Flow embody • in site
“The ocean is in the cup…”
This performance art festival was initiated by Alastair MacLennan and Brian Paterson traveling to China visiting Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu in 2023. They established different relationships with performance art organizations and brought them to Belfast in May 2024 for an 11-day program starting with performances for four days, artist talks at Ulster University and then group performances in different cities in N. Ireland.
Moving, being, and seeing in Yoko Ono’s exhibition.
As one enters a group of three wishing trees at the entrance to the exhibition “Music on my Mind” by Yoko Ono one is greeted by a phone message from Yoko herself. It is a brief message in this transitional dark space between the outside world and entering the creative space of Yoko Ono. As the title in the exhibition makes a reference to music – the curatorial tempo is carefully created as one moves from one space to the next experiencing notions of being, seeing, and connecting are equally interwoven into this special experiential exhibit if you are open to it.
TO LIVE UNEXPECTEDLY IS TO LIVE WITH NO EXPECTATIONS BUT OPENNESS; WHEN YOU MEET SUDDENLY YOU MEET YOUR SOURCE
Kineret Haya Max, an Israeli performance artist and a teacher, as a part of this year’s FLOW 2023 symposium, has created a tender, gentle space of exploration where each individual could go on an intimate journey of seeing the imposed control of the process and alchemising it through the surrender to the sudden flow; allowing one's illusions to die and resulting in recognition of the creative core-heart~ inner eye - the source of imagination.
Eleni Kolliopoulou on Daisuke Takeya
First thing that Daisuke shared with us was one of the performances he gave in his hometown in Japan in 2021. The performance was given in public space and featured himself shaving on the street at a crossing point. After a while, police came and stopped Daisuke from doing this ‘private action in the public space’. His impression was that, to his surprise, the police tried to ‘protect him’. Policemen did not mention that he might hurt the public but that he is vulnerable in the public space when doing an action that is not meant to be performed there. In his work, Daisuke inquires upon the limits of acceptable, normal and by the law in the public space. With his practice he wonders ‘how does police interact with public performances?’
“Sit comfortably in your chair”
Dr Anna Dako guides us to the actual experience of felt thinking smoothly. Availing of the virtual space that offers a degree of safety and anonymity, we are invited to take a couple of minutes to enter a more experiential connection with ourselves and other life-forms through time/ space.
In her lecture, Anna invites us to embody and contemplate all those different frequencies that we are constantly tuning to. She pays attention to simple things that are already there, but we almost constantly take them for granted, such as the earth itself.
A Cosmic Union
Jelili Atiku - artist, performer, human, the ambassador of the World and all its realms. The custodian of Outer Space and representative of Yoruba traditions. Atiku creates opportunities for the energy to flow and recognise itself through different bodies. In his performative practice, the body is a healing material that is connected to nature; it is a sacred tool. As a tool, it can share a message of mutual love, respect and support. It can heal others, so itself - through the connection with the Cosmos, so everything that surrounds us. A tool that helps one to leave the rigid identification with the mind, and it’s limitations; and through its senses to liberate and set itself free – to recognise experientially the presence of collective consciousness.
Welcome Letter 2023
We are thrilled that you have chosen to participate in the third symposium of Flow • embody in site 2023. The ethos of Flow is about creating an intimate community gathering with people tuning in online and in-person who are dedicated to public performance art practices. As we move to a hybrid format this year we are hoping to maintain the intimacy that we have created in previous years with more in-person gatherings. Flow is a space where you can connect with the world around you – be it with the natural environment or the city. World renowned performance artists lead practice-based workshops inviting you to embody the local environment where you live. What does it mean to feel connect, to unfold and be with nature and the earth we live with? How can our performance art practices be of a journey to deepen our relationship with the world around us?
“A river is a living, dynamic thing…” by Heraclitus
The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus said: '“ A river is a living, dynamic thing, an architect of its surroundings. It changes all the time. That’s its beauty.” Please read this blog post to find out about the structure of Flow • embody in site 2023 symposium 2023. The Flow community that has grown out of the last two online symposiums has gathered an intimate group of artists dedicated to working in outdoor contexts. The public performances that have been created at each Flow in the practice-based workshops create giggles, inspire profundity, and create a thin space. This intimate space where participants engage in practice-based workshops that occur over several days, open community sessions and artist presentations. The currrent open call for performance lectures and artist presentations is open until April 14, 2023 and this program will happen in Week 1 & Week 2 with one online presentation each day. As a living, breathing organization that works collectively ieke Trinks and Carron Little started to brainstorm the structure for a hybrid symposium in 2021 planting the seed to build a partnership with WORM, Rotterdam.
Jennie Klein on Frans van Lent
Thirty years ago, Peggy Phelan published Unmarked: The Politics of Performance (Routledge), in which she argued that the power of performance as an art forms lies in its inevitable disappearance. Published in 1993 as video technology was just becoming available, Unmarked referenced a different, earlier economy of performance art, one in which description was more important than documentation, and it was often difficult to find either, since most were tucked away in limited run catalogs. Within 15 years, the iphone and the internet had changed everything. Performance art no longer disappeared. Instead, it continued to live on social media platforms, artist websites, and art publications.
The workshop Performance on the Border of Visibility, led by Frans van Lent for the 2022 Flow Festival, was about returning to the idea of the unmarked/unremarkable performance. Over two days, van Lent encouraged participants to think about making public performances that disappeared into the public space. Only the artist would know that they were performing. The public audience who encountered the piece would not be aware that anything was different, out of the ordinary, or amiss.