Away From The Cognitive

Other worlds

We'll discuss how kinesthetics and movement keep us connected to our reality while simultaneously providing access to other worlds. Topics include embodied knowledge, notions of perception, nonlinear forms of creation, and we'll challenge the idea that "beauty lies in the eye of the beholder."

Physical power

Dr. Bert Derkx and Mette Sterre met during Mette's residency at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, where she was researching the humble physical power of intuition. Dr. Derkx's insights into bodily sensations have profoundly influenced Mette's artistic practice, both mentally and physically.

Perspectives on the body

Bert Derkx works as an advisor at the Rijksakademie voor beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam, where he bridges the gap between art and science. Until his illness, he worked as a pediatrician and psychoanalyst, one of his areas of interest being the construction of the mind-body dualism in Western biomedical discourse. As an anthropologist and art historian, his interest lies in the cultural diversity of perspectives on the body. These aspects also underlie his keen interest in how contemporary artists depict the body in all its facets.

Experience

Mette Sterre is a visual artist who explores the boundaries and transformative potential of the body. Her work defies easy categorization, bringing together performance, sculpture, body masks, and digital technology in immersive, otherworldly environments that explore the boundary between the organic and the artificial. By entering her work, we are immersed in the materialization of her thought processes: a sensory and embodied experience.