Decompression Gathering Summer Camp 2016

The Vibratile Body
Led by visiting curator Berit Fischer
August 26th  – September 3rd 2016
Corniolo Art Platform, Florence Italy

Application Deadline: June 15 th, 2016

“…to expand beyond representation, to conquer an intimacy with the body as a vibratile surface that detects the waves even before they arise.” Suely Rolnik

Can the act of gathering and isolation contribute to articulating new forms of mutual learning and group working? Does experiencing communal life in isolated areas shift social relations? Can the experience of leisure and unproductive daily tasks be a generative process with critical potential? Radical Intention addresses and discusses these issues by setting up Decompression Gathering Summer Camp, a one-week residency of decompression, communal living and group working that takes place at the end of the summer, before urban life and its busyness picks up again.

This year berlin-based visiting curator Berit Fischer invites artists, curators and cultural workers to participate in The Vibratile Body, an exploration on the relation between the micro and macro dimensions of agency looking to test whether changes in the individual self trigger other collective manifestations.

Participants in D_Camp 2016 will engage in a one-week self-experiment strongly focused on a reinterpretation of Paulo Freire’s collective practices of ‘conscientization’ (i.e. ashantanga yoga, meditations and breathing exercises; no prior experience necessary). Theses daily activities will be intertwined with discussions around the notion of the self as a ‘vibratile body’ in Suely Rolnik, and as a ‘social body’ (i.e. in Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi ). There will also be visits to local arts and cultural centres, as well as experiences of local holistic practices. The week hopes to unfold a practical and critical exchange that questions whether new connections of flows, heightened awareness, empathy and sensitivity can produce forms of self-empowerment.

Berit Fischer is a PhD candidate at the Winchester School of Art/Southampton University and an independent curator and writer who has worked internationally since 1999. Previously based in New York and London (1997–2009), she currently lives in Berlin. Her research interests focus primarily on socially produced spaces, the specification of art as a producer of new knowledge and a means to permeate the status quo, the creation of fields of action, and the development of spaces for critical engagement and social change. She has published articles in Afterall (London) and be Magazin (Berlin), among other publications, and both edited and contributed to the books New Spaces for Negotiating Art (and) Histories in Africa (co-edited with Kerstin Pinther and Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, 2015), Hlysnan: The Notion and Politics of Listening (2014), and Other Possible Worlds – Proposals on this Side of Utopia (2011).

She has presented tutorials, lectures, and workshops around the world, including at Freie Universität Berlin, Nottingham Trent University (UK), and the Soma organisation (Mexico City). She was a member of the advisory board for the B32 exhibition space (Maastricht) and was a co-founding curator of The Brewster Project (New York, 2001). Her curatorial projects include Revolution Without Movement (Galeria Hit, tranzit.sk, Bratislava), Hlysnan: The Notion and Politics of Listening (Casino Luxembourg Forum d`Art Contemporain, Luxembourg), Part of the Game, (nGbK, Berlin), Other Possible Worlds – Proposals on this Side of Utopia (nGbK, Berlin), Brooklyn Waterfront Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition (New York), Dumbo Arts Festival (New York), Intrude 366 (Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai), and City Beats (BankART, Yokahama).

D-Camp 2016: The Vibratile Body

Led by Berit Fischer

In an era marked by immaterial labour, hyper abstraction, technology, automation and by capitalism’s constant demand of increase in productivity, we – the self as a “resonant and vibratile body” and as a “social body” – not only undergo dominant politics of subjectivation and manipulation of relation to the other, but equally are hasting to adapt to transhuman requirements of today’s cognitive capitalism.

Accompanied by some theoretical readings (i.e. Suely Rolnik and Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi) and engagements with local holistic approaches, we will embark on a one-week collective self-experiment that is strongly focused on sharing the experience of a daily practice of conscientization of our own vibratile body; a re-interpretation of Paulo Freire’s dialogue based form of creating awareness as a practice of freedom. We will create new connections of flows, heightening our awareness, empathy and sensitivity of relating the self to the other. On a small scale, we will experience and critically explore whether these holistic practices have an impact to re-think and to create new conditions of possibility, self-empowerment and freedom.

Each day will start with Ashtanga Yoga, in the tradition of Mysore and Sri Pattabhi Jois K., a bespoke and individualized practice within the small group, whereby a sequence of specified series is carried out in one`s own rhythm of breath and adapted to the individual condition. It is suitable for everyone regardless of prior knowledge and physical prerequisite. Ashtanga Yoga is a dynamic meditation with strong focus on the union of breath and movement, energy flows and focus. This practice will be accompanied by further meditations and Pranayama (breathing exercises) throughout the days.

Application form

The call is open to all cultural workers (visual arts, architecture, graphic design, etc.) The workshop/residency will be held in English.

The deadline for applying is May 30th 2016.

To apply for the workshop/residency please send the following materials to radicalintention@gmail.com by naming your email “Application Decompression Gathering Camp 2016”

_ CV with name, age and contacts (no more than two pages)

_ Documentation of one artwork or project that majorly represents the candidate’s practice (it can be simply a link to the project)

_ Motivational Letter (Max 500 words). The letter should include reasons for participating, interests in group working, and should explain how the workshop could influence the candidate’s practice.

Fee

The registration fee is 400 euro. In order to secure your place, we will need a 100 euro deposit.

The fee covers enrolment, accommodation (7 nights), and three meals a day. Travel expenses are not covered. On request, the organization will provide candidates with invitation letters for external funding.

Radical Intention is a not-for-profit organisation and the money generated from the fees for the D-Camp 2016 go directly back into the running costs for the camp (visiting artist fee, studio space, food and travels).