What does it mean to take hold of something?

Library Nights #7
Thursday 16 April, 19.30
Rijksakademie Reading Room
Entrance free, RSVP here.

This Library Night will be a conversation of sorts between Rijksakademie alum Paulien Barbas, artist/ publisher Nina Glockner, the library, and 100 kilos of clay.

The evening explores the common ground that sparked their collaboration on Paulien’s recently published book 'Inner Swimmer / Binnenzwemmer': a poetic interpretation of the inner path we follow as an idea takes shape. Both the book and the event explore the relationship between body and environment, and between action and reaction. Each is an attempt to capture what is fleeting.

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“a wave rises – 

crests – and spills

my breath rises and crests

I grab ahold and 

gently pull”

Shortly after this text fragment from 'Inner Swimmer', an image appears showing a slab of clay being pulled from a mass that resembles a body of water.

• If you can take hold of something, does that imply it has shape?

As we talk, to explore the contents of the evening, Nina occasionally stands up to place both hands on the short end of the worktable and lift her leg. I remain seated, with the sense that our conversation might drop, if I were to do such a thing.

• Does 'it' need to hold still to be captured, or can we set 'it' in movement by holding it?

A shared movement emerges when we walk together towards the bookshelves in search of a text or image while we continue our conversation in the Reading Room of the Rijksakademie Library. Every now and then I consciously catch my breath, knowing from experience that large amounts of information can possibly tighten my chest.

• Do you lock 'it' up by grabbing hold, or set 'it' free?

I tell Nina about a man who was constantly clicking his fingers while crossing a large square. When he reached a staircase with a banister, he grabbed hold of it and slid his hand all the way down. When he reached the end, he started clicking his fingers again.

• Do we take hold with our hands, eyes or minds?

What do we grab hold of when we take up a book? Is a book a holder itself? And what about this place, the library, that keeps the past, knowledge, smells…
While the evening slowly takes shape and, in the meantime, we become saturated Nina is about to ask: can we grab hold of our head and if so, how much does it weigh?

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The book 'Inner Swimmer' by Paulien Barbas is published by n.k.g. publications, an independent publishing platform run by artist Nina Glockner, exploring the potential of time-based/ collaborative/ performative processes, seeing publications as 'space-time-containers'.