Unlike the thematic programs, Partners is a working process that runs through the festival in which an artist is coupled with someone from outside of the art world. This partner can be a scientist, or someone with a worldview very different from that of the artist, ranging from a bouncer to an astronomer. In the period leading up to the festival, the artist will create a work, and exchange ideas about it with his or her partner in several sessions. During the festival, the creative process will also bel presented alongside the final result.

Miguel Calderon (Mexico)
In a dialogue with a bouncer, Calderon worked on a video in which he, for various reasons, is consistently turned away from the door of a fancy club: he’s wearing tennis sneakers, has bad breath, or his good-looking girlfriend is allowed in while he is not. Festival visitors will encounter comparable situations at the presentation of the video at the festival.

Dessislava Karushkova (Bulgaria)
In her work Karushkova demonstrates a fascination for science Astronomy and cognitive science echo in Karushkova’s images and con cepts. By means of video projection, Karushkova will ad a succinct transparency and stratification to the observatory at Sonnenborgh. During the making of the work she will discuss and develop her ideas with Kees de Jager, astronomer at the Utrecht Observatory.

Sailorboy (Sweden)
Two projects by Sailorboy (alias Jonas Liveröd), one with a counterfeiter and the other with a practitioner of the levitation through meditation.

MAKIN’ MONEY
Using the relationship between art and money as his starting point, Sailorboy decided to concentrate on producing, smuggling, and laundering money. His actions can be monitored via security cameras.

LEAVING PLANET EARTH MANUALLY: IS GRAVITY AN EMPIRIC TRUTH? DON’T THINK SO!
If someone would prove the impossibility of flying, would all airplanes crash at once? In theory, the bumblebee cannot fly; its wings are pro- portionally too small. Yet because the bee doesn’t know this, it still manages. Sailorboy tries to follow the bumblebee’s example.

Peter Stel en Miklós Beyer (Netherlands)
For their installation piece Peter Stel en Miklós Beyer had a rendezvous with an old acquaintance. The meeting took place in a lunchroom. In ‘Exclusive Doubleheader’ the makers and their guest give their own account of meeting through audio, text- and videoprojection.

Eboman (Netherlands)
Eboman’s contribution to Partners comes in the form of a presentation in the couch.club series. Couch.master Ebo will investigate the possibilities of forming partnerships, exchanging ideas, and collaborating via the Internet, and will argue in favor of artists doing research. Based on examples of the role played by various foreign laboratories in the production of media art, Eboman will shed light on the Dutch situation and will come up with suggestions for improvement. Representatives from diverse new-media organizations in the Netherlands will take part in the discussion with him.