*A*lex was open, warm, and experimental in mind and attitude, *L*et me be independent and collaborative. *E*ncouraged and inspired me a lot. *X*xx...my deepest condolences...
Yukiko Shikata > On 31/12/2018 07:13, Andreas Broeckmann wrote: > > Alex Adriaansens, artist, curator and long-time director of the > > Rotterdam-based V2_Organisation, V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media, passed > > away yesterday, 30 December 2018, after several years of struggling with > > cancer. For over thirty-five years, Alex was active in the field of art > > and technology, as an initiator, an organiser, and as an advisor. His > > influence on many of us was enormous. He projected an amazing, > > passionate engagement with art and with the ways in which new > > technologies impact society. Perhaps even more importantly, he was one > > of the most gentle, friendly and optimistic people I can think of. This > > optimism, coupled with a clear vision and a strong sense of urgency for > > what needs to be done, fuelled his work and put the V2_ Organisation, > > and many of the projects that Alex was involved in, among the most > > influential initiatives in new media art since the 1980s. Now he leaves > > behind his wife, Angelica, and will be missed immensely by many others, > > as a friend and colleague, mentor, and as one of the guiding spirits of > > a whole international scene. > > > > Alex Adriaansens was born in 1953 (on Valentine's Day) and studied at > > the art academy in Den Bosch from 1972 to 1976. In 1981, he, together > > with Joke Brouwer and a whole group of artists and activists, set up the > > artist collective "V2" which became, in 1986, the V2_Organisation, > > Institute for the Unstable Media. The organisation grew and moved to > > Rotterdam in 1994, developing a regular program of exhibition, > > performance, festival, workshop and publication activities, which it > > continues after Alex, due to his declining health, passed on the > > directorship to Michel van Dartel last summer. > > > > In the course of more than three decades, many of the now hotly debated > > topics of digital culture – from interactivity and virtual reality, to > > social media and artificial intelligence – were pioneered in > > exhibitions, conferences and book publications by V2_, under the > > directorship of Alex Adriaansens and Joke Brouwer. Alex was not an > > egocentric leader, but a deeply social, collaborative animal who, rather > > than insisting on this or that, stimulated things to evolve and to > > happen. This turned all the projects he was involved in into permeable > > platforms in which he would collaborate to achieve the best possible > > results, piloting ideas and concepts which would often reach the > > mainstream media and art circles only years later. The 1987 "Manifesto > > for the Unstable Media" remains a crucial document of the critical > > avantgarde spirit that infused the early years, insisting on the > > necessity to engage the new electronic and digital technologies both > > aesthetically and politically. > > > > For Alex, whatever the situation was, there was no other way than to go > > on, to imagine the next step, to push ahead. In this moment of loss and > > sadness, there is nothing better to do in his spirit. Pause, mourn, and > > press on. > > > > Andreas Broeckmann > > > > > > (There will probably be a funerary service on 7 January 2019 at 11:00 > > hrs in Rotterdam.) > > ______________________________________________ > > SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe > > Info, archive and help: > > http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre > > ______________________________________________ > SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe > Info, archive and help: > http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre > >
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