iso is a place for artists, designers and craftsmen, iso is a living organism; as such, it is different from day to day.
iso brings together a wide variety of disciplines in a common, mostly open warehouse.
iso brings together a wide variety of disciplines in a common, mostly open warehouse.
In addition to offering a stimulating production environment with some thirty individuals and shared studios, a residency and a large workshop, iso organises a public programme with exhibitions, lectures, workshops and events.
I had the chance to spend few weeks there in 2018 and 2019, assisting founders. Working either for the residents, on their upcoming projects and on iso's everyday life, programing and organizing the various events that will animate this place during the year.
I have worked on projects alone or I integrated into the design chain of artists' projects.
"A really fake future" an exhibition by Karen and Jason. They both work around fashion/textile/visual design. Together they have been investigating different forms of materialising an archive of forgotten textiles, both physically and digitally. Their idea is to create digital sculptures, which explore how digitised textiles can live a new life beyond the constraints of material and craft.
Other works will aim more to illustrate the conflicts between working with traditional textile craftsmanship and the need to produce for the current pace of society. Elma Becks, a Dutch quilter, left Karen and Jason a collection of about 100 pieces, all sorts of patterns and colours, for which they are happy to give a second life.
We immediately think of creating a suspension, given the height of the ceiling of the iso, we lay out the woven fabrics on the floor, creating a gradation thanks to their respective colours. The work that takes shape measures almost 9 metres.
Stéphanie is an artist who works with ceramics as well as textiles and fashion. She is now doing a workshop
and asks me to help her, both for the installation and for advice, in terms of composition, what pieces should they produce and where to place them on the ephemeral painting they are creating.
and asks me to help her, both for the installation and for advice, in terms of composition, what pieces should they produce and where to place them on the ephemeral painting they are creating.
Indeed, Stephanie and the amateurs create 3-dimensional pieces that they place on the floor on a gradient colors painting.
The painting lives one night in 3 dimensions and is then passed
under a press.
under a press.
Kaspar is a young ceramist who is also experimenting with painting, he is currently working on a
collection of 100 bongs and some paintings. He needs to shoot his creations for a gallery and
and asks me to help him with the layout of his creations. So we imagined a scenography that presents his abstract works as well as a second one that presents a part of his collection.
collection of 100 bongs and some paintings. He needs to shoot his creations for a gallery and
and asks me to help him with the layout of his creations. So we imagined a scenography that presents his abstract works as well as a second one that presents a part of his collection.
Objectivity is a living work imagined by Romy who is a young artist who has just graduated and works with plaster.
A material through which she wishes to denounce the critique of the feminine ideal in society.
I helped her to produce and create her performance (the procedure, the necessary equipment, the placement of the cameras, the set up), which will take place at isopenstudios. A live performance during which Romy wants to support the "suffering" side that women face with the idea of "perfection" that they should reach according to the dictates of society conveyed by magazines.
Indeed, the plaster can go up to 50 degrees and Romy is completely naked and immobile during the performance.
I helped her to produce and create her performance (the procedure, the necessary equipment, the placement of the cameras, the set up), which will take place at isopenstudios. A live performance during which Romy wants to support the "suffering" side that women face with the idea of "perfection" that they should reach according to the dictates of society conveyed by magazines.
Indeed, the plaster can go up to 50 degrees and Romy is completely naked and immobile during the performance.
iso is a lively place that hosts events during the day as well as more festive events in the evening. During my stay in iso I organised the Graduation diner & party for the students of Sandberg Dirty Art School Department, the end of year party for the Rietveld academy as well as vernissages.
This involved organising the layout of the various exhibits, lighting tests, setting up speakers for sound and projectors for filmsproduced by the students and/or artists. For each event we define a different circulation with zones such as the bar, the DJ, the dancing hall, the entrance, the toilets...
Each one has its own use and therefore its own arrangement in the environment, practicality and efficiency are the two key words that give life to our ideas.
ARTISTS' ASSISTANT Pénélope Fenard