Monday, August 11 - Sunday, Aug. 17th, 2014
Unplug. Unwind. Get real. FLOAT 2014 will provide time and space for a gathering of independent arts organizers to discuss and exchange ideas. Based in a large, private log home near Johnson Shut-ins in rural Central Missouri, this intensive week will provide the opportunity to begin a greater regional conversation, explore locality (in our own locality) and of course, go canoeing.
This year’s guest will be the Italian collective Radical Intention (Valerio Del Baglivo, Maria Pecchioli and Aria Spinelli) who will share their activities and lead a workshop entitled Does the group have a spokesperson?, focused on consensus practices and listening techniques in group working.
Through research-driven approaches Radical Intention expands the horizon of possibilities for collective experiences\actions focusing on the affinity between the social-political and artistic practice. Collaborative research, activism, alternative education, gatherings, minor narratives and the politics of hospitality play a continuing and vital role within the methodology and concepts of the group. Active since 2009, Radical Intention has organized such cultural projects as Milano Radicale, a series of events that explored the concept of radicalism and its possible contextualization in contemporary art in Milan and beyond, Becoming Rather Than Being, a project that have explored the politics of self-education, and Decompression Gathering Summer Camp, an annual workshop-residency which offers a week of decompression, communal living and group working at the end of the summer.
Through group exercises, the assemblage of specific objects, dinners, daily field trips and, of course, relaxation, FLOAT 2014 will be a week of experiment in collaboration, mutual listening and communal living. Can the simple act of ‘gathering’ be the basis for discovering and articulating new possibilities? What makes a group work? What determines consensus in group working? How might we utilize the time and space allotted to create models of ‘productive’ coexistence outside the confines of conventional commercial and academic structures and metrics of evaluation? Is (collective) self-isolation a productive strategy to consider these issues? These questions will be actively engaged through the participatory set-up of the summer workshop and collective isolation in the beautiful rolling hills and valleys of the northern Ozark Mountains.
Application
The application is open to all cultural workers (artists, curators, critics, designers, etc.) but will be of particular interest to independent arts organizers and those engaged in collaborative and collective (group working) activities.
To apply for the workshop residency please email the following materials to residency@theluminaryarts.com with the subject line “FLOAT 2014.”
Application deadline: April 30th, 2014.
• CV or resume with name and contact information
• documentation of 1-3 projects representing the applicants practice (preferably as a website link)
• short letter of interest (500 words) highlighting reasons for participating, interests in group working and how the workshop relates to or could influence your practice
Fees
The registration fee for FLOAT 2014 is $350. Accepted applicants will be asked to make a $150 deposit to secure their place in the program. The remaining balance ($200) will be due by August 1, 2014.
The fee covers accommodations (7 days, 6 nights), all meals, workshop enrollment and canoe rental for the residency week. Travel expenses to and from the residency are the responsibility of the participants.
Please contact residency@theluminaryarts.com for more information.