Growth
Remco Toren­bosch
2021, 6 page leporello, 21 × 29.7 cm (unfolded 63 x 29.7 cm), English
Price: €2

Produced on the occasion of Remco Torenbosch’s exhibition of Growth, 2019 at Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen for which Toren­bosch ap­pro­pri­ated a med­i­ta­tion video that he found cir­cu­lating on an in­ternet forum for stock traders. The video shows a mon­tage with a va­riety of flower fields, com­posed in such a way as to glo­rify the beauty of na­ture and ef­fec­tuate re­laxation through dig­ital de­vices. The piece ex­plores how the rep­re­sen­ta­tion of na­ture is cap­i­tal­ized on by the med­i­ta­tion in­dustry, in order to pro­mote better per­for­mance in the work­place.

The vir­tual rep­re­sen­ta­tion of flowers and na­ture and the video’s orig­inal place of cir­cu­la­tion also un­der­line the eternal con­nec­tion be­tween the nat­ural and the fi­nan­cial world: from the very first spec­u­la­tive bubble caused by tulip bulbs in the 17th cen­tury, to dis­aster in­vestors who are cashing in on the eco­log­ical cat­a­stro­phes of the fu­ture.

With a text by Sven Lütticken.

#2021 #ephemera #remcotorenbosch #svenlutticken
European contextualising...
Remco Torenbosch
Published by Black Dog Publishing, London, 2013, 255 pages (colour & b/w ill.), 14.8 × 21 cm, English
Price: €25

Produced on the occasion of the Prix de Rome, 2013, this publication is the result of an extensive period of research into the history of the European Flag, opening up intriguing discussion on the changing socio-economics of EU nations, the disappearance of once booming textile industries and the strong individual identities of a union in flux.

Originally conceived for the Council of Europe, the successful design of the flag was later adopted by the European Union in 1985 whilst under the moniker of the European Economic Community. Designed by Arsene Heitz, a French draughtsman at the CoE, and Paul Levy, a Jewish-Belgian Holocaust survivor who worked for many years as the council’s Director of Information, the finalised design was presented to the CoE in 1955 at its headquarters in Strasbourg, Heitz’s hometown.

With contributions by Charles Esche, Mihnea Mircan and Council of Europe Archive.

#2013 #charlesesche #mihneamircan #remcotorenbosch
On Property
International Institute of Social History, Ghislaine Leung, Remco Torenbosch
Published by Cargo in Context, Amsterdam, 2020, card, 14.8 × 14.8 cm, English
Price: €2

Invitation produced on the occasion of On Property, International Institute of Social History, Ghislaine Leung, Remco Torenbosch at Cargo in Context, Amsterdam.

On Property is set against the backdrop of one of the most speculative construction sites in Amsterdam: de Houthavens. This former port area (also the location where Cargo is located) is exemplary of how urban expansion is used as a means for speculation of property, with all its socio-economic consequences. On Property focuses on the subcutaneous and invisible lines of the idea of ownership, a concept that forces separations from public and private and that produces an unequal distribution of collective values.

More information on the project can be found here and here.

#2020 #ephemera #ghislaineleung #remcotorenbosch
EU
Remco Torenbosch
Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2017, white vinyl record, 31.3 × 31 cm, English
Price: €20

Produced on the occasion of the exhibition Collecting Europe, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. EU, 2017 is an abstracted version of the final part of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. This iconic composition has been used at historical moments, and is now the official anthem of the European Union.

More information on the project can be found here.

Designed by Žiga Testen.

#2017 #lprecord #remcotorenbosch #zigatesten