FALL: FIVE FAILS – A Case of Make Believe
FALL: FIVE FAILS – New Works after Bas Jan Ader
SIGN in collaboration with Block C, Pictura, ARTisBOOK, and Minerva Academy
At SIGN:
A CASE OF MAKE BELIEVE
19 september – 19 oktober 2025
Artists: Oded Rimon, Danai Belosinof, Adele Dipasquale, Sverre van der Velde Bernardo Zanotta (artists/ co curator)
In 2025, we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the disappearance of Bas Jan Ader. His final project, “In Search of the Miraculous,” saw him embark on a journey across the Atlantic from the United States to Europe in a small boat; a voyage that ended with his disappearance. In the context of this anniversary, the city of Groningen will host a series of events to pay tribute to Bas Jan Ader, showcasing both his historical work and new artistic productions inspired by his recurring themes. Among these events, at SIGN, a group of artists have developed new works where the boundaries between fiction and reality, as well as their documentation and reenactment, serve as a starting point. A CASE OF MAKE BELIEVE challenges the very notion of these boundaries, proposing that constructed narratives and lived experience are inherently intertwined and perhaps even indistinguishable. In other words, within their internal coherence, the worlds created by art are no less “real” than everyday reality. In the exhibition at SIGN, the artists not necessarily draw inspiration from Bas Jan Ader’s figure, but likewise question how fiction can become a form of truth through the mediums of installation, performance and video. Throughout the exhibition, a program of talks will take place, with each artist presenting their practice. In addition, a weekly reading group at SIGN organised by Bernardo Zanotta will provide a space for discussion and creation of a temporary community.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
ODED RIMON (Israel, Jeruzalem 1992)
, 2018/ VAV Rietveld, Amsterdam.
Lived Space / Temporary Domesticity – Spaces like the boat, kitchen, or other temporary homes as sites for storytelling, reflection, or dreaming.
https://www.instagram.com/odedyrimon/
https://burostedelijk.nl/collaborators/oded-rimon/
ADELE DIPASQUALE (1994, Italy), KABK Den Haag MA Artistic Research 2020.
Dialogue Between Works / Doublings – Works in relation to one another rather than in isolation.
https://www.instagram.com/adele_dipasquale/
https://www.adeledipasquale.com/
DANAI BELOSINOF (1993, Greece/Bulgaria), composition Conservatorium, Amsterdam/ contemporary music | Sound / Voice / Spatial Listening – Using sound and voice to inhabit space. Sound as mapping or portal. https://www.instagram.com/danai_bv/
SVERRE VAN DER VELDE (2000, Groningen NL), 2024 graduated Academy Minerva Groningen
- Travel / Journey / Nomadism – Artworks made in transit or shaped by the act of movement. The road, boat, or vehicle becomes a mobile studio.
https://www.instagram.com/sverrevdvelde/
https://sverrevandervelde.com
BERNARDO ZANOTTA , artist-curator
(1996 in Porto Alegre, Brazil), VAV audio visual 2018 Rietveld, Amsterdam
-Fiction as Methodology / Mediumship -Fiction as a generative or conceptual tool.
https://www.instagram.com/bernardozanotta/
https://bernardozanotta.com/
WORKGROUP: The Boy Who Fell Over Niagara Falls – On (Auto)Fiction and Fatality Led by: Bernardo Zanotta
Dates: October Saturday 4, October Saturday 11
Close readings and discussion on narrative voice and the tension between witnessing and myth-making. We will look at how autofiction mediates experience and how storytelling can shape or undo fate. Between session 1 and 2, participants are expected to write a short-story which will be shared with the group.
GUIDED WALK THROUGH THE WORKS
Date: September 20. An afternoon of informal artist talks with Danai, Oded, Sverre, and Adele guiding audiences through their works in the exhibition.
FILM SCREENING
Date: Friday 26th of September. By Sverre van der Velde
Context
Fall: Five Fails – New Works after Bas Jan Ader
September 19 to October 19
Internationally artist Bas Jan Ader receives tribute in various art institutions in Groningen
This year marks fifty years since the disappearance of the artist Bas Jan Ader (1942–1975), originally from Groningen, who vanished in the Atlantic Ocean during a solo sailing journey. His voyage from America to Europe was intended as the second part of a triptych titled In Search of the Miraculous. The third part was to be presented at the former Groninger Museum on the Praediniussingel.
To commemorate this, several art institutions in Groningen have joined forces to pay tribute to Bas Jan Ader and his work. The program features newly created works by artists and art students, inspired by two central themes in his oeuvre: falling and failure.
Five Locations
At the art venues Block C, SIGN, Pictura, ARTisBOOK, and Minerva, new works will be presented under the title Fall: Five Fails – New Works after Bas Jan Ader. These works are by artists inspired by the themes of failure and falling. The exhibition will take place from September 19 to October 19.
In addition to the exhibitions, there will be a public program including artist talks, educational activities, and lectures.
The participating artists in Fall: Five Fails – New Works after Bas Jan Ader are:
Feiko Beckers and Wim Warrink at Pictura, Lily Dollner at art space Block C, Sverre van der Velde and Bernardo Zanotta at SIGN — with the latter also curating works by Oded Rimon, Danai Belosinof, and Adele Dipasquale. Karin Iturralde Nurnberg will exhibit at ARTisBOOK, and finally, eleven third-year students will exhibit at Minerva, in the Koepelzaal at the Praediniussingel location: Bella du Toit, Yaga Piątek, Fardau Visser, Beniamin Visarion, Johanna Land, Shervin Atighehchi, Gillian Heinsohn, Julius Joplin, Sjoerd Rep, Nina Klaasing, and Nastja Keks.
Additionally, Pictura will host an informative exhibition about the life of Bas Jan Ader, based on drawings by Marion van Wijk that depict the artist’s life story.
Tribute in relay form
The projects Fall-Fail and Fall: Five Fails – New Works after Bas Jan Ader are part of a large-scale Bas Jan Ader event under the title The Fall 2025: Bas Jan Ader Revisited – a collective tribute in relay form. This relay begins on July 9, the date on which Ader began his sailing trip. On this day, the Groninger Museum will open with an exhibition, and the relay will conclude on December 6 with the premiere of a theater monologue about Ader, exactly on the date when he was supposed to present the third part of his triptych in the Koepelzaal.
At the Groninger Museum, new work by Edward Clydesdale Thomson, titled Bound to the Miraculous, will be shown, inspired by Ader’s fateful sailing journey. There will also be a few of Bas Jan Ader’s fall films on view there. On September 19, the exhibitions Fall-Fail and Fall: Five Fails – New Works after Bas Jan Ader will open. This will be followed by the ‘Bas Jan Ader Day’ on September 28 at Kunstencentrum Vrijdag, featuring a wide program of workshops and activities related to his life and work. The final event in the relay will be the theater monologue Lost in Gravity In de Loods in Bad Nieuwschans, in which Albert Secuur embodies the artist. This performance will run from October 25 to December 6.