Mario Jaksic in interactive performace suit

In gallery Scheier, Čakovec, Croatia, on 05th December 2009, EEII’09 12 hour event brought together artists from Greece, Netherlands, Italy and Croatia.

Blog entry with personal observation >>

ART01 entry describing how EEII’09 functioned >>

Wall graphite

Inspired by London collective ‘Random Artists’, over the past few years collective groups in Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and Brighton have been coming together to create a cultural, interactive, autonomous space where people are free to be, free to create, and free to express themselves. Forbiden Arts Manchester in 2009 happened in occupied primary school building that was left empty waiting for decisions by city hall and omnipotent property developers will it be brought down or repaired. Idea was to enter existing space that is not used at the moment and put it into public use for local community. Doors were open to everyone who wanted to take part in collective art event.

Noisy Toys room - colective sound/noise experiance

Wall paintings, poetry readings, video nights, fashion show, sound workshops, cabaret, installations, raveoke night, all fitted in aesthetics of local event that is characterized on MFA web page as: “An event like this doesn’t just happen but is the result of many, many people’s hard work.”

TAA Manchester big hall event

Noisy Toys collaborative event video >>

As it is, as it goes, prizes are starting to come in for the work that insisted on taking representative form from participative processes developed beforehand. Its 4th reincarnation happened in slightly different context, most notably in its new terms of negotiating project in the newly formed team. Positions that prizes involve: question of value, ownership, possible marketing strategies, group dynamics according to personal needs and acceptance of needs of others have surfaced at metalevel. CultureRobot became something that could easily be put into broad cultural concept and disseminated in the form it is trough events and festivals. Read more on Belo Horizonte and Salvador festival here >>.

Circuit bending workshops and sound performance organized during ACTFEST in Čakovec brought ZID.BUKE (NoiseWall) together once again (maybe for the last time in this decade!).

Circuit bending workshop was finalized by performance that invited audience to try all the instruments created or recreated. As it goes with invitation for participation events, ego is dispersed, fines is lost. I am thinking is it the power of the group, embracing crowd attitude, or is it using crowd to do my own work?

September started with THE LAST THEATER SHOW EVER,  I-Camp theater, Munchen. Idea and methodology was to deconstruct traditional theater trough series of collaborative works where one work was supposed to lean on another, where each participant brings an idea and connects it to someone. International crew came around and investigated for 5 days in what might be called horizontal construction decision making and constant reevaluating of the final presentation that was constructed of three distinctive pieces.

All three were on collaboration but with different input and output models: one was following movements outside of theater and by computer calculations bringing it inside trough sound and visuals done with found (theater) hardware.

Another used sound in feedback communication that deconstructed viewers position and placement in theater, being done under the stage and audience sitting space.

Third one used virtual theater through on-line software with international particiants being projected on theater walls, together with orchestrated individual who brought event there.

Experiment was worth while intentions to discover what are group dynamics when artist are put together to work on something that calls for collaboration and sharing. Not to forget to mention that putting creativity with different bacgrounds into same place can be very frustrating and cathartic at the same time.

Free Traveling Radio was hosted by Clubture Forum in Autonomous Cultural Center Medika in Zagreb. During four days of forum and festival activities we have had almost 24/7 radio going on with open microphone, DJ sets, recorded talks etc. Read more and listen to podcasts here>>

Social Technologies Summit Futuresonic is international festival trying to answer questions of tomorrow: how will we interact with each other and nature around us in future. Futuresonic festivals fringe at Arcspace in St. Wilfrid’s Enterprise Center answered the question trough its grassroots movement created events that hosted, among many other events, CultureRobot installation.

Arcspace is situated in ex-church building that is turned into St. Wilfrid’s Enterprise Center  since 1992  - a unique architecture where insides of the church are transformed into enterprise center for ethical businesses and NGOs. St. Wilfrid’s Enterprise Center is situated in Hulme, an  area near to Manchester city center. Hulme was mapped not only as a territory but also as a specific part of the city with vibrant activist community and a history. ArcSpace was visited by people of different age and heterogeneous needs and activities, exchanging their beliefs, stories and producing new possibilities for exchange and collaboration in spirit of free culture.

Culture Robot installation was created by help of the community from the start to the end. Materials were collected or borrowed instead of purchased or rented, help with programing for interactive part of the installation was done by  friends and volunteers, and installation debuted at Saturday on the open, community day, that hosted events inside and outside the Center.CR 3.0 installation created a new relationship between local community and this art piece. More than ever people were active in collecting material, discussing and managing to interconnect installation with other events during Futuresonic fringe.

CR 3.0 mapped more than just Hulme, it mapped its people, relationships, how they feel about city development, architecture, organizations working with art and culture in Manchester and how financing is a part of the culture and where does it lead culture to, it showed community strength and grassroots development.  During the open days, all ethnic, age, academic and other walks of life were united and exchanged opinions, questions and ideas.

Guerrilla busking was happening in the city throughout the day, graffite artists were spraying on the vans and trailers (an identifiable vehicle in the Redbrick’s area of the Hulme - where travelers and free people of all sorts live). People from recycled biodiesel group, local bcycle repair man, drummers, community artists, foreign guests, local volunteers and experts were united to make a truly social event, creating bridges between cultures, people and technology in universal feeling of unity.

Read “Report From FutureSonic 2009″ By Jonah Brucker on Rhizome.org

Photolog on Futuresonic Fringe at Arcspace >>