Gathering momentum, ideas and participants for new work ("Break it Down", work-in-progress, 2014)

Workshop on January 5th at the Tanzraum in Würzburg 

Slowing down to really see what's happening (inspiration, process)

I watched this TED talk about a Norwegian television experiment, a series of real-time documentary experiments they're now calling "Slow TV," and it reminded me how fantastic it is when we are given the opportunity to watch something happening, to watch a process unfolding--something I've been interested in for decades, ever since I moved my practice out of the studio and into the "real world."

I haven't been able to watch any of these live on television, but I have enjoyed watching some of the 8-hour process "from sheep to sweater" (NRK TV National Knitting Eve).

"Break it Down" (work-in-progress, 2014)

Where I am working and whom I'm working with (to create the new piece, "Break it Down"):

Rudolf Virchow Zentrum 
in Würzburg

Sonja Lorenz
at the Rudolf Virchow Zentrum

Jugendkirche Würzburg

Tanzraum Würzburg

"Break it Down" (work-in-progress, 2014)

People I'm lucky to be working with on my new project, "Break it Down":

Young roDDie

Lisa Kuttner Tanzraum Würzburg

Andrea Kneis

Alexander Pollner
Dancefloor Destruction Crew

Michael Lamprecht
Dancefloor Destruction Crew

Visualization, using animation to help test hypotheses (inspiration, process)

This TED talk by Janet Iwasa  is really great, it deals with something I'm working with for my new project: visualizations of what is happening at the molecular level in our bodies right now, all the time.

Molecular biologists can't always see what they are investigating, but they can imagine it and create visualizations to test their hypotheses. This is really inspiring to me right now, and is forming the base for my new work, "Break it Down" (working title).

John Bohannon and Black Label Movement (inspiration, process)

John Bohannon and Black Label Movement have also created another great performance-lecture, "Let's talk about sex." I love this way of thinking and working.

"What would you tell your younger self about sex if you could? (Starting with the big question: Why does it exist in the first place?) Mixing talk and dance, John Bohannon and Black Label Movement explore why sex exists -- and implore adults to talk honestly to the kids in their lives about the confusion and joy of human sexuality."

Dance vs. PowerPoint (inspiration, process)

This really inspires me right now — thinking about how to communicate complex topics, involve a group of people (i.e. in my next big project...).

 

TED talks, John Bohannon and Black Label Movement: Dance vs. Powerpoint, a modest proposal

John Bohanon: "The piece changed drastically over the course of its creation. As I got to know the dancers and see how they struggled to make ends meet, especially when injuries occur without healthcare coverage, my mood darkened. What began as a small piece of optimistic theater about science turned into a satire about the status of artists in the US. As inspiration, I looked back to Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay, “A Modest Proposal,” It was a masterpiece of political satire that proposed a seemingly rational solution to the problem of the poor in Ireland: They should sell their babies as food, generating much-needed income and reducing their population in one stroke. It was a reply to some of the brutal utilitarian policies being discussed at the time by the aristocracy. Where you hear antique language in my presentation, I am quoting Swift verbatim."

Sag mir wo die Blumen sind, Teil I (2014)

Pressemitteilung - 

Neue Sicht auf alte Bilder: Am 29. August findet die von Janet Grau initiierte Führung durch ausgewählte Kunstwerke aus dem Bestand des ehemaligen VEB Petrolchemischen Kombinates Schwedt (PCK), heute PCK Raffinerie GmbH Schwedt statt. Die Künstlerin, die am diesjährigen Symposium „PCK Kunst 2.0“ teilgenommen hat, hat die Führung speziell für blinde und sehbehinderte Menschen konzipiert. Um die Werke für dieses Sonderpublikum begreiflich zu machen, hat Janet Grau zuerst Freunde daheim gebeten, ihr ausgehend von den Bildtiteln Fragen zu stellen: „Stell Dir vor, Du stehst vor diesem Kunstwerk und kannst es nicht sehen. Was möchtest Du darüber erfahren?“

Diese Fragen zu beantworten war dann die Aufgabe, die sie mit einem jungen Team vor Ort erledigte: Enrico Frontzek, Mirjam Bunn und Angie Winkel (von l. n. r., Foto) haben mit ihr zusammen gearbeitet, um die ausgewählten Kunstwerke anschaulich und lebhaft zu beschreiben.

Aus den insgesamt 23 von Janet Grau aus der PCK-Kunstsammlung ausgewählten Werken wurden 11 davon schon in einem Video* präsentiert, das derzeit für alle noch im Kunstverein Schwedt unter dem Titel „Sag mir wo die Blumen sind“ zu sehen ist. Dort wird die Führung am 29. August anfangen, danach geht es auf dem PCK-Gelände weiter.

Dietmar Rietz: „Vielleicht ist das Herausholen der in der Raffinerie gesammelten Kunstwerke an die Öffentlichkeit der Anstoß, die Bilder und Skulpturen öfter an öffentlichen Plätzen, in Werkschauen von Künstlern oder in einem eigenen Museum zu zeigen.“ Unter diesem Blickwinkel bekommen die aktuelle Kunstaktion „Neue Sicht auf alte Bilder“ und die alten Worte des Malers und Bauhaus-Lehrers Paul Klee ein neue Dimension: „Kunst gibt nicht das Sichtbare wieder, sondern macht sichtbar.“

*Die Fragen und Beschreibungen wurden von Viola Brocker aus Schwedt für das Video gesprochen

About my work in Schwedt (work-in-progress, 2014)

Read the full article in the Märkische Oderzeitung: Ungewohnte Leichtigkeit beim Umgang mit der "ungeliebten Kunst" (with video about the exhibition)

PCK Kunst 2.0 (work-in-progress, 2014)

Where I am working now (on my new work "Sag mir wo die Blumen sind").

„PCK-Kunst 2.0 - Neue Sicht auf alte Bilder" ist der Titel des 23. Künstlertreffens vom 14. bis 25. Juli 2014 in Schwedt, initiiert von der PCK Raffinerie Schwedt GmbH in Kooperation mit dem Kunstverein Schwedt e. V. und der Märkischen Oderzeitung.

http://www.moz.de/artikel-ansicht/dg/0/1/1302677

Looking at art, part II (work-in-progress, 2014)

Of course, I'm not the only one here for this project. There are 10 artists who were invited to come and check out the collection, and create new works for Schwedt/Oder.

The Märkische Oderzeitung online has a series of articles on this project: Internationale Künstler erkunden PCK-Kunst in Schwedt

Looking at art, part I (work-in-progress, 2014)

Talking about the effects of looking at or even just "dealing with" art (!) ... I am in Schwedt/Oder (Brandenburg) now, working on a new work (working title "Sag mir wo die Blumen sind"), dealing with a large collection of artworks from the GDR located at an oil refinery here, the PCK Raffinerie GmbH Schwedt. More updates to come!

Auch Kunstbetrachtung steigert das Wohlbefinden (inspiration, process)

Spannend - im Radio die Sendung gehört (SWR 2) - Doris Maull im Gespräch mit Prof. Dr. Christian Maihöfner (Projekt "Persönlichkeitsbildung durch künstlerisches Gestalten" Nürnberg): Studie belegt: Kunst steigert das Wohlbefinden Sogar die Beschäftigung mit Kunst soll "Resilienz" (psychologische Widerstandsfähigkeit) steigern.

Erstmals positive Wirkung von Kunst auf das Gehirn nachgewiesen Kreatives Tun steigert Wohlbefinden und verbessert psychologische Widerstandsfähigkeit

"Wissenschaftlern der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg und des Kunst- und Kulturpädagogischen Zentrums der Museen in Nürnberg ist es erstmals gelungen, die Wirkung von Kunst auf die Persönlichkeit des Menschen wissenschaftlich zu belegen. Ein Team aus Psychologen, Neurologen sowie Kunst- und Museumspädagogen erbrachte den Beweis, dass eine aktive künstlerische Betätigung zu einer Steigerung der funktionellen Verbindungen im Ruhenetzwerk des Gehirns führt. In der Folge werden die psychologische Widerstandsfähigkeit sowie das subjektive Wohlbefinden erhöht."

undo, redo and repeat (inspiration, process)

undo, redo and repeat: this is a fantastic project, currently part of the show at the Heidelberger Kunstverein:

"Das Projekt "undo, redo and repeat" betrachtet fünf Tanz-Positionen aus dem 20. Jahrhundert im Spiegel derjenigen, die sie vermitteln und auslegen, erinnern und verwalten, am Leben halten und verbreiten. Die Tänzerinnen und Choreografinnen Christina Ciupke und Anna Till gehen der Frage nach, wie das Wissen über vergangene Tänze von Mary Wigman, Kurt Jooss, Dore Hoyer, Pina Bausch und William Forsythe zu uns gelangt."

Standing in a posture of confidence (inspiration, process)

This wonderful talk was presented at an official TED conference:

"Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how "power posing" — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don't feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success."

I Think I Know What You Want To Say, 2014

First photos of my newest piece, "I Think I Know What You Want To Say" (installation with video, photos, drawings and objects), currently on display in Dilsberg (thank you, Doro, for the wonderful photos). Portfolio page coming soon!

Shara Worden / My Brightest Diamond / Stories and Sounds (inspiration, process)

I love this woman and her work: My Brightest Diamond - ALL THINGS WILL UNWIND: Stories and Sounds

Another great clip: Live at Other Music

Frances Goodman in The Divine Comedy, MMK Frankfurt (inspiration, process)

My favorite piece in the show, The Divine Comedy (MMK Frankfurt) was by a South African artist I hadn't heard of before: Frances Goodman. Her piece was a sound collage, which was apparently originally part of a larger work (which I would have liked to see) called
The Dream.


According to her gallery, the piece was "constructed from her interviews with dozens of unmarried South African women, revealing the strong and varying opinions and feelings women have with regard to marriage and the societal pressure placed on them. Their opinions and voices are powerfully interlaced, forming what almost becomes an open and candid dialogue about the heated subject of weddings, marriage and their associations. Goodman admits that the level of honesty and disclosure surprised her.

“That’s what women do, they get married,” declares one anonymous voice. “If I was out with my mom and her friends and there was a 30-something year old woman who wasn’t married and she didn’t have children, I would think ‘how very strange’”, says another. “I think, ‘oh I’d have a better cake. I don’t want a wedding, but I would have a better cake’” admits another. “I feel like I’m getting older, I feel like I’m reaching my expiry date.” Another voice states “I’m much happier when I’m single. I don’t have anyone to question me, I’m not trying to please anyone.”

Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, "Hunter" (inspiration, process)

I wish I could see Meg Stuart's new work, "Hunter":

"How can I digest the many influences and traces that shaped me as a person and artist? How can my body unfold quantum genealogies and unrealized histories?"

In Hunter, her first evening-length solo, choreographer Meg Stuart explores her own body as an archive populated with personal and cultural memories, ancestors and artistic heroes, fantasies and invisible forces. Discovering traces in the land of small things that linger around her body, Stuart translates them into a series of self-portraits. Experiences are cut up and spliced together on the editing table to reveal potential connections and forms, such as a cartoonesque body, a shamanist chanting ritual, or a noisy sound sculpture. Stretched onto different surfaces and ricocheting across media, interior states refract and resonate in a shared world. 

Music to work to today (inspiration, process)

My Brightest Diamond, "Be Brave" 

Fantastic.

Trying to understand me ("I Think I Know What You Want To Say", work-in-progress)

Something I'm working on for my new work ("I Think I Know What You Want To Say"): some of Corinna Clack's dancers are trying to perform the Onotoa dance, which they have never seen, but which I am trying to describe to them...(thank you, Dorothea Burkhardt, for the photos)

Fletcher and I ("I Think I Know What You Want To Say", work-in-progress)

Some of the hundreds of photos for upcoming exhibition (here, in conversation with Fletcher DuBois; photographer packwerk-photos.de)...