LUNÄ, Marjolijn Dijkman, 2011 - ongoing
Ongoing since 2011
LUNÄ Talks
Series of critical discussions and talks
Initiated and hosted by: Marjolijn Dijkman
Regular Co-host LUNÄ Talks since 2017: Maarten Vanden Eynde
Contributors for public meetings included so far: Jennifer Tucker, André Fenton, Elaine Sulivan, Musasa, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Esther De Haan, Patricia Fara, Dries Bols, Raf Custers, Jeroen Cuvelier, Zheng Li, Sammy Baloji, Femke Herregraven, Georges Senga, Karin Lurvink, Sven Beckert, Wouter Elsen, Eric Vanhaute, Remy Jungerman, Helen Elands, Alioum Moussa, Christine Chivallon, Jean Katambayi Mukendi, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Li Bin, Juntai Shen, Lu Ding, Sun Zhengfan, Miao Qihao, Jia Qin, Zhu Dayi, Tang Fei, Liao Fei, Benny Shaffer, Tian Liu, Michael Garrett, Taede Smedes, Daniela de Paulis, Roy Smits, Jaap Beuker, Alice Smits, Enno Bregman, Peter Pels, Dirk van Delft, Dorien Zandbergen, George van Hal, Anke Bangma, Jaap van de Herik, Maarten Lamers, Fatos Ustek, Cathy Haynes, Stephen Boyd Davis, Jay Griffiths, Maarten Speekenbrink, Magda Osman, Jamie Ward, Ramon Amaro, Emily Penn, Philip Sheldrake, Mark Fisher, Caroline Edwards, Owen Cotton-Barrat, Murray Shanahan, Rebecca Bligh, Erwin Fiala, Ulrich Hohenester, Mary Margaret Rinebold, Richard Sheldon, Malcolm Dick, James H. Andrew, Deirdre Kelly, Chris Ramsden, Rex Harris, Clive Dutton, Tony Harvey, Ruth Reed, David Tittle, Felicity Allen, Nancy Evans, Colin Gale, Kate Iles, Steve Bell, Tom Freshwater, Paul Wells and many others.
Produced with: IKON Gallery, Birmingham, UK
Thanks to: Jonathan Watkins, Helen Legg, The Soho House Museum
Carpenter: James MacDonald
The Lunar Society’s members have been called the fathers of the Industrial Revolution. The importance of this particular Society stems from its pioneering work in experimental chemistry, physics, engineering, and medicine, combined with leadership in manufacturing and commerce, and with political and social ideals. Its members were brilliant representatives of the informal scientific web which cut across class, blending the inherited skills of craftsmen with the theoretical advances of scholars, a key factor in Britain's leap ahead of the rest of Europe. – Jenny Uglow
LUNÄ is a facsimile of the original table around which an influential group of industrialists, poets, inventors, doctors, writers, physicists, chemists and thinkers known as the Lunar Society met each month in Birmingham between 1765 and 1813. Members included James Watt, Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton, Joseph Priestley and Erasmus Darwin and they forged strong links with Bristol based contemporaries including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Beddoes.
The society was given its name by the monthly meeting of the members at full moon during which the participants discussed their latest research, with the aim of learning from each other and sometimes they would develop projects collaboratively or support each others projects. Since January 2011 the table is used in different locations including England, Austria and the Netherlands for an ongoing series of critical discussions updating topics that occupied the Lunar Men as new scientific and industrial developments, but also art, education and social rights.
LUNÄ collapses the optimistically progressive value systems that were enthusiastically promoted during the Enlightenment into the mass production and globalised retail environment that can be seen as their legacy today. LUNÄ is a replica of the Lunar table in the Soho house combined with a set of eight IKEA chairs.
LUNÄ has been presented and activated at: IKON Gallery in Birmingham, UK (2011); Spike Island in Bristol, UK (2011); NiMK in Amsterdam, NL (2011-2012); Forum Stadtpark in Graz, AT (2012); Onomatopee in Eindhoven, NL (2012); Fig. 2, ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), London, UK (2015); Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, NL (2015); Drents Museum, Assen, NL (2016); ASTRON (Dutch Institute for Radio Astronomy), Dwingeloo, NL (2016); The 11th Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai, CN (2016 – 2017); Performatik17, Performance Art Biennial, Brussels, BE (2017); BOZAR, Brussels, BE (2017); Coltan as Cotton, 9th Contour Biennale, Mechelen, BE (2019); Cargo in Context, Amsterdam, NL (2019); Edith Russ Haus, Oldenburg, DE (2021); 601 Artspace, New York, US (2022); CC Strombeek, Strombeek, BE (2022)
Upcoming activation: La Kunsthalle Mulhouse, Mulhouse, FR (25 March 2024)
Related News
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16 May 2022
Launch new edition of LUNÄ (III)
601 Artspace, New York, US
The first LUNÄ talk in the US with a brand new facsimile of the table around which the Lunar Society met on full moon between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, UK. LUNÄ will be inaugurated on the last day of the exhibition Ars Memoriae surrounded by the artworks. Drawing inspiration from the themes of Ars Memoriae, the topic will be memory devices - past and future, bodily and external, real and imagined. The featured speakers are André Fenton, a neuroscientist at NYU; Elaine Sullivan, a curatorial fellow at The Met; Congolese artist Musasa; Jennifer Tucker, a historian at Wesleyan University.
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12 December 2019
LUNÄ TALK
Cargo in Context, Amsterdam, NL
LUNÄ TALK, hosted by Cargo in Context & Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond, as part of the exhibition ON-TRADE-OFF; THE WEIGHT OF WONDERS. In this Amsterdam edition experts with different scholarly backgrounds will focus on the ecological, social and economic consequences of the extraction and processing of lithium and cobalt. They will look both at the history of electricity and the current use of raw materials from the DRC for electronics and energy storage.
With contributions by: Patricia Fara, historian of science University of Cambridge, UK; Esther de Haan, manager and researcher at SOMO, Amsterdam, NL; Dries Bols, Ceo Lifepwr, Antwerp, BE; Raf Custers, historian, journalist and author, Brussels, BE
Hosted by: Marjolijn Dijkman and Maarten Vanden Eynde -
18 May 2019 (13:00-16:00)
On-Trade-Off: LUNÄ Talk
Contour Biennale 9, NONA, Mechelen, BE
This LUNÄ Talk, held as part of On-Trade-Off, will focus on the environmental, social and economic implications of the extraction and processing of lithium. In the discussion, we will look at the history of energy and address the importance of raw materials from D.R. Congo in both the industrial and technological revolutions. At the same time we will address experimental models of sustainable energy production and future prospects for lithium mining in D.R. Congo.
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24 May 2017
LUNÄ Talk: Triangular Trade – Cotton
BOZAR, Brussels, BE
'LUNÄ Talk: Triangular Trade - Cotton' will concentrate on the influence of cotton production and trade in relation to the abolition of slavery and colonisation / decolonisation, both historically and as an ongoing influence on contemporary global economy. The overall project Triangular Trade investigates the influence of transport and trade of pivotal materials (like rubber, oil, ivory, copper, cotton, gold and uranium), but also people, on exponential economic growth, the creation of nations and other power structures.
Invited contributors: Helen Elands (art historian, independent researcher, London, UK), Wouter Elsen (Independent video- and photojournalist, co-creator of The Cotton Connection documentary, Ouagadougou, BE / BF), Dr. Patricia Fara (Historian, Eighteenth-century natural philosophy and cultural history of science, University of Cambridge, UK), Remy Jungerman (Artist, based in Amsterdam, SR / NL), Karin Lurvink (Post-doc researcher on the economic impact (direct and indirect, immediate and long-term) of 18th & 19th-century Dutch Republic transatlantic slave-based activities, University of Amsterdam, NL), Prof. Dr. Eric Vanhaute (Professor Economic and Social History and World History, Ghent University, BE), Maarten Vanden Eynde (artist and initiator of ‘Triangular Trade’) and Marjolijn Dijkman (artist and co-host LUNÄ Talk).
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1 April 2017
LUNÄ Talk: IN_DEPENDENCE
PERFORMATIK17 at ERforS HQ, BE
"Without its Eurocentric distortions, decolonization would be at the center of the narrative we tell about the twentieth century - and this retelling would allow us to see that global capitalism today is most fundamentally shaped by the struggle for independence." from 'Empire of Cotton, A Global History' by Sven Beckert.
Take a seat at the LUNÄ table for a discussion about social, political, and ecological (in)dependence. Material aspects are also relevant: especially in relation to cotton, they form a constant theme throughout colonial history and the power structures that dominate today’s world.
Invited contributors: Prof. Sven Beckert (historian, Harvard University, US), Prof. Peter Pels (anthropologist, Leiden University, NL), Christine Chivallon (anthropologist, CNRS, Bordeaux, FR), Helen Elands (art historian, independent researcher, London, UK), Marjolijn Dijkman (artist and initiator of LUNÄ Talks), Maarten Vanden Eynde (artist and co-host) and Alioum Moussa (artist and co-host).
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11 November 2016 - 12 March 2017
LUNÄ Talks
11th Shanghai Bienniale, Power Station of Art, CN
LUNÄ is a copy of the original table of the Lunar Society, an 18th-century group of British industrialists, scientists, poets, and writers. They used to hold inspiring meetings – mostly during full moon – to explore the ways in which science, technology, and art could serve society. A newly produced facsimile of the original table has been produced in China for the 11th Shanghai Biennial. A series of five LUNÄ Talks are organised every full moon during the period of the biennial and are hosted by Chinese curator Liu Tian.
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25 April 2016
LUNÄ Talk: Inhabiting Time
ERforS HQ, Drogenbos, BE
This LUNÄ Talk discusses different approaches towards and interpretations of the theme of Inhabiting Time and is initiated in collaboration with Ecole Mondiale. All guests will be seated at a replica of the oval table which was used by the Lunar Society in Birmingham (1765-1813), a society of scholars, amateur scientists, poets, industrialists and artists. They were inspiring meetings on how science, technology and art could serve society, social change included.
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1 – 7 June 2015
LUNÄ Talks: Uncertainty Scenarios
Fig. 2, ICA, London, UK
These LUNÄ talks are developed by Marjolijn Dijkman in collaboration with fig-2. LUNÄ is based on the Lunar Society of Birmingham, which was formed from a group of amateur experimenters, tradesmen and artisans who met and made friends in the Midlands in the 1760s. At fig-2, LUNÄ will specifically focus on the notion of the future investigating modes in which the idea of future is seeded in our society today.
With: Ramon Amaro, Rebecca Bligh, Stephen Boyd Davis, Owen Cotton-Barrat, Caroline Edwards, Mark Fisher, Jay Griffiths, Cathy Haynes, Ken Hollings, Magda Osman, Emily Penn, Mary Margaret Rinebold, Philip Sheldrake, Murray Shanahan, Maarten Speekenbrink, Jamie Ward and many others.
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1 June 2015
LUNÄ: Joseph Priestley: The Man Who Drew Time
text by Stephen Boyd Davis
Introduction to 'A New Chart of History' made by Lunar Man Joseph Priestly in 1765 and 1769, who developed one of the first linear timelines of history as we now commonly know. At the LUNÄ Talks in London in fig-2, Stephen introduced some of the interpretations by Joseph Priestley in relation to the session 'Time and Progress'.
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January 2014
LUNÄ at Enough Room for Space HQ
ERforS HQ, Drogenbos, BE
LUNÄ is now located at the head quarter of Enough Room for Space and will be used for upcoming projects at the ERforS HQ as a regular meeting and dinner table.
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16 April 2012
The Invisible Hand
HKS, Bergen, NO
Together historian Richard Sheldon, economist Ove Jakobsen and curator Charles Esche will explore the roots of the capitalist way of thinking by discussing and researching Adam Smith and the way his ideas have influenced other thinkers. These lectures will be followed by a panel discussion.
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14 April 2012
LUNÄ Talk: Current topics in Quantum Physics
Forum Stadtpark, Graz, AT
In conversation: Univ.-Prof Dr. Erwin Fiala, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hohenester
Hosted by: Marjolijn Dijkman and Fatos Ustek
Part of: An Exhibition of a Study on Knowledge
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10 December 2011 - 5 February 2012
LUNÄ at The Greater Cloud
NiMK, Amsterdam, NL
LUNÄ, a remake of a table that was originally used by 'the lunar society members', a 18th century enlightenment society that was influential during the industrial revolution, will be part of the exhibition 'The Great Cloud'. The table was a meeting point where the ideas for some of the most significant technological changes were formed. This 21st century version of the table will also function as a stage for talks and the developments of ideas and on top of the table works will be positioned by artists like Pamela Rosenkranz as well as by people working outside the art world.
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15 June 2011
LUNÄ Talk: On Time Capsules and Conditions of Now
Spike Island, Bristol, UK
This LUNÄ Talk is hosted by members of Time Capsules and Conditions of Now, a trans-disciplinary art project bringing together artists and curators who each also operate within a second field, such as a yoga teacher, writer and a practicing GP. The group invite the audience to participate in a series of playful engagements with time and presence. The event coincides with the full moon, in homage to the original Lunar Society.
Involved: Fatos Ustek, Lisa Skuret, Kaz, Jean Matthee, Ole Hagen, Vanda Playford, Soledad Garcia, Marjolijn Dijkman
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6 April 2011
LUNÄ Talk: Radical Protest Movements and the Enlightenment
Spike Island, Bristol, UK
This LUNÄ Talk at Spike Island is hosted by Marjolijn Dijkman and Helen Legg with Richard Sheldon who chairs a discussion around radical protest movements and the Enlightenment, and is joined by historian Malcolm Dick.
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23 February - 20 April 2011
LUNÄ Talks
IKON Gallery, Birmingham, UK
The series of LUNÄ Talks involves a panel of speakers addressing various issues including education, medicine and science, urban design and regeneration and heritage and the role of art in contemporary society.
With: Steve Bell, Dr. Malcolm Dick, Tom Freshwater, Prof. Paul Wells, Felicity Allen, Nancy Evans, Colin Gale, Kate Iles, Clive Dutton, Tony Harvey, Ruth Reed, David Tittle, Dr. James H Andrew, Deirdre Kelly, Chris Ramsden, Prof. Rex Harris
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January 2011
LUNÄ
Installation and ongoing series of events
LUNÄ, by Marjolijn Dijkman, is one of the results of the residency Please Excuse Our Appearance organised by Enough Room for Space and Ikon Gallery in 2007.
LUNÄ is a facsimile of the original table around which an influential group of industrialists, poets, inventors, doctors, writers, physicists, chemists and thinkers known as the Lunar Society met each month in Birmingham between 1765 and 1813. LUNÄ is used for an ongoing series of critical discussions updating topics that occupied the Lunar Men.
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March 2010
Industrial Evolution
Publication by Maarten Vanden Eynde
Fernand Baudin Award for Best Artist Book 2010
"Birmingham played a leading role as front runner for the Industrial Revolution, changing the world beyond recognition and paving the way for the largest population explosion in human history. In 2007 most of the manufacturing companies moved out off Birmingham to other parts of the world where labour is cheaper. Together with the companies the knowledge to manufacture things is disappearing. In two generations there will be hardly anyone left who has the ability to make something."
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15 June - 30 June 2007
Please, Excuse Our Appearance
Residency, IKON Gallery, Birmingham, UK
Please Excuse our Appearance is an experimental artists’ residency that will reflect on the changing face of Eastside, a former industrial neighborhood in Birmingham. Spilling out from its central hub at Ikon Eastside, the project will investigate the myriad public spaces around Digbeth and the Irish Quarter.
Involved: Marjolijn Dijkman, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Karin Kihlberg and Reuben Henry, Tercerunquinto (Julio Castro, Gabriel Cázares and Rolando Flores)