Bik Van Der Pol
Since 1995, Liesbeth Bik and Jos van der Pol work as Bik Van der Pol. They work and live in Rotterdam (NL).
Through their practice Bik Van der Pol aim to articulate and understand how art can produce a public sphere and space for speculation and imagination. This includes forms of mediation through which publicness is not only defined but also created. Their work follows from research of how to activate situations as to create a platform for various kinds of communicative activities. Bik Van der Pol’s mode of working consists of setting up the conditions for encounter, where they develop a process of working that allows for continuous reconfigurations of places, histories and publics. Their practice is site-specific and collaborative, with dialogue as a mode of transfer; a “passing through”, understood in its etymological meaning of “a speech across or between two or more people, out of which may emerge new understandings”. In fact, they consider the element of “passing through” as vital. It is temporal, and implies action and the development of new forms of discourse. Their practice is both instigator and result of this method.
In 1999 had a residency of the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York) and in 2011 at Bard College (CCS). In 2010 Bik van der Pol were awarded te ENEL Contemporanea Award, and in 2014 the Hendrik Chabot Award for Visual Arts by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds South Holland.
Selected exhibitions and projects
2016: WERE IT AS IF, Witte de With, Centre of Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; SEMA, Media City Biennale, Seoul; 11th GwangJu Biennale, GwangJu 2015: The Power Plant, Toronto (Can); PAMM (Perez Art Museum) Miami, Jakarta Biennale, Mauritius Pavillion, Venice Bienal; Future Light, MAK, Vienna; Decolonized Skies, ADNPlatform, Barcelona 2014: Public art project, Ternitz (Austria), 31st São Paulo Bienale, São Paulo; Museum of Arte Util, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; The Crime Was Almost Perfect*, Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Apex Art, Decolonised Skies, NYC, CAFA Art Museum, The Missing Stories, Beijing, The Part In The Story, Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, The Crime was almost Perfect, PAC Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea. Milano 2013: 25 years City Collections, Museum Boymans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Biennale of Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, Call of the Mall, project for Hoog Catarijne, Utrecht, CAPACETE entretenimentos ROAD/BOAT 3.1.8 at the school Xapomi, Amazon, Brazil 2012: You talking to me? 98Weeks (Beirut, Lebanon); Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Sudbury (Ca), Musagetes 2011: Living As Form, Creative Time, New York ; Accumulate, Collect, Show, Frieze Projects, Frieze Art Fair, London; 2010: Are you really sure a floor can’t also be a ceiling? ENEL Award 2010, MACRO museum, Rome 2009: It isn’t what it used to be and will never be again, CCA Glasgow; Xth Lyon Bienniale, Lyon 2008/2009: Plug In 28, Pay Attention, Act 1, 2, 3, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven 2008: Becoming Dutch, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven 2007: Xth Istanbul Biennale ; Fly Me To The Moon, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 2005: Secession, Vienna
Selected publications
Upcoming: School of Missing Studies, published by Sandberg Institute (expected February/March 2017) WERE IT AS IF, published by Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (expected September 2017) Published:
- Bik van der Pol, Henry Moore Institute (Leeds, England), Catching some air: library drawings by Bik Van der Pol, 2002. Essays by Penelope Curtis, Lunda Morris. ISBN 190008158X
- Bik van der Pol, With Love From The Kitchen. Published by nai010 publishers. Essays by Jan Verwoert, Jean Attali, Wouter Davidts, Charles Esche, Mary Jane Jacob and Sven Lütticken.
- Bik van der Pol: Past Imperfect Paperback – 2005. Publisher: Secession / Revolver (2005) ISBN 390192678X Essays by Nina Montmann, Arnon Grunberg, Susanne Neuburger, Hedwig Saxenhuber.
- Bik Van Der Pol: Casco Issues: Past Imperfect No. 9 2006. ISBN 3865882188
- Bik Van der Pol . (2011), Elements of Composition: (as Above, So Below).
- Bik Van der Pol & 98weeks (2012). You Talking to Me?: Bik Van Der Pol & 98weeks, Beirut.
- Bik Van der Pol, Fly Me to the Moon. Texts by Jennifer Allen, Wouter Davidts, Frans Von der Dunk, Bik Van der Pol, Jane Rendell ISBN 978-1-933128-20-7
- Bik Van der Pol Istanbul 59 Locations (A Format For Nightcomers) 2007 Text by Bik Van der Pol, Pelin Tan.
- Bik Van der Pol Public Arena 2009, Design by David Bennewidth.
- Bik Van der Pol, Up & Close Publication by Witte de With 2014. https://issuu.com/wittedewith/docs/rch2newspaper.
- Bik Van der Pol & Urban Subjects, "Learning from Vancouver" 2010.
- Bik Van der Pol It isn't what it used to be and will never be again published by CCA Glasgow. 2010. Essays by Jan Verwoert, Francis McKee, Bik Van der Pol.
- Bik Van der Pol Moderna Museet Projekt 2000. Text by Maria Lind, Nicholas Bourriaud. ISBN 9171006478
- Bik Van der Pol " Between a Rock and a Hard Place". Published by Musagetes 2012. http://musagetes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Between-a-Rock-and-a-Hard-Place-Publication.pdf
- Bik Van der Pol "Are you sure a floor can't also be a ceiling?" ENEL 2010. Published by ENEL.
- Bik Van der Pol What if the moon was just a jump away? http://www.bikvanderpol.net/files/book/i_5099/bikvanderpol.pdf
- Bik Van der Pol What if the moon was just a jump away. Published by Jan Van Eyck Academy. ISBN 978-90-812018-0-3
Curated
Deze sokken niet wit, Van Abbemuseum (2012) Too late, too little, (and how) to fail gracefully, Kunstfort Asperen, ww.kunstfortasperen.nl (2011) Neverodoreven (2009) Piet Zwart institute in Rotterdam Plug In, collection Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven (2007-2009) I’ve got something in my eye, collection Marie Louise Hessel Museum/CCS Bard (2008); Teasing Minds, Kunstverein Munich (2004) Married By Powers, TENT/collection Frac Nord Pas Calais, Dunkerque (2002)
Other
Bik Van der Pol directed the temporary Master program The School of Missing Studies (2013-2015 at Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam). They taught at M.I.T. (spring 2016) and are advisors at the Jan van Eijck Academy in Maastricht. Liesbeth Bik was advisor at The Appel ICP (Amsterdam) until 2016; she is a core-tutor at Piet Zwart Institute (Rotterdam).
Bik Van der Pol are currently on a research residency at Air Berlin Alexander, Berlin (autumn/winter 2016)
References
External links
- Bik Van der Pol homepage at bikvanderpol.net