We, Robert Hamelijnck and Nienke Terpsma, work as artists, editors, and non-academic researchers under the name Fucking Good Art, a collaboration at the intersection of publishing as an artistic practice, critical reflection, and cultural activism. A FGA can take various forms, and projects are often long-term and research-oriented, site-specific, and embedded in social and historical contexts. We are committed to dialogic forms of art and are interested in the anthropology of art, oral history, self-organization and the DIY ethos, anarchism, activism, and the material history of print.
Our research approach is inspired by methods from cultural and visual anthropology. We often focus on our own field of expertise, examining our social group and art scene. We are interested in how the art world is organized, the role we play within it, and what we can change. Many art worlds are conceivable, forming a social space where various networks intertwine. Our projects often blend art and social research, consistently pushing the boundaries of traditional art practice. Encounters with people from the art world and other disciplines, the humus layer of art and the life surrounding it, and existential questions form the breeding ground. In many projects, we are both participant-observers and active participants.
In our work, our own voices and those of others converge, and together we explore a topic, often based on informal conversations. This makes every project polyphonic. We strongly feel the need to organize ourselves collectively as artists and continue to search for alternatives for a more sustainable and fair art practice. This requires systemic change, and this is becoming increasingly clear to us—this fundamental theme resonates in many of our projects.
