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  the Milena principle [ voyages as art ]               

  Friedrich Nietzsche Seminar Weimar Osmansted 2006                 
               
  Luggage carrier            
  What if 'traveling' is considered to be 'a work of art'?            
 

Practical worries of being on the road are interspersed with discussions, performances and lectures. Experiencing a place, visiting a museum together, sharing ideas, art philosophical conversations, agreements, interviews with congenial persons are a breeding ground for instant creation. Sometimes works of art are made and left behind with the host(ess) or at the venue.

           
 

The further development of these projects is also based on the nomadic aspect that characterized the earlier renaissance artists, who did not only travel with their work through Europe but also made connections with all the places they visited.

           
               
  Alfred Dürerthe 'Waxcube' traveling to Belgium.lecture by Filip Van de Velde Amsterdam NL.            
               
 

Dürer for instance visited the printer Plantijn in Antwerp, these great renaissance persons found each other via their common interest for the new Hermetic and humanistic thinking. Through their travels they moved boundaries, they made inner journeys, travelled with and via ideas. Through exchanges of ideas with artist friends, whom they visited during these long journeys, they created a network of solidarity and affinity.

           
               
  Past 'voyages as art':             
  Eine Spur von Erinnerung (Joseph Beuys) Kassel Germany 2004            
  Friedrich Nietzsche Seminar Osmannstedt Germany 2005            
  Calle dei Amici Venice Italy 2005            
  Gepäckträger Berlin Germany 2006            
  Gepäckträger (II) Kassel Germany 2007            
  The Marcilio Ficino connection Firenze Italy 2009.            
               
  the Milena principle 2004             
               
  Wilhelmhöhe Kassel Germany.'the Fountain walk' Weimar Germany.Wilhelmhöhe Kassel Germany.            
               
  [ Eine Spur von Erinnerung ⋈ Joseph Beuys ⋈ Kassel Germany 2004 ]            
 

In the tracks of Goethe and Nietzsche in Weimar, the Milena principle meet Ingrid Pee, artist, art lecturer and co-worker of the Bureau 7000 eiken (= Bureau of 7000 oak trees) of Joseph Beuys for Documenta 7 in 1982. The garden of Ingrid Pee is very special. It contains an icon, a still witness of this project 7000 eiken (= 7000 oaks) of Beuys. One of these oak trees with a basalt block by Beuys stands here like a cherished jewel. It was exceptionally given to her by friends with the special approval of the 'Bureau 7000 eiken' (= Bureau of 7000 oak trees) because of her efforts in maintaining valuable trees in her region.

           
               
  the Milena principle 2005            
               
  performances 'Naumburg Variation' Naumburg - Friedrich Nietzsche Seminar Weimar.performances 'Naumburg Variation' Naumburg - Friedrich Nietzsche Seminar Weimar.            
               
  The Naumburg Variations - Naumburg cathedral - performance.            
  [ Friedrich Nietzsche Seminar - Osmannstedt Germany 2005 ]            
 

Auf den Spuren Friedrich Nietzsches von Röcken bis Weimar. Eine Veranstaltung der Weimar-Jena Akademie in Zusammenarbeit mit Invitare vom 06.-09.10.05.

           
 

In reply to the invitation of Ingrid Pee from Kassel to participate in the Friedrich Nietzsche Seminar that was held on the museum domain Wielandgut, Osmannstedt in Weimar with professor Dr. Friedrich Voßkühler of the University of Darmstad and Dr. Frithjof Reinhardt, Weimar, Geert Vermeire and Stefaan van Biesen presented their 'philosophical path' to the participants of this seminar. Their artistic interventions were philosophical intermezzos. The magnificent cathedral of Naumburg formed the background of 'the Naumburg Variations', a 20 minute performance by Geert Vermeire and Stefaan van Biesen in which several participants took part.

           
               
  the Milena principle 2005            
               
  Calle dei Amici Venice Italy.performance Museo Goldoni Venice Italy.performance 'Bridgewriter' Calle dela Magdalena Venice Italy.            
  Museo Goldoni Venetië 2005. performance Stefaan van Biesen en Geert Vermeire            
                 
  [ 'Calle dei Amici' Venice Italy ]            
 

During the visit to the Biennale of Venice 2005, the Milena stayed in Casa Querini, an old renaissance building near the San Marco basilica.  During this visit, several performances which had been planned in advance took place and were partly photographed and filmed. There was also an evening lecture on 'the bridge of encounters'.  A nocturnal walk brought everybody together in the 'Calle dei Amici', a place which the Venetians call a magic place, a symbol of timeless friendship. Geert Vermeire brought a number of writing performances such as 'Bridge writer' on the Magdalena bridge, 'Writing in water' in the rising water of the Campo San Giorgio D. Greci and the northern Venetian channels of Cannaregio

           
                 
  the Milena principle 2006   [ How long is now? ]            
               
  performances 'Watercurtain' Bellevuepark Berlin Germany.Luggage Carrier Berlin Germany.Luggage Carrier Berlin Germany.            
               
  [ 'Gepäckträger' Berlin Germany ]            
 

During the summer visit to Berlin the Milena were hosted by Brigitte Kalinowski at the Savignyplatz. During this visit several performances partly planned in advance took place and were photographed and filmed.

           
               
             
               
  [ 'We carry our paths (I)' Die Grunewald variationen - performance]            
  videostils from the performance ' Die Grünewald Variationen'. A seemingly endless thread made visible the path of a walker in the Grunewald forest in the vicinity of Berlin. It was a silent tribute to the deportees who left for an unknown and terrible place. A greeting, a gesture of commitment.            
               
  the Milena principle 2007            
               
  a public talk with Rhea Thönges Stringaris Kassel 2007with Rhea Thönges Stringaris Kassel 2007fragmenten performance 'Ich..', Filip Van de Velde Kassel 2007            
               
  [ 'Luggage carrier (II)' Documenta Kassel Germany ].            
 

During this project ‘bagagedrager’ (= Luggage carrier) our thoughts got close to Joseph Beuys. The making of a video interview with Rhea Thöngres-Stringaris, writer and intimate friend of Joseph Beuys, became the central activity. The conversation was integrated in the Milena exhibition as a work of art just like 'the meeting table', discussions always held a central place.

           
               
  the Milena principle 2009            
               
  the Marcilio Ficino connection Firenze Italië 2009.            
                 
  [ 'The Marcilio Ficino connection' Firenze Italy ].              
 

In the course of 2009 the Milena visited Florence to follow the foot steps of Marisilio Ficino.  The translation of the Corpus Hermeticum by Ficino on the order of Cosimo Di Medici caused an absolute change in the world view and in the way of thinking. Man was back in the centre of the universe as a mirror of the unspeakable. The human body becomes the standard unit to shape the world and the way of thinking. That trip was a greeting in time to Marcilio Ficino, the Renaissance scientist and Piero della Francesca, the timeless master.

           
               
  the Milena principle 2010             
               
  lecture Serralves Foundation Porto Portugal 2010a meeting with Escoitar Spain Vigo and Serralves Porto 2010.Performance Stefaan van Biesen Museo Nogueira da Silva Braga Portugal 2010.            
               
  [ 'How long is now?' Braga & Porto Portugal ].            
 

During July 2010 the Milena principle stayed in Braga in Portugal in the Nogueira da Silva Museum. Installations were shown in the Biscainhos museum and also in da Silva. Stefaan van Biesen  and Geert Vermeire did a performance. Lectures were held in the Serralves Foundation in Porto, Show me galery in Braga. A presentation of our new projects in MARCO, the museum of contemporary art in Vigo Spain. Meeting Stephanie Brandt of Spacepilots London UK and the soundartists of Escoitar.org Spain.

           
 

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