Ground Sea

Photography and the Right to Be Reborn

Hilde Van Gelder (Author),

Series: Lieven Gevaert Series 30

Category: Photography

Language: English

ISBN: 9789462702653

Publication date: September 15, 2021

€55.00 (including 6% VAT)

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Number of pages: 1000

Size: 230 x 170 x 45 mm

Number of illustrations: 120

Illustrations and other content description:
120 illustrations Guaranteed Peer Reviewed Content

Stock item: 143293

Standard delivery time for print books:

For Belgium: 5 to 8 working days

For EU: 2 to 3 weeks

For other countries: 4 to 5 weeks

Series: Lieven Gevaert Series 30

Category: Photography

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/9789461665768

ISBN: 9789461665768

Publication date: April 19, 2024

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Number of pages: 1000

Number of illustrations: 120

Illustrations and other content description:
120 illustrations Guaranteed Peer Reviewed Content

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TWO-VOLUME SET

Viewing the Strait of Dover through the lens of photography theory

Imagine a world in which each individual has a fundamental right to be reborn. This idle dream haunts Hilde Van Gelder’s associative travelogue that takes Allan Sekula’s sequence Deep Six / Passer au bleu (1996/1998) as a touchstone for a dialogue with more recent artworks zooming in on the borderscape near the Channel Tunnel, such as those by Sylvain George and Bruno Serralongue.

Combining ethnography, visual materials, political philosophy, cultural geography, and critical analysis, Ground Sea proceeds through an innovative methodological approach. Inspired by the meandering writings of W.G. Sebald, Javier Marías, and Roland Barthes, Van Gelder develops a style both interdisciplinary and personal.

Resolutely opting for an aquatic perspective, Ground Sea offers a powerful meditation on the indifference of an increasingly divided European Union with regard to considerable numbers of persons on the move, who find themselves stranded close to Calais. The contested Strait of Dover becomes a microcosm where our present global challenges of migration, climate change, human rights, and neoliberal surveillance technology converge.

Read more on the book’s dedicated website: www.groundsea.be

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content). Ebook available in Open Access.

Contents of Volume I Preface: Water-Bound Embarkation: Bone Point Acknowledgments Introduction: Sea-Stricken
PART I: Blade 1. Running on Water 2. Ground Sea Plates 3. Ossuary 4. Kairology 5. Reliquiae Notes
Deep Six / Passer au bleu (1996/1998) by Allan Sekula
Contents of Volume II
PART II: Shuttle 6. The Right to Reappear 7. Naming the Person without a Name 8. Fools & Rights: Leaves for an Illustrated Reader Plates 9. This Precious Jewel 10. Plotting
At Anchor: Pearl Diving
Notes Bibliography

Hilde Van GelderORCID icon

Hilde Van Gelder is Professor of Art History at KU Leuven.

'Ground Sea' makes a significant contribution to these debates as it raises the issue of human rights and the role of photography in the ongoing violation of fundamental freedoms.
Olga Smith, Focales, 7 | 2023 URL : http://journals.openedition.org/focales/2514

Hilde Van Gelder rassemble un corpus qui témoignent des conditions de survie de migrants qui n’ont plus rien à perdre, qui attendent le moment opportun pour se cacher dans le châssis d’un camion rejoignant un ferry et s’automutilent pour effacer leurs empreintes digitales (p. 389-351). Son écriture procède par la mise en relation des descriptions minutieuses des œuvres, avec le récit de parcours de migrants, des observations personnelles recueillies sur les lieux de ses recherches et des réflexions nourries de différentes disciplines. La photographie est envisagée comme un médium privilégié pour évoquer le transitoire ou ce qui n’est déjà plus : les écosystèmes modifiés, les dangereuses traversés, les errances, les identités malmenées, le risque de disparaître ou la construction d’une vie nouvelle. Hilde Van Gelder prend résolument partie en démontrant le manque d’humanisme et la précarité d’un monde qui se réconforte dans les nationalismes.- Lola Lorant, Critique d’art, le 01 juin 2023, DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/critiquedart.94779

Frequently Asked Questions

What is "Ground Sea" about?

TWO-VOLUME SET

Viewing the Strait of Dover through the lens of photography theory

Imagine a world in which each individual has a fundamental right to be reborn. This idle dream haunts Hilde Van Gelder’s associative travelogue that takes Allan Sekula’s sequence Deep Six / Passer au bleu (1996/1998) as a touchstone for a dialogue with more recent artworks zooming in on the borderscape near the Channel Tunnel, such as those by Sylvain George and Bruno Serralongue.

Combining ethnography, visual materials, political philosophy, cultural geography, and critical analysis, Ground Sea proceeds through an innovative methodological approach. Inspired by the meandering writings of W.G. Sebald, Javier Marías, and Roland Barthes, Van Gelder develops a style both interdisciplinary and personal.

Resolutely opting for an aquatic perspective, Ground Sea offers a powerful meditation on the indifference of an increasingly divided European Union with regard to considerable numbers of persons on the move, who find themselves stranded close to Calais. The contested Strait of Dover becomes a microcosm where our present global challenges of migration, climate change, human rights, and neoliberal surveillance technology converge.

Read more on the book's dedicated website: www.groundsea.be

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content). Ebook available in Open Access.

Who wrote "Ground Sea"?

"Ground Sea" was written by Hilde Van Gelder.

Hilde Van Gelder is Professor of Art History at KU Leuven.

Is "Ground Sea" part of a series?

Yes, "Ground Sea" is part of the "Lieven Gevaert Series" series. It's book 30 in the series.

Named after a ground-breaking figure in the Belgian photography industry, the Lieven Gevaert Series is a peer reviewed series of  innovative books on photography. Launched in 2004, the LG Series takes into account the ubiquitous presence of photography within modern culture and, in particular, the visual arts. At the forefront of contemporary thinking on photography, the books offer new insights in the position of the photographic medium within the art historical, theoretical, social and institutional contexts.
The Lieven Gevaert Series is published by Leuven University Press, in collaboration with 'The Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography, Art and Visual Culture' at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Université catholique de Louvain (www.lievengevaertcentre.be).

The series covers four types of publications:

  • outstanding monographic studies
  • multi-authored volumes on a specific topic
  • book length projects with artists
  • translations and/or reprints of classic texts.

All books are published in English and are written for an international audience of scholars.

Format

All books in the series are published in 17*23 cm paperback with French flaps, printed in black and white on white maco paper and with a maximum page extent of 300 pages (120.000 words) including images (unless agreed otherwise).

Authors interested in publishing their book in Open Access can check out the funding options here. Open access books are published under a creative commons license.

Series editors


Hilde Van Gelder, KU Leuven
Alexander Streitberger, UCLouvain

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editors.

Please make use of the submission form to present the full manuscript to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Proposal Submission Form
Guidelines to submit a book proposal for the Lieven Gevaert Series
Open Access & Funding Options

 

Is "Ground Sea" available Open Access?

Yes, "Ground Sea" is published Open Access. It is available under a BY-NC-ND license.

What is the Table of Contents for "Ground Sea"?

Contents of Volume I Preface: Water-Bound Embarkation: Bone Point Acknowledgments Introduction: Sea-Stricken
PART I: Blade 1. Running on Water 2. Ground Sea Plates 3. Ossuary 4. Kairology 5. Reliquiae Notes
Deep Six / Passer au bleu (1996/1998) by Allan Sekula
Contents of Volume II
PART II: Shuttle 6. The Right to Reappear 7. Naming the Person without a Name 8. Fools & Rights: Leaves for an Illustrated Reader Plates 9. This Precious Jewel 10. Plotting
At Anchor: Pearl Diving
Notes Bibliography

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