978-94-90322-51-9

Linda Beumer

218

14 x 19 cm

Softcover

348 grms

Dutch | English

Date of release: June 2015 

This publication was made possible with the support of the Mondriaan Fonds, and the Yske-Walther Fonds, the Theodora Niemeijer Fonds, Altrecht-GGZ and Het Vijfde Seizoen.

Geert van Mil & Doris Denekamp form the artist collective  

This publication is published in cooperation with  

'Whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball.'- Ishmael in Moby Dick, 1851 

In the summer of 2014 artists, Doris Denekamp and Geert van Mil, worked and lived in the artist in residence Het Vijfde Seizoen in Den Dolder. The residency space is an old pavilion on the terrain of the Willem Arntsz Hoeve, a psychiatric institution.

Together with the patients, Denekamp & Van Mil read the epic story of Moby Dick. This novel written by Herman Melville in 1851, tells the story of revenge by Captain Ahab on the white whale Mody Dick and the protagonist Ismael. Inspired by this classic novel, the artists and the patients came up with new stories. These are being processed in a contemporary version of Moby Dick. The title of this new publication is Call me Ishmael, and it will be published by Jap Sam Books spring 2015.

About the artists

Doris Denekamp (1984) and Geert van Mil (1983), both artists, have been working together under the name informal strategies since 2011. With their work, they investigate the role of stories in society today. Their (video) installations, publications and performances come into being in constantly changing, collaborative exchanges, and often have a direct relationship to the location where the work evolves.

Spring 2015, the publication Call me Ishmael will be presented at Museum het Dolhuys in Haarlem. Later this year the book will also be presented at TENT in Rotterdam. 

The book launch will be accompanied by a small exhibition of infra-red photographs that Van Mil & Denekamp made during their residency at Het Vijfde Seizoen.