Ben Schot
Encyclopedia
Ben Schot is a Dutch artist
, writer
, publisher, and freelance curator
.
and The Hague
, The Netherlands. His activities cover various disciplines and techniques: drawing
s, audio
and video
works, installation art
, and performances. As a writer Schot publishes articles and fiction in various magazines. In 2000 Schot founded the publishing house Sea Urchin Editions
which publishes works from the avant-garde
and counterculture
, such as works by Henri Michaux
, Pier Paolo Pasolini
, Serge Gainsbourg
, Vivian Stanshall
& Ki Longfellow
, and André Breton
. Together with Martine Vosmaer Schot translated into Dutch a compilation of Henri Michaux
's hallucinatory prose, which was published by Sea Urchin Editions
as Beroofd door de ruimte.
Some of the projects organised by Schot are Oulipo
(1997) about the French literary movement of the same name, Shells (1997), a project on the museum as an institute at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Rotterdam, Submerge (1997) on the films of surrealist-biologist Jean Painlevé
, Towers Open Fire (1998) on the films of William S. Burroughs
, and I rip you, you rip me (1998, in collaboration with Ronald Cornelissen) on the radical and psychedelic
counterculture
of Detroit in the late sixties, early seventies. On various occasions Schot gave lectures and presentations on Sun Ra
, on whom he wrote an article as well. As a member of the revolutionary collective The Buggers he staged a Missed Encounter between former Provo leader Roel van Duijn
and former chairman of the White Panther Party
John Sinclair
in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
, Rotterdam in 2005. As part of the event Hugh Hopper
, Mark Hewins
, and Frank van der Kooy were invited by Schot to do a concert at the auditorium of the museum. In 2006 Schot put together an exhibition of material from the archives of the Dutch underground press Cold Turkey Press
for the Historical Museum of Rotterdam. In 2008 Schot organized the project Kingdom Come about the notion utopia
for the Dutch art institute TENT. The project consisted of an exhibition in which various artists, publishers, and thinkers were invited to react to the concept utopia
, a book fair for independent publishers, a discussion with Roel van Duijn
, the screening by René van der Voort of the documentary Revisiting Father by Isis Aquarian, (one of Father Yods Wives) Electricity Aquarian (brother of the Source Family) and Evan Wells (college student who did the film) about Father Yod
and the Source Family, and a performance of the Japanese musicians Yoshida Tatsuya
of the band Ruins (band) and Kawabata Makoto
of Acid Mothers Temple
. On several occasions Schot performed with Dutch electro-acoustic group Kapotte Muziek
(Frans de Waard, Roel Meelkop, Peter Duimelinks).
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, publisher, and freelance curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
.
Biography
From 1981 to 1986 Schot was trained as an artist at the art schools of RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, The Netherlands. His activities cover various disciplines and techniques: drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s, audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
and video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
works, installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
, and performances. As a writer Schot publishes articles and fiction in various magazines. In 2000 Schot founded the publishing house Sea Urchin Editions
Sea Urchin Editions
Sea Urchin Editions is a small, independent publishing house from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It was founded in 2000 by Dutch artist Ben Schot and publishes works from the avant-garde and counterculture....
which publishes works from the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
and counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
, such as works by Henri Michaux
Henri Michaux
Henri Michaux was a highly idiosyncratic Belgian-born poet, writer, and painter who wrote in French. He later took French citizenship. Michaux is best known for his esoteric books written in a highly accessible style, and his body of work includes poetry, travelogues, and art criticism...
, Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
, Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
, Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...
& Ki Longfellow
Ki Longfellow
Ki Longfellow is an American novelist, playwright, theatrical producer, theater director and entrepreneur. In Britain, as the widow of Vivian Stanshall, she is well known as the guardian of his artistic heritage, but elsewhere she is best known for her own work, especially the novel The Secret...
, and André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
. Together with Martine Vosmaer Schot translated into Dutch a compilation of Henri Michaux
Henri Michaux
Henri Michaux was a highly idiosyncratic Belgian-born poet, writer, and painter who wrote in French. He later took French citizenship. Michaux is best known for his esoteric books written in a highly accessible style, and his body of work includes poetry, travelogues, and art criticism...
's hallucinatory prose, which was published by Sea Urchin Editions
Sea Urchin Editions
Sea Urchin Editions is a small, independent publishing house from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It was founded in 2000 by Dutch artist Ben Schot and publishes works from the avant-garde and counterculture....
as Beroofd door de ruimte.
Some of the projects organised by Schot are Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...
(1997) about the French literary movement of the same name, Shells (1997), a project on the museum as an institute at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...
Rotterdam, Submerge (1997) on the films of surrealist-biologist Jean Painlevé
Jean Painlevé
Jean Painlevé was a film director, actor, translator, animator, critic and theorist. He was the son of mathematician and twice prime-minister of France, Paul Painlevé.-Upbringing:...
, Towers Open Fire (1998) on the films of William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
, and I rip you, you rip me (1998, in collaboration with Ronald Cornelissen) on the radical and psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
of Detroit in the late sixties, early seventies. On various occasions Schot gave lectures and presentations on Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
, on whom he wrote an article as well. As a member of the revolutionary collective The Buggers he staged a Missed Encounter between former Provo leader Roel van Duijn
Roel van Duijn
Roeland Gerrit Hugo van Duijn is a Dutch politician, political activist and writer. He was a founder of Provo and the Kabouterbeweging. He was alderman for the Political Party of Radicals and currently is wardcouncillor for the GreenLeft.-Biography:Van Duijn was born into an anthroposophical...
and former chairman of the White Panther Party
White Panther Party
The White Panthers were a far-left, anti-racist, White American political collective founded in 1968 by Lawrence Plamondon, Leni Sinclair, and John Sinclair. It was started in response to an interview where Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was asked what white people could do...
John Sinclair
John Sinclair (poet)
John Sinclair is a Detroit poet, one-time manager of the band MC5, and leader of the White Panther Party — a militantly anti-racist countercultural group of white socialists seeking to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement — from November 1968 to July 1969...
in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...
, Rotterdam in 2005. As part of the event Hugh Hopper
Hugh Hopper
Hugh Colin Hopper was a progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and various other related bands.-Early career:...
, Mark Hewins
Mark Hewins
Mark Hewins is a British jazz guitarist known particularly for his connections to the Canterbury scene.Hewins' professional career as a guitarist began in 1970 with the London band Mother Sun...
, and Frank van der Kooy were invited by Schot to do a concert at the auditorium of the museum. In 2006 Schot put together an exhibition of material from the archives of the Dutch underground press Cold Turkey Press
Cold Turkey Press
“Classic Gerard Bellaart - fine ambitious spiritmind and meticulous loving eyehappily surprised”Allen Ginsberg The Cold Turkey Press motto is CONCEDO NVLLI,with the admonition:“He who hides his madmen dies voiceless.”...
for the Historical Museum of Rotterdam. In 2008 Schot organized the project Kingdom Come about the notion utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
for the Dutch art institute TENT. The project consisted of an exhibition in which various artists, publishers, and thinkers were invited to react to the concept utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
, a book fair for independent publishers, a discussion with Roel van Duijn
Roel van Duijn
Roeland Gerrit Hugo van Duijn is a Dutch politician, political activist and writer. He was a founder of Provo and the Kabouterbeweging. He was alderman for the Political Party of Radicals and currently is wardcouncillor for the GreenLeft.-Biography:Van Duijn was born into an anthroposophical...
, the screening by René van der Voort of the documentary Revisiting Father by Isis Aquarian, (one of Father Yods Wives) Electricity Aquarian (brother of the Source Family) and Evan Wells (college student who did the film) about Father Yod
Father Yod
Father Yod or YaHoWha was the American owner of a Los Angeles health food restaurant on the Sunset Strip who founded a spiritual commune in the Hollywood Hills known as the Source Family...
and the Source Family, and a performance of the Japanese musicians Yoshida Tatsuya
Yoshida Tatsuya
is a Japanese musician and composer who is the only consistent member of the renowned progressive rock duo Ruins, as well as Koenji Hyakkei...
of the band Ruins (band) and Kawabata Makoto
Kawabata Makoto
Kawabata Makoto is a Japanese musician and founding member of the band and "soul collective" Acid Mothers Temple.- Band history :Kawabata is chiefly famous for his leadership of Acid Mothers Temple and its variants; however, he has also played in many other bands since the start of his career in...
of Acid Mothers Temple
Acid Mothers Temple
Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. is a Japanese psychedelic band, the core of which formed in 1995. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career featured many musicians, but by 2004 the line-up had coalesced with only a few core members and frequent guest...
. On several occasions Schot performed with Dutch electro-acoustic group Kapotte Muziek
Kapotte Muziek
Kapotte Muziek is the musical improvisation project of Frans de Waard, Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop. Active since 1984, it is one of the most internationally visible improvisation and experimental project hailing from the Netherlands. The group began as the solo noise music project of Frans de...
(Frans de Waard, Roel Meelkop, Peter Duimelinks).
Publications in English (selection)
- Launched into eternity - tekst in Collect/Recollect, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen,Rotterdam, 1999
- Hare-brained/Hair-brained - comic in collaboration with Ronald Cornelissen, Wormhole #1, Rotterdam, 2000
- Astro-Black Mythology - article on Sun RaSun RaSun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
published in Blastitude #13, Chicago, 2002 - The fire, the fire is falling! - manifesto published in Open #10, NAI publishers, Rotterdam, 2006
- The shining moon, the dead oak tree, nights like this appeal to me - essay on the phenomenon "comeback", Metropolis M, 2007
Sources
- Bio of Ben schot in "The Swampy Lagoon Index", Blastitude #13
- Bio of Ben Schot in database CBK, Centre of the Arts, Rotterdam
- Dutch bio of Ben Schot in galeries.nl