Special Projects

Episodes 13 isolations

www.episodesnetwork.org
www.13isolations.com

presents

SPACES TO A-VOID

SPACES TO A-VOID

Prisoner of conscience:
‘Any person who is physically restrained, by imprisonment or otherwise, from expressing in any form of words or symbols any opinion he honestly holds and which does not advocate or condone personal violence.’ Amnesty International

Artists have long understood the importance of integrity as a motivation for achieving a better world. 13 ISOLATIONS will challenge that integrity by placing 13 artists in solitary confinement for 29 days. Their imprisonment will be a metaphor for the discrimination, exploitation and stigmatization in Europe and the world, of millions of asylum seekers, racial, ethnic and religious minorities and women confined in ‘spaces to a-void’ such as ghettos, refugee camps, housing projects and prostitution.
We know that, as effectively as physical imprisonment, discrimination limits, inhibits and even represses the free expression of opinions and ideas. We do not know to what extent these ‘spaces to a-void’ stifle or, arguably, influence imagination and creative work.

The Social Objective
The exhibition 13 ISOLATIONS aims to contain and utilize the imagination of 13 artists in order to reflect three ‘spaces to avoid’: repression, imprisonment and isolation. Via Internet, we will create the largest possible viewing of an art event ever attempted. More importantly, our website will establish a channel for serious discourse among students, businesses, human rights organizations, grassroots networks, art galleries, ngo’s and the European Union, providing a format for posting commentary and innovative solutions. All contributions and documentation accumulated on the following subjects will be accessible for public and private use:

*The Plight of Immigrants Around the World
*Child Labour
*Forced Labour
*Human Trafficking
*Land and Economic Refugees
*Trafficking of Natural Resources
*Genocide
*Ghettos, Racism and Chauvinsm
*Unfair and/or Wrongful Imprisonment
*Abuse of Authority and Power
*Suppression of the Media
*Crimes Against the Environment
*World Hunger

The Personal Objective
As artists we are committed to finding resolution through research and discovery.
13 ISOLATIONS is an exercise in art imitating life, but in its totality it is true to the value of art for art’s sake. The exhibition addresses the effects of confinement on creativity and seeks to answer the following questions:

Does confinement make one express repentance or defiance?
What images come forth when there is no external inspiration?
What are the effects of physical isolation on spatial sensibility?
Can isolation bring one closer to defining art?
Does intuition overcome the intellect to help the creative mind survive confinement?
Will an artist who is concept-oriented abandon it for the surreal?


The Participants
The 13 artists will represent different countries, cultures and races. Selected from various creative disciplines, they will provide the range of artistic endeavor and the subtleties needed to portray these human rights issues. They will agree to confinement for the full 29 days and to work on a piece or pieces which will be shown in Hoorn immediately following the confinement period and
will travel to Amsterdam and other venues after the initial exhibition.

Sponsors and Support Network
We will attempt to fund this project with contributions from the public who wish to help
support this unique exhibition. We will be soliciting contributions on this website.
Corporate and business support will be sought for both monetary and in-kind contributions in exchange for brand and trademark exposure. In addition to the artists’ exhibition, international human rights organizations, international aid organizations, government agencies, cultural groups, universities, notable individuals and celebrities, politicians and concerned citizens who support the project will receive our assistance in creating an exhibition that reflects their specific mission.

All sponsors will be credited in the catalogue which accompanies the exhibition and in other
suitable forms of publicity.


The project will be documented and reproduced to satisfy several different communication media: catalogue, DVD, POD-cast for live streaming, television, and images printed for promotional purposes.


Prison site: The Netherlands
Exhibition sites: Hoorn and Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Dates:
Pre-Prison Party / Press Conference Amsterdam July31, 2008
Prison Confinement Oostereiland Prison August 1, 2008 - August 29, 2008
Post-Prison Party / Exhibition Opening Oostereiland Prison August 30, 2008
Exhibition Oostereiland Prison Hoorn September 1, 2008 - September 14, 2008

Information:
Mr Anthony Murrell, project director
Telephone: 31-0627178946
E-mail: episodes.exhibition@gmail.com
www.episodesnetwork.org
www.13isolations.com

Press Release Episodes

Amsterdam, NL. May 15, 2008
EPISODES, creates “first of its kind” art event for a global audience.
http://www.13isolations.com/press.htm

EPISODES' second international art project, called “13 Isolations” has selected the 13 artists who will be imprisoned for 29 days in August 2008.
13 artists of multiple cultures and various artistic disciplines have volunteered to be confined in isolation for one month and provided with only art materials, food and water. They will be live streamed 8 hours a day on the Internet.

Amsterdam, NL. May 11, 2008 13 Isolations will take place in Hoorn, Netherlands at the Oostereiland Prison, August 1-29, 2008.
13 artists of multiple cultures and various artistic disciplines have volunteered to be confined in isolation for one month and provided with only art materials, food and water. They will be live streamed 8 hours a day on the Internet for a global audience to view, possibly the largest audience ever to see a live art event.
The Mayors office and the Hoorn city government will sponsor the Landmark prison site and subsequent exhibition space at the prison.
The 13 artists are: Kim Tuin, Isabella Mara, Sanyu Nagenda, Kirsten Leenaars, Kim Tuin, Priscila Fernandes, Moses Foster, Fred Martin, Katya Grokhovsky, Raymond Watson, Lekan Oguntunde, Noriko Yamaguchi and Steven Gerlich.

13 Isolations is art as experimental research and the artists act as metaphors for the larger scale isolations brought on by wrongful imprisonment, discrimination, tribalism, forced labor, human trafficking and poverty to mention a few.

As the artists struggle to compromise their aloneness with unique works of art, the evidence of their struggle will be exhibited to the public for 2 weeks.

EPISODES encourages the participation of companies in Holland to participate in this exciting event opening at the start of the cultural season. The public excitement generated by this event and exhibition makes it an excellent opportunity for corporate exposure. 13 isolations web site www.13isolations.com will broadcast the event and become a docking station for Internet traffic to interact with; by posting blogs, uploading videos about personal experiences with isolations and reporting any violation of human rights. Information gathered over the course of the event will be available for medical institutions, governments, NGOs and the public via our web site.

EPISODES is a public service art network dedicated to bringing the applied imagination of artists to the public domain and promoting genuine cultural exchange among the global community.