• Group Exhibition
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
  • 2006

Just In Time

Guest curator Kopsa asked the artists who submitted proposals for 'Just in Time' to define what they regarded as necessary. 'Just in Time' (JIT) is the name of an economic principle, based on producing the right component at the right place at the right moment, in order to prevent waste. Artists manage their time in the opposite manner. They deliberately choose indirection, and are open to mistakes and unexpected tangents. For artists, the time that can not be directly put into the creation of the end product is still an essential part of the creative process. To ask artists to define what they understand as being necessary is therefore to ask a question with more than one answer.  'Just in Time' emphasises the importance of Amsterdam as an international transit port for artists, a hub for creative talent. Many foreign artists, designers and curators work here on projects, do internships and study at internationally renowned art schools. These train innumerable artists and curators every year, coming from all over the world. For years after their studies, these graduates commonly continue to work with the contacts that they made here. This is also true for the majority of the artists selected for 'Just in Time'. They have, as it were, a non-Dutch Dutch identity. The same is the case for the international jury members who selected the artists: with one exception, they have all lived and worked in Amsterdam, or still do so. The group of artists in 'Just in Time' are accustomed to being open to outside influences, and to a greater or lesser degree pay their respects to them - whether in the way of historical references or current topics. In there work they take on clear positions. They 'translate' the outside influences into very personal, individualistic stories, in which nothing is glossed over or masked. On the contrary: mistakes and the unexpected are applauded and wherever possible amply displayed. Seen in this way, works by the participating artists are a reference point for what is happening now – a sign of the times, if you will: 'Just in Time'. Executed in diverse media and involving various kinds of cooperation, they are possible answers to the question of what is necessary at this particular moment, both for the collection of the Stedelijk Museum and for the cultural climate in Amsterdam. Participating artists: LAT (Kasper Andreasen, Kees Maas, Tine Melzer), Adam Avikainen, Maria Barnas, Lonnie van Brummelen/Siebren de Haan, Mariana Castillo Deball, Cevdet Erek, Mark Manders, Sebastian Diaz Morales, Arnoud Holleman, Germaine Kruip, Falke Pisano, Maaike Schoorel, Lucy Stein, Jimmy Robert, Radio Rietveld, If I Can't Dance I Don't Want To Be Part of Your Revolution (Edition 2: Feminist Legacies and Potentials In Contemporary Art Practice with The Otolith Group).