Student
Culture

Genuine fakes

What? Series of debates and exhibition called (Re)Source: on authenticity and manipulation Where? Debates at Impulse, building number 115 on campus When? 15, 22 and 29 May, 17.00 - 20.00 Sign up? Via beeldenopdeberg@gmail.com More information? beeldenopdeberg.nl

Judging by the amount of reality TV the Dutch watch, they are looking for authenticity: for real people. Instead of which what they get is magnified falseness. In order to make ‘reality’ entertaining, it is orchestrated on TV, and sometimes even scripted. These kinds of tensions between authenticity and manipulation are the subject of the tenth edition of art event Beelden op de Berg, kicked off this year with three debates between visual artists, poets and Wageningen scientists. Matthijs Schouten, special professor of Nature Management and Ecology will talk about the extent to which Dutch nature is still in its original state, while professor of Bioprocess Engineering Hans Tramper will discuss whether authenticity is possible in biotechnology. There will also be food, discussion and films. But the main act is the exhibition between 14 June and 15 September at the Belmonte Arboretum. Before they set to work, the artists collaborated with scientists – with diverse and surprising results. Examples: Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen’s ‘cosmopolitan chicken project’, in which a chicken is crossed with its wild ancestor; designer Christien Meinderstma’s cultivation of historic flax varieties; and Eric Klarenbeek’s use of threads from a fungal network (mycelium) as the basis for a 3D printer. Genuinely fake or not, at least it is a lot more interesting than Dutch reality TV.

Tips on films, books, events, exhibitions and other cultural happenings : redactie@wur.nl.

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