Announcing

Flow•embody in site 2023

Out of Site has selected artists for Flow • embody in site 2023 and will make the final announcement soon.

This year’s symposium will be a hybrid format with in-person practice-based workshops in two cities and an online program of performative lectures and artist presentations.

OPEN FLOW

outofsite_chi is a collective of artists dedicated to working in outdoor places with performance art practices. As a community of artists the work we create and share on this platform is built from long relationships with artists in our community who have an outdoor performance art practice. Open Flow is an example of one of our ongoing programs where we curate and produce performances and live stream conversations to reflect on the experiences in the aftermath.

Gilding Gold in the Cracks of the Fragmented Self

by Isa Fontbona Mola

Isa Fontbona (1987) is a Ph.D. researcher, natural bodybuilder competitor, and a performance artist. Fontbona holds two Bachelor’s Degrees, in Philosophy and Art History, as well as a Master’s Degree in Humanity Research at the University of Girona, Spain. Currently, she is completing her dissertation on the artistic and gendered interventions enabled by female and trans bodybuilding practices. This project, more than a research, brought her to introduce herself to the performance art sphere. 

Her artistic work merges different approaches into the same coin: her research and her sports career. She explores the malleability of the body through her own skin, using bodybuilding as a tool.  Through this corporeal practice, she questions the binary categorization regarding gender distinction, and the social pressure exerted on the expectations of the bodies. In some of her artworks, she challenges herself to the limits of the endurance of her body. She tends to ask about her own identity in relation to her body through uncomfortable positions.

The text for this performance is a Poem for Abilasa Leuenberger entitled Written in Gold by Carron Little. Carron constructed the poem thinking about the kintsugi ceramic technique where a ceramic pot is broken and the cracks are filled with gold. When Isa shared that she was inspired by this process to create the work it was a natural confluence of ideas and the work wasn’t complete until the two parts came together.

Carron fuses poetry and performance to create interactive experiences for the public. The poem was written as part of the Spare Rib Project in Lucerne, Switzerland in 2016 where Carron interviewed eight women between the ages of 20 to 100. The public engagement projects hold up the mirror to a place in time reflecting on the personal experiences of people. The poems become gifts for each person engaged in the process.

 

Gilding Gold in the Cracks of the Fragmented Self
Public Performance by Isa Fontbona Mola
Video still, June 19, 2021

  • Special Thanks to Institutions who supported the performance

    Cathedral of Girona (specially to Gustau trusting in the project from the early begin)

    Bòlit Centre d’Art Contemporani (Museum)
    for their help, support and for promoting the performance

    The Girona City Council and specially to the department of Culture for their help to solve all the problems appeared

    L’Arc coffee shop (specially to Glòria and Lluís) for being a relevant piece on this experience,
    giving us support and making our internet connection to the whole globe strongest as ever

    The Jump Productions (Pere, Marçal and Jason) for accepting the challenge and especially to Pere giving us support in different ways.

    La Casa de la Paraula museum – for support and projecting the performance live for the public.

  • A Special Thanks to the following Individuals:

    Albert Collado for accepting capturing through his gaze the performance, always involved on crazy events with no hesitation (friend and filming)

    Ignasi Valentí for being one of the most important pieces in this project, capturing through his eyes and the eyes of his camera (friend and filming)

    Eugeni Prieto for building the narrative of the performance through his gaze captured by hiscamera (friend and photographer)

    Meritxell Pons for her support and for drawing through her photos one of the amazing reading ofthe action (friend and photographer)

    Jamie Gannon of Surprise Media for the design and patience with all the changes, for his support and spirit.

    Farmàcia Sureda for its contribution with the bandage, and also for its interest and support

    Semgraf Printer (specially to Gerard) for helping us with the unexpected events, also for his interest and support

    Arts & amp; You. Fine Arts shop, for their help, support and confidence

  • The incredible team who made it happen

    To the steward team on the ground Buddy Schwellinger and Marta Garcia for all their support and helping in supporting a safe and engaging experience for the public!

    Martine Viale for her support and trust

    Abilasa Leuenberger for her strength, power and inspiration in the work.

    Carron Little - The thread who sew all the pieces to make it possible, for building this together, for trusting me, for all her efforts, energies, and creativity. For this amazing poem, and to allowing me to integrate it as part as the performance.

    And our special thanks to Isa Fontbona Mola whose commitment to public performance and desire to make this happen was a ray of light in the world! She has inspired us all and helped plant the seed for more creativity and experimentation to flow!

    In peace and thanks, from Out of Site family