Lotte van den Hoogen made the thought-provoking illustrations for our zine. She graduated last year in Fine Art & Design in Education with her Fe-mini-isme project which is now on show in the Bad Feminist exhibition at the Melkweg Expo in Amsterdam. This is what she has to say about her graduation process, feminism and ArtEZ Studium Generale:
“For me, taking steps during a visual arts process starts with the theoretical framework. Last year, ArtEZ studium generale helped me enormously to create this theoretical framework as well as staying inspired myself. My Fe-mini-isme project started from an animation assignment about sisterly love, that I really wanted to continue.
I wanted it to be something that not only could be looked at, but that would also genuinely interact with the viewers. What do I want to say with this project? Why is it important and what do I want the viewer to think? These are questions that I consider to be central.
I was able to answer these questions because of the many opportunities that ArtEZ studium generale provided. From a feminist reading group to the extra shelf with feminist books in the multimedia library. Feminism made its way through the ArtEZ corridors, quietly at first, then distinctly louder. Not only was it clearly present, but it also served as encouragement to have a chat or a discussion about it with other people. Although I don’t always find it easy to articulate the necessity for a more feminist dialogue — sometimes it is just a gut feeling — I am taking more and more steps in learning a vocabulary to genuinely talk about it. It is a learning curve and a process of development. Taking possession of the space with my art is also something that I used to find difficult and I still do, sometimes. For example, I wrote feminist slogans on the toilet walls at ArtEZ and then neatly wiped them off again (after quickly taking a photo). Because ArtEZ studium generale put contemporary feminism on the agenda for myself and others, it was easier for me to take possession of that space and be self-confident in setting up my project.”
“For me, taking steps during a visual arts process starts with the theoretical framework. Last year, ArtEZ studium generale helped me enormously to create this theoretical framework as well as staying inspired myself. My Fe-mini-isme project started from an animation assignment about sisterly love, that I really wanted to continue.
I wanted it to be something that not only could be looked at, but that would also genuinely interact with the viewers. What do I want to say with this project? Why is it important and what do I want the viewer to think? These are questions that I consider to be central.
I was able to answer these questions because of the many opportunities that ArtEZ studium generale provided. From a feminist reading group to the extra shelf with feminist books in the multimedia library. Feminism made its way through the ArtEZ corridors, quietly at first, then distinctly louder. Not only was it clearly present, but it also served as encouragement to have a chat or a discussion about it with other people. Although I don’t always find it easy to articulate the necessity for a more feminist dialogue — sometimes it is just a gut feeling — I am taking more and more steps in learning a vocabulary to genuinely talk about it. It is a learning curve and a process of development. Taking possession of the space with my art is also something that I used to find difficult and I still do, sometimes. For example, I wrote feminist slogans on the toilet walls at ArtEZ and then neatly wiped them off again (after quickly taking a photo). Because ArtEZ studium generale put contemporary feminism on the agenda for myself and others, it was easier for me to take possession of that space and be self-confident in setting up my project.”
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