Masterclass in residence
A cura di Claudio Zecchi
Default è una
Masterclass biennale giunta quest’anno alla sua 5a edizione.
Pensata per
incoraggiare la ricerca come momento separato dalla produzione, DEFAULT19 agisce come una piattaforma il cui obiettivo è quello di rinegoziare la nozione di tempo
promuovendo un formato orientato a non generare forme di produzione. Durante i
sei giorni, i partecipanti sono chiamati ad un impegno individuale e
collettivo con il paesaggio nella sua dimensione geografica e antropologica più
ampia. La residenza è un laboratorio e un’esperienza tesa ad alimentare
nuovi approcci e nuove forme di pensiero sul tema delle Terre Estreme.
Il
programma ci invita ad interrogarci su cosa sia possibile imparare dallo stare in
un luogo remoto come Gagliano del Capo. Cosa, questa posizione, può insegnarci sulla
situazione globale contemporanea, comprese le condizioni sociologiche,
antropologiche, politiche o scientifiche? Possiamo determinare un profilo
psicologico per coloro che cercano la fine o l'estremo? La ricerca artistica e
le opere che ne derivano possono portare avanti proposte di impossibilità e
nuovi immaginari plasmati dalle caratteristiche delle terre estreme. Avvicinarsi
all'"estremità" come stato mentale consente un confronto con un mondo
contemporaneo in cui le identità nazionali sono fluide e i confini non sono più
statici. Se il finis terrae può, infine, aver catturato l'immaginazione dei
sognatori e degli avventurieri, in che modo potrebbe rivelarsi utile come risposta
alle odierne problematiche e come metodologia da attuare altrove?
___
Default is a biennial
Masterclass in Residence that joins this year its 5th edition.
Conceived to encourage the
research as a separate moment from the production, DEFAULT19, functions as
a platform that aims at re-negotiate the notion of time by nurturing a
radically non-productive oriented format. During the six-days of residency,
participants are called to be individually and collectively engaged with the
landscape in its broader geographical and anthropological extent. The residency serves as a laboratory and as an experience to nurture new forms of
thoughts and approaches to the topic of the Extreme Lands.
The
residency program asks what we can learn about being situated in a remote
location like Gagliano del Capo. What can it teach us about the contemporary
global condition, including sociological, anthropological, political or
scientific positions? Can we assign a psychological profile to someone who
seeks the end or the extreme? Artistic research and resulting works can bring
forward proposed impossibilities and new imaginaries shaped by the
characteristics of the extreme land. Approaching “extremity” as a state of mind
allows for a confrontation with a contemporary world where national identities
are fluid and boundaries are no longer static. The finis terrae may have
captured the imagination of dreamers and adventurers, but in what ways can it
also serve as a call to action for urgent realities and a methodology to be
implemented elsewhere?[1]
INFO
[1] H. Y.
Amin e F. Girelli, Default, in Sino
alla Fine del Mare – Investigation on the Extreme Lands, a cura di C. Zecchi,
P. Mele, A. Presta, Viaindustriepublishing, Foligno, 2019
Program - Workshop - Lectures
The fifth edition of Default –Masterclass in
residence– focuses on the idea of extreme, considering three different
perspectives: the extremeness of the Leuca Cape, where Ramdom is based –
historically considered an extremity though arguably located at the center of
the Mediterranean Sea; the extreme west of Europe – or penultimate land? – and the
extreme from a conceptual point of view surveyed as a psychological mindset.
OCTOBER 8th
Presentation of the project by Paolo Mele and Claudio Zecchi and participants’ introduction to their practice.
OCTOBER 9th
Claudio Zecchi and Paolo Mele introduce Ramdom's productions over the past five years and the book Until the end of the Sea as a tool to navigate the Extreme Lands and a crucial moment in Ramdom's life.
A working methodology on the Extreme Lands
Abstract
What are extreme lands? Extreme in relation to what? How can their essence be conveyed? What happens when the vision and the everyday life of their inhabitants intertwine with those of artists from other places? Can we consider extreme lands, or more generally what is peripheral and marginal, as a methodology per se? Extreme lands have led us to investigate a state of infinite and complex relationships in which marginality becomes a parameter capable of questioning the notion of center, both as a geographical location as well as a place of artistic and cultural production.
OCTOBER 10th
The emerge of saudade
Abstract
Portugal, and more precisely the Alentejo region, is potentially another geographical area and platform to rethink, re-orient and question the idea of the extreme, starting from the specific feeling/idea of saudade. We will try to pin-point this complex and untranslatable feeling through different artistic forms that have so far tried to express it.
These considerations will be the starting point for each participant to investigate personal reflections on those untranslatable concepts, ideas, and feelings that relate to their own extreme lands.
OCTOBER 11th
Extremity as a state of mind
Abstract
For centuries, the finis
terrae has
captured the imagination of dreamers and adventurers captivated by reaching
remote frontiers and mapping unchartered territories. Can we assign a
psychological profile to someone who seeks the end or
the extreme? Traversing
through geographic imaginaries, Heba Y. Amin and Francesca Girelli address the
concept through various analyses via politics, science, and technology.
With the idea that territorial endpoints and
their suggestiveness can become culturally productive, participants will
collaborate in the making of a publication focused on the idea of the “extreme
lands” in their practice and beyond. Pablo Larios, senior editor at Frieze,
will guide participants with strategies to navigate meaningful content
selection, balance, and cohesiveness.
OCTOBER 12th
Workshop by Francesca Girelli: each participant defines how they would use one or two spreads as part of the wider publication (how they would present their practice – which images, which texts? What material would they use to put their practice into a wider context?
The workshop will focus on editing as a community-building process.
 |
| Xiaowen Zhu |
 |
| Joey Chin and Sarah Maple |
 |
| Charnjeev Kang |
 |
| Giulia Cacciuttolo |
OCTOBER 13th
Morning
10am – 13pm
Personal research
Afternoon
Final collective roundtable
