• Seen from above, several hand-drawn posters have been set on a grey floor. Two people stand, in different spots, in between the posters. At the back of the room there are other objects, namely an open laptop on the floor.

    wynb01-frederique-bergholtz.jpg

    Install documentation. Sands Murray-Wassink, Without You I’m Nothing (Blue), Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Frédérique Bergholtz.

  • Indoor space with white walls and grey floor. Around the room, there is a frame, a photograph installation, an installation of four pieces of textile, a large blue poster, a mirror, another mixed-media installation and a TV screen. These are all hanging or propped against the walls, except for the TV which is on the floor, in one of the corners.

    wynb02a-tomek-dersu-aaron.jpg

    Exhibition installation image. Sands Murray-Wassink, Without You I’m Nothing (Blue), Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Tomek Dersu Aaron, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • Indoor space with white walls and grey floor. At the back of the room, filling one of the walls, there are several hand-drawn posters. On the wall on the right-hand side, there is an installation made of several black-and-white photographs. Another two pieces are seen hanging on the opposite wall.

    wynb02b-tomek-dersu-aaron.jpg

    Exhibition installation image. Sands Murray-Wassink, Without You I’m Nothing (Blue), Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Tomek Dersu Aaron, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • Indoor space with white walls and grey floor. The visible wall space is filled with hand-drawn posters, hanging from floor to ceiling.

    wynb02c-tomek-dersu-aaron.jpg

    Exhibition installation image. Sands Murray-Wassink, Without You I’m Nothing (Blue), Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Tomek Dersu Aaron, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • Indoor space with white walls and grey floor. Around the room, there is a large blue screen, a mirror, a frame, a TV set and a mixed media installation. These are all hanging or propped against the walls, except for the TV which is on the floor, in the right corner. On the large blue screen there is a hand-drawn horse with rounded black text at the top, reading:

    wynb02d-tomek-dersu-aaron.jpg

    Exhibition installation image. Sands Murray-Wassink, Without You I’m Nothing (Blue), Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Tomek Dersu Aaron, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • On the floor, several copies of the same image are piled up. A mirror is propped against the wall, showing the reflection of the stack of images.

    wynb02e-tomek-dersu-aaron.jpg

    Exhibition installation image. Sands Murray-Wassink, Without You I’m Nothing (Blue), Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Tomek Dersu Aaron, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • In the corner of a room, a TV set lies on the floor, showing an image. To its right, there is a mixed-media piece, made from a large canvas with several pictures, and a piece of brown fabric with golden stars, which is draped on the right side.

    wynb02f-tomek-dersu-aaron.jpg

    Exhibition installation image. Sands Murray-Wassink, Without You I’m Nothing (Blue), Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Tomek Dersu Aaron, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • On the right, hanging from an over the door hook, there is a t-shirt, a plastic bag and a handbag. Through the open door, a room is partially visible. There are hand-drawn posters and drawings hanging on the walls, a pink chair, shelfs and other boxes and materials on the floor.

    wynb03a-sander-van-wettum.jpg

    “Studio depot” documentation. Sands Murray-Wassink with Megan Hoetger and Radna Rumping, Backstage with Gift Science Archive, Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Sander van Wettum, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • A person is leaning towards an open box with large sheets of paper, which they are handling. Another person, to the right, observes. At the back of the room, there is an desk with an open laptop and frames hanging on the wall. On the left, posters and drawings hang on the wall. There is also a shelf next to this wall, as well as other materials on the floor.

    wynb03b-sander-van-wettum.jpg

    Performance documentation. Sands Murray-Wassink with Megan Hoetger and Radna Rumping, Backstage with Gift Science Archive, Rijksakademie Open Studios, Amsterdam, June 2021. Photo: Sander van Wettum, courtesy of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.

  • without-you-i-m-nothing-blue-list-of-works.pdf [pdf, 202.53 KB] 

  • Sands Murray-Wassink artist website 

Without You I’m Nothing (Blue) was an exhibition conceived within the frame of the Rijksakademie Open Studios 2021 for the conclusion of painter and body artist Sands Murray-Wassink’s guest residency. The installation presented a wide selection of never-before-seen works, which were unearthed in the artist’s 18-month collaborative performance Gift Science Archive, including paintings on paper and fabric, photographs and video, and works by Senga Nengudi and Carolee Schneemann from Murray-Wassink’s personal collection. Through the juxtaposition of different materials, it highlighted the artist’s long-standing practices of writing, painting, posing, and feminist citationality.

Additionally, as a pendant piece to the exhibition, Murray-Wassink staged a durational performance inviting visitors inside the project’s studio-depot where the artist and collaborators Megan Hoetger and Radna Rumping were on hand to offer a peak into the group’s working processes and relational methods.

Murray Wassink’s installation and performance were realized in the frame of the 2021 Rijks Open Studios (17 - 27 June 2021) and formed part of the commission Gift Science Archive, which Hoetger led as part of the Edition VIII - Ritual and Display biennial program (2019-2021) for If I Can’t Dance, Amsterdam. The project was co-produced with mistral, Amsterdam and Auto Italia, London with support from the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam. The Without You I’m Nothing (Blue) installation was co-curated by Hoetger together with If I Can’t Dance director Frédérique Bergholz, and the Backstage with Gift Science Archive performance was a collaboration between Murray-Wassink, Hoetger, and Radna Rumping.

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In Good Company (Horsepower): Materials from the 'Gift Science Archive', 1993–present

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How We Behave / An Archive of Radical Practice

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