Dearest TINKEBELL,: Senders hate mail are exposed in art
work
On May 16th 2009 the book
Dearest TINKEBELL. has been
published. This book is a collection of all the hate mail that
Dutch artist TINKEBELL. has received between 2004-2008. The
majority of the messages are a reaction to the
My dearest cat
Pinkeltje (2004) project, which had TINKEBELL. making a handbag
out of her own cat.
The book is made in close collaboration with Dutch artist Coralie
Vogelaar, who researched the origins of the mails. Besides the
actual hate mails that TINKEBELL. has received, the book also
includes personal information ( photos, blogs, addresses ) from
those who have sent the hate mails. All this information was taken
from the web. The majority of the hate mail (approximately 80%)
comes from America, other countries include The Netherlands,
Belgium, France, Spain, Russia, UK and Brazil.
The book features complementary essays by authors such as NRC
Handelsblad art critic Ine Poppe and philosopher/linguist Vincent
W.J. van Gerven Oei. In their essays, they will discuss the meaning
of the different emails from the perspective of their own
disciplines. Their contributions will place this publication within
a broader context in order to evaluate hatemail as both a social
and artistic phenomenon.
With the publication of this book TINKEBELL. and Vogelaar bring
about a huge change: the apparent anonymous practice of online
threatening of public or semi-public individuals is confronted head
on. Normally the artist is questioned about his or her work, in
this book the viewing public
and critics are also held accountable for their actions.
(Read English article in Dutch newspaper NRC
Handelsblad, a German article on Radio
Bremen or check out trendbeheer for more images.)
Courtesy TORCH Gallery Amsterdam
This project has been made possible by The Netherlands
Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.
You'd looove to buy this book? too bad, its SOLD OUT in the
bookstores!
Really really want this book? There are some copies left in a
special edition box, exclusively available at
TORCH
Gallery.
(email: mo-at-torchgallery.com)
