#zerofuture

To the cacophony of sounds from the video works mixing to the shuddering pulse of giant paper cone we gathered in a circle with Marlène Renaud-B. at La Centrale for a unique artist talk for Prendre le pouls, switching it up from French to English with the unconscious ease of habit. Each attendee was given a schematic with key words describing the construction and concepts behind the performative works and we were invited to add elements, interpret and modify this schematic to our liking as Renaud-B. walked us through her process.

A couple of excerpts from the evening:

On the presence or importance of the word “fabrication”:

“C’est à toute les étapes, mais en même temps, c’est le début et c’est la fin, c’est partout. Quand tu performes t’es en train de fabriquer, quand je suis en train de performer, c’est la fabrication conceptuelle.

La fabrication est dans l’idée, dans le materiel [et] dans le faire ; par exemple quand j’utilise des moteurs ou des systèmes je veux que ça soit apparent [et] qu’on sente la fabrication.”

  On the wearing the yellow suit:

“When I decided to put a yellow suit and a cone on my head, I didn’t want it to be personalized. I didn’t want the focus to be on whether I was a man or a woman, or any kind of individual, so I can clearly become an instrument or a device or a machine that always repeats the same movements".

“Ensuite de pouvoir moi, devenir un instrument, de mettre un suit jaune qui rappelle, si on regarde dans un plan, une marque dans l’espace - juste un signe - [comme] le bonhomme jaune sur Google Maps, qui réinterprète les lieux, et de voir et entendre autrement les espaces.”

On how Renaud-B. came to chose performance locations:

“At a certain point I was doing the repetitive actions in front of a big modernist sculpture on Île Sainte-Hélène, from that moment I told myself [that] the ultimate thing would be to go inside of a Donald Judd sculpture in Marfa, [Texas] which is for me, as a woman with a sculpture background, represents a supreme, male, white, modernist authority.

So finally I decided to go inside of a Donald Judd in Marfa and while I was there I decided to work on the other important spaces that were also [supporting] the ideas I was working with.  [For example] the super iconoclast black Ford Mustang in the middle of the desert with a glare on it, or there’s Spaceport USA [in New Mexico], a launch pad for space shuttles for billionaires.”

 On the cone installation:

“I was interested in translating the same [ideas] in different mediums and different ways, asking myself: “How can I take the sound from the street or the sound from the space still [using] the cone but in another way?” By reproducing the cone and reproducing the [performance] movement, but focusing on the sound that the material itself, the paper, was making, it reproduced a sound like a pulse.”

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Alisha Wormsley can be described in one word as diverse. Working as a multi-media artist, photographer, teaching artist and writer, she has been involved in numerous projects. Based both in Pittsburg and Brooklyn, Alisha has shared her talents with several cultural institutions such as Children’s Aid Society, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Romare Bearden Foundation, and the Faith Ringgold School in Harlem.

A former student of anthropology and documentary art, Alisha’s studies have assisted her with the development of her artwork. Her inspiration comes from stories, skills, and rituals which are then applied to her work. As she explains, “I collect these stories, archiving them and always making connections between them.”

Her most recent work, The Children of NAN, fuses together both folklore traditions and pop culture, producing what she describes as “new fictions and science fictions.” Alisha’s work brings together film, photography and sound in order to create a more conceptually complete image. She further describes the work as “a mythology of civilization in which, 2000 years ago, dark skinned women ruled the earth.”

Through her alteration of historical episodes, Alisha has challenged the current world in which we live. Her work theorizes a scenario that calls for interracial relations in order for the human race to survive; yet it still manages to render notions of racial oppression. By doing so, this new fiction recognizes the current success of Black Americans and praises them for how far they have come since the times of slavery. Alisha’s work is also applicable to the progress of black women in a male dominant society. However, it still understands the various struggles that remain within these communities. Seen in this context one may begin to better understand the messages she is attempting to present. Alisha’s video captures a distinct truth of history that could only be attainable in fictitious expeditions, one that ventures through a conceptual future.

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By Romina Cameron

Resources:

The future is obsolete. As part of the 11th edition of The HTMlles, feminist festival of media arts + digital culture (November 7-15, 2014), Montreal-based fashion designers BLCKMSSN interpreted the festival’s theme, ZÉR0 FUTUR{E}, to produce limited edition items.

“Our real lives are so tangled with virtual reality that we don’t know where the divide lies. All things man made will ultimately amount to nothing. Planned obsolescence will claim the bricks and pixels of that which we call our reality.”

Studio XX, feminist artist-run centre and producer of the festival, is proud to collaborate with BLCKMSSN to offer you the ZÉR0 FUTUR{E} fashion line! It includes t-shirts and sweatshirts for both adults and children, as well as bags handmade by Petites-Mains - an organization dedicated to helping immigrant women break out of isolation. The screenprinted line also features reflective inks for in-the-dark visibility that will help you navigate the future.

The limited edition items can be purchased at the festival headquarters, Studio XX (4001 Berri), and festival events taking place at other venues (check the festival schedule), as well as by donating to the festival on its website htmlles.net

The HTMlles aims to be open to all, and therefore all festival events and programmes have no or low entrance fees. By donating, you do not only contribute directly to the festival’s production, but also foster our vibrant feminist art community.

BLCKMSSN is the uniform of awareness. A Movement of fashion tailored to identity. blckmssn.com

Sounds for the future @TheHTMlles 11

On Tuesday, November 11, APO33 showed workshop participants how it is possible for musicians around the world to share their music, and even perform live concerts while they are in different locations geographically. This is possible through a groundbreaking open source audio streaming software, IceStream, developed by the creative people of APO33.

In the spirit of peer to peer (p2p) learning and knowledge sharing, APO33 builds software and organize workshops and events for the future. A future where people have the freedom and tools to create and express freely, away from corporate or state (technological) monopolies that seek power to decide who can have access to resources and how.

Sometimes corporate control seems invincible but actually “more and more people today become aware of alternative choices and turn to free and open resources”, Jenny Picket from APO33 tells us. APO33 is an example in its own right showing how international cooperation and work can be viable: all members come from different countries and collaborate with many others in remote locations of Earth to create innovative projects.

Challenging predominant discourses, APO33 offers tangible visions for a future where technology is more accessible, demystified and better adopted. Ground-breaking technology, however, will not bring change on its own. People need to care and get involved in it. Come today at Eastern Bloc and experience an artistic event of the #zerofuture, together with APO33, the Pre-Lubed Sisters and Julie Matson! 

G.I.A.S.O. performance will be available tonight in live stream at the following link: http://apo33.org:8000/giaso.ogg.m3u

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