“Nothingness” and “Entitled As” will be exhibited at the event “Transnatura Videolab”, at the Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, on 2 August 2010.

http://projectovideolab.blogspot.com/

This session is part of SITU’ARTE, promoted by Galeria Ícone, and it consists in a multidimensional event, intersecting different art forms: theatre, graffiti, photography, painting, drawing, music, performance and video.

Artists: Fonlad: Arthur Tuoto (Brazil), Andres Weber (Sweden), Caterina Davinio (Italy), Gruppo Sinestético (Italy),  Osvaldo Cibils (Uruguay), Steven Hoskins (USA); Videolab: Anna Chiaretta Lavatelli (EUA),  Artur Varela (Portugal), Arzu Ozkal (Turquia), David Phillips & Paul Rowley (Irlanda/EUA), Diane Timmins (Reino Unido), Jean-Gabriel Périot (França), Joshua Bryan (Reino Unido), Laetitia Bourget (França), Nick Jordan (Reino Unido), Paulo Bernaschina e Sérgio Gomes (Portugal), Tito Guedes de Carvalho e Manuel Ogando (Portugal); VideoChannel (Alemanha): Bill Domonkos (EUA), Deinse Hood (EUA), Alexander Mouton (EUA), James Woodward ((EUA), Constantin Hartenstein (Germany), Dennis Summers (EUA), Jennifer Schwed (EUA), Rajorshi Ghosh (EUA)

I had an amazing 10 days during my visit. Although, it was remarkably difficult to focus on work knowing the gorgeous Aegean was just there, we were able to produce a lot.

I did a trial run for a new piece I am working on. With most of the Cura residents, we went to one of the ‘largest coffeehouse companies of the US’, which is becoming more and more popular among the Turkish youth. We went in the coffeeshop one by one in 3 minute intervals and ordered turkish coffee –to make one takes about 3mins. The guys working at the place had to make turkish coffee but nothing else for almost 30mins. Even though the machine temporarily broke down, they managed to meet the demand. The most interesting part for me was that none of the coffeeshop people commented on the absurdity of the situation, although they sensed something unusual was going on. To me, this is a study on how corporations and the setting comes with them control human interaction. In a regular/local Turkish shop one would rarely see a ‘big welcoming smile’ on the cashier’s face, because you would know the person isn’t really happy about the position, and customer happiness isn’t really his/her biggest concern. Anyways, these guys were able to keep the big smile and avoid questions as written in their ‘corporate guide to creating a profitable workplace’.

Nazenin Tokusoglu (a dear friend from high-school) wrote an article for HaberTurk about this year’s program. Click here to view larger.

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Free communication is increasingly difficult, as is free critical discourse on global scales. What are the issues that are arising with the coming of increasingly oppressive limits to free speech? How can open dialogues on labor, human rights, freedom of speech, and global sustainability be maintained in a world in which the dreams of utopian networked free communication are being crushed by governments and corporations?

Artists, writers, performers, engineers, designers, activists, squatters, videographers and more are invited to participate in the tactical media workshop at cura bodrum residency during June 11 to 20, 2010 in Bodrum, Turkey.

The workshop led by Arzu Ozkal (me) and Patrick Lichty will introduce interventionist media art practices addressing contemporary issues in the public sphere. Burak Arikan will introduce network mapping processes and tools. The goal is to understand and intervene in the symbolic order through various tactics and media, and to synthesize viable critical projects for creation at the workshop or after.

An exhibition of the work of thirteen artists whose work addresses environmental issues. Using a variety of media from photography and video, to performance and installation the selected art works provide insights into land use, biodiversity and the recent controversy over genetically modified foods in Turkey.

Opening Reception: May 28, 2010 | 3-6pm
Exhibition can be viewed till June 2, 2010.

Location: George Jones Memorial Farm
1.9 miles east on State Route 511, Oberlin, Ohio
The exhibition is curated by Arzu Ozkal and Nanette Yannuzzi-Macias.

Artists:
Yeni Anıt, Nazan Azeri, Burçak Bingol, Genco Gülan, Güneli Gün, Erhan Muratoğlu, Suat Öğüt, Ethem Özgüven, İz Öztat & Dikran Taş, A. Tufan Palalı, Mark Slankard, Eden Ünlüata.

http://www.reliefvalve-subap.info/

>> Read all blog posts by Eleanor LeBeau:

>> See images from the opening reception:

Artists
Kristin Bly, T.R. Ericsson, Ben Kinsley, Arzu Ozkal, Lauren Yeager

Color Commentators
Lyz Bly, Bruce Edwards, Brandon Juhasz, Michael Gill, Eleanor LeBeau

Detour is an exhibition of 5 artists’ practices rerouted by an obstruction. SPACES has created a framework for play wherein 5 selected artists meet to discuss their practices and address areas of comfort and discomfort. By the end of the evening each artist will be assigned an obstacle by his/her peers. One artist may rely very heavily on a specific media, but the other 4 artists may agree that it would be good to step out of that comfort zone. Another artist may be asked to utilize a certain subject matter while another may be asked to work collaboratively rather than as a solo artist. Each obstruction is assigned as a playful experiment and a tool for growth rather than a mean-spirited prank.

The artists will then have seven days before the opening of the exhibition to realize their project while skirting around their new obstacle. Each artist will also be paired with someone who will document their processes and decisions. Like announcers at a football game, these individuals will run color commentary to make the artists’ play accessible to the public. SPACES’ website will function as the hub of the color commentary, but the exact relationship of the artist to their documentarian will be negotiated by the pair. Commentary may manifest itself as text, audio, video or some other means.

These artists’ experiments may succeed, and they may fail. That is the nature of a detour. Sometimes a more scenic route is discovered off the beaten path, and sometimes you just get horribly lost. In the end, projects will be realized, but the artistic process will be brought to the forefront and privileged alongside the finished work.