mezosfera.org – Page 3 – Mezosfera is an international magazine on art and culture published and edited by tranzit.hu in Budapest.

Undisciplined Unacademic Zone

Jan Sowa, Sep, 2016Oct, 2016

Having recently had some time to indulge in guilty pleasures, I watched through four seasons of the Star Trek: Enterprise TV series, originally aired between 2001 and 2005. I enjoyed the show more than one might expect; nevertheless, I could not guarantee the same would hold true for someone who does not have a soft spot for science fiction. What is unquestionably interesting, however, for anyone trying to understand the dominating symbolic order we are all submerged in is an ideological reading of the series. Seen through the lenses of ideology critique, it turns out not to be about the future at all.

Walking Theory

Ana Vujanović, Sep, 2016Oct, 2016

My interest in “walking theory” initially came from an education in art and humanities, which taught us that art was an intimate activity of the artist-genius who creates directly from his guts, while theory was an abstract speculation, which, if you let it come closer, can castrate artistic freedom. Paradoxically, all this was promoted in Belgrade in the 1990s, in the context of the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia, the international sanctions, the regime of Slobodan Milošević, and the transition from socialism to capitalism.

Shaking the Status Quo*

Notes on Unlearning

Nora Sternfeld, Sep, 2016Oct, 2016

It is difficult to imagine unlearning. One thing that stands in our way is our initial understanding of the word. Is it even possible to simply leave dominant knowledge behind? My immediate answer is “no,” for two reasons. First, there is no way back. There is no path that leads us to a time or place before the history of relations of power and violence that are responsible for what we know today. Secondly, unlearning is not an easy task. For these reasons, it is worthwhile to take a closer look at how it is discussed in postcolonial theory.

Public Space and Resistance

On Budapest’s Living Memorial

Lóránt Bódi, Sep, 2016Oct, 2016

For East-Central European countries emerging out of the period of state socialism, it was only after 1989 that the civic sphere and civil society could make themselves felt as constructive elements of democracy. An agent of the development of the democratic order, civil society represents a significant force in opposition to political power, for instance in its capacity to thematize sensitive social questions, form public opinion, assert values, and keep the government in check.

Polite Quietness

Current Waves in Eastern European Art History

Barbara Dudás, Aug, 2016Aug, 2016

The international conference "Contested Spheres: Actually Existing Artworlds under Socialism" co-organized by the Kassák Museum and the Translocal Institute for Contemporary Art, took place on May 27–28, 2016 in Budapest. It was realized within the framework of the Kassák Museum’s ongoing research project focusing on Hungarian art of the 1960s and ‘70s. The general aim of the two-day gathering was to give insight into current research directions on art and culture in the ‘60s-‘70s, specifically inviting a younger generation of scholars from and beyond the Central and Eastern European region.

A Form of Contemporary Resistance

An Interview with Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti

Eszter Szakács, Jul, 2016Oct, 2016

Beirut-based writers and curators Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti discuss some of the key aspects of their project that unravels the forgotten story and context of the large-scale International Art Exhibition for Palestine that took place in 1978 at the Beirut Arab University, at a time of civil war in Lebanon. Their work was transformed into exhibition iterations at MACBA (2015) in Barcelona, HKW in Berlin (2016), and recently at tranzit.hu in Budapest. Khouri and Salti touch upon their methodology; how political engagement and art played a crucial and intertwined role in the 1960s-70s, and how it is relevant for today; as well as in what ways geo-cultural constructions and transnationalism are meaningful today.

Toxic Places, Toxic Images

An interview with Elke Krasny

Hedvig Turai, Jun, 2016Jun, 2016

The exhibition Uncanny Materials was born from a feeling of uncanniness. Elke Krasny, the newly appointed head of the Department of Art Education of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, sensed the burden and the ghostly presence of the Nazi past when she was supposed to move to her office room. She felt it was somehow toxic. Instead of repressing this sense of uncanniness, she went right to the heart of the matter. The department was founded in 1941, which was also the year when WW2 took a violent turn on the Eastern Front, and when the Jewish community of Vienna was informed about the deportation, among other sinister events.

Political Ecology and Anthropocene Public Space

An interview with Brian Holmes

Tünde Mariann Varga, Jun, 2016Jun, 2016

On the occasion of a lecture and a workshop organized by the Translocal Institute in Budapest, art and cultural critic Brian Holmes talked about the importance of realizing how in the current geological epoch, in the Anthropocene, human generated energies “overwhelm the forces of nature.”

What is Mezosfera?

About tranzit.hu's new magazine on art and culture.

tranzit.hu, Apr, 2016May, 2016

The magazine, on the one hand, is a platform for the sharing of knowledge and the building of solidarity: while also connecting with other non-central geopolitical regions of the world, it initiates dialogues mainly among the art and cultural scenes of the region described as Eastern Europe. It endeavors to discuss how this region with a common but locally varied communist past confronts the influence of both global and local socio-political turbulences. On the other hand, Mezosfera also endeavors to mediate these local and regional discourses to a broader, international audience.

A Weird Geography

An introduction to issue #1

Katalin Erdődi, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

The first thematic issue of Mezosfera contributes to the on-going societal debates around migration and migration politics in Europe, introducing and examining related work by artists, activists, and thinkers from diverse cultural and geographical contexts. It addresses overarching key issues, from the crisis of citizenship and the challenges of a post-identity politics to the unequal access to rights and privileges that pervades all phases of the migration experience from the freedom of movement to the right to work.

Appealing to the State to Become Stateless

An interview with visual artist Núria Güell about the right to self-determination, the failure of the nation-state and how art can be used to challenge the possible

Katalin Erdődi, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

Nationality is the quality that infuses to a person the fact of belonging to a national community that is organized as a state. The project emerges from my dis-identification with the structure of the nation-state, as well as from my refusal of the construction of the self in relation to national identity, since I consider it fictional and imposed. (Núria Güell on her work “Stateless by Choice. On the Prison of the Possible”)

Europe: A Present-day Slavery Zone. And We Go Willingly, Like a Lamb to the Slaughter

An interview with Bogdan Droma about the Mall of Shame protest in Berlin and labor migration to Western Europe

Ovidiu Pop, Apr, 2016May, 2016

In 2014 Bogdan Droma worked on the construction of the famous Mall of Berlin. As a result of weeks of work going unpaid, as well as of various forms of abusive treatment, he protested together with other workers on an almost daily basis, turning the popular designation of the mall into the “Mall of Shame”. The case of the Mall of Berlin workers is not an isolated one, therefore we wanted, together with Bogdan, to start a conversation regarding non-declared or off the books work as performed by immigrants in the West. This interview was first published in Gazeta de Artă Politică #12—“In the name of the periphery: decolonial theory and intervention in the Romanian context” in Bucharest and is re-published here with an introduction by Ovidiu Pop, co-editor of G.A.P. #12.

Russia, The Land of Opportunity

A migrant labor board game by Andrei Yakimov and Olga Zhitlina

Katalin Erdődi, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

“Russia, The Land of Opportunity” board game is a means of talking about the possible ways that the destinies of those millions of immigrants play out who come annually to the Russian Federation from the former Soviet Central Asian republics to earn money (…). The characters, situations, and monetary amounts (fines, payments, bribes, etc.) are not fictional. Any resemblance to actual events is not coincidental. Each year, thousands of people are victimized by the system outlined here. (The artist Olga Zhitlina on her collaboration with human rights advocate Andrei Yakimov)

Refugees’ Library

An on-going project initiated by Marina Naprushkina

Katalin Erdődi, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

The “Refugees’ Library” is an archive of court sketches on the topics of asylum and migration. The artist Marina Naprushkina documents the trials of refugees through illustrations and dialogues between the different actors of the trial: the plaintiff (the refugee), the lawyer, and the judge. The library’s intention is two-fold: on the one hand, it aims to spark debate about German and European asylum and migration policy by making available to a larger public the cases of refugees coming from diverse geographical, political, and social contexts. On the other hand, the project aims to provide the refugees with the information resources in order to prepare for their own cases.

Border Crossing & You 

Solidarity actions and campaigns in public space and discourse, Vienna, 2014–present

Katarzyna Winiecka, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

Fluchthilfe & Du / Border Crossing & You addresses the critique of the EU border regime and its migration policies. Formally it echoes PR campaigns by Caritas, an organization that collects donations with an appeal to charity, while distancing itself from those it denounces as human smugglers: people whose assistance to refugees made it possible for them to come to Austria and to apply for asylum in the first place. Fluchthilfe & Du / Border Crossing & You envisions escape aid as a paid service and publicly solicits support for refugees' struggle for freedom of movement.

“What Matters Is That The Smugglers Do Their Job.”

A Conference On Human Smuggling. München, October 16–18, 2015

Ruth Eisenreich, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

The Bavarian Refugee Council organized an International Conference on Human Smuggling and Trafficking. The participants disagree with the established image of human smugglers as criminals. According to them, smugglers also carry on the tradition of escape aid at the times of the Third Reich.

Solidarity On Trial

Human smuggling in the context of structural racism and class issues

Katarzyna Winiecka, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

During the International Conference on Human Smuggling and Trafficking (ISS 2015) in München, over 800 people were imprisoned in pre-trial custody in Bavaria on charges of human smuggling. Meanwhile in Austria, every 5th person in pre-trial custody was accused of human smuggling. With these terrifying numbers and realities in mind, it is not only necessary to explicitly demand the abolishment of the paragraphs on human smuggling, but also to take a closer look at these trials and follow them. Katarzyna Winiecka critically revisits the ISS conference and analyzes the structural racism and class issues that pervade trials on human smuggling and criminalize solidarity with people on the move.

I Ain’t Gettin’ on No Plane! How to Stop a Deportation

A film by the Protest Productions Collective

Katalin Erdődi, Apr, 2016Apr, 2016

Vienna International Airport: a hub for people yearning to see distant places and globalized business relationships. But many people get onto a plane, because they are forced to—they are being deported. “I Ain't getting on No Plane! How to Stop a Deportation” shows ‘safety instructions’ for those who would like to prevent a deportation and take action showing solidarity: ‘Don't fasten your seatbelt,’ ‘Stand up and refuse to sit down,’ ‘Talk to the captain’ are some of the recommendations. (Protest Productions Collective)