Editors’ blog LDN ‘10 – The showcase
By Cristina Balma Tivola
The show is not over. It is simply at its second edition, and – as Laurent says – ready to hit Tokyo next year. With this news he greets everybody at the end of the performance Friday night. The last two days of the week represented the public restitution of the work that both visual artists and musicians had created and developed during week, each on their side. And it was also a chance for them to eventually discover if the final performance would result in an analogy or in a contrast.
Thursday evening Ericailcane, DEM and Will Barras met at the Stolen Space gallery in Brick Lane where their previous works had been exhibited over the last month as part of an exhibition concurrent to the main event. Three wood panels were leaned against the gallery’s external wall. I entered the gallery and saw the exhibition for the first time. For different reasons, I realised I appreciate all three of them – as each style resonates with something familiar to my interests, my attitudes or my life.
If I had begun my relationship with the project by visiting the exhibition, I would have been very surprised by the idea of making these visual artists work together. Their works are definitely far away from each other – in terms of subject, in terms of drawing, in terms of technique and material. Still, I saw them working together first and can therefore understand better how well they suit each other, smoothing their personal style to reach a final collective harmony. So I see in the visual work what Om Unit told me about the work they were doing with the music.
Back to the gallery, people are gathering and visiting the exhibition, having a beer, talking with the three guys. It’s incredibly cold outside, but despite this the number of visitors grows. At about 7, DEM begins his painting on the central panel, followed by Ericailcane, on his left, and Will Barras on his right. They do not work together at the same time: one paints a small sketch, and then takes a pause, and in the meantime another one paints a small sketch of his panel, and takes a pause and so on. The final work will show three different subjects – one for each artist and panel – but mutually connected, resulting in, again, a sort of dance in which they alternate for two hours.
I see them again on Friday, the last day. They worked quite late all evening to finish the animations for the showcase as well as the details of how they would be controlled and blended with Hiraki’s own work which is more image/video based. They talk relaxed with friends, have drinks and wait for the people to enter the venue, a rather big bar/club at the back of the Truman Brewery. On the walls on the right side of the club hang three huge white cut outs, each a silhouette that hints at the animations they will soon host.
At 9, about a hundred people gather to watch the performance. Tatsuki begins playing, soon followed by Om Unit and then Tayone. It’s time for images to start as well, and animations flow onto the cut out screens sometimes with a white background, sometimes with Hiraki’s videos as a background – the waves and the sea, birds over the water, burning embers. The effect is again fluid: music and images mix perfectly without any contrasts, as well as – most of the times – the same images among themselves.
People watch carefully and move, feeling the rhythm of the music and clearly willing to dance. A few of them do. No expression is better than the one of ‘experience of flow’ created by Csíkszentmihályi to describe “the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity” and that, in collective terms, can be applied to both performers and audience whilst the performance take place.
45 minutes end in a second, and then Tayone goes one mixing the music, and freeing people to dance – now that the showcase is over and the little tension melts in open smiles among artists, friends and audience. Laurent softly greets everybody as he did at the beginning of the show, and then voices gets loud again, commenting the success of the work, and followed by hugs and laughs. You could think this is a reunion among friends who happen to also be artists from different countries and with different competences and means of expression – more then an art event, as it also is. Probably both and one is the alibi for the other…
But… Wait! Doesn’t all this lie in the introduction and the aim of Original Cultures?
Organiser’s blog LDN ‘10 – Day 5
This blog is a little late but the aftermath of day 5 was rather large this time round. And so Original Cultures London 2010 ends just as quick as it begun in many ways. Everyone has left and life is slowly returning to normal.
The last day was a blur for me. The artists spent the first half of the day putting the finishing touches to their work before we were let into the venue at 2pm to set up. With only 4 hours to get everything up and running, soundchecked, tested and so on there was a fair bit of pressure to say the least. And despite our original worries that 4 hours may not be enough, it proved plenty. Considering the difference in venue between Bologna 09 and London ‘10 I’m not really that surprised – however I did have my doubts until the last minute. Where Bologna was a ‘proper’ venue, our London venue was much smaller and not really equipped for what we had envisaged. This didn’t stop us from putting together make shift columns and a ’stage’ out of tables and barrels. Creativity can’t be stopped.
We kicked off the show a little later than planned to let the venue fill up. Things got underway with a little solo from Tatsuki, who performed the two tracks he wrote for us live (check the soundcloud to hear them), before Om Unit and Tayone joined him for the 40 or so minutes of music they’d spent three days putting together. From electro to house and hip hop, the set felt a lot more cohesive this time and the music a lot less improvised. While the guys were busy making heads nods and bodies move, Hiraki, Ericailcane and Will sat behind their laptops controlling three projectors and a variety of hand-drawn animations they’d spent the previous days creating.
Here is a little low-res video preview of what went down…
To have the visuals more involved in the live show this time round was a real highlight for me. Whereas in Bologna they sort of set up their installation and let it run for the night, this time they were actually involved in the live show which really made the difference and left many people speechless – including us.
The night ended with Tayone showing London just why he’s Italy’s best, and considering the feedback from his set from those I spoke to I really hope he gets another chance to come back and show his stuff as he really deserves it. It’s funny, I’ve been trying to get him to London for 5 years and it feels good to have finally managed to do it, especially in a situation like this.
We all had a celebratory dinner on the Saturday, before some of us left and then on the Sunday we had a rather surreal cinema session. We went to see the new Banksy film with Will, Ericailcane and DEM which was a totally crazy experience as the movie speaks about their ’scene’ to a degree but also people and things they’ve had an indirect hand in. All in all though it was the perfect way to round up the week and it was nice to see everyone relaxing and smiling.
With London now done, the only city left for us is Tokyo before we embark on a new cycle of events with new artists. Right now it’s a bit early to say when it will happen but I for one know that if we’ve managed to come this far we’ll definitely make it all the way over there. Realistically it probably won’t happen for another year and whether or not we do something else in the meantime is still undecided. Stay tuned and find out as we do. I would love to take the show on the road to other cities and countries, and I think that’s a possibility in the meantime while we sort out how Tokyo will happen.
A huge thanks and eternal gratitude goes to the artists for their passion, hard work and dedication to a project that is as much theirs as it is ours. I never tire of marveling at the power of an idea I had nearly 2 years ago in bringing people together. More thanks and gratitude go to my fellow organisers Cris, Yass and Ale without whom this project would have never happened. I will always be in your debt guys. Thanks also to all those who came from far and wide to help us and those who supported and worked with us: Davide, Fabio, Luca, Stewart, Brian, Caitlin, Beth and Richard at Stolen Space, Tom, Charlie, Andy, Paul, Cristina, Bonsai TV, Samurai FM, and anyone I forgot. And last but not least huge thanks to the public who came and supported and followed us online.
You can find a round up of all the week’s action at the following links and stay tuned for videos and audio coming up in the next few weeks.
Peace!
Original Cultures London 2010 online:
http://originalcultures.tumblr.com – daily blogs with photos and video
www.vimeo.com/originalcultures – all the videos
www.flickr.com/photos/original_cultures – all the photos
www.facebook.com/originalcultures – all the Facebook action
www.originalcultures.org/category/blogs/ – all the daily blogs
Organiser’s blog LDN ‘10 – Day 4
It’s funny how fast time goes during these weeks – it’s as if it was only yesterday I was thinking we still had 3 days ahead of us. In reality we’re as close as it’s going to get with the show in less than 24 hours and pressure and excitement are competing and keeping me going.
All the workshops technically ended today, though as with Bologna last year while the musicians have wrapped up more or less ‘on time’ and kept a degree of freestyle/improvisation for the show tomorrow the visual artists went back to the studio after dinner tonight and will most likely still be working tomorrow when we’re trying to get them to the venue to set up.
And like last year even though they’re all pretty tired, they keep finding the energy to work together and just create – from their work for tomorrow, to colouring in exclusive prints for our exhibition closing party and painting in the freezing cold for 3 hours outside the gallery. Both DEM and Will mentioned it tonight – even though they feel exhausted they’re still excited to see the result of their work and wish they had more time to work on it.
The closing party was a nice way to unwind a bit ahead of tomorrow as well. While it did definitely add to the visual artists’ load, like last year it meant we were all together relaxing after a long week worth of work. To top it up new friends have arrived from London, Italy but also from Belgium – big up Lisa, Luca, Davide, Brian, Beatnick and Alex from On Point. Big thanks also to Charlie Whatley for his photos (online soon) and to Stolen Space for being amazing hosts (big up Beth).
The day ended at Song Que up the road, the baddest Vietnamese in Little Hanoi for those who like a good Pho. With new friends in town it was the perfect end to the day.
See you tomorrow!
Artist Blog LDN ‘10 – Om Unit Day 4
So after having yesterday off to do something people call a job (I call it hanging out with teenagers and making beats/talking about life) we got together to round off the writing and rehearsals, after a banging Turkish breakfast at Olive’s in Hornsey which brought back memories of being 24, fancy free and probably quite hungover.
So we went through the tracks as per usual – tweaked a bit here and there.The end of the day left me with a feeling we’re gonna freestyle it a bit, but in a good way – its not so static that we have to do everything cleanly and routinely, the music will make itself on the night and I look forward to hearing how it goes on the recording.
Today I also finally managed to get hold of a real Roland 606 (see 1st blog) – it doesn’t work… yet.
Also we had the closing party for the Original Cultures exhibition at Stolen Space – I have to give it up for Beatnick for coming through with plenty of musings on all things music as usual! Once again Charlie Whatley on photo duties doing the humble work and to Ericailcane, DEM and Will for taking time out to do the boards for Stolen Space out in the freezing cold.
See you tomorrow at the show!
Organiser’s blog LDN ‘10 – Day 3
Improvisation is the name of the game, not just for the artists who start from improvised ideas and develop them into a full show in the space of a few days but also for us at the level of organisation.
Even the best laid plans require a degree of flexibility and this time round even more so than the first event last year. From transport to catering, technical supplies to venue logistics the plans have changed daily and sometimes even hourly. Flexibility is not always easy though but as long as you are able to keep a cool head it’s never that much of a problem. A cool head isn’t always a given though, and I’m the first to sometimes be a little too emotional. Still you live and learn and I have definitely learnt a lot in the last 4 days especially with regards to being flexible and rebounding fast and quickly rather than getting caught up in the fact of things not going according to plan.
I spent most of the day with the visual artists as the musicians had to take a day off due to work duties, and that’s been rather insightful. Last year I never saw inside their world, never stepped foot into their workshops and to be able to do it this time has only given me more respect and appreciation for their art but also for who they are as people. I feel privileged to be privy to what they do but also to have become friends with them over the last year. Coming from the world of music, the visual side of our project has been a constant learning curve for me and one I’ve greatly enjoyed.
The way we are managing to combine two art strands and sets of artists never ceases to amaze me and further proves the power of creativity in uniting people and bringing them together outside of their comfort zones.
I’ll leave you with a video feature The Freak Show shot for the opening of our exhibition a few weeks ago. Come down tomorrow night to see the closing party which will feature some small scale live painting from our guys alongside the usual free drinks and merryment. And then be sure to come down on Friday for the final show. Without hinting at what will be there too much I can definitely say it will blow a few minds I think. We’ve stuck to our words – what people will get is something they’ve never seen.
Editors’ blog LDN ‘10 – Visual arts workshops
By Cristina Balma Tivola
I met Alessandro (one of the Original Cultures organisers) at Dalston Kingsland train station at noon on the second day of the London event. Laurent, the organiser with whom I have until now maintained contact via email regarding Original Cultures, will arrive later. My interest in the project comes from an error of interpretation about its intentions. But, as often happens in these cases, that error has led to a pleasant surprise, and I begin wondering with Laurent – on the basis of what I saw and read online about the first event in Bologna last year – how I could participate. He offers me to follow the production process of the visual artists and to write about it. Documenting the ‘behind the scenes’ of an artistic production: what could be more fascinating to an anthropologist? One who loves to know people, the reasons behind their choices and inspirations, the relationships between artists and the aims of their work, not to mention my own curiosity about the growth of the project until it is shared with the public. For all these reasons I happily accept their offer.
Alessandro leads me through Ridley Road market to Hiraki Sawa’s study, who contributes to the project by providing both the creative space and his own skills as a visual artist to complement the work of DEM Ericailcane and Will Barras. It’s a beautiful sunny day in East London and the street is bustling with people of all backgrounds running between stalls where products from around the world are on display (and particularly from African and Caribbean countries, in this borough). We make our way between Nigerian fabrics and colourful North African women with small children in strollers, fireworks, street vendors and stalls selling bananas, okra, sugarcane and strange potatoes with different shapes. A building at the side of the market hosts some studios, among them Hiraki’s, temporary headquarters for the visual arts side of Original Cultures LDN ‘10.
We walk through corridors which function as storage rooms and finally to the space in which the artists work: a large room, extremely bright, a few useful materials for the work (stocks of A4 sheets, tripod and camera, pens, pencils) and a coffee table on the right with anything you need to prepare cups of coffee and tea – in the best tradition of hospitality which I have been repeatedly exposed to in London, often superficially dismissed as the ‘capital of solitude’. Feeling home at work.
“This is something important” – Alessandro says while explaining me the project – “that they [the artists] feel safe, can work effectively (within the little time available) without stress, are able to concentrate and most of all enjoy it”. All this must run smoothly, both in terms of production and in terms of relations and this is the first impression I take – as an outsider coming from usually different experiences.
The visual artists are working primarily on creating shapes and designs which are then edited for stop-motion animation. All of this will then be projected live along the music which is being written by the 3 musicians in another workshop, located in North London. A challenge, given the short time available. Yet the day moves along without apparent stress. “How many characters will you develop?” – I ask. “All the ones we can do” – DEM answers.
The delicacy of this balanced and continuous production process is such that I refrain from asking questions not to break the spell of a situation that works – although I have my list of questions ready should the situation arise and I can satisfy my curiosity.
Laurent arrives with large quantities of food, including pies, crisps and Italian-style pasta with tomato and olives. He tells the news about the place where the showcase will be given, holds the ranks of the agreements as they are developing, and coordinates the contacts among the various interlocutors.
Even later in the afternoon, unexpected difficulties will arise, and artists and organisers will work together to find a solution. But everything will apparently be solved in the most extreme quietness, not because of superficiality, but more likely because of their habit of working with short deadlines and unexpected obstacles.
The craftsman in our imagination is the artist who creates with few resources and, as a result of learning (if not earning) by practice, produces works that attract visitors from simple premises that become jewels in his hands. As in a dance, the four artists design, colour, paint, carve, and then – in pairs – shoot photos, animating them and commenting on the success of the first few sequences. Like a dance, where words are few – because harmony is already an acquired prerequisite.
“I would like him to work on it the way he wants, that is, I’m curious to see what he does from the very simple things that I do. Today he made an animation, from what I gave him, which I liked a lot”- says DEM to Ericailcane and Alessandro about Hiraki’s work. At dinner all the artists, musicians and visual, organisers and some of their friends – usually separated by borders and distances – eat, talk and share jokes.
Then, DEM timidly and warmly invites Hiraki to work on what he can give him. Mutual respect is deep, as is the curiosity to see how the work of another person can transform and reinvent your own.
The final words of the evening are Om Unit’s (one of the musicians): “We didn’t think about something that we (the musicians) want to tell the public on Friday, we just decided to produce music you can dance to, even if we all produce music in different ways and styles… We know vaguely what they will do for the visual part, but we are not influencing each other. If image and sound match, fine; if they are totally at odds, fine as well. We will discover how it will be on Friday when we set it all up and see it together for the first time.” The work of a tight-knit team of craftsmen eager to make way for the showcase itself and enchant themselves by the potential outcome of this syncretism.
DEM takes another piece of A4 paper, and begins to draw eyes and bubbles.
Artist Blog LDN ‘10 – Om Unit Day 2
Today I re-discovered the sandwich world deli in Hornsey. Bangin. Oh and we made some more music!
It’s all about the art of stitching ideas together at the moment, that and for me trying to let go of my producer perfectionist ears, I have to remember this is supposed to be fun!
And it is, but my ears are constantly searching for more, and with 3 days only to write up to an hour’s worth of music it’s just not going to be that detailed. It’s about the impact and the feeling.
Sleep time
Organiser’s blog LDN ‘10 – Day 2
The picture above sums up the day quite well in a way. Like I said yesterday I’ve realised quickly and harshly that getting ten/fifteen people travelling around London without problems isn’t really easy and doing it by public transport only makes it more of a headache. Still though it’s part of the fun and I’m enjoying it in a twisted way. The timing could have been better though, with the end of the tax year in sight there’s more roadworks in town than ever. You can’t even walk straight down the road anymore let alone take a bus.
While we managed to get a lot of people to give some of their time and skills for our project we’ve also suffered from a bout of bad timing with a lot of the people who had offered their time having to reduce it or cancel due to last minute work duties. That’s what happened with our film guy, an old friend of mine from uni, who unfortunately can’t be with us during the day as originally planned. However this has had a plus side in that we’re now relying much more on handheld cam footage filmed by ourselves, the organisers. Due to this I took some time yesterday after dropping by the visual workshops in Dalston to film the market which was in full swing at lunchtime and basking in the spring sunshine. I came back 5 hours later to film it at dusk again when it takes on an air of ghost town. I can’t wait to see how the footage came out and more importantly how we piece everything together for the documentary. The idea is to bring together footage shot on different cameras, with different ‘textures’ and quality but also shot from different points of view. I really think we could end up with something interesting.
Filming around yesterday also made me realise just how much the location makes the event. While I’m a typical Londoner who likes to moan and groan about the hassles of life in the big city, I do love this place and looking at it through the lens of a camera is a great way to make you realise just how amazing a place it is. All the little things that you take for granted or ignore become fascinating again, part of the make up of the city.
Apart from that yesterday continued to prove that to pull off something like this you definitely patience and strong nerves, two things I’m not always good at. One hour things are smooth, the next they’re about to fall apart and the next they go back to being smooth. I guess it’s best not to do this if you’re a little weak of heart. The rush keeps you going though, no doubt.
We spent most of the afternoon masterminding the layout of the venue to accommodate what the artists need now that we have a clear idea of what they are doing. This is especially true for the visual artists whose work is in many ways the most involving at a logistics and planning level. At least with the musicians we know that it’s just a case of making sit together nicely and making them sound good – though of course now that I’ve said that…
That’s also where being in 4 at the organisation level makes a difference – we can each bring our own experience and knowledge to the table to circumvene any problems that arise or even just to bash heads and come up with a solution to what at first appears to be a big problem. It’s been hard enough preparing everything mainly by myself, but there’s no way I could pull off the even without the guys.
As day 3 starts and I’m writing this up I am really starting to get excited about the show on Friday. I can’t wait to see it for myself but also see people’s reactions. After Bologna last year I know that we can make a big impression, and I love that.
Artist Blog LDN ‘10 – Om Unit Day 1
Photo by Charlie Whatley.
So after recovering from my 30th birthday party on Saturday night, I awoke early doors this morning to head up to North London to get to the rehearsal rooms for O.C London.
As it turned out the rehearsal space was really a communal space in a converted musician live/work space – complete with sleeping roadie and disgruntled bass player on his 1 day off from touring and who didn’t know of our arrival or arrangements for the week.
So we set up and after some time began writing for the show, I wanted to see if we would connect in the same way as we did in Bologne last year, and in fact we did. Once again the ideas flowed very quickly and we came up with some basic ideas. 6 tracks in total already with working titles including ‘Skid Row’ and ‘Wasabi’.
I have once again opted to use Ableton live as the working platform, this time with the launchpad – within live I am utilising 303 and 606 emulators and a Minimoog emulator (I am not rich enough to buy the real thing!)
The bass player (Dave Delgado) cheered up and decided to come jam with us and even filmed some of the action – he let us sample some licks to use for a potential slow disco piece. The power of music once again bringing people together. peace, unity love and above all… having fun!
Organiser’s blog LDN ‘10 – Day 1
And so it starts again. The second original cultures event. We’ve swapped the heat of summer and the historic streets and old buildings of Bologna for the less scenic streets, though still inspiring in their own ways, of a rainy London in early spring. That’s the beauty of this project, being able to transport the idea around different cities and see just how it changes and takes on a different form based on the location.
Our six artists have returned alongside a seventh, the Japanese visual artist Hiraki Sawa. The guys all met together for the first time since last June last night and already the creative juices are flowing. This morning they are setting up in their workshops in East and North london. They’ll come out in four days with a one hour show. What shape it takes is still anyone’s guess at this point. Edit: by the time I’m posting this we already have an idea of the shape, but I won’t give it up just yet. Stick around for the week via the various social sites (and here) and you can get an idea for yourself – see below for links of where to see things as they happen (more or less). And if you can be sure to come see the final result Friday evening in Brick Lane.
With the Italian contigent playing the guests this time I’m already seeing the same cultural exchange and learning that made our first event so special. From the weather to the food, transport and people they are learning just how different a city and place London can be. And seeing just how this impacts them and what they do is definitely one of the best things to come out of this project.
For me personally it’s a much bigger challenge this time round as I’m having to look after and organise movements and the such for 10-15 people for a week. Anyone who lives in London knows just how difficult that can be. Thankfully bologna 09 served as a good preparation and once more we’re seeing the same supportive spirit where everyone is helping out and people are giving us their time and help to ensure the event runs as smoothly and professionally as possible. Shouts to Mauritz and Erwan for the rehearsal space and help, proving this point once more.
I was speaking to Word to Mother last night, a visual artist and friend of our visual artists and our host Stolen Space. It was interesting and rewarding to hear him relate to the idea behind Original Cultures and the need for a structure behind artists so that they do retain a degree of control but can also focus on what they do best.
All in all it’s been a good day and it’s all just started. More caffeine and more coffee and then some sleep. Oh yeah and big up to the waiters at Somine’s for being good hosts even though they wouldn’t go lower on the discount. Anyone looking for a good, honest Turkish meal in Dalston needs to check them.
Follow us around for the week (and after) as we go along at the following spots:
Facebook page
Tumblr blog
Twitter
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 4
Original Cultures – Day4
Doggy doggy doggy.
Chocolate brownies! The real deal.
How could we forget the chocolate day on Friday?
Gettin’ ready for the show.
Radio Citta del Capo.
On the air.
Seminar took place at Modo Infoshop. A great art and book spot in Bologna.
DEM a.k.a. the super cock
Seminar begins.
Ayami, one of 2tall’s biggest fans who flew in from London to be with us all in Bologna!
Another great dinner with the crew.
Tatsuki – http://blog.livedoor.jp/onushi1/
Editors’ blog – Day 4
We are sorry but this post isn’t available yet in English.
Da Giorgia Soncin.
“Mono no aware (物の哀れ) è un termine giapponese usato per descrivere la consapevolezza della precarietà delle cose ed il lieve senso di rammarico che comporta il loro trascorrere.”
E’ cosi che ci si sente una volta accese le luci nel momento il cui Laurent chiede gentilmente al pubblico di lasciare il teatro perché è ora di chiudere…
Il termine giapponese è un po’ forte forse, ma rende bene l’idea se lo si associa ad un senso globale di soddisfazione e pace dei sensi tipico di quando si è esattamente dove si vorrebbe essere e nel momento più opportuno.
In poche parole: it’s the place to be.
Con oggi si chiude il cerchio, nei giorni passati gi artisti hanno creato, interagito e condiviso. Quello che gli spettatori hanno potuto vedere (che comunque non è poco) è solo una parte del lavoro; dietro a cui c’è un processo di creazione lontano dalle logiche di mercato e guidato dalla volontà e dal piacere di vivere l’arte con passione senza la ricerca forzata di risultati effimeri.
In questa giornata conclusiva gli artisti sono andati avanti con i lavoro in loco.
Per chi non c’era, quella che è stata realizzata è una scenografia all’interno e all’esterno dello spazio teatrale, nel cortiletto adiacente al Sì.
All’interno gli artisti hanno ricreato uno spettacolo di ombre cinesi in movimento, utilizzando come supporto, quattro giradischi settati su diverse velocità.
Sagome tagliate interamente a mano rese ancora più suggestive dall’uso del colore, proiettate sui muri, circondavano gli spettatori trasportati in un mondo magicamente ovattato.
Sul muro frontale, contemporaneamente, veniva proiettato un video, a cui gli artisti avevano precedentemente lavorato, in cui tutti i personaggi- ombra danzavano e si muovevano interagendo con il suono in un balletto meccanico che non poteva non coinvolgere chi partecipava alla performance.
A poche ora dalla conclusione posso dire che più che un semplice spettacolo, questo può essere definito come un esperimento di gesamtkunstwerk, un ritorno alla ricerca della totalità delle arti attraverso la loro fusione.
Artisti che si impossessano e danno forma agli spazi sia interni che esterni poiché, nonostante la stanchezza e il lavoro di montaggio, cutting e installazione di video e ombre, i cortile non è stato lasciato anonimo.
ERICAILCANE, DEM e WILL BARRAS hanno infatti intagliato tre sagome e riprendendo il tema delle ombre utilizzato per la scenografia interna, e hanno pensato di proiettarle su un grande muro creando qualcosa di veramente spettacolare e inatteso
Come se non bastasse, perché l’arte è evidentemente una forma di addiction, i tre artisti si sono concessi una parentesi pittorica di live painting in orario aperitivo, in cui si sono cimentati in un trittico incrociato con scambi di posizione e interventi sovrapposti utilizzando peraltro soltanto tre colori, nella totale semplicità ma regalando allo spazio un’opera d’arte veramente originale e significativa.
Questo intervento, nello specifico, ha attratto molti spettatori, e posso dire di esserne fiera per due motivi sostanziali: uno è legato al concetto di trasparenza che Original Cultures si è riproposto fin dal primo giorno, quello cioè di documentare e rendere totalmente visibili, dall’esterno, i processi creativi e le dinamiche organizzative del progetto; sia per coinvolgere il pubblico, sia per avere un valore aggiunto rispetto agli eventi pacchetto a cui ci hanno abituati, format standardizzati in cui gli artisti spesso suonano solo perché pagati e si propongono con un approccio sterile e privo di calore in un ritorno alle dinamiche di commissione che dovrebbero essere ormai superate da tempo.
L’altro motivo è legato all’approccio che Original Cultures ha volutamente cercato di instaurare con gli artisti coinvolti e con l’intero staff.
Fin dal giorno 1 si è creata tra tutti, artisti e non, una grande complicità, una sinergia che ha reso possibile a ciascuno di compiere il proprio lavoro nel migliore dei modi, senza la pesantezza data da un senso del dovere imposto dall’alto.
E il risultato mi pare quanto mai eloquente.
In questi giorni abbiamo pensato insieme, riflettuto, riso, mangiato gelati, cercato soluzioni ottimali a problemi inaspettati e non preventivati.
Nessuno di noi sapeva quale sarebbe stato il feedback del pubblico perché nessuno realmente sapeva in cosa sarebbe sfociato questo esperimento in diretta, questo tentativo di creare qualcosa dal basso, qualcosa che mettesse in relazione artisti tanto diversi e discipline tanto diverse.
Parlando con i visual artists è venuto fuori anche da parte loro lo stupore nel vedere come musica e installazioni fossero inconsapevolmente complementari andando ben oltre le aspettative.
Credo che situazioni del genere debbano andare ripetute, soprattutto in un paese come l’Italia, in cui la cultura e la sperimentazione artistica sono continuamente vittime dell’ingerenza da parte di finalità definite erroneamente “valori”; in cui l’arte, in tutte le sue modalità espressive si trova ad essere spesso soffocata dalla ricerca compulsiva del prodotto a scapito di quelli che sono i reali processi creativi che fanno l’opera finale.
Indirettamente, il nostro è stato un tentativo di recupero, Original Culture, come ricerca di recuperare i valori originali delle arti, quali la condivisione e la creatività non saturata dal mercato e dal business.
Se è vero che ogni stop è solo un altro start ci auguriamo tutti che questo sia solo l’inizio…attendiamo con ansia luglio…
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I visual artists sono al lavoro già da un paio d’ore all’esterno, intenti a dipingere sui muri del cortile e a tramutarne l’atmosfera con magiche ombre cinesi, quando Tatsuki da il via allo show musicale all’interno del Sì. E’ un piacere constatare che l’afflusso è già notevole. In breve tempo i convenuti si assiepano intorno al palco, strategicamente allestito in mezzo al salone, circondandolo. In alto, ad ogni angolo sono sistemati profili di figurine rotanti realizzati ad hoc e le cui ombre, proiettate, danzano sui muri in un folle girotondo.
Il giapponese realizza un set solista incentrato su ritmiche assolutamente minimali, in cui ha messo in luce tutta la sua perizia nell’uso della strumentazione Korg, dal mixer Zero4 al Kaoss Pad. Una prova particolare la sua, che ha lasciato perplessi non pochi in sala ma che ha rivelato un’anima, un background ed un approccio culturale desueti, non soltanto tecnicismi.
Il testimone passa dunque a Jim 2Tall/Om Unit: i ritmi si alzano, le teste cominciano a muoversi, i beat iniziano a farsi più pesanti ed in questa ricerca tra nuova elettronica ed abstract hip hop si erge il remix di Digidesign di Joker, sicuramente uno dei pezzi del momento… comincio ad annuire, buon segno…
Il pubblico è ormai caldo quando arriva la portata principale: sul palco salgono tutti i musicisti coinvolti nel progetto. Tatsuki riprende la sua postazione, 2Tall resta al suo posto, salgono in pedana Tayone e Bruno Briscik, a tutti gli effetti il quarto membro di questa neonata formazione. Come ho già ricordato nelle precedenti cronache, il set che è stato preparato ex novo nel corso di questi giorni è assolutamente poliedrico e travalica il semplice turntablism. Ne avevo soppesato la capacità di intrattenimento e non avevo dubbi a riguardo: chi sarebbe stato presente si sarebbe divertito, se la sarebbe spassata. Così è stato, complice l’abbraccio della folla. Si passa così, come in una sorta di caleidoscopio stilistico di cui è impossibile descrivere ogni passaggio, da episodi più “dance” ai suoni più secchi e taglienti dell’electro-hop (con Jim alle keyboards a farla da padrone), da parentesi jazzy che esaltano il ruolo di Briscik sulle corde del suo violoncello elettrico e lo scratch morbido ed espressivo di Tayone (si ricompongono i Rajasful in altro contesto) sino a momenti di climax in cui i beat ed il boom bap si fanno davvero possenti e le sonorità addirittura abrasive e mi esce un “wow!” e attorno a me ragazze che approvano e fischiano come camionisti e la folla ondeggia e sembra di stare ad una festa di quartiere più che ad un classico concerto… l’empatia è reale, palpabile… Al termine è un’ovazione a sottolineare la bontà dell’operato.
La domanda che sorge spontanea è: verrà dato seguito a questa collaborazione? Lo spirito sperimentale dell’intera operazione Original Cultures non poteva lasciarmi con un punto interrogativo migliore di questo. Alla prossima.
Organisers’ blog – Day 4
Whoa. That is the most direct and natural reaction to what happened last night, on the evening on day 4 at the closing of the Original Cultures pilot. Whoa. The live showcase, the crowning of the 4 days of work for the artists and the cherry on top of the pilot if you will, the event where the public gets to see everything that we’ve all worked on for so long, was a success – and as an organiser this isn’t a boast, it really, truly was.
We had a packed house, with over 300 people, we emptied the bar, the artists got a thunderous round of applause and demands for an encore, which they obliged leaving us with people in the venue until 2am, when we’d officially announced it would end at midnight. One of the members of the city’s council, who sits on the cultural board came at midnight, on a saturday, and personally shook the hand of the artists, thanking them for the show. One of the guys who runs the company which handles the space was dancing and smiling all night, telling us at midnight that we could have another 30mins of show if we wanted – so the 4 musicians, Tayone, 2tall, Tatsuki and Bruno Briscik, went back on stage and jammed for 20 mins. By 2am Will Barras, DEM and Ericailcane were still painting – which is all the more hilarious considering what happened earlier in the evening. Let me rewind for a sec…
We got to the venue around lunch – the musicians soundchecked in the PM while the visual artists put the finishing touches to their creations and masterminded how the visuals would play out throughout the night. Things were going well, with the necessary high level of running around involved when you put together an event. And then as we approached opening time, the decision was made to cancel the live painting aperitivo due to technical issues – partly true, but also due to the fact that the visual artists actually stopped working as people entered the venue. Having been at it for 5 days non stop, there was no way we would force anyone to do something just because it was originally written in the programme.
With this in mind we opened and hoped for the best. People came looking for the live painting and decided to maybe come back when they learnt it wasn’t happening. Others came in regardless, curiously looking around the venue, trying to understand what was going to happen 4 hours later. As I stood in the courtyard next to the bar, DJing, I kept thinking to myself that maybe even without the live painting we’d still manage to bring enough people in. You see the thing is, the whole live painting is quite popular here in Bologna, and the visual artists were definitely one of the main attractions of the project for people in the area, mainly because Ericailcane and DEM are local artists who everybody knows. Losing the live painting meant we might well lose a big amount of people. As I tried to not think about it too much, considering that we knew we still had something incredible prepared but that we couldn’t really tell people without giving the game away, I got on with trying to make people drink and enjoy themselves as the evening rolled on. And then I looked up, around 8 or so and Will was walking around with a tub of paint… and that’s when it all started going crazy.
DEM, Ericailcane and Will painted from 8 till 10, as they did people flocked to the venue, by the time I finished the DJ set in the courtyard, the venue was nearly full and I could barely believe it. The show started with the first hour split between Tatsuki and 2tall/Om Unit doing solo shows of about 30mins and the second hour with Tayone, Bruno and the two of them doing the live show they’d spent the last 3 days creating. As I stood there looking at Tatsuki on the stage playing to the audience a piece he’d finished writing 2 hours before it started to hit me just how special this all was.
The stage was set in the center of the room, so that people could stand all around the musicians. On the walls projections made by the visual artists played using Chinese shadow concepts. And on one side a giant screen played elements from an animation that they also created during the week. Tatsuki for his part ditched the entire 30 mins set he’d originally prepared and instead played a beautifully atmospheric 20 or so mins using sounds he’d recorded the day before and inspired by the visuals created by DEM, Will and Ericailcane: us talking, him speaking Italian, the ticks from the clock of one of the guys who runs the venue… it was incredible to hear all these sounds which I knew were ‘ours’ coming together while people stood around trying to understand what was happening. It was the perfect way to start.
2tall/Om Unit came up next, playing 20 or so minutes of new material and bringing the vibe and energy up a level, perfectly as if we’d masterminded the whole thing from start to finish. But we hadn’t, no one had heard the others’ bits, no one apart from the artists knew what would happen…
And then the final hour started and it continued to be incredible – the three of them played as if they’d known each other all their lives. The audience went crazy, the vibe was unbelievable. 10 mins before the end we were turning people away by the tens, and wondering how the hell it had all happened. Everywhere I looked people were smiling, dancing and enjoying themselves. The visual artists were more happy than I’ve seen them all week and so were the musicians.
Fast forward two hours, and we’re all sitting around coming down from the adrenaline rush and thinking back to various elements of the night. Everyone, from the artists to the organisers, the technical crew to the film crew was on a high. And everyone was responsible for the beautiful event that took place last night – everyone worked for nothing more than the want to do this, we came together as a whole in the most organic manner.
And to me, as the person who had this idea, who brought this idea to this town nearly 1 year ago to get some advice, to see the idea turn into reality like this (pretty much one year to the day since I first came up with it) is just simply incredible – tears came to me early on in the night and by the end I was just floating on a cloud, words unable to do justice to the feeling of seeing this idea birthed into reality. To know that every single person involved also felt the same is the best reward ever.
We’ve worked on this for 6 months solid, plus 6 months before of masterminding, and one week of just working non stop – and there has never been a point in all that time where someone argued or something went truly ‘wrong’. And that’s something I can’t even begin to comprehend. It gives me incredible faith that what we are building, is something that will continue to grow organically and that will hopefully be enjoyed by more and more people in the future.
For now, the best brunch in Bologna awaits me. HD video teasers of day 3 and 4 will be online by tomorrow. And full reports from the editors and artists too. And then stay tuned as we start to roll out the documentation of the project starting this month until the end of the summer.
To everyone who came last night, thank you. To everyone who took part in this, bless you.
Laurent
Videos:
Day by day HD teaser vids on Vimeo
Behind the scenes videos on Vimeo
Links:
See behind the scenes on our Tumblr – originalcultures.tumblr.com
Catch the daily blogs on our site – originalcultures.org/blogs
Catch us over at Shook Magazine on the daily too – shook.fm
Hear us tweet as we go – twitter.com/og_cultures
And don’t forget to check/add/friend/fan us on the Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 3
Original Cultures – Day3
I could eat this every day!
Onushi, my famous dog!
Me, Tayone and Davide.
Tayone and his Serato set up.
2tall’s stuff.
And mine. Non c’e male!
Tatsuki – http://blog.livedoor.jp/onushi1/
Editors’ blog – Workshops day 3
We are sorry but this post is not yet available in English.
Da Alarico Mantovani.
Nuovo ingresso in formazione stamattina: Bruno Briscik, il carismatico violoncellista che fa coppia con Tayone nei Rajasful, è già all’opera con gli altri sul palco del San Leonardo. Quando entro in sala vengo letteralmente assalito da un suono hard e possente, con un Briscik in piena, molto hendrixiano, e gli altri che macinano come treni… wow! Con l’aggiunta di questo tassello il set è ormai pronto: Bruno suonerà in quattro dei pezzi del trio. Il live ha ormai una sua chiara fisionomia: in sostanza copre uno spettro molto ampio, composito e multiforme, che va dall’electro al funk attraverso atmosfere talvolta dance talvolta jazzy, con l’hip hop, più o meno astratto, sempre in filigrana o fortemente presente in qualità di impalcatura ritmica. La curiosità cresce…
Intermezzo.Tayone assurge ormai a mattatore. Esilarante quando snocciola la tracklist dei pezzi su cui si sono accordati: “Paglia”, “Dog Food”, “Non capisco”, “Pistacchio” e così via… Tatsuki e Jim 2Tall se la ghignano… ed io più di loro…
All’ora dell’aperitivo appuntamento alla libreria Modo Infoshop per la presentazione di Original Cultures, con tutte le voci dei protagonisti a raccontare l’idea progettuale e lo stato dell’opera ad un pubblico non straripante ma assai attento ed interessato… Ormai l’attenzione di tutti è già rivolta alla serata conclusiva, la summa di quest’inedita esperienza… Attendiamo trepidanti…
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Da Giorgia Soncin.
Originalcultures workshop day3
Terzo giorno di work in progress per i tre artisti che in questa giornata procedono nella realizzazione di idee e aggiungono tasselli alla composizione finale.
Una parte del lavoro si svolge presso lo studio di Ericailcane per poi spostarsi al Sì, dove lo spazio, una volta montati gli strumenti dei musicisti, ha già cambiato volto, e sarà presto popolato dai personaggi nati nelle giornate precedenti. Ciascuno di essi prenderà posizione preparandosi allo spettacolo di domani sera.
A vederlo, non ci si crede che in soli tre giorni sia stato possibile tutto questo, senza attività frenetiche e senza la pressione a cui siamo abituati, quello che si nota è sicuramente la sinergia che si è creata tra i tre, ed è evidente che il risultato finale sarà tutt’altro che scontato. E’ un’esperienza di vita oltre che artistica, basata sulla condivisione di idee e competenze tecniche ma anche sull’interazione tra le cosiddette “conoscenze tacite” che fanno parte del bagaglio culturale di ciascuno degli artisti che partecipano al progetto.
Si creano connessioni, le idee prendono forma superando le barriere stilistiche e linguistiche. L’arte, in tutte le sue manifestazioni si conferma come linguaggio universale oltrepassando, si direbbe, anche la dimensione temporale.
Lasciando un velo di mistero, possiamo solo dire che saranno rievocate sia la tradizione orientale che la dimensione pre-onirica dell’infanzia; come una finestra aperta su una dimensione parallela.
E’ affascinante seguire l’evoluzione di questo progetto, volutamente partito da zero e sfociato in un’opera collettiva perfettamente sinergica con gli spazi e coesa dal punto di vista artistico, inteso in tutte le sue forme.
Eloquente più che mai, nella sua essenzialità, l’intervento di Will Barras alla presentazione di Original Cultures, quando dice che, inconsapevolmente pur non lavorando insieme, i tre musicisti hanno prodotto un lavoro che si identifica pienamente con il lavoro dei visual artists e viceversa.
Questo è Original Cultures, chi verrà domani potrà entrare a far parte di un mondo parallelo in cui si può veramente parlare di performing arts nel senso più ampio del termine, dove la musica dal vivo interagisce con le esperienze più diverse dell’ambito visivo: dal live painting al video, passando attraverso la suggestione delle ombre cinesi.
Organisers’ blog – Day 3
And again, sitting here in the kitchen with coffee on one side and brioches and panini on the other. It’s the morning of day 4, and even though they say all good things come to an end, I really feel like I don’t want this beautiful experiment to end. Looking back on day 3 though there’s been plenty of great moments, more lessons learnt and some great memories made.
In the morning the musicians had the last of their workshop session, using the 3 or so hours to tighten up their set as well as working with Bruno Briscik on how to bring his Cello on three of the tracks they’d already prepared. Two of them Bruno will be adding some bass, while on one of them he’ll be an integral part of the track. Bruno has a bit of a reputation round these parts for being hard to work with and bringing a certain element of jinx to shows. Seeing him connect with 2tall and Tatsuki was a real pleasure, as we all drank coffee and he reminisced about his days in New York, and seeing as he and Tayone have been working together for years the whole issue of being hard to work with never really reared its ugly head. As for the jinx though, he managed to break his wah wah pedal and blow up his amp in less than 2 hours, which didn’t surprise our resident technician Yassin who took it all with a smile, and the hope that today when it comes to the show, the same thing doesn’t happen.
By lunch time the musicians were done and we were ready to move their equipment from the workshop space to the venue (which are luckily next door to each other) and prepare for a quick soundcheck. First though was a quick lunch with a bonus chocolate ending as our local ice cream sponsor was having a chocolate day much to the pleasure of Tatsuki and 2tall who’ve been wolfing down more sugar this week than in an entire year.
Following lunch I sat down with the Slow Breakfast guys, our resident film crew, to try and figure out what was the issue with our movies not displaying properly on Vimeo. Thanks to some help from the homie Hentsix and the FAQ pages we got to the root of it and as we all sat down at Alessandro’s place to work, things started to go a little wrong – my PC overheated and refused to work, leaving with me with the only choice to cool it with a fan. At the same time the Slow Breakfast were having a nightmare figuring out how to maintain the bit rate for the videos, but after an hour or two of pulling our collective hair out it all started working again and the videos and websites were updated and working as they should have (peep the embed below)
Elsewhere in the afternoon the musicians went to do a radio interview on Citta del Capo, while the visual artists continued to work on the various elements needed for their animation and shadow based visual show. Work which even at midnight after dinner was wrapped was still ongoing (more on that in a bit). Another crucial element of the afternoon was the need for us to prepare and map out our seminar which was taking place in the evening from 7 to 9 at the Modo Infoshop, a famous bookshop in Bologna and meeting place for many of the city’s artists.
Having realised the lessons we needed to take from the seminar on the previous day we tried our best to put together a stronger approach for this seminar, deciding on precisely who would do what, when and how – give or take the unpredictable element that always comes with these things. In the end the seminar and q&a session was still a success, with a good turnout and a strong presentation of the project and feedback from the artists about their experience so far. And yet still we lapsed: we forgot to print out the questionnaires to get feedback from the public, we still didn’t quite get the translation to work as well as it could have and we also still needed to tighten up our seminar game. It’s by no means a big deal, but for me personally I now know that the biggest lesson I will take from this pilot so far is the need to really prepare and oversee the activities where the public is involved. When it comes to activities with the artists we have pretty much on lock, we’re strong in that area and we’ve only got a few small lessons to take away. When it comes to the public’s involvement though, we still have a lot to learn.
I kind of live tweeted the seminar, partly for fun and partly to further prove our point that we want to use the internet as much as possible to give people a chance to have an insight into what happens even if they’re not there.
The evening wound down with some drinks in the bar next door to Modo Infoshop, as the artists and organisers mingled with the public, friends and others. And that’s when something amazing happened. Tatsuki introduced me to a Japanese woman, Ayami, who has come all the way from London after discovering Original Cultures on the Samurai FM website. Not only that but she’d come from London with no money, and so decided to find a couch to surf on using the internet, finding herself in the house of one of the girlfriends of one of the guys who works at Modo Infoshop! They were only too happy to host her for a few days as they knew about our event. To know that someone went to that much effort to witness what we’re doing, and to know that things worked out for them as much as they’ve been working out for us, was simply incredible. She’s a big fan of all the visual artists and also Jim 2tall’s work and so we introduced her to the artists and spoke for a few hours. As Jim said afterwards, it’s not just bless, it’s a manifestation of what we’re trying to do here – bring people from different cultures and countries together under the banner of the arts, to allow them to share and experience together.
The day ended once more with an amazing dinner from Lisa, and for the first time pretty much everyone involved in the pilot was around the table: from the artists to the organisers, the film crew, the photographers, the technicians and the venue owners. To see us all there in the courtyard, drinking, eating and being merry, sharing stories and experiences, discussing the week’s event was really special for me. I know we have achieved one of our aims, especially when I think back to the fact that there hasn’t been one time this week where I haven’t bumped into one of the artists involved in the project and he hasn’t smiled at me as the first thing he did. We have brought people together and made them share something unique, through this idea of cultural exchange. We’ve allowed artists to create something they’ve never done before, to take part into an ‘experiment’ that was taking shape as it was happening, controlled by them as much as by us. And so I now know that as much as I don’t want it to end, it’s really only the beginning of something that we are all going to ensure lasts as long as possible.
I’ll leave you with some quotes and the usual links, and the knowledge that our showcase tonight will truly be something unique, never to be repeated. If you can’t be there, don’t worry we’ll have you covered in the coming weeks with videos and more. And if you can be there, then I look forward to sharing this experience with you all.
Bless.
Quotes:
It’s like Big Brother but without the bullshit and wasting time. Instead we make art on the spot.
Tayone, speaking about the documentation aspect of the Original Cultures project.
I’ve never done a collaborative project like this, it’s amazing.
Will Barras, talking about the visual arts workshops he’s been taking part in all week.
Links:
See behind the scenes on our Tumblr – originalcultures.tumblr.com
Catch the daily blogs on our site – originalcultures.org/blogs
Catch us over at Shook Magazine on the daily too – shook.fm
Hear us tweet as we go – twitter.com/og_cultures
And don’t forget to check/add/friend/fan us on the Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
Organisers’ blog – Day 2
And so we continue, day 2 less coffee and cigarettes but just as much adrenaline pumping through my veins and it’s not even midday yet. I’m writing this at the start of day 3, looking back over the second day of the Original Cultures pilot, where the highs were kept and lessons were learnt.
Something ticked in my head in the morning of day 2, as I walked to the venue for more workshops. I realised that we (the organisers) had been working to ensure everything was as perfect as possible, without thinking twice about it, and yet this was still just a pilot – if things went wrong it was ok, it was ’supposed’ to happen because we were there to learn more than anything. This didn’t mean I wanted us to take it easy, but in a way it made me feel better about the possibility of things not going according to plan.
The artists meanwhile were as happy and productive as the previous day. I met up with them following their morning of workshop, where they told me that they’d managed to put together another 6 tracks in the space of 3 or so hours. Productivity is definitely the word there.
As the afternoon kicked in we continued the music workshop, and started to set up in the Spazio Si for the first open activity of the pilot, a 2h q&a/seminar session with the musicians. We fed a stream from their room into the Si, while people came in and sat down for 50 mins or so, watching and hearing what the guys were doing as they did it.
And this is when things started to deviate from the plan, and lessons started to be learnt, for me as an organiser at least. A professor of music who was supposed to come with his students could not make it at the last minute, leaving us with an audience of passers by, curious music fans and producers and DJs, I’d say about 15 people.
As I brought the musicians out to start the seminar it hit me that I should have prepared this a lot better than I did. Due to time issues, other duties and importantly my high level of tiredness I made some simple organisational mistakes when it came to moderating the panel, taking it on me to not just moderate but also translate, and within about 20 mins, my brain was so frazzled from doing it all at pretty much once that I started to slip.
In the end though the seminar was a success I think we can fairly say – the audience enjoyed it, the feedback questionnaires showing some interesting points and great reception. The artists enjoyed it and so did we, but the lesson was definitely learnt, and soon as the seminar finished I was sitting with Cristian, one of the other organizers, and discussing how to avoid these mistakes on the evening of day 3, when we do a second seminar and q&a session at the bookshop Modo Infoshop, where we will also be presenting the project to the public.
Day 2 was also the first time I got to see what the visual artists, DEM, Ericailcane and Will Barras, had been cooking up in Erica’s workshop as they set up in the Spazio Si in the evening to do some tests for the final showcase. The simple rehearsals and tests of their visual ideas left me simply speechless… and I won’t give away too much but enough to say that they’ve come up with ideas, both artistic and technical, to essentially create projections on the walls using cut out characters and a Chinese shadow technique that has been modified. And that’s just one bit of it! ù
Talking with them and seeing their ideas take shape was not just a pleasure but also essential to allow me to start understanding just how everything might fit together on Saturday. Talking to Will we agreed that ultimately regardless of preparations and aims, the visual and the musical will come together because they always do, and a narrative will come out of it, whether or not we aim for it (and by the way we’re not really). And beyond that, the beauty for me is that this narrative will most likely be different for everyone who witnesses the showcase.
The day wound down with another beautiful dinner courtesy of our splendid chef Lisa and some very deep and pleasant chats with 2tall, Will, Tatsuki and my homie Hentsix (who has joined us for the rest of the week) about art, culture and the internet. More on that later, maybe.
For now though I have to rush back to the Spazio Si and see how Bruno Briscik, the famed Italian multi instrumentalist, is getting on with the musicians. That’s right, we’ve managed to get him to join them for 3 tracks where he’ll be playing his cello alongside their more or less electronic compositions. I’ve already seen about 30 mins or rehearsals and discussions and I know it’s going to be something very special too. Bruno, a classically trained musician who loves to play in non classical situations, and 3 producers and DJs who are as far removed from classical training as you can imagine. Check our Tumblr and other sites for sneak peeks as it happens!
I’ll leave you for now. Be sure to check our other blogs too, and stay tuned for the last two reports of day 3 and 4 as well as more video and audio.
Bacci da Bologna!
Laurent
Links:
See behind the scenes on our Tumblr – originalcultures.tumblr.com
Catch the daily blogs on our site – originalcultures.org/blogs
Catch us over at Shook Magazine on the daily too – shook.fm
Hear us tweet as we go – twitter.com/og_cultures
And don’t forget to check/add/friend/fan us on the Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
Artist blog – 2tall day 2
Ok, so take one dangerously introspective bedroom based music producer who debates walking 5 minutes to sainsburys instead of taking the bus for 2 stops and drop him in Bologne and let him loose with other artists to create a selection of live material to be performed 5 days later.
We’ve been using our machines to work up something to play for Saturday’s show, not knowing how initially but gradually just allowing for it to take shape, learning each other’s capabilities and styles and pushing new ways of working so we can connect. The final product of which the reader will hear very soon.
The people here are so kind and welcoming it is overwhelming. It seems so natural for our hosts to be so kind and to keep giving so much that I find it difficult not to overthank them!
To quote Will Barras, everything here is just a level up. And it’s true, even the crisps taste better!
There are not many places i’ve seen that have such a laid back feel for a city, but also it seems that it’s been “lived in” so much that it seems that even the buildings have some kind of inherent wisdom to them, almost like they soaked up the experiences of those that lived and worked in them.
We are playing in a old theater that I believe was once a nunnery, it’s homely and even our rehearsal room is as welcoming as the people in the morning.
Anyway enough romantisising about painted plaster, I have to get some sleep, last day of tightening up the show tomorrow, where we expect Bruno Briscik and his cello to come and add some extra skill to our already colourful manifestation.
P.S: the ice cream is just incredible. not to mention the great simplicity of the wonderful home cooked food we are treated to every day by the magic “jesus feeds the five thousand”-esque talents of Lisa.
Bless!
2tall / Om Unit – dj2tall.com
Editors’ blog – Workshops day 2
We are sorry but this post is not yet available in English.
Da Giorgia Soncin.
Da oggi cambio di location, che si sposta dallo studio di Ericailcane agli spazi del Sì in via San Vitale 67 a Bologna, luogo deputato per l’evento conclusivo di sabato sera. E’ da oggi che le idee dei tre artisti prendono forma e interagiscono con lo spazio dandogli nuova vita.
Dopo gli interventi dei tre musicisti, che hanno permesso al pubblico di prendere parte alla gestazione del progetto, anche per quanto riguarda ERICAILCANE, DEM e WILL BARRAS, partono ufficialmente le prove in in loco che anche in questo caso dialogano con l’ambientazione scegliendo i linguaggi figurativi più diversi.
Altri elementi si aggiungono dunque alla composizione finale: L’interazione con lo spazio e la scelta di coniugare forme di espressione artisticha legate alla tradizione, che troppo spesso nell’arte contemporanea viene sottovalutata o messa da parte, con le tecnologie del video e dello screening.
Come giustamente ha detto Tayone, uno dei tre musicisti coinvolti nel progetto: “Non aspettatevi uno show come gli altri”. Né dal punto di vista musicale, né tantomeno da quello scenografico in cui gli artisti si riapproprieranno dell’ambiente rivoluzionando con esso l’intero spazio percettivo degli spettatori.
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Da Alarico Mantovani.
Sono arrivati i sub! E si sente…! Il Teatro San Leonardo rimbomba di bassi belli pieni e potenti mentre i Nostri sono all’opera sul materiale di ieri, per raffinarlo, ampliarlo e rielaborarlo al meglio. E’ già pronto un set di almeno una dozzina di pezzi, tutti preparati con impressionante rapidità, nell’arco di appena due giorni. Oggi pomeriggio, entrando in sala, pare evidente che il dialogo artistico stia decollando. La musica del trio assume un livello di fluidità palpabile, è rotonda e scorrevole ma incalzante… a tratti rivela qualche parentela con quei Glitch Mob su cui cadrà il discorso qualche ora più tardi…
Alle 18, come previsto, inizia il workshop dedicato alla sezione musicale di Original Cultures. Il pubblico si dispone nell’adiacente sala dello spazio Sì, dove si svolgerà lo show di sabato, ed assiste ad una dimostrazione in diretta video di Tay, 2Tall e Tatsuki, un assaggio del lavoro che stanno allestendo. Il live demo viene ripreso tramite una telecamera e proiettato su un grande schermo. Al termine del set gli artisti raggiungono i convenuti ed inizia una conversazione/interazione/intervista, gestita e moderata dal sottoscritto e da Laurent Fintoni. La discussione tocca diversi argomenti: in primo luogo la differenza tra l’attività musicale che comunemente svolge un producer e la peculiarità offerta invece da Original Cultures, quella di poter interagire giorno dopo giorno, gomito a gomito, in un’atmosfera di cameratismo creativo e spirito di condivisione di un’esperienza inusuale.
Il focus si sposta poi sulle modalità operative che si sono stabilite tra gli artisti: ne emerge in sostanza una sorta di intercambiabilità, casualità ed eterogeneità dei ruoli in fase di composizione. La chiacchierata scivola quindi sul ruolo del produttore e su quelle che sono le difficoltà di mettere in scena un live davvero efficace ed esauriente al giorno d’oggi. Non potevo non chiedere infine quali sono i loro preferiti al momento e tra i nomi escono Flying Lotus, Mark Pritchard e diversi esponenti della scena dubstep. Ottime scelte direi… Le chiacchiere e gli scambi di pareri proseguono in cortile. Fine della seconda giornata.
Organisers’ blog – Day 1
Whoa. I barely know where to start. Fourteen hours days combined with an unhealthy amount of coffee, cigarettes and sugar have left me a bit of a shivering wreck, and it’s only the beginning of the second (official) day. I’ve been for 3 days already, preparing everything and to be honest while I am a bit of a shivering wreck, I’m also incredibly hyper and I feel truly blessed to have witnessed what I have so far. More than that I feel blessed, as one of the organisers and the person with whom the idea for Original Cultures sort of originated, to know that our ideas, our discussions and our wishes are somehow turning to be true, and even better turning out way better than we’d expected.
I’ll keep this first blog post short as I’ve still got tons to do, but to balance the input from our team of writers and some of our artists (blogs from whom you can find here in Italian for the writers and here in Japanese for the artists) here’s an overview of the first official day, and some bits from the first few days.
The mood has been high since all the artists arrived on monday evening and tuesday morning. I think it’s fair to say that the (so far) beautiful weather, the incredible food (cooked by our resident badman chef/caterer Lisa) and the historical surroundings have a lot to do with helping to elevate the mood of all involved.
The music workshops, where Tayone (from Italy), 2tall/Om Unit (from England) and Tatsuki (from Japan) are working for 3 days creating music that will be used in the final showcase on Saturday June 6th, are taking place in the Teatro San Leonardo, a building that was first a nuns’ covent, some 400 years ago. And as we sat for dinner on the Tuesday evening in the courtyard of the Teatro it somehow felt very appropriate that we would be adding our bit of history to this beautiful place.
I’ve primarily been involved in overseeing the music workshops, as I know all 3 artists personally. They are first and foremost friends, and I am a fan of theirs as much as a friend, and so to see them come together and in the space of 8 or so hours put together an already lenghty amount of music and tracks has been incredible to say the least.
Our original thoughts, as organisers, was that on Saturday the showcase, which will last 2 hours, would be composed of roughly 4 movements, 3 x 30mins of solo (one for each artist) and one collective movement of 30mins. This went out the window by the end of the first day of workshops, with Tayone explaining that he felt much happier doing as much collectively as possible. Jim 2tall and Tatsuki both agreed, and so we decided to move forward with the first hour featuring 2tall and Tatsuki doing solos (being that they are the ‘real’ guests as Tayone lived in Bologna for years) and the second hour (or more) composed of a collective movement which the guys are creating as we speak. And truth be told, this is exactly I’d hoped for originally – the reality was that I know that asking artists to put together a 2h live show is demanding a lot, and rests on a lot of factors, especially people getting on and ‘gelling’ if you will. In the end, my hopes are turning reality it seems, as the guys are more than happy to do as much together as possible, and considering we’re about 1/3 of the way through the music workshops I’d say it’s even fair to think that we’ll have a lot more than one hour of music on our hands by the end.
And so day 2 starts. Today are more music workshops, as well as a seminar/meeting/q&a session between the musicians and music students in the late afternoon. While I sit here at home, coffee-ing it up and overseeing the content output of our event, the musicians have already started and I can’t wait to see what rested minds come up with today. Tiredness set in yesterday towards the end, and as Tayone put it “the more we do, the more we have, but also the more we come up with bits that aren’t as good”. Very true, but as 2tall countered “at the end the more we have, the more we can choose from to make sure it’s outstanding”. And that kinda sums it up for me.
I’ll leave you with a few choice quotes, as well as the amazing news that Bruno Briscik, a famed Italian multi instrumentalist with whom Tayone has collaborated on many occasions, will be joining the 3 artists for a couple of featurings on the evening of Saturday.
Oh and as for the visual art workshops, featuring the amazing talents of Ericailcane, DEM and Will Barras, well I’ve not had the time to see much yet, but you can read about it in our writers blog (Italian only for now) and know that what I have seen and spoken about with them leads me to believe that saturday will be special indeed. The 3 of them, from Italy and the UK, will essentially act as directors/choreographers for the showcase, orchestrating a full live, visual show for the music being made. And so far this show includes Chinese shadows, a black box and some very spooky figurines… Considering we’d originally hoped to have them paint walls during the day, something Ericailcane and DEM are known for, to know that they’ll now be doing something pretty much no one has ever seen them do makes me only feel even better. More pics and words soon come. Stay tuned.
From Bologna, with love (and a hell of a lot of coffee).
Laurent
PS: for those interested, so far the music is ranging from slow beats to house to jazzy hip hop and abstract instrumentals. Will post audio soon as I can.
Quotes:
You try and do an event in Italy and not make it about food!
Me, in response to Mark from Skratchworx’s tweet that Original Cultures was basically just about food.
It’s a pleasure to leave the studio, go to a new country and work with new people. The inspiration is unbelievable!
Tatsuki, at the end of the first day of workshops. With some pistaccio cookies on the side.
It just keeps getting better and better!
Jim 2tall, not sure when he said that though!
Links:
See behind the scenes on our Tumblr – originalcultures.tumblr.com
Catch the daily blogs on our site – originalcultures.org/blogs
Catch us over at Shook Magazine on the daily too – shook.fm
Hear us tweet as we go – twitter.com/og_cultures
And don’t forget to check/add/friend/fan us on the Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
Editors’ blog – Visual arts day 1
We are sorry but this post is not available in English yet.
Da Giorgia Soncin.
Tre poetiche, tre artisti, tre modalità lavorative che si attivano per un progetto comune: questo quello che sta succedendo nella prima giornata di workshop del progetto pilota di Original Cultures.
I tre artisti all’opera sono DEM, ERICAILCANE e WILL BARRAS. Il progetto, in continua evoluzione, verrà costantemente seguito e documentato per porre l’attenzione non solo sul risultato finale ma su quelle che sono le dinamiche creative che stanno alla base dell’intera iniziativa.
Quello che ci interessa, infatti, oltre all’evento conclusivo che si terrà sabato 6 giugno, è focalizzare l’attenzione sui processi creativi, sulla creazione di quelle sinergie artistiche che permettono ad artisti diversi di confluire in un’opera collettiva comune pur mantenendo intatta la propria individualità e la propria riconoscibilità.
Sperimentazione oltre che ricerca di sinergia poiché i tre artisti sono legati ad un background figurativo, vicino alle pratiche pittoriche piuttosto che alla costruzione scenografica in senso stretto, il work in progress di oggi e dei prossimi giorni sarà quindi un processo di ricerca fondato su più livelli: quello personale da un lato e quello artistico dall’altro ai fini di produrre non un’opera d’arte statica, ma una sorta di mondo parallelo in grado di interagire con il suono e di diventare protagonista della performance.
Lo scopo della ricerca artistica del workshop è questo: allontanarsi dalle comuni scenografie teatrali per creare una realtà in cui vengano evocati personaggi onirici in un’opera collettiva in grado di accompagnare il pubblico in un mondo immaginifico.
Editors’ blog – Music day 1
We are sorry but this post is not available in English yet.
Da Alarico Mantovani.
Ai nastri di partenza il più in palla è Tatsuki: durante la conferenza stampa svoltasi al Museo della Musica dichiara di essere lieto ed orgoglioso di esibirsi qui a Bologna perché Hidetoshi Nakata (ve lo ricordate?), il più celebre calciatore proveniente dal Paese del Sol Levante, ha in passato vestito la casacca rossoblu. Risata generale.
Una volta giunti alla location destinata ad Original Cultures, i tre dj/producer si dispongono uno dinanzi all’altro su un ampio tavolo quadrato installato al centro del palco del teatro San Leonardo. Una sistemazione ideale per collaborare in progress e conoscersi: inizia così, dopo un lauto pranzo, la prima giornata di prove. Da questo momento cominciano ad edificare, beat dopo beat, scratch dopo scratch, il live set collettivo inedito che presenteranno sabato sera al pubblico. Tutti con i loro portatili, mixer ed i diversi controller che ciascuno ha scelto per l’evento. Tay e Tatsuki utilizzano principalmente i giradischi, con il nipponico circondato da apparecchiature della Korg, l’azienda per cui progetta ed esegue dimostrazioni di strumenti sempre più sofisticati, mentre 2Tall utilizza keyboards ed un drumkit minimale.
Si parte. Scaldano i motori, si annusano su ritmi un po’ sovraccarichi e Tay One propone di scendere su ritmiche un po’ più distese e sincopate: viene fuori una sorta di remix di “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” dei Daft Punk. I tre virano verso un abstract hip hop che poi si fa assolutamente convincente quando assume toni electro-hop su campioni di Kraftwerk e Run Dmc. Jim 2tall inserisce note eteree e traballanti che mi trasportano con la memoria alle atmosfere acquatiche dei Drexciya (Underground Resistance esclama 2tall!). L’amalgama e l’affiatamento sembra crescere sensibilmente con il passare del tempo. La jam successiva si concentra principalmente sulle percussioni, con ritmiche che si fanno piu incalzanti ed una maggior attitudine esplorativa, alla ricerca.
La confidenza tra i tre è ormai piu che buona, complice il gelato al pistacchio elogiato a gran voce da Tatsuki… Ora ci avviciniamo a forme innovative con beat possenti come alcune delle migliori produzioni degli ultimi tempi, vedi l’ultimo Dr. Who Dat?, ma al contempo cerebrali, alla Flying Lotus, con interessanti derive wonky beats, molto Harmonic 313 e Joker. Il livello di coinvolgimento empatico giunge al culmine e così anche la capacità espressiva. A questo punto Laurent Fintoni, durante una pausa, fa il punto della situazione: visti i buoni esiti che si stanno raggiungendo sembra opportuno allungare la durata del live set collettivo a scapito di quelli individuali. Su questo mi trovo perfettamente d’accordo. L’appuntamento è per la giornata successiva.
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 2.1
Original Cultures – Bonus chapter aka Food and The City
This is how it should be done!
Every lunch and dinner we all eat together, staff and artists, Italian style!
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 2
Original Cultures – Day 2
Bologna is an amazing town!
Italian ice cream makes the day, pistachio flavour rocks!
We had a press conference for the project in a music museum.
Here’s a picture I took during my speech at the press conference. I did the speech in Italian, but I told a little lie… my grandfather wasn’t really a ninja, sorry!
The museum already had a small exhibit of some of our work. There was a picture featuring my music and art from Will Barras, it made us look grande!
Here it is, my music and Will’s artwork.
Italy’s representative, Tayone.
And this is England’s 2tall. We cut it up fresh altogether!
Tatsuki x 2tall – drum freestyle from Original Cultures on Vimeo.
もういっちょ!
Tayone x Tatsuki x 2tall – soundcheck improv from Original Cultures on Vimeo.
たつき － http://blog.livedoor.jp/onushi1/
