Please join us for the opening of Manuel Sékou’s I Lost My Gems exhibition.
22 September 2023 from 7.00pm
Motto Berlin Skalitzer Str. 68 10997 Berlin –
After the heist of historical jewellery and art objects out of the Green Vault in Dresden, the case has been reported worldwide. The reports and narrations around spectacular incident quickly drifted into peculiar vocabulary, provoking projections and prejudices against the city of Dresden and its citizens. The discrepancy between personal experience and conveyed attributions about Dresden do manifest the initial point of the project I LOST MY GEMS. Manuel Sékou– raised in Dresden and the artist behind the venture – directs his perspective back to his hometown and youth within the years of the 2000-10s, to confront dynamics of the inner-German history in relation to his own socialization and thus to carve out dispositions of socio-political patterns of behavior induced by collective uncertainty: interference of adolescence with shadows a collapsed system…Sampling in parallel to the investigations of the Soko Epaulette(special commision) the project seeks for treasures of memory and collects potential pieces of evidence of hidden symptoms of the past in the present.To decode the X-Factor of Dresden beyond the mediated image through the mode of visual language.
Join us on Friday September 8 at 7 pm at Motto Berlin for the launch of “Manufacturing Narratives,” the second issue of MAKAN.
MAKAN is a journal of culture and space that is edited and published by Think Tanger, an independent arts organization based in Tangier, Morocco. Its inaugural issue “Informal Utopias” was published in 2020 and established the foundations of MAKAN as a vehicle for critical engagement with contemporary architectural and urban conditions and with academic scholarship emanating from, or focused on exploring, Africa and the Arabic-speaking milieu.
The second issue “Manufacturing Narratives,” focuses on how interrogating narrativity can provoke fundamental questions about how societies define or choose to accept societal or historical truths in today’s world. Contributors to the issue include: Ala Younis, Ali T. As’ad, Bari Abbassi, A. George Bajalia, Karim Kattan, Karima Kadaoui, Kenza Sefrioui, Lahbib El Moumi, Laila Hida, Maureen Mougin, Mohamed Amer Meziane, Monica Basbous, Nadia Tazi, Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou, Sonia Terrab, Soufiane Hennani, Yto Barrada.
The event will include presentations by the creative director of Think Tanger, Hicham Bouzid, and the editor of MAKAN Issue #2, Ali T. As’ad. The presentations will be followed by a conversation / Q&A moderated by Berlin-based urban researcher and performance artist Nancy Naser Al Deen.
please join us on August 2, 2023 at 7:00pm at Motto Books, Berlin for a conversation with Sandra Peters and Adam Feldmeth to present Peters’ new book Cut Cube.
The book Cut Cube, (2022) results from Sandra Peters’ interest in the graphic interplay between two- and three-dimensional structures. The 11 possible ways to unfold a cube are laid out on white paper, whereas the seven cuts that make it possible to unfold a cube are printed on transparent paper and related to each of the six sides of each flattened cube. Turning pages generates a flow of information to make the viewer aware of the complex interplay between both types of structures.
The book is published with Motto Books, Berlin/Lausanne. A book signing will follow the discussion.
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Sandra Peters is an artist, writer, and educator based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. In her work she focuses on architecture and urban space. She is working towards a reciprocal integration of sensual, structural, and conceptual factors.
Peters has widely presented her work in Europe, the US, and the United Arab Emirates, including Performing the City at the NYUAD Project Space in Abu Dhabi (2023); Un–folded Cube (landscape mode) at Foyer-LA, Los Angeles (2023); Bilateral, Diagonal, Cubical at the Gallery Aanant & Zoo, Berlin (2012) and participated in the group exhibition Erschaute Bauten. Architektur im Spiegel zeitgenössischer Kunstfotografie at the MAK—Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst/Gegenwartskunst (2011). She is teaching at New York University Abu Dhabi since 2014 in the Art and Art History Program, where she is Co-program head since 2021.
Adam Feldmeth lives in Los Angeles and Berlin. His work engages the social elasticity of art through situational discourse with those involved in its materialization. Critical contributions have been included at the Luminary Projects, St. Louis, Missouri; Contemporary Art Daily; the MAK Center, Los Angeles; Kunstbibliothek Sitterwerk, St. Gallen, Switzerland; Overgaden Institute for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen; the Guggenheim Gallery at Chapman University; and the 53rd Venice Biennale of Art. In 2008, he co-authored, “Nomad Post School,” with Guan Rong and in 2020 “Some Pedagogies of the Southland Institute” with Joe Potts
He is co-director of the Southland Institute in Los Angeles, teaches Film/Media studies at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California, and is a doctoral student at the European Graduate School where he is considering the cobblestone as a mediator of momentum at the confluence of urban space and cinematic montage.
Reflecting on discoveries and debates that have occurred in the two years since its publication, artist Alex Head will read from current works in progress to highlight specific aspects within his ambitious book Ricochet to discuss the architecture of power.
It is now well documented that cults have been used to disseminate disinformation. For example the extremist cults of MAGA, The Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who’s recruitment pipeline has been funded by Big Oil and crypto libertarians in an attempt to overthrow the United States and crash their and the world’s economy.
But what about the arts more widely, is there a form of culture that is transparent about its ideology, particularly in today’s hyper-accelerate media vortex? Are all cultural institutions not also in some way cultish? The cult of patriarchy being just one obvious example that transcends both religious and cultural institutions.
Focussing on specific evidence of how cults have been used to spread disinformation and other historical data the artist will discuss the central motif to his work Ricochet, – the Sacred Date Palm Tree – as a expression of the anti-rhizome. Are we, the unwitting public being continuously gaslit by Sacred Date Palm tree’s in the form of neoclassical architecture? And if so, what can we do to review and refocus personal and political objectives as users navigate the web architecture of the app?
Join us at Motto Berlin on Thursday, 13th of July for an insightful talk where we will explore the profound themes of Ricochet and run across topics like January 6th, Classical Architecture, White Supremacy, BND Building Berlin, Mental Health, Libertarianism, Bitcoin, Gold Standard, Going Offline, Art, Publishing, Design, Cultural Epigenetics, Memory, Witnessing and Social Media.
We are excited to invite you to the opening of Park 2 INN on Saturday, July 1st from 7PM, a duo exhibition by Louise Verstraete and Rebecca Quix in the presence of Nissan Sunny 1.4LX and a sound installation by Lukas Katzer.
It has been a while since we have seen each other. How are you doing? I’m sorry to call you so early. Holiday schedules. MidDay sMiles. Days go by so fast. I was eating these curly fries and was thinking of you today. Lunch hour at the fuel station. The connection got lost. My tires were losing pressure. Are you here already? Here is still there. Soon there.
The exhibition will be on view from July 1, Monday to Saturday 12 to 8 PM until July 31, 2023. This exhibition has been made possible with the support of Flanders State of the Art. –
Louise Verstraete is a multidisciplinary artist working with the medium of textile and the performative power that the medium carries within. Her projects show an interplay between photography, textiles, scenography and performative interventions. Louise holds an MFA in Textile Design from LUCA School of Arts, Belgium and currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Rebecca Quix (BE) currently lives and works in Brussels. She holds an MFA from LUCA School of Arts, Brussels (2022) and studied at the School of Visual Arts, New York (2021). She is the founder of the project space, Nissan Sunny 1.4LX.
We are happy you invite you to an open-air summer evening with lectures, readings, and a music performance to launch our newest Norient BookPolitics of Curatorship on June 29 at Motto Books Berlin from 19:00 onwards.
In essays, academic texts, photo essays, poems, and short comments by 32 writers, artists, journalists, and scholars from all over the world, this volume attempts to encourage different approaches to increase diversity and equality in curatorship within the cultural industry.
For our Berlin release party, we have invited the Berlin-based curator and book contributor Andrea Goetzke & the activist and DJ Ari Robey-Lawrence for a panel discussion, the musician Tatiana Heuman aka Qeei to play an exclusive music performance, and the sound artist Lendl Barcelos and Norient founder Thomas Burkhalter (both contributors) for remote readings in the lovely courtyard of Motto Books Berlin. Moderated by Carla J. Maier and Philipp Rhensius.
Expect an engaging evening with critical questions, challenging sounds and refreshing drinks. Co-moderated by Norient Books editor and Sound Studies researcher Carla J. Maier and Norient editor and writer/musician Philipp Rhensius.
We are excited to invite you to the finissage event of Lena Pozdnyakova’s “Hunting-Gathering” exhibition, featuring live performances by Eldar Tagi, Lena Pozdnyakova, and Stas Shärifullin (HMOT). The evening also marks the release of New r Age, ME003 (Motto Editions) by Eldar Tagi, Lena Pozdnyakova, and Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist & composer Patrick Shiroishi, based in Los Angeles.
Organised by Liza Kin.
Join us on Tuesday, June 27th, at 7:30 PM at Motto Books Berlin.
Eldar Tagi, a multi-instrumentalist and composer originally from Kazakhstan, is now based in Berlin, Germany. His live improvised performances use a range of instruments, including computers, field recordings, analog modular synthesizers, daxophone, guitars, other stringed instruments, found objects, and self-made sound-makers.
Lena Pozdnyakova, an artist, curator, and researcher from Almaty, Kazakhstan, explores the culture-nature dichotomy, the Anthropocene, and the boundary between life and art in her collaborative projects and research. She is also 50% of thezwo duo with Eldar Tagi.
Stas Shärifullin, aka HMOT, is a Basel-based musician, researcher and artist working with sound and decoloniality. Born in Central Siberia, with Bashqort roots, Stas is studying the political potential of various musical and listening practices through live performances, lectures, interventions and sound installations focused on the issues of extractivism, identity-based oppression, collective memory and militant (sonic) ethnography: action-as-research, research-as-action.
We hope to see you at Motto Books on Tuesday, June 27th at 7:30 PM for an exciting evening of live performances and art.
Side A: Quantum Echoes Pt. 1……..10.44 Quantum Echoes Pt. 2……..8.42
Side B: The Spirit Channel Pt. 1……..11.24 The Spirit Channel Pt. 2……..8.54
Patrick Shiroishi Alto Saxophone, Voice Lena Pozdnyakova – Amplified Objects Eldar Tagi – Serge and Ciat-Lonbarde synthesizers, Daxophone, Shtar
Production, Mastering – Eldar Tagi Recorded in Los Angeles, CA July 11, 2021
Cover Design: Lena Pozdnyakova Image Source: Painting by Liza Kin (“Eine Linie” series)
Motto Editions
‘New r Age’ is the follow-up collaborative album from composers and improvisers Eldar Tagi and Patrick Shiroishi. This time around, they’re joined by interdisciplinary artist and researcher Lena Pozdnyakova, bringing a fresh twist to their creative partnership. The recording took place on a sunny afternoon on July 11th, 2021, in a cozy apartment in Los Angeles’ Rampart Village—a place Tagi and Pozdnyakova used to call home for several years before moving to Berlin.
In this recording, the trio used a broad range of sounds. Shiroishi contributed his expert alto saxophone skills, sometimes blending his voice with the music. Tagi experimented with a variety of instruments such as the daxophone and Shtar, as well as Ciat-Lonbarde and Serge synthesizers. Pozdnyakova, on the other hand, added her unique touch by incorporating noises from amplified everyday objects.
The result is a blend of sounds that shift and change in intensity, keeping listeners on their toes. While the raw energy of the improvised performances is still front and center, additional layers of electronic tones and careful post-processing give the recording an extra amount of density and dimension. So, sit back and enjoy this unique sonic experience that “New r Age” offers.
About the artists:
Patrick Shiroishi is a Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Los Angeles.
Lena Pozdnyakova is a Kazakhstan-born interdisciplinary artist and researcher currently based in Berlin, Germany.
Eldar Tagi is a Kazakhstan-born multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Berlin, Germany.
We’re pleased to welcome you to an enchanting evening filled with poetry and music at our courtyard, this coming Friday, June 16th, from 18:30 onwards.
We’ll begin the evening with the remarkable Robert Stastny, a Berlin-inspired artist, who’ll read out pieces from his acclaimed Portraits. He’ll also give us an exclusive glimpse into his latest works. Following Robert’s spellbinding readings, we’ll transition into a vibrant musical performance by Yellow Hotel.
Poetry is an adventure, in itself. A voyage to somewhere, where the world of men and women – and anything you want to be – has less of an influence.
Music connects onto poetry naturally, Yellow Hotel is Roy Estel Hughes, recently transplanted from Austin to Berlin, and Robert.
Together we will travel – from poetry, to music, to somewhere else.
So, come join us at Motto for a relaxed evening filled with amusing poetry, music, books, and refreshing drinks. We can’t wait to see you there!
Motto is pleased to invite you to the film screening and double book presentation of
Objects in Mirror by Tasman Richardson Published by Impulse [b], 2023
Tasman Richardson is his memory of screens. Video from cathode ray to capacitive pixels shapes his language, directs his understanding, and ultimately borders his imagination. Building on McLuhan’s statement “We become what we behold”, Richardson shuttles through the history of tele-vision and tele-presence, postulating consciousness itself as Gysin-esque “cut-up” collage. Fragmented, digressive, and occasionally manic, Objects In Mirror refracts autoethnography into a technicolour meditation on our mediated world. An intimate and humourous technical-mystical delving into a distrust of all things perceived both in life and art.
DIE SCUM, Sex & Drugs & Contemporary Art is the debut novel by artist and iconoclast Jubal Brown, a post-post-modern love story of the drug dealer to the art scene and his paranoid deluge through alcoholic-depression to redemption and personal agency. A 60,000 word auto-fiction confessional of addiction, to drugs and alcohol but, ultimately an examination of addiction to dysfunctional relationships, unhealthy ideals and behaviours, the performance of identity, and the failure of masculinity.
The reading will be followed by film screenings of Richardson and Brown’s video work.
Tasman Richardson & Jubal Brown have been producing video work, sometimes collaborating, for 25+ years, originating in the 1990s with a unique high energy style of experimental video: A/V, audio-visual, or visual music – also known as JAWA, the recombinant montage of appropriated television&movies treated as raw material, sampled and remixed to build compositions engaging the lexicon of contemporary media culture.
This short program will showcase a selection of video work from the past and present.
About the authors:
Tasman Richardson
Tasman Richardson began pioneering his audio/visual cut up method known as Jawa in 1996, later co-founding FAMEFAME media arts collective in 2002, co-creating international a/v tournament Videodrome with cohorts Jubal Brown, Elenore Chesnutt, and Josh Avery, and launching abstract, anonymous live showcase The New Flesh in 2011. His critique of mediated gaze through installation debuted with 2,000 square foot Necropolis (Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, 2012) and bookended with Kali Yuga (Arsenal Contemporary, Montreal, 2019, and Toronto, 2021). Objects In Mirror (2023, Impulse[b]) is his first book, and continues his critical response to recordings which he dubs “contemporary necromancy.”
Jubal Brown Jubal Brown is a producer and presenter of contemporary art & events culture, and writer based in Toronto, Canada. A/V video-maker of over 50 short works screened or performed in Toronto, New York, Paris, London, etc. Brown has programmed with established institutions and underground venues including ART SYSTEM, GALLERY DEATH FAMEFAME, PLEASUREDOME, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Now MOCA ) DOUBLE DOUBLE LAND, CINECYCLE , and many more. Past projects include Toronto’s legendary event series at abandoned industrial sites WASTELAND… museum vomit intervention RESPONDING to ART, The Cultural Centre ART SYSTEM, multi-media label FAMEFAME, relational aesthetics collaborative The LAND of the LOST, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art’s live audio/visual event series VIDEODROME and the rhythmic noise club night SHIT FUN. In Canadian Art Magazine R.M. Vaughan called him “the dark prince of Toronto art.” Vocationally a Social Service Worker and Addictions Counsellor Brown’s current work deals with addiction, dysfunctional relationships, depression and mental health issues, as well as an extreme individualist canon of iconoclasm, revolution, and nihilism, love and anger, resistance and freedom. His first novel DIE SCUM Sex & Drugs & Contemporary Art is available in paperback and e-book at IMPULSE-b , publisher of artists’ books and multiples.
