Attraction of the Opposites:

ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES
↳ a series of exhibitions and publication

What matters, therefore, is the exemplary character of production, which is able first to induce other producers to produce, and second to put an improved apparatus at disposal. And this apparatus is better the more consumers it is able to turn into producers – that is, readers or spectators into collaborators.1
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After more than a decade of hosting a number of artist studios and running a diverse international program of exhibitions and performances the Artist Initiative CUCOSA faced the ultimate blow of having its doors shut down for good. In favor of those who think art to be unnecessary and insignificant we might soon have to witness another shopping complex ascending from the ashes of CUCOSA. Hopefully the initiative will continue its activities elsewhere but then again only time will tell.

In 2011 we introduced for the first time the self-organized platform ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES as a means of establishing actual relations between different artistic disciplines and forms of production. These operate on 3 levels: collaboration, interaction and participation. The aim was to emphasize the necessity of an autonomous practice that could contribute to the enrichment of the cultural environment against the restrictions of the current political and economical climate. The same principles informed the 2012 volume of ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES. A recurring idea was to combine the two seemingly antithetical worlds such as the commercial galleries with the non-profit nature of the Artist Initiative.

The project hosted in nothing close to a white cube, aimed to relate the works and exhibitions to actual time and space and to the social and political realities. It embodied the conditions, in which the different 'art players' acted upon, interacted with, and produced work for and in relation to.
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On the occasion of the two consequent exhibitions that were realized in CUCOSA in 2011 and 2012 under the title ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES we took the liberty to go back in time and bring it to a still by re-visiting the space and re-experiencing the exhibitions by means of a publication. One might wonder what is the justification for publishing a book about something that happened in the past in a place that seized to exist. Given that the time of publication coincides with the time the exhibitions took place in the previous years the book might even seem like a kind of memorial tribute. On the one hand the monumental space of CUCOSA has been indefinitely inspiring us and we cannot but feel robbed by its definitive absence in the days to come. On the other hand we choose to turn this memorial as it were to an anniversary that marks the inauguration and establishment of ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES as a growing adventure.
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1. Walter Benjamin: The Author as Producer (1934), Selected Writings 1931-1934, ed. Michael W. Jennings, Howard Eiland, Gary Smith, Harvard University Press paperback edition, p.777, 2005

ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES, 2012
↳ CUCOSA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands



CUCOSA | Raampoortstraat 16 | 3032 AH Rotterdam
10 - 12 February: Fr - Su 12.00 - 18.00 hrs. during Art Rotterdam
16 February - 09 March: Thu - Sa 12.00 - 18.00 hrs
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For the 2nd time ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES brings together 10 international galleries to co-exist under one roof in a curated exhibition. Attraction of the opposites centers the body and examines the multiple layers around it as they are shaped by the social structures that confront it. The exhibition explores concepts such as individuality, identity and the group, experience versus meaning.

The exhibition –curated by Kiki Petratou- showcases new work of 17 artists working mainly in the fields of video-art and installation. Participating artists: Wietse Eeken, Dwight Marica, Alexis Milne, Hans van der Ham, Midas Zwaan, Rob van der Hoeven, Tjalling Visser, Marie-Louise Elshout, Joris Kuipers, Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal, Yasser Ballemans,
Katharina D. Martin, Marcel Niehoff, Kavecs Projects (Vana Kostayola & Kostis Stafylakis), Kiki Petratou, Fotini Gouseti, Christina Calbari.

In the framework of Rotterdam Museum Night (10 March) ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES presents Toine Klaassen in his interactive performance/installation/intervention OERSOEP C.ODE 2012.

CUCOSA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Curated by Kiki Petratou
February 10 — March 9, 2012
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Exhibition pictures

ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES, 2011
↳ CUCOSA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands



CUCOSA | Raampoortstraat 16 | 3032 AH Rotterdam
10 - 12 February: Fr - Su 12.00 - 18.00 hrs. during Art Rotterdam
16 February - 09 March: Thu - Sa 12.00 - 18.00 hrs
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ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES brings 11 professional and international galleries to co-exist under one roof. The project will be presented in the space of Artists Initiative CUCOSA in Rotterdam during 3 major events: International Film Festival Rotterdam, Art Rotterdam en Rotterdamse Museumnacht.

The following galleries are invited to participate in the project with the following artists: ATM (New York, USA) with Tomoo Gokita / Bernice Steinbaum (Miami, USA) with Ricardo Zulueta / Bob Smit Gallery (Rotterdam, NL) with Birgit Verwer, Cindy Jansen and Rob van der Hoeven / Charlie Smith (London, UK) with Gavin Nolan and Alexis Milne /CUCOSA (Rotterdam, NL) with Dwight Marica, Wietse Eeken, Tonio de Roover, Arjen van Krieken and Toine Klaassen / Galerie Morgen (Berlin, DE) with Peter Buechler / HB Galerie (Rotterdam, NL) with Ruveanne Gerrissen, Mara Castilho and Jan Robert Leegte / Frank Taal (Rotterdam, NL) with Saminte Ekeland, Mike Ottink, Alexander van Merle and Rolf den Dunnen / galerie IRIS CORNELIS (Rotterdam, NL) with Katharina D. Martin and Sanne Luijben / Metis_NL (Amsterdam, NL) with Gil & Moti / Mirta Demare (Rotterdam, NL) with Hernan Marina

The project is part of IFFR's XL jubilee program. Especially for this occassion there will be two compilations of Dutch art videos presented with work by Serge Onnen, Jan van Nuenen, Jasper Scheepbouwer, Adonis Migkos, Martin Hansen, Anne Hartog, Alexander van Merle, Toine Klaassen, Cindy Jansen, Gil & Moti and Duro Toomato. In addition 6 International video art festivals are invited to contribute short video programs: Festival Miden (GR), CologneOFF (DE), Art:Screen (SE), FiXc (FI), Black Duck+Red Nomade (SP/ARG) and the global festival ART BY CHANCE.

During Art Rotterdam "Attraction of the opposites" presents, as part of the exhibition, performances by Ieke Trinks and Toine Klaassen.

In the framework of the Rotterdamse Museumnacht there are three performances scheduled. Duro Toomato presents Slomobat Advice: Yes or No. Dr. Fisheye and Dusty Stray are in charge for live music. En last but not least the evening will be filled with "Neo romantic italo punky ballroom blitz" by DJ "vanallesdoorelkaar" aka Marcel Niehoff.

CUCOSA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Curated by Kiki Petratou
January 26 — March 6, 2011

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Exhibition pictures

Exhibition pictures

Curatorial projects:

MULTIPLES, 2013
↳ Route du Nord, Rotterdam, The Netherlands



Fotini Gouseti, TAM, Detail, Route du Nord, Zomerhofkwaartier, Rotterdam, 7 -9 June 2013
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On 7, 8 and 9 June 2013 Rotterdam Noord celebrates again 3 days full of art, music and literature. The eleventh edition of Route du Nord will take place this year in a brand new location, the so-called Zomerhofkwartier at the former station Hofplein.
Re-known artists but also new promising talent will present their most contemporary creations corresponding to the festival theme Multiples.

Multiples
The Rotterdam photographer, film and art director Lenny Oosterwijk (1969) and the Greek artist Kiki Petratou (1971) are the guest curators for Route du Nord 2013. For the cultural route they are putting together a central exhibition where artists react creatively in the theme of this year's festival Multiples. The term often refers to a series of identical prints or objects, but the exhibition does not restrict the idea of multiples as a form of art production. Multiples can also refer to approaches such as mosaic, multiform, heterogeneous, multitudinous, collective and polymorphous. With the theme the curators intent to focus on a constructive dialogue between the artists, their practice and their works, which will reflect the current state of affairs, the practitioners' preoccupations and the variety of expressive media.

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Under the theme MULTIPLES Kiki Petratou will be presenting: Efrat Zehavi's 'Passportrraits', a combination of plasticine figurines and photographs of sitters with whom Zehavi develops a special relationship as she invites them not only to pose for her but also to be part of a thematic conversation; Heleen Schröder's 'Face Book', in which we see her fascination about the endless variety of faces and Fotini Gouseti's 'Tam' in which she focuses on genitalia in an attempt to 'tame' the fear and preconceptions related to the social standards.

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Exhibition pictures

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Route du Nord, Zomerhofkwartier, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Curated by Kiki Petratou
June 7 — June 9, 2013

RE-CULTURE 1
↳ Agora Argyri, Patras, Greece



RE-CULTURE 1, International Festival of Visual Arts, Agora Argyri, Patras, Greece,
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ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES presents "Acting Out", a screening of works of 8 international artists who embed role-playing and moving image in pursuing of their projects. The compilation varying in style and scope brings together artist performances ranging between documentary, animation and video art.
"Acting Out" investigates the role of the artist as director, researcher, messenger, mediator and executor; from the politically engaging work of Gil & Moti and Katharina D. Martin and the socio-political approach of Duro Toomato, delving into the subcultural movements of Alexis Milne to jump into the fictionalization of reality of Kiki Petratou and the eccentric rituals of Martin Hansen and on to the personal inquests of Adonis Migkos and Alexander van Merle.

RE-CULTURE 1
Agora Argyri, Patras, Greece
October 20 - November 25, 2012

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Focusing on a new cultural concept for events performed in the city of Patras, the nonprofit organization Art in Progress introduced and organized the first international exhibition RE-culture 1. RE-culture 1 consisted of a wide range of events, starting from visual arts. Art in Progress aim is the production of high quality cultural events. For this reason Re-culture 1 has an international dimension. RE-culture 1 was held in the Argyris Market and hosted important artists from all around the world and from different areas of fine arts.

The cultural event was founded under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports, the Municipality of Patras, the University of Patras, the Athens School of Fine Arts and the Association of Hellenic Tourism & Travel Agencies HATTA.

ESPACIO ENTER - 2012
↳ TEA Espacio de las Artes, Tenerife, Spain

ESPACIO ENTER CANARIAS is a International Festival for all sectors related to art and digital culture, for ideas that will allow us to design the future of technological innovation.
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ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES presents "Acting Out", a screening of works of 7 international artists who embed role-playing and moving image in pursuing of their projects. The compilation varying in style and scope brings together artist performances ranging between documentary, animation and video art.

"Acting Out" investigates the role of the artist as director, researcher, messenger, mediator and executor; from the politically engaging work of Gil & Moti and the sociopolitical approach of Duro Toomato, delving into the subcultural movements of Alexis Milne to jump into the fictionalization of reality of Kiki Petratou and the eccentric rituals of Martin Hansen and on to the personal inquests of Adonis Migkos and Alexander van Merle.

TEA, Espacio de las Artes,Tenerife, Spain
Curated by Kiki Petratou
November 8 — November 20, 2012

Program

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ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES is a multidisciplinary project. It aims to question and reflect on the different aspects of our multifaceted culture through exhibitions and festivals, exchange and collaboration.

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The Beehive Experiment
↳ Artists With Attitude, Amsterdam, The Netherlands



The Beehive Experiment, Organized by AWA (Artists With Attitude), Overtoom 301, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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The Beehive experiment is initiated by AWA (Artists With Attitude), to develop an open and lively exhibition space in the gallery at OT301. The gallery is open only once a week (Monday evenings) and includes some sort of happening like lectures or performances.
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Space
Imagine you enter a space filled with stacks of boxes like in a storage. The boxes with one side open present their own world. They are filled by different artists with objects, models, photo's, books, monitors, intriguing mini installations.

Concept
Surprise, flexibility, and self-organization are important points of our concept. Beehive is not a temple but a vivid laboratory, which creates it's own dynamic. It makes it worthwhile to visit regularly, without knowing exactly what will happen.

Artists R not curated
Artists who want to participate get one of these little exhibition spaces over a period of 6 month to show whatever he/she likes. It's free of charge. The only thing we ask the artists is to place a different, interesting artpiece at least every 2 weeks in order to keep the 'beehive' lively. You can foward your box to another artist you know and who is interested in participating. The flexible box-architecture will also allow us to change the over-all-look of the art space regulary.

The Beehive Experiment is not a group exhibition of 32 artists but an accumulation of 32 mini galleries next to each other.

AWA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Curated by all participants
June 2, 2008— July 22, 2010

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Artists With Attitude were
Merav Artzi, Martin Hansen, Duro Toomato, Kiki Petratou, Maaike Stutterheim, Lucas van der Put, Ernst van Deursen, Judith Witteman, Esther Verhamme, Katja Novitskova.They are primarily busy with enhancing the communication between artists, promoting the space and keeping it alive with alcohol and music.
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Exhibition pictures

Exhibitions

I Still Hate Thatcher
↳ Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam, The Netherlands



Installation view at Kunstvlaai, I Still Hate Thatcher, Site- specific Installation , 2 Synchronized Slide Projectors , 2 School Tables, 2012
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Petratou's work focuses on concepts of place, location, mobility and identity. As photographer and video artist she embraces the fluidity of the mediums' properties to document the raw and real and contrastingly also to stage and style the less real.

I Still Hate Thatcher is based on photographic material taken in the streets of Athens, Greece. The photographs depict a mix of grafiti, written text and posters in public spaces whose focus alternates between political, social, football related and love messages.
The work re-approapriates these messages by combining images in a double projection to re-tell the story of a city in a non-linear manner.

Kunstvlaai: Festival of Independents 'INexactly THIS'
St Nicolaas Lyceum Amsterdam
November 23 — December 2, 2012

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Exhibition pictures
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RED LACES & The Nigerian Story - A True Story
↳ CUCOSA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands



Installation view in CUCOSA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2012
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The slide projection "Red laces" and "The Nigerian Story – A True Story" - a collaboration between Petratou and Dutch poets Joris Lenstra and kO nOrderisk - examines identity, idealism and its related meanings and unravels the priorities of values, principles, ideals and goals over concrete realities. Here determination and forgetfulness, romanticism and hard reality intertwine only to highlight the unstable nature of ideas over time and to stress how adjusting to the norm may interfere in such a way so that certain ideals minimize, change or become suppressed.
The resulting works are a combination of text – usually handwritten with chalk on a blackboard and photographed – and image – capturing the equivocal position of the portrayed individuals in an intimate and murky atmosphere. The relation however between image and text does not develop in a literal way but rather absurd and more associative. This combined with dramatic use of colour and lighting contributes towards a stylised representation. Petratou's construction of the intimate only serves to heighten the complexity and potentiality of an apparently bounded identity.



CUCOSA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Attraction of the Opposites
Curated by Kiki Petratou
February 9 — March 10, 2012
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Red Laces & The Nigerian Story - A True Story were presented in 2012: Kunstvlaai: Festival of Independents, INnexaclty THIS, Sint Nikolaas Lyceum, Amsterdam, NL | Attraction of the Opposites, CUCOSA, Rotterdam, NL, 2012 | 2011: Route du Nord light, Spam, Rotterdam, NL | 2009:
Photo Biennale Photodistorzija, Istrian Chamber, Poreč, HR (cat) |
Riders on the Worm, WORM, Rotterdam, NL |
Fantastic Borders, Gil&Moti Homegallery, Rotterdam, NL

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Exhibition pictures

5 Senses of Vilnius
↳ Vilnius, Lithuania



AsTave Miliu, Detail, from the project 5 Senses of Vilnius: Taste, Installation in Public Spaces, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2009
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Five Senses of Vilnius invited artists from Lithuania Italy, Russia, UK, Sweden, Germany, USA, Belgium, the Netherlands, Croatia and Israel to participate in the project: create together with an untraditional perception of urban history and the history of the Vilnija Region, its culture and environment through the five senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch.

The aim of the project was to produce a functional, aesthetic, long-term and value lasting souvenir Vilniaus simbolis, erupting from the dominion of "amber Gediminas Tower pictures" and highlighting the unique tradition of Vilnius dialogue, the coexistence of ethnical communities, and Vilnius as a city open to the idea of Europe.

The first two weeks were devoted to theoretical lectures and experimental master classes, creative workshops, laboratories and excursions.
The resulted Souvenirs were presented in 5 columns (advertisement stands) located in the city center with each of them dedicated to one of the senses.  

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In co-operation with Architect Gabriele Zanoni, Graphic designers Gleb Solntsev and Ron Yosef, Choreographer and food Specialist Rasa Alksnyte we created a mapping of the history of Vilnius in relation to the Sense of Taste.

The River of Vilnius which divides the city into 2 social, cultural, political and geographical units is used here as the link to unite them by re-inventing new strategies for co-existence.

Produced by LT Identity

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5 Senses of Vilnius
Residency, Workshops and Installation in Public Space
August 24 — September 15, 2009

Exhibition pictures

HOTEL ROOMS
↳ Island of Dreams, Eretria, Greece



Island of Dreams, Hotel Room No 7, 2008
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The Open Art Residency program began in June and ended in September 2008.
The application of program is based on a prototype model of artists invited from all over the world to reside and work at the Open Art Residency on the Island of Dreams, at Eretria.

Cheapart and Charalambos Dermatis- artist / curator and managing editor, co-organised the 1st International Open Art Residency. Artists from Greece and abroad were invited to stay for 15 days and produce their work at the hotel work spaces. The aim of this venture was to gather international artists, encourage their artistic production on the site and increase their familiarity with the Greek public .

Open Art Residency, Eretria, Greece
Curated by George Georgakopoulos & Charalambos Dermatis
June 1 — August 9, 2008

Exhibition pictures

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ILLUMINATORS
↳Koltsovo, Yekaterinburg, Russia



Installation View at Koltsovo Airport,2008, Photo by Evgene Belikov
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In Russian an Illuminator (port hole) is a round window onboard a ship, airplane, space station.
The concept of the project is based on the round shape of the exhibited works of art. This formal principle is closely connected with on the one hand the image of aircrafts and air travels (till recently planes have had round port holes); on the other hand it plastically continues and supports the idea of the round plafonds in the foyer of the terminal where the exposition will be installed. Here the formal aspects of concept close down the meaning of the word Illuminators in the majority of European languages, where the Latin word means a lighting unit, a source of light, a screen, somebody or something shedding light, lighting and also an artist illustrating/ decorating manuscripts. That's why Illuminators are not only works of art but also those creating them – artists.
A round is the most harmonious shape, a fundamental archetypical sign offering a vast variety of associations. One of its most obvious meanings is the world. In this case Illuminator is an artist's worldview projection or worldview magnifying glass or «window» into artist's world.
The exposition of Illuminators exhibition visually and conceptually coincide with the name of the airport Koltsovo (koltso is Russian for a ring; ring – round). The exhibition opened on the eve of the Day of Cosmonautics. Russian cosmonautics started to some extend in Koltsovo as the first jet engines were tested here.
The project is aimed to create a positive, emotionally rich environment in the waiting rooms of the international terminal. Besides the exhibition provides the passengers and guests of the airport with the recent achievements of international contemporary art.


Koltsovo, Yekaterinburg, Russia
Curator: Arseny Sergeev
April 11 – July 11, 2008

Exhibition pictures

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Art Koltsovo program
Art-Koltsovo is the first strategic long-term program in Russian air industry aimed at introduction of works of art and designs inside the international Koltsovo airport and in its adjacent territory.

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PERSONAE
↳ ULISphotoFEST, Istanbul, Turkey

Adonis - Artist, 2006
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The ingenuity of film and photography as art medium lies in its flexibility – most effective in documenting the raw and real and contrastingly also in staging and styling the less real. As photographer and video artist, Kiki Petratou embraces this fluidity. All protagonists in her 'Personae' series (though arguably with exception of Jan the professional dreamer) are removed from their titled vocational context. There is nothing to define Thera as the web designer or Monica as the civil servant. Instead the viewer is drawn towards an identity that is personal and delicate. Aptly reflecting the intricacy of what can constitute identity – an overt theme of much of Petratou's work – this series is by no means unambiguous. On the one hand her documentary style portraits capture a banal and raw reality typical of Martin Parr's works – all subjects are situated in mundane settings of everyday life. However, unlike Parr's subjects who are oblivious to an outside gaze, Petratou's are engaged with the viewer. There is a strange mix of vulnerability and empowerment as the subject's confront the viewer as we intrude into an intensely personal space. This combined with dramatic use of colour and lighting contributes towards a stylised representation. Part documentary and part theatre, Petratou's construction of the intimate only serves to heighten the complexity and potentiality of an apparently bounded identity.

Charlotte McLaughlin is a writer and critic.

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ULISphotoFEST, Istanbul, Turkey
Photography Institution
May 12 — July 1, 2007

Exhibition pictures
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