1.1 ✧ LOCATION REVEAL w/ het resort

After almost three months of suspense, Friday October 11th was the big day: the midseasoners finally were allowed to know the mystery location for this Midseason. Also, their hosts would finally be able to sleep again, knowing they couldn’t accidentally spill the beans anymore. Reaching the Sterrebos, one could see an aha-moment in all of the midseasoners. Yet, none of them knew what was hidden in there. Once they found out, they realized a lot of people would have the same. While pictures were being taken of them, everybody was chatting and walking about. The big question didn’t seem to be what to do with an abandoned music dome; the real question was how to react to something being completely forgotten.

1.2 ✧ ZERO MEASUREMENT w/ SYB circles

As a first class, the midseasoners went to Kunsthuis SYB to present their work to the SYB Circles during the so-called Zero Measurement. In SYB Circles, young artists and academics are encouraged to experiment with media other than critical texts to reflect on SYB’s residents and their projects. Their ideas and reflections will be expressed through podcasts, dialogues, talks or live events. In doing so, SYB aims to investigate the role that different new media can play in the field of art criticism.

The midseasoners’ presentations were quite the plunge in the deep. SYB Circles’ questions were spot-on, and so the discussions were intense from the beginning. A fruitful start, admittedly: As an artist you want to get to the core of your work as much as, if not more than any other person in the room. Therefore, there is no reason to hide any of your thoughts. Because all of the midseasoners shared this mindset, the Zero Measurement became an ideal way to get to know each other. No small talk. No bullshitting. Just a handshake, saying: “This is everything I know about myself. Nice to meet you too.”

2.1 ✧ WRITING w/ anna-rosja haveman & vanessa van 't hoogt

The second week was devoted to writing and riding. The week kicked off with Vanessa and Anna-Rosja guiding midseasoners in their written self-presentation. In the workshop artists wrote for one another, reflected in depth on each other's work and written statements. Through hours of questioning and answering each artist discovered something new, or a before not so much outspoken detail about their presentation of their work. More questions and possibilities arose for presenting art in different ways of written form.

2.2 ✧ ROTTERDAM w/ mylan hoezen  (S01E02) & willem de haan (S02E01)

A field trip to Rotterdam slipped in the middle of the second week, so artists could have more diversity in the program. Mylan and Willem greeted artists at the station with a big misspelled 'ersort' sign and began a productive yet very fun fieldtrip with biking all around the city for sightseeing interesting public historical places. The two of them also planned a challenge for midseasoners to think of an artwork for one of the visited places and shop for the materials in five minutes. The challenge and dinner took place at Roodkapje, where artists could build, talk, present and have time to create three different descriptions for their new works.

3.1 ✧ ONLINE w/ ellen de haan

The midseason starts wrapping itself up into an image of a family-run business in a state of alert – and the necessary activities to get it back on track. After the group therapy sessions for understanding themselves and each other guided by Vanessa and Anna-Rosja, were very much directed inwardly, the midseasoners got the logical follow up: how do you present those same sides outwardly, more concrete: towards the world. Ellen's course for online presence was in the form of a fictional “autopsy” of a website, discussing its internal content, illnesses of expectations, and flaws while its creator cannot objectify or explain, so remains shut. This caused some doubts in them being verified, new ones to be revealed, but also some unconscious connections between artistic practice and website-structure to be discovered.

3.2 ✧ EINDHOVEN w/ alban karsten (S01E03)

The program for healthy and successful partnership continued with a team-building trip to Eindhoven, conducted by Alban Karsten and Kitty Maria. The midseasoners were almost instantly given a task to preserve their “baby” at any costs: plan, risk, steal, bribe. The stakes were high – if they were to be unsuccessful, it was likely that their exhibition would follow the same fate, but they made it, with finesse. After a role play game initiated by Tom Kemp, being another person and moreover be consistent and for convincingly long period it really felt like this week was full of successful sessions for bonding and as such, sprouting the seed of assurance in the success of their endeavors back in Groningen. It was lovely.