Degrees of Freedom in South of Spain.

Living Work

Here is my living work. Actually I followed my intuition in doing it. Yes it is that freedom that involves me in this moment of my live. I love that quotes of Shakti Gawain that said: "Your intuition will tell where you need to go; it will connect you with people you should meet; it will guide you toward work that is meaningful for you. Work that brings you joy, work that feel right for you".

Version 2 of the draft DoF proposition

Here is version 2 of the draft DoF proposition for discussion on Thursday.  The last para is weak and needs reworking.  I cut and pasted it and cant get rid of the white background for some reason. Sorry.

Degree of Freedom 2015:  The Proposition

 

The proposition is to create interventions inside and outside a Gallery that disrupt the accepted dynamics of the white cube space (WCS).  For our purposes a WCS is any modernist gallery space with a public frontage and a curatorial presence set up primarily for exhibiting/selling art.

The dynamics of a white cube space

 

The traditional WCS is a Cemetery for Art and Artists. “Dead” works enter the space and remain there for a while before leaving it unchanged.  Works are arranged in ranks and in isolation from each other (much like graves) and the whole space is separated and sealed off from the outside world like a graveyard. 

 

Stillness and quietude are deliberately created to better enable consumption of the works at the expense of creativity.  This means that while there is room for eyes, there is little room for the hands, mind or body of the artist*.  The role of the artist is reduced to the salesman or invigilator. 

 

Frenetic “Private Views” are cultivated to bring in “collectors”, followed by a deadly hush that continues till the exhibition folds.  Both conditions make it difficult for a dialogue to develop between artists, their works, the viewers and the environment.

 

The invitation

 

Degrees of Freedom 2015 invites ideas and proposals for an event at the “January Space” located at a Gallery in Shoreditch based on the following criteria:

 

Only living works:  No dead or finished works will be accepted.  All interventions must feature an element of change or transformation in space or time or interaction with the environment. Interventions may feature building up works in real time, disappearing or disintegrating works, dialogue between works, dialogue between the internal spaces of the gallery and the external community or environment.

 

The gallery as a dynamic space: The gallery will be an active space where ideas can develop, works can continuously transform in space and time, where there is room for unexpected encounters between works, between artists, between the audience and the artists. The gallery can at any time be an ideas laboratory, a demonstration site, an encounter space.

Active roles:  Artists and their activity will be central to the event.  Curation will be continuous and in collaboration with the artists on the basis of the needs and requirements of artists and other participants.

 

Fuzzy boundaries:  We welcome proposals that turn the gallery “inside out” or promote a dialogue between what is inside the gallery and what is going on outside, or ideas that challenge the roles of artists/curators/viewers/the public as creators or consumers.

 

Why “Degrees of Freedom”?

 

Our aim is to occupy the WCS space on behalf of artistic rather than commercial values and not to eliminate the WCS.  This means that we have to work within some of the constraints of a WCS while challenging others – hence “Degrees of Freedom”.

 

The constraints that we want to challenge are set out above (paras 2-4).

 

The constraints we accept are:

               1.the structural integrity of the gallery

               2.the safety and security of participants

               3.the limitations imposed by legal, insurance and other

               obligations of the gallery

               4.the need to balance the requirements of all the

               participating artists in the interests of the whole

               event.

 

 

Who is involved in “Degrees of Freedom”?

 

We are a group of artists interested in exploring the contours of freedom in art and beyond.

 

 

*Some of course have “residencies” where a favoured artist is corralled but these do not affect the essence of the WCS, they simply add spice to the usual mix.

 

Version 1 of the draft DoF proposition

Here are the working notes/doodles for the first draft of the DoF proposition which I did after our meeting in November.  Ive posted it for archival purposes.


The proposition is to create interventions inside and outside the Espacio Gallery that disrupt the accepted dynamics of the white cube space (WCS)

There are at least 8 sites at which we could create such interventions:

Site 1: When works enter the space:
Usually only finished works are accepted into the WCS. We should only aim to have works that are in transformation or discovery.

Site 2: When works are actually in the gallery space:
Usually the WCS is a static site where finished works are arranged in a particular order and events allowed to take their course. We should challenge this by turning the gallery into an active, dynamic space where ideas are allowed to develop, works are continuously transformed in space and time, where there is room for unexpected encounters between works, between artists, between the audience and the artists.

Site 3: When works leave the WCS:
Generally they are unchanged. We should aim to make it a condition of entry that they are transformed in some way. We should aim for having a longer after- life for the exhibition by planning from the start to take the concept to other WCS galleries in London, uk and beyond.

Site 4: when the WCS is separated from the outside world
Generally the function of the WCS is to create a protected and controlled environment where works are shorn of their history, social context and the environment. We should invite interventions that break down this boundary and turn the gallery inside out.

Site 5: when the WCS serves as a neutral background
Traditionally the art value or the commercial worth of a Work is thought to be best appreciated against a neutral value-free background. We should aim to push against the limitations of this and see to what extent we could efface the distinction between the Work and it's background.

Site 6: when the WCS isolates works from each other
Separation of works, allowing each to " breathe" is a defining element of the WCS. We should aim to create an environment where artists and their works have the opportunity to interact and respond to each other over the course of the exhibition. We could be even more radical and allow for the boundary between works to be blurred.

Site 7: at the moment of curation
Generally within a WCS, curation happens just once and at the start of the exhibition. The corollary of having a dynamic rather than a static space is that curation must happen any number of times throughout the duration of the exhibition as artist requirements or relationship between works change. So curation could be interpreted as moments of negotiation in a contested space.

Site 8: the artist/audience/curator dynamic within the WCS
Within the WCS the least active role is that of the artist. The curator and to a lesser extent the consumer take up centre stage. The artist is either absent, or present as the Ex-creator. We should aim to turn the gallery into another site of artistic creation so that the artistic process and the relationship between artists becomes of central importance.

6 Dec 2013 - DoF meeting notes

Notes of "Degrees of Freedom" Group, 4th December 2013 @ the Motown Cafe
Present: Rebecca, Roan, Esperenza, Graham, Ahmed

Ahmed went through the background and the curatorial proposition for the show. This was followed by a discussion to clarify and add to the proposition. The first two collaborative pieces were created and entrusted to Graham for documentation on the blog.

DECISIONS

1.     The proposition was generally and enthusiastically accepted and agreed subject to further clarifications and development

2.     A Group identity will be created under the title "degrees of freedom"

3.     The January 2015  show will be provisionally entitled " degrees of freedom 2015" but this could be revisited as our ideas develop further.

4.     Initially the group will be limited to the five artists attending but this may change as our ideas develop

5.     The group should give some thought to developing a fictitious identity for each of its members for promotional purposes.

6.     The project will have a distinct development phase and time will be given to enable the group to work up its core ideas and approaches to the exhibition.

7.     Although the question of finance will need to be tackled, the initial development phase should focus on generating ideas, enthusiasm, energy and commitment.

8.     Documentation of the the whole of the project will be undertaken as best as we can throughout the life cycle of the project.  This could be in the form of a scrapbook, video collage, photo album.  Digital documents will be put on the blog. It would be great if we could get an artist to document "degrees of freedom" as their project.

9.     The project should aim for:  humour; documenting mistakes; promoting the work of others; inventing a back story; involving audience - interaction       

10.  A blog will be created to help with documentation of the project. A group photo was taken which will be put on the blog.

11.  At least initially all communication will be through email or text. Alternative methods will be explored as and when.

12.  The group will try and meet at least once a month: initially on the 4th Thursday of every month. Thus: 23 January, 27 February, 27 March, 24 April, 22 May, 26 June, 24 July, 22 August,25 September, 23 October, 29 November, 18 December.  It's recognised that not all will be able to make every meeting.

13.  Group members will keep each other updated on exhibitions, courses, workshops, groups, artist opportunities etc that they come across which would be useful to the development of the group.

14.  Core dates for the exhibition will be Thursday 2nd January 2015 to Wednesday 29th January 2015. On top of this we should be able to negotiate access to the gallery over the Christmas and New Year 2014 period to prepare the gallery if this is required. Similarly we need to build in time after the show (30th January - 3rd February, 5 days available to do this) to take down and make good any decorative damage to the gallery.

ACTION

1.     Ahmed to write up the first draft of the curatorial proposition for the next meeting.

2.     Graham to set up blog and put the group photo on it.

3.     Ahmed to send group photo to Graham for the blog.

4.     Rebecca to email everyone about the shuffle festival.

5.     Graham to see if he could get Spencer Rowell to talk to the group about 'Uncertain States'.

6.     All should think about the idea of fictitious individual identities for the next meeting and what their own fictitious identity might be.

7.     All should put the dates of the exhibition, including set up and takedowns, into their diary now.

8.     All should put dates of future meetings into their diary now.

Taken by Ahmed Farooqui, 6th December 2013

Serviette 'Contract'

The Launch