By artist collective Medea Electronique

http://www.medeaelectronique.com/

Deadline July 15^th 2013

Since 2009 the Athen’s based artist collective Medea Electronique has organized annually a 10-day experimental artist residency, held at an organic olive-oil farm outside a small village near Sparta in Greece.

Focusing on improvisation and new media practices, avant-garde artists from all over the world, inspired by the Greek natural landscape, come together in a multicultural and cross-media ‘dialogue’ culminating in the creation of artworks that bear the hallmarks of both improvisatory practices and collective intent.

Each year the residency has a theme, and for 2013 Koumaria will focus on site-specific works taking advantage of one or more of the many fascinating and unique places near the residency base.  The works that emerge out of this intensive ten-day residency will be presented locally, in site, and documented for presentation in Athens at a later date.  Some works, if appropriate, may be shown or performed in Athens.

The works created may vary considerably, from site-specific fixed installations, dance pieces, sound art and music, video and other image intensive art, or any and every hybrid.  The unifying theme behind the works is simply that they all are created with a spirit of improvisatory exploration, and that each artist is open to, indeed hoping for, collaborative input from other residents.  We view the final projects as the product of the residency itself, as opposed to individual artists.  If you are excited by the prospect of creating cutting-edge new media art, incorporating the open-endedness of improvisatory practices, collaborating with other like-minded artists with a variety of artistic talents and visions, in a setting of great natural and historic beauty, while eating fresh local food, and drinking fine local wine, this is the residency for you!

The residency is held at an organic olive oil farm at the foot of Mount Taigetos in Sparta. The residency, a modern and comfortable house, features dormitory-style bedrooms, large and comfortable common rooms (featuring fireplaces and magnificent views of the surrounding mountains and fields), two primary spaces for project development and practice, terraces, rooftop overlooks, and a large and modern kitchen. The surrounding hills, mountains, villages and the not too distant sea, coupled with a vast expanse of sky, stars, and ever-changing mountain vistas, afford the residents amble space and opportunity for creative work. Meals are taken communally, with an emphasis on fresh and local produce and traditional recipes. In this environment artists not only have the chance to live and work together interacting with the Greek landscape, but also to interchange their experiences on everyday life and culture.  While the residency affords one opportunities for solitary work, this is NOT a residency where one works on solo projects in isolation from others.  We work, eat and live together for ten days, and the works that emerge reflect this communal model.  The common language of the residency is English, although you need not be a native English speaker, and we expect to have residents from a number of countries and cultures.

We encourage you to propose a project taking advantage of one or more of the site described below.  While we do not expect fully-formed projects, we do expect you to have a well thought out proposal, taking advantage of the sites, and requiring the participation of others to be brought to fruition.  The residency is hosted by the new media art collective MedeaElectronique, and their expertise can be used by residents.  This includes:

• A full electro-acoustic improvising ensemble, including Laptop and electronics, guitar, brass, acoustic bass and saxophone.
• Expert circuit designers
• Video editors and artists
• Sound art experts
• Dancer(s)
• Set designers
• Project coordinators

MedeaElectronique specializes in collective art creation and production, and looks forward to assisting with your projects.  We ask that you be as specific as possible with respect to your needs, both material (equipment, etc.) and personnel (expertise and the like).  The residency site will be equipped with the following:

1) Mac Pro with Logic and Adobe’s Creative Suite, assorted VST plug-ins.

2) 32-channel digital mixing desk, high-end monitoring (8 Channel Diffusion Setup)

3) Studio microphones and sound processors.

4) Digital recorders (Olympus LS11, Tascam HD2)

Other equipment could be made available if we know what it is far enough in advance.  You may well need to bring with you very specialized equipment and materials. All aspects of the residency will be documented, both video and audio.

A Day at Koumaria

While Koumaria is always a fun experience, it is also an intensive concentrated time for work! We collectively keep the residency home itself clean and neat, and help with the cooking and other tasks.  Sleeping is in four dormitory-style rooms.  We eat collectively each evening, a substantial cooked meal, while breakfast is more informal (people eat when they awake), and lunch is often taken “on the fly”.  Each evening we meet after dinner to discuss the progress of the projects, plan the next days outings and activities, and, when necessary, schedule the use of the primary rehearsal and performance spaces in the house.  Most the day you are free to work.  Evenings often involve improvised performances in the main space, and rehearsals/work on assorted projects.  About every other day we collectively do a big clean of the house, which, with full cooperation, does not take too long.  The residency is not for those who require lots of “alone time”!  It is important to realize that we are in a very remote part of Greece, with limited resources for the purchase of equipment and the like. We need to plan trips and outings carefully. This is the beauty of the place, we really are “out there”!  Please go to the website of the residency to see examples of past projects, and many images and videos of the residency site itself, and the surrounding areas.

http://www.medeaelectronique.com/koumaria-residency/

Site Specific Art

• Koumaria is located on a remote organic olive oil farm outside the small village of Sellasia, about 15 km north of Sparta in the Peloponnese.  It is an area exceptionally rich in history and natural beauty, poised opposite one of the most significant, and scenic, mountain ranges in Greece, a couple of hours from the sea, and surrounded by historical sites spanning the whole history of Greece.  (The village is now called Oinountas on Google maps).  It is about a 20 minutes walk to the village, through the olive groves. Sites to consider for site-specific works include:

• The residency site itself, an olive grove, with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and hills.

• The local village, with a year-round population of a couple of hundred, two small cafes, and colorful local characters!

• Mt. Taygetos—The main peak in the range of mountains which the residency site faces (and which you can view from the living room and deck!).  These mountains, the mythological home of the muses, are rugged, with rocky exposed peaks, densely wooded slopes, with streams and abundant wildlife.  It is about a half-hour drive to the base of the trail system that leads up the mountain, and about an hour hike, of moderate difficulty, to the first peak.  Works could be constructed, and even installed here. http://www.mani.org.gr/en/taigetos/taig1/taig1.htm

• Mystras—A world heritage site, and one of the most important, and best preserved, Greek Byzantine towns.  About a 30 min drive.  If there was interest in using this fantastic site, we will make enquires into the possibility of working in this archeologically important,and sensitive area. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/511

• The  many villages, sea coast, ruins, and sites of the Mani Peninsula.  The area, rich in history, with a rugged coastline and many medieval ruined villages, is about a 2 hour drive away: http://www.mani.org.gr/en/

• Gythio (and other ports)  About an hour drive, a fishing village and the ancient port of Sparta. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gytheio

There are assorted ancient ruins in the area, and many churches, small villages, woods, fields, hills, and more industrial sites such as quarries, assorted industrial sites, and the modern small city of Sparti.

The residency provides:

A.In terms of hospitality

1)    transportation from Athens to the residency and back.

2)    housing and food supplies in Sparta

3)    Internet connection while in Sparta residency

4)    housing in Athens during the presentations

While there are few expenses the residents need to consider while at the residency, it is worth having some funds for trips to local cafes and the like.

Notes:

• Rooms, Bathrooms in Sparta are shared
• Cooking and cleaning the house during our stay is undertaken collectively

B. In terms of equipment

1) A Mac Pro with Logic and Final Cut, assorted plugins

2) A 32-channel digital mixing desk, high-end monitoring (8 Channel Diffusion Set UP)

3)  A range of studio microphones and sound processors

4)  2 digital recorders (Olympus LS11, Tascam HD2)

Notes:

• You ought to bring your own equipment/instrument and computers

We do not provide…

Unfortunately no artist fee is to be given for the presentations/performances.  Residents are also responsible for their own transportation to and from Athens.

Your application should include:

A description of your project, and the site or sites you hope to use

Your CV.

Samples of your work (audio/video/photos—links to websites, or DVD/CD (which will not be returned))

A statement of your experience with and/or interest in both collaborative art creation, site specific art work, new media art and improvisational art.

Please submit all inquiries preferable online at

http://www.medeaelectronique.com/koumaria-residency-2013-application/

or

info@medeaelectronique.com

or at (Please only regular Post)

Manolis Manousakis

Feidiou 11 Gerakas

15344

Greece

I.S.E. Medea Electronique
STUDIO 19 – Kostas Bokos, Vassilis Kontouris
Kostis Ziouliotis
Panos Amelidis
Tasos Grivas
Stylianos Tziritas
Eric Lewis
Demosthenis Agrafiotis
Marinos Koutsomichalis
Ioannis Kalantzis
Demitris Kamarotos
Nikos Kyriazopoulos
Sister Overdrive
Savvina Yiannatou
Mirjam Tally
Stelios Giannoulakis
Unmapped
Acid Police Noise Ensemble
Marcus Beuter
Wooguru
Lisa Stewart
Balam Ronan
No God Ritual & Ilan Manouach
Michalis Moschoutis
Georgia Koumara
George Karamanolakis
Slydex
Andrés Torres
Coppice
Roberta Orlando
Soundrift
Nightshift
Alexandros Drymonitis
Computer Suspect
Maro Baveli
Heather Warren-Crow
Marios Dapergola
Manuel Torres
Nokalypse
Nikos Veliotis
Ilios
Adonis Livieratos-Sotiris Debono
ZHMENS – Mniestris – Lotis-Theoharidis
Figure of Sound, Manousakis-Evaggelidis

It has been a bee-hive of activity this weekend. Sat. was spent with the emerging projects taking shape, with new elements, more refined electronics, and a greater sense of coherence to the sounds, and images. We entertained for dinner three men from the village, and the owner of the building and land where the residency is based. His graciousness and interest in our activities is a product not just of his own artistic talents, and intelligence, but grounded in a deep sense of the need to promote new art. The mood set my our visitors compelled us afterwards to present for them a brief performance of a couple of the emrgent pieces. This met with a warm response, and the resultant good mood carried on into the wee hours with Greek song, the best the local vineyards can muster, assorted clear liquids that seem to put an instant smile on those who imbibe from them, and more.

Even after last nights party, Sun, while starting a bit late, has really seen the projects come together. The assorted “couture-electronique” are now working, very well. We saw a rough cut of a video project on food production/mechanization/improvisation, and refined the sound components of a number of projects. After dinner we had a long discussion of our tech requirements, and figured out our needs for the stage, and began to sequence the projects. Only two more days here!

Human Improvisations:

• Conversation
• Sex
• Eating
• Breathing
• Death
• Everything we do?

is anything ever set?

i am having an issue with my body. i have a kind of illness at the current moment. it invaded my body and it is making it difficult to operate in my “normal” manner. it is creating changes from the inside-out. to me, they are super obvious and they feel really extreme. i wonder if anyone can tell. perhaps on the surface, maybe i seem dull, maybe even unpleasant. but it is because my body is one of my primary tools (for artmaking and survival) and when it isn’t in prime condition, everything feels difficult.

it feels like i am constantly climbing up the Koumaria mountains even when i am sitting still.

and ultimately, i am okay. it is nothing so serious that i can’t take care of it when i go back to NY. but here out in the countryside, i can only just take it day by day until i can go get medical attention. it gives me time to sit with this crisis and figure out what is interesting about operating at a reduced capacity.

and actually, a funny thing happened yesterday. a couple other areas of my existence were taken care of. my inability to move created the perfect release into stability—the kind needed to finish my Fulbright application. and John addressed the conflict that i was feeling in the residency about how to collaborate as a larger group to create a cohesive piece. at least we are starting to assess what people’s individual interests are in that regard. and after that, we had our first jam. the Night Bears were invited to hop into ISE’s improvisation and today they will visit ours. we are all starting to play together. it feels very freeing.

and so a couple very heavy weights have been lifted. it makes the heaviness in my body feel more bearable. i was able to dance again for the first time yesterday. and the Bears starting improvising together again. we were able to play with some elements that interest us. Dan experimented with sound. John is working with the Xbox Kinect tracking my body and feeding it into the mirror galvanometer to create a laser landscape. i played with this heavy body of mine and explored the text from Agamemnon 2.0 by Charles L. Mee. it’s a beautiful text that we started playing with in Assumptions Made in the Dark and it now has more relevance than ever, both to my own life and on the meta level of this Greek-American translation collaboration. it’s epic and speaks to tragedy on a universal human level.

and so in the midst of all of the technological hubbub that begins to buzz in the mid-afternoon, i wonder how we can maintain our human presence in this multimedia world?

DAY 6

“If we’re not experiencing anything, it’s just the light and energy of the present moment.”

~ Daniel Munkus ~

i did a Primal Scream on the mountaintop today and it opened the sky up. it started thundering and the thick grey clouds moved in. a blast of cold air broke the oppressing heat that i had felt waking up in the tent. i screamed. the skies answered my call.

i offered the gods a sacrifice. i asked them to take what they needed in exchange for giving me my body back, for restoring my energy.

now all i feel is sleepy.

we improvised yesterday trying shadow work with some of the Creatures. it didn’t quite fit but it was sweet to work so closely with them. today we will visit their home and see what that yields. we will greet them in their community, in their natural (albeit man-made) environment.

another great thing that happened yesterday and the night before was starting to improvise with other members of the group. it allowed me to start dancing again and it opened some channels to flow into our Bears project. i joined Ioanna’s cosmic space dance and now we are incorporating it into the larger piece. and we found that they flow nicely into the next. just by moving around together into a projected space, we created cohesion.

another opening came in an open jam yesterday afternoon—John and i danced while Dimitri and Eric played bass and processed trumpet. it was so nice to move and around and communicate physically and sonically with others. and it was freeing to simply be able to move again, even if only minimally. my body was able to be distracted from its pain and discomfort.

the rest of the day felt good. cohesion, collaboration, movement, and momentum.

and then i woke up today after sleeping hard. my body hurts again and on top of that, it’s lazy. all it wants to do is eat and sleep. people are encouraging me to do just that and then there’s an internal struggle between having a million things to do and staying still and taking care of myself.

am i the only one who thinks about my body quite this much?

and so i sit here and watch Freya dance and be so focused. Ioanna flies around the space like a sprite and i remember how i used to move like that.

these people are so beautiful and i want to move with them. and then i remember to listen. i will just be here. for now, i will just wait for the skies to change instead of doing anything to make it happen.

After the dinner we had rehearsal/demonstrations/jams involving some of the emerging projects. One resident had her body turned into a theramen, and the signals were processed yet further by another resident, while a dancer interacted with the “human-machine” triggering sounds. Afterwards there was yet another example of “creative-cyborgs”, involving a dancer wearing a special dress (constructed that day in a haze of soldering smoke and circuits) that responds in various ways to the conductivity of the human skin. This piece also involves live video projections, and motion tracking-based laser projections. We also ran through a performance piece involving the transmorphing of a person into a disticnt persona, with live video manipulation where this persona is placed in varied environments and interacts with the viewers in assorted ways.

All of these pieces received sonic support from the ISE ensemble, at the moment including guitar and signal processing; trumpet and signal processing; double bass, and laptop. The ensemble is learning what sound-scapes are most appropriate for the emerging works, and for the first time all the residents were present, watching, commenting, and joining in. Tomorrow should be exciting!