Rut Blees Luxemburg Appointed Artist in Residence for RCA Battersea South
The Royal College of Art is delighted to announce the appointment of artist Rut Blees Luxemburg as artist in residence for the new building at Battersea.
In this new role of Senior Research Fellow, over a four-year period, Blees Luxemburg will act as artist and researcher in residence, following the transformation of the Battersea South campus from construction site through to inhabited workshops, studios and research spaces.
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This appointment follows the recent announcement that the RCA has been granted planning permission by the London Borough of Wandsworth for a new flagship building designed by Herzog & de Meuron. The building is part of the most radical transformation of the institution’s campus in its 181-year history.
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Professor Juan Cruz, Dean of the School of Arts & Humanities said: ‘We are pleased to welcome Rut Blees Luxemburg to the role of Senior Research Fellow. Rut’s practice demonstrates a sensitivity to place and human inhabitancy that will help bring this important new building into cultural existence. The appointment recognises the opportunity the new building in Battersea presents for engaging the public with the broader School of Arts & Humanities activities, and acknowledges the potential to generate new insights at the rich crossover of artistic and architectural practice.’
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Rut Blees Luxemburg said: ‘I’m excited by this opportunity to develop my research in urban aesthetics and the representation of contemporary cities with the Battersea South building project as a specific focus and field study. The project recognises the huge potential for innovative outputs to be generated when architecture and photography occur simultaneously.’
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As Senior Research Fellow, Blees Luxemburg will document the progress of the Battersea South campus, creating opportunities for collaboration across the community of researchers, students and staff at the College, making connections with neighbouring institutions and involving the local community. Blees Luxemburg’s output will also contribute to the historic archive of the College, creating a visual record of this period of transformation.
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Blees Luxemburg is Reader in Urban Aesthetics at the Royal College of Art. Her work as an artist and photographer concerns the representation of the city and the phenomenon of the urban, combining formats from large-scale photographic work, through public art installations and operatic mise-en-scène. She investigates the relationship between public urban spaces and their contemporary representation, and the potential of installation to expand photographic work beyond the constraints of the frame.
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Recent projects include: Silver Forest, (2016) an architectural installation on the western façade of Westminster City Hall; The Teaser, (2015) an installation incorporating performances that filled the courtyard of Somerset House during Photo London; and London Dust, (2011–13) a series of photographs and a film that trace the rapid architectural transformation of the City of London.
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Blees Luxemburg’s practice often includes collaborations with other artists and photographers, as well as writers and practitioners from other disciplines. A 2015 collaboration between Blees Luxemburg, the Rothschild Foundation and the Photography programme at the RCA, commissioned artists to respond to the construction of the Flint House at Waddesdon Manor. Outcomes included Clare Bottomley’s photographic restaging of Old Master paintings from the Rothschild collection using subjects directly involved in the making of the Flint House.
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For further
information, interviews and images contact Bethany Bull, RCA Press Office on t:
+44 (0) 20 7590 4114, e: [email protected] / Â [email protected]
Notes
to Editors
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About the RCA
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Engaging in teaching and research, the RCA offers the degrees of MA, MRes, MPhil and PhD across the disciplines of applied art, architecture, fine art, design, communications and humanities.
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It offers 28 highly specialised programmes in Art & Design to over 2,000 Master’s and doctoral students and more than 800 professionals interacting with them – including researchers, art and design practitioners, along with advisers and distinguished visitors.
The new building is part of the RCA’s most exciting phase in its 181-year
history marking its transformation into a dynamic STEAM-focused postgraduate
university (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics).
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The RCA is the world’s leading art
and design university and the expansion of the Battersea campus will enable it
to continue to compete globally and attract the highest calibre students and
future entrepreneurs.
http://www.rca.ac.uk