As much a scientific experiment as a performance series.

 

1, 2, 3 November 2012

Remediating the Social - Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice (ELMCIP) conference
Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with New Media Scotland and University College Falmouth

Three days long 5 artist will prepare and do a performance every day. They will use an interface that allows them to collaborate remotely. The images and sounds of their webcams are combined into a single video projection. From a distance, they share a space of expression and responsibility, a playground, a laboratory.

25 October 6pm GMT, online preparation session, open to all at huisclos.mosaika.tv
Exposition on the New Aesthetic, 1 November 8pm GMT Performance Edinburgh College of Art, free entrance without reservation and online at huisclos.mosaika.tv
2 and 3 November 2pm GMT online preparation sessions open to all in the huisclos.mosaika.tv
Newer Aesthetic 2 November 3.30pm GMT Performance Edinburgh College of Art, free entrance without reservation and online at huisclos.mosaika.tv
The internet is not as good as it was yesterday 3 November 3.30pm GMT Performance Edinburgh College of Art, free entrance without reservation and online at huisclos.mosaika.tv

Using only their mother tongue the five artists will challenge each other into collective action while trying to overcome language and cultural differences. Their communication is handicapped by this constraint - which means they will have to invent a new language based on some common words, codes, the technical possibilities of streaming and their bodies.

Annie Abrahams in Edinburgh will speak Dutch
Ruth Catlow also in Edinburgh will speak English
Ursula Endlicher in New York will speak German
Nicolas Frespech in Montélimar will speak French
Igor Stromajer in Frankfurt will speak Slovenian

streaming interface Ivan Chabanaud mosaika.tv
technical assistance Jan de Weille (Montpellier)

The project is a follow-up of Huis Clos / No Exit – On Translation presented on 29/05/2010 at NIMk in Amsterdam.

This performance was a lot more political and personally disturbing than we expected: The monocultural person turned out to be severely handicapped. The experience was tagged with terms as ultimate loneliness, adolescent group-dynamics and partying.

Anything can happen in the follow-up. Performances may become longer or shorter. They will be prepared together by the artists. The public can attend these preparations live on huisclos.mosaika.tv, they can comment on them, do suggestions in a separate chatwindow.

Will we choose to use more or even less rules? Will we need a leader or continue without one? Maybe Ruth will become a leader naturally because she is only one authorized to use English, the language understood by all. What can we share? How can we position ourselves? What kind of voice will be possible?

Documentation:

Preparation as Performance : First preparation session. October 25 2012 2 hours.

A networked performance Exposition on the New Aesthetic .pdf recapitulating Preparation 1
The day after tomorrow .pdf Start, End, Vocabulary and Why New Aesthetic title. Preparation 2

14 drawings and paintings of The internet is not as good as it was yesterday by Michael Szpakowski.

Communication is never clean, smooth and transparent
Networks are fragile.

 

Huis Clos / No Exit - On Translation is part of the Huis Clos / No Exit artistic research project by Annie Abrahams

Shifts, interruptions, cuts, flux variations, temporary vacuums and coding errors in and between the images, are the aesthetic materials of the performance that will translate our vulnerability in our attempts to communicate in a cyberized environment.