DIY 7 Manuel Vason Becoming an Image

Professional development projects BY artists FOR artists across the UK

DIY 7: 2010 – Call for Participants

Through a collaborative workshop, explore the relationship and transition between and from body-based performance into sculpture and photography.

THIS DIY PROJECT IS NOW FULL

Project summary:
With the transition from one art-form into another, a loss of information is inevitable, but the acquisition of a new artistic vocabulary opens up a variety of modes of artistic expression. Becoming an image is a natural transformation from movement to stillness. In this project, through a playful approach, the body becomes a sculpture by exploring its materiality, by projecting shapes and by connecting the individual inner state with its surface. This project intends to draw a line between photography, which aims to frame the live event as it reveals itself, and actual image making.

There will be time for group activity and exchange, where group material is generated, and individual timeslots for a more intimate collaboration with Manuel Vason, where individual material is generated. Manuel Vason has a dual role within this project as both a facilitator/leading artist and a participant; this role stems from the intrinsic role that collaboration plays in his practice.

At the end of the project each participant will be given a dvd including all the material/images they have created and all the material they have participated in, in any form or shape.

Dates, times and locations:
The workshop takes place both indoors in Nuffield Theatre spaces and outdoors for more site-specific work, over four days: Thur 26, Fri 27, Sat 28 and Sun 29 August 2010, 10am-6pm daily.

Participants would have to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements and cover their own costs. The Nuffield Theatre is able to provide a digs list for cheap, local accommodation — contact [email protected] for more info.

Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster University, Alexandra Square, Bailrigg, Lancaster, Lancashire LA1 4YW

Application procedure:
This project is open to participants of all levels of experience and all areas of practice, but would probably more suit participants who either already have or who would want to explore a body based practice. No photography experience necessary and no need to bring your own photographic equipment.

To apply please send an email to [email protected] by Friday 16 July 2010, with DIY7 Image as the Subject Line, including:
1. A brief biog.
2. A short statement describing you interest in the concept of this project and how you believe your practice can benefit from this experience.
3. Samples of your work (can include web-links, images, video etc. please make sure any images are low resolution).

The artist:
Manuel Vason sees his work as a life-long research project on ‘Representation’. He is interested in the concept of ‘becoming an image’ and its consequences on an artistic and social policy. He has been using photography as his tool of expression and he has been fighting against its limits. For years he has been working hard to bridge photography and performance. He considers photography a truly performative medium and an autonomous performative practice. A key element of his work is the relation with the subject, a sort of partnership based on mutual respect, a sense of reciprocal trust and a joint desire for creation. The foundation of every new image is a collaboration (of indeterminate duration) with a performance artist. During the collaboration Vason exchanges ideas and points of view with the artist and then they together construct images with embedded messages and shaped aesthetic. Vason is not so much intrigued by documenting an existing performance but he is interested in pushing the artist to present a new piece of work devised for the camera.
www.manuelvason.com
www.artcollaboration.co.uk

This DIY project is supported by Nuffield Theatre, a key UK venue for presenting and commissioning experimental theatre, contemporary dance and live art. www.nuffieldtheatre.com