DIY: 2005 – Heart of Fire, Head of Ice

Led by Áine Phillips

A two day dialogue which will be a dynamic and vivid creative exchange on the investment of self into live art practice – the projection of subjectivity, intense personal feeling and experience into our work as artists.

Led by Áine Phillips

Saturday 18 June and Sunday 19 June 2005
Pacitti Company Studio, London E1

The Project

A small group of artists will spend two days in the comfortable Pacitti Company Studio in London E1, sharing food, ideas and experiences of their own practice.  The dialogues will centre around the primacy of direct experience – we will discuss our own art and artists we know or whose work we hold a deep interest in.

Áine will facilitate the dialogues opening with video and slide presentations of her own work and artists who have projected the passionate intensity of their own lived experience into performance and live art practice.  A central theme to the dialogues will be the telling of truth and lies in performance and live art.  We will focus on questioning the ideals of integrity and honesty in the performance of self as opposed to fictions, artifice and deceit (the conventions of theatrical performance).

Other issues and ideas open for discussion will be the separation of lived experience from ‘framed’ representations of life.  The psychological issues arising from personal, emotional and intimate approaches to public audience. The impact of feminism, race and gender issues on the performance of our identities and our bodies. Adrian Searle has defined contemporary art as falling into two categories “Oh Wow” or “So What”; Where does that leave truth or honour? Can art be true if self is not?

Participants will be asked to discuss their own performance and live art practice in the light of these ideas and to bring along their own work to show to the group for this purpose.  The closing dialogue will melt and condense heads of ice, conflagrate and enflame hearts of fire.

Participants / Numbers / Selection Process

Participants will be artists who work in the area of performance and live art practice.  To apply to participate please compose a declaration (half an A4 page) on your investment of self and subjectivity into your live art practice and supply your CV. Participants will be selected on the basis of passionate intensity, personal artistic connection to and interest in engaging with these issues and experience in performance and live art practice.

Applicannts should send information and submissions via email to [email protected] with DIY 3:2005 in the subject box.  Applications must be received by 30 May and will be informed of the outcome by 10 June.

The Organiser

Áine Phillips is Head of Sculpture at the Burren College of Art, Ireland. She is co-ordinator of undergraduate Studies at the College and teaches on MFA programmes in conjunction with RCA, London and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  She runs courses on performance and time based art practice and has lectured in colleges and universities around Ireland.

Áine has been making performance and installation art for seventeen years in the West of Ireland and internationally. Her work has developed from community and collaborative projects in the 80’s and 90’s to currently, solo performances and exhibitions internationally.

Any questions?

If you have specific questions about Heart of Fire, Head of Ice you can email Áine [email protected].