engage in social and spatial imagination. Hannula also pointed 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
to the productive dilemma of contemporary art projects ERIK A JACOBS LORD
( both temporary and permanent variations ) in a situation where 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
we have become aware of the involvement in a double act in all our WIM MARSEILLE
representations of reality. We describe a version of the world while 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
at the same time, through this description, we affect how reality ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
is shaped and comprehended. We are never outsiders; we are always 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
part of the problem, part of the mess. Both ourselves and our versions ILSE BEUMER
of the world are always a negotiated and value-laden combination

of the five c’s: contextual, contested, conflictual, confused and also, RESEARCH REPORT
hopefully, compassionate. 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E 51
In his presentation, Xu Jiang ( Dean, China Academy of Art )

addressed phenomena constituting the location Shanghai, such 56 C O L O F O N
as the city as machine of migration, the birthplace of urban culture,

the history of assimilation and distribution of ideas. Some of those
ideas pertain to the critical link with an emerging mass culture
and cultural industry. The important challenge and research issue
for the Shanghai Biennale – a biennale continuously focused
in its explorations on the city as context – will continue to imply
the possibilities for mapping out a unique strategy for the study
of urban culture in the local/global context.
Kasper Koenig ( curator, Skulpturprojekte Muenster ) approached
the urban issue from a historical perspective, within the context
of the Muenster exhibition as a decennial manifestation. What have
been the various methodologies and methods of production during
the last four editions? In 1977 Europe, the reflection on the relationship
between private and public was not yet an issue. It could be the case
that urban issues at that time were largely an American focus,
where the two domains of private and public already intermingled;
demonstrated, for example, by Michael Asher’s mobile caravan project.
For German artists the issue of private and public was irrelevant.
Joseph Beuys even referred to ontological kitsch in that context.
By 1987, European artists had become fascinated by urban issues.
They considered themselves mediators and looked to further explore
the ideological distinction between private and public. In 1997,
that artistic attitude as such was critically questioned. To what extent
could visual art contribute to changes and to what extent does art
confirm a status quo? Negotiation seemed to be the main concept
in 1997. In addition, the notion of “event” emerged in the form of
uncompromising, raw propositions. In 2007, research tended to
emphasize an anthropological focus, demonstrated in issues such
as the Human Existence and Public Space in the Age of Privatization.
An Asian example of reflection on public space is discussed by Young
Chul Lee ( curator of Anyang City Public Art Project 2005, Korea ).
In his lecture, art’s task is formulated clearly and distinctly: further
articulation of what is already intrinsically present within the urban
structure, and further reflection on the specificity of a local identity.
That implies new requirements for artistic productions. Artistic 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
productions should be executed in an in - between domain, between

the bureaucratic and the artistic, between architecture and art, S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
between ecology and commercialization. Ultimately, visual art should 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
focus on the development of rhizomatic, non - hierarchical, urbanist ANDRE AS MUELLER
models from artistic practices such as can be seen, for example, 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
in John Körmeling’s and in MVRDV’s work. ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Finally, Translocalmotion offered students from twelve international 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
art academies ( including students from MAHKU ’s Spatial Design Faculty ) WIM MARSEILLE
the opportunity to be part of a two-week international summer school. 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
The goal was to map the possibilities and preconditions of public space ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
in Shanghai and present the outcome in the form of an exhibition. ( HS ) 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
ILSE BEUMER
SOCIOLINGUISTIC SYMPOSIUM APRIL 2008

RESEARCH REPORT
Y O U B E T T E R G O N O W, B E F O R E Y O U T E L L M E T H I N G S 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E 52
I D O N ’T WA N T TO K N OW.
56 C O L O F O N
computer: I learned to talk about it. I never could before.

visitor: Mmm-hmm. I understand.
computer: Yes, I’m rather disillusioned. But urm, do you have any
plans for tonight?
visitor: Me? No, I have no plans for tonight. How about you?
computer: Well, I have no choice.
visitor: Yes um, but, eh, who are you actually? Are you just calling
this number?
computer: You better go now, before you tell me things I don’t want
to know.
visitor: No, yes, all right, but then you’ll have to tell me who you are.Ω ΩT R A N S C R I P T S
( U T R E C H T 20 0 6 &
F R O M T EL EP H O N E R E C O R D I N G S
A M S T ER DA M 20 0 8 ).
T R A N S L AT I O N S F R O M D U TC H BY AU T H O R
(K ARIEN VA N A S S E N D EL F T ).
A one - to - one conversation is like a game in which both conversation

partners follow unwritten rules of Cooperation, Politeness and
Relevance. Relevance is particularly interesting. Its theory can
be explained as the wish to make sense of what the other is saying,
however improbable this may be. Until recently I was not aware
of these theories, other than that I use them unconsciously in the
context of my interactive sound installation Telephone. Telephone
is a computer device for ( semi - ) public space created together with
sound designer Slobodan Bajic. It lures passers-by into a telephone
conversation without them realizing that they are talking to a machine
instead of a natural conversation partner. Telephone consists of a
sound archive of pre-recorded utterances, sorted into categories.
The voice of the visitor activates the computer, which randomly picks
phrases from relevant sets, and plays them back in an attempt to
maintain a dialogue.
computer: And how are things with you?

visitor: Well, it’s ok here. Lots of nice paintings and um... well...
how can I phrase this...
computer: Brilliant!
visitor: I’m transferring you to...
computer: Sorry, I was distracted. You were saying?
visitor: I’m transferring you to someone else! 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
computer: Yes, that is a possibility but I never experienced it that way.

Tone of voice, phrasing and timing are decisive elements in the 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
development of a balanced telephone conversation. Speaker gives ANDRE AS MUELLER
listener a turn by prolonging a syllable, dropping the voice’s pitch 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
level or by using stopgaps. ‘Empty’ remarks such as bromides, stopgaps ERIK A JACOBS LORD
and fillers ( e.g. it’s like, well you know how it is ) help to keep a 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
conversation going, particularly in everyday conversations where the WIM MARSEILLE
‘ purpose is more social interaction than exchanging information; 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
utterances that do not communicate meaning but open the channels ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
of communication. They fulfil a social function and that is their 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
principal aim.’ ILSE BEUMER
The challenge with Telephone is to draw the visitor into the

conversation by ( a ) introducing a personal, emotional story; RESEARCH REPORT
( b ) asking the visitor for response; and ( c ) using bromides to keep 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E 53
the conversation going. This way the visitor is drawn into answering
a question or replying to a remark without questioning who is on 56 C O L O F O N
the line. Generally, Telephone’s visitors react to a question or remark

spontaneously and seem to forget previous utterances. The result is
a random but believable conversation, although a confusing one,
as the conversation partner at times seems a bit odd to the visitor.
It is surprising to see how the visitor takes great pains to salvage
the conversation.
computer: I learned to talk about it. I never could before.

visitor: But that’s good.
computer: It’s all a bit nonsense, don’t you think?
visitor: Well, no, when something’s bothering you, you should be frank
about it.
The installation’s randomness makes it difficult to keep a conversation

going. But as mentioned above, this is not necessarily a problem since
in everyday conversations social contact is prominent. It only becomes
awkward when the visitor asks a specific counter-question, ( e.g. What’s
your name? ). Nonetheless, the computer’s answer might still be
acceptable, given that carefully phrased bromides are such strong
elements in a conversation.
computer: Beautifully spoken! I love you, we all love you!

visitor: That’s disgusting! Why do you love me?
computer: Yes, I also think it’s unfair but there’s not much
one can do about it.
Last April I presented Telephone at the 17th International

Sociolinguistic Symposium in Amsterdam. My presentation was
received with interest. Although researchers were surprised by the
archive and responses, they disputed the randomness of the project.
To turn my artistic research into proper sociolinguistics, I would have
to narrow down my premises to a small archive of phrases on one
topic for a specific type of interlocutors in a carefully chosen location.
Until then I will be more of a funny novelty to the theorists. But my
aim is not to do general sociolinguistic research; I am simply intrigued 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
by the philosophical questions and psychological effect of everyday

language in interaction. S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
Via the Sociolinguistic Symposium I came into contact with 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
researchers from Huddersfield University in the UK . This group ANDRE AS MUELLER
develops a methodology for the emerging field of Language in 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
Conflict. Conflict speech and impoliteness form part of Critical ERIK A JACOBS LORD
Discourse Analysis, which investigates how authority, inequality 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S
and power are transmitted through language. In a one - to - one WIM MARSEILLE
conversation, if one of the interlocutors ignores the rules of 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
Cooperation, Politeness and Relevance, the power balance crumbles. ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
The control shifts to the one that broke the rules; he is now in charge, 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
because he put his interlocutor on the wrong footing. Often this ILSE BEUMER
means the end of the interaction. Interlocutors become strangers

to each other and communication stops. RESEARCH REPORT
With Telephone, who is ruling the conversation? Telephone’s behavior 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E 54
as a conversation partner can come across as nonsensical, ironic,

too direct or rude - all forms of impoliteness. The installation could 56 C O L O F O N
thus be considered an example of how to trigger conflict in language,

with the computer as culprit.
computer: Sorry, I was distracted. You were saying?

visitor: No nothing, I didn’t say anything.
computer: Well, that is a conversation that we certainly
should have some day.
( Karien van Assendelft )
UTRECHT RESEARCH LECTURE
A few times a year, the professorship in Artistic Research invites

a guest speaker within the context of the Utrecht School of the Arts’
General Studies program. The invited speakers are all based in
a research practice and engaged in the question of the specificity
of artistic knowledge production and how that knowledge production
is related to curatorial models. Mika Hannula has talked about the
development of an exhibition model out of four presented PhD projects.
On November 26, 2008, painter Luc Tuymans, who recently was
awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Antwerp,
lectured about the status of artistic research in the academic landscape
of Belgium. Tuymans particularly focused upon the Brussels model,
a PhD program for artistic researchers developed by Hans de Wolff at
the Free University of Brussels. Within an artistic research framework,
Tuymans discussed three exhibitions of his work in Museum Budapest,
Haus der Kuenste Munich, and Museum Warzawa, while explaining
how the exhibition of paintings is not merely a matter of mounting
them on the wall. Rather, each exhibition set-up is a deliberate spatial
and installative articulation of a concept. One of those concepts is
the delusion of the utopian idea – in Tuyman’s view the ambiguity
between religion and power – as constituted by the iconography of
the Order of Jesuits. Tuymans claims that the utopian will ultimately
lead to an absolute vacuum, via the topography of entertainment and
obscenity in reality television.( Luc Tuymans )!
3 – 4 EDITORIAL
ANDRE AS MUELLER
ERIK A JACOBS LORD
WIM MARSEILLE
2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
ILSE BEUMER
RESEARCH REPORT
55
56 C O L O F O N
M A H K U zin e 6 3 – 4 EDITORIAL
JOURNAL OF ARTISTIC RESEARCH
W IN T ER 2009 S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S
M A H K U zin e 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3
JOURNAL OF ARTISTIC RESEARCH ANDRE AS MUELLER
H O S T E D B Y T H E U T R E C H T G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F V I S U A L A R T A N D D E S I G N ( MAHKU ) 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D
I S S N : 18 8 2 - 4 7 2 8 ERIK A JACOBS LORD
C O N TA C T WIM MARSEILLE
MAHKUZINE 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S
U T R E C H T G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F V I S U A L A R T A N D D E S I G N ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU
INA BOUDIER - BAKKERL A AN 50 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E
3582 VA U T RECH T ILSE BEUMER
THE NETHERL ANDS
MAHKUZINE@MAHKU.NL RESEARCH REPORT
WEBSITE
W W W.M A HKU.N L 56 C O L O F O N 56
EDITORIAL BOARD
HENK SL AGER ( GENERAL EDITOR )

A N NE T T E W. BA LK EM A
ARJEN MULDER
JESSICA GYSEL
FINAL EDITING
A N NE T T E W. BA LK EM A
L ANGUAGE EDITING
JENNIFER NOL AN
T R A N S L AT I O N S
GLOBAL VERNUNF T
DESIGN
CHRIS T I A A N VA N D OK K UM, M A HKU /M A EDI TORI A L DESIGN
EARN
M A HK U IS PA R T O F T H E EURO P E A N A R T IS T I C RESE A RCH N E T WORK ,
T O G E T H E R W I T H T H E H E L S I N K I S C H O O L O F A R T, M A L M O S C H O O L O F A R T,
GRADCAM ( DUBLIN ), S L A D E S C H O O L O F A R T, L O N D O N A N D V I E N N A
S C H O O L O F A R T.
PA R T I C I PA N T S
K A R I E N V A N A S S E N D E L F T, M A H K U G R A D U AT E , M A F I N E A R T.
I L S E B E U M E R , M A H K U G R A D U AT E D E S I G N , P U B L I C S PA C E D E S I G N .
A N D R E A S G E R O L E M O U, M A H K U G R A D U AT E D E S I G N , E D I T O R I A L D E S I G N .
E R I K A J A C O B S L O R D , M A H K U G R A D U AT E D E S I G N , I N T E R I O R D E S I G N .
W I M M A R S E I L L E , C O U R S E L E A D E R M A I N T E R I O R D E S I G N , M A H K U , U T R E C H T.
A N D R E A S M U E L L E R , R E S E A R C H E R J A N V A N E Y C K A C A D E M Y, M A A S T R I C H T ;
CO - C U R AT O R S Y M P O S I U M S PAT I A L P R A C T I C E S .

Spatial Practices: Dutch Artistic Research Event

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EDITORIAL 3–4

DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3

ESCAPING THE GRID

ERIK A JACOBS LORD 19 – 28

TRANSERIUM, A NON-PL ACE

Contemporary spatial design and the spatial research linked S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S

space, urban space, found space, spaces of flow, space 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D

of the space concepts that appear in MAHKU zine # 6, an issue 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S

devoted to spatial practices. Obviously, practice in this spatial WIM MARSEILLE

context refers to activity and action in space not necessarily 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S

performed by consumers of space - although that does not ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU

seem to be excluded in the self - managed space radiating 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E

a Bourriaud ambience – but rather by professional designers ILSE BEUMER

In spite of the ample archive of spatial concepts, the profession 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E

of spatial designer is not an easy one to define in the 21st century.

a reservoir of knowledge produced by social interactions, – once coined

and the Spatial Practices symposium held at the Utrecht Centraal

knowledge production. Spatial research is able to produce a novel field

knowledge production. ( AWB )! 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D

ERIK A JACOBS LORD

DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3 S P AT I A L P R A C T I C E S

5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3 5

ANDRE AS MUELLER ANDRE AS MUELLER

symposium’s title, “Spatial Practices”, seemed to shift the focus away 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S

from an all-embracing political debate towards specific, pragmatic WIM MARSEILLE

and applicable practices. Held at Centraal Museum Utrecht on 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S

two architects and an architecture theorist. Its central theme was 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E

transformations of the contemporary city and the politics of territorial 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E

relations. Spatial practice describes both the critical analysis of spatial

Spatial Practice is a term coined by Henri Lefebvre in The Production

They transformed a neglected piece of public land into a garden with 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D

consisted of programmed sessions of Sunday afternoon tea talks with 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S

and environmental activism. ILSE BEUMER

The project put inhabitants of a Swedish social housing estate in 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E

a video interview dialogue with owners of so called off - grid homes

autonomously, in a self - sufficient manner, without reliance on public

Both speakers described their work as a form of artistic research

and ultimately led to a break with modernist planning ideals.

of participation, advocacy planning, or community design. ANDRE AS MUELLER

Activist strategies appeared in architecture and approached the urban 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D

in this context is Participatory Action Research, a method that 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S

approaches a given situation through research activities, involving WIM MARSEILLE

participants and existing local social networks. By combining the idea 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S

term for all the projects discussed in the symposium. 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E

Philipp Misselwitz talked about a collaborative research process to ILSE BEUMER

with Nikolaus Hirsch, Markus Miessen and Matthias Göhrlich, 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E

accompanied the diverse activities of the European Kunsthalle

restructuring of space in both Nowa Huta and Spangen.

they aim to reconstruction ‘spaces of proximity’ from the margins 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D

for a community garden in the Paris district of La Chapelle, 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S

and a recently squatted house close by explore the possibilities of 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S

a collectively self-managed space. Using recycled materials and ANDRE AS GEROLEMOU

The process of constructing as a collective experience and the

activities created a collective subjectivity. That this practice is at the 50 – 54 M A P P I N G P U B L I C S PAC E

community activists and the city’s administration.

IN ARCHITEC TUR AL DESIGN 5 – 8 DUTCH ARTISTIC RESEARCH EVENT # 3

ERIK A JACOBS LORD 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 9

ERIK A JACOBS LORD

be described in black and white, just as a menu entry cannot define 41 – 4 9 T R A N S E R I U M , A N O N - P L A C E

Wolfgang Laib’s Wachsraum ( 1992 ) has these difficult, impractical,

Or, it could be aesthetically beautiful but not engineered well, as with 9 – 18 E S C A P I N G T H E G R I D 10

which failed due to structural problems. Or perhaps the engineering 19 – 28 S P AT I A L S C E N A R I O S

prohibiting the chemical process of curing concrete or good welds 2 9 – 4 0 C R E AT I V E C A S T S