Drawing Utopias is an exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of the thomas more’s book utopia In 1516, renaissance man Thomas More published his famous book Utopia in London. Utopia described in detail an imaginary island located in the Atlantic Ocean and its socio-economic organization. The title of the book resulted from the Greek: ou (“not”) and topos (“place”) and means “no-place”. Utopia became a celebrated text and has inspired the imagination of people for more than 5 centuries. Its influence was so important that even today, the word utopia stands as a symbol of idealism; the human drive of sketching/inventing alternatives to improve the world. The exhibition assembles the works of a group of artists coming from different parts of the world, which responded to utopia with paper based art works. Besides their works, the artists provided answers to the following two questions: 1. Drawing utopias - how do you connect your work with utopia ? 2. Dream economics - what would be an ideal scenario for your art practice in terms of economics?
The exhibition is part of the research project Dream Economics. Dream Economics is an artistic research project led by artist Maria Lusitano, that investigates through artistic research the interconnection between dreams, the relational self and novel economic models that are broadly entitled “New Economics”. The project unfolds through a mix of research, experimental exhibitions and participatory workshops. Dream Economics happens in a partnership with IKLECTIK Art Lab. IKLECTIK Art Lab is a creative space located in Lambeth North, that began in 2014. The space is dedicated to the development of cross disciplinary lines to promote experimental contemporary art. IKLECTIK aims to become a key hub and arts think tank for arts/new economics discourse. As such it aims to curate and host exhibitions, performances and events that ask questions, tell stories and foster conversations about the relationship between art and alternative economic practices and how these can be used to promote positive social change. For more info visit: http://www.dreameconomics.com/ http://iklectikartlab.com/ http://www.marialusitano.org/
NEWSPAPER EDITION OF 5. NOVEMBER 2016. Cover and Back Cover images by Maria Lusitano
Alena Kuznetsova Daydreamer, 2016, Colour digital print A3 on coated paper 90 gr
My work “Daydreamer” is like looking through the looking glass of the ‘image’ phenomenon. I reduce all the unnecessary in my non-figurative color paintings. Sometimes, I become a bit tired of questions like ‘what did you want to tell with this?’ or simply ‘what is it?’ I use a digital code to create some images in my abstract paintings, that were not supposed to be present. Its an utopian psychedelic gesture, demonstrating hidden patterns and agreeing to be a machine, just artisan, not an artist.
Alice geirinhas Animal, 2016, scratchboard, linocut
1. Drawing Utopias: The walls can’t stop the bird woman. 2. Dream Economics: No system, no art system, only art.
Alison miller My life in a dream, 2016, Graphic novel
1. Drawing Utopias: Through dream logic my work explores the drive for creative self-expression, the inner psychic structures that both enable as well as inhibit the expression of self. Portraying some of the layered complexity of the mind, my work acknowledges the thoughtfulness of the unconscious to inform and guide the more conscious self. Recognition of this unconscious thoughtfulness may help us more ably navigate within our existing worlds and perhaps aid us in creating better ones. 2. Dream Economics: Central to conventional economics is a sorry model of humanity – Economic Man. This being is ‘rational’ - only interacting with others in the market in order to satisfy his or her self- interest, which may be subjectively determined, but will be pursued in an optimal way. Wants and desires not backed by the ability to pay are more or less ignored. Of course Economics will protest that these assumptions will be relaxed to make economic models more accurately approximate reality. Fat chance I say. Artistic creative enterprise on the other hand deals with images, ideas, sounds words that are not shackled by such arid instrumental constructs. Instead we artists are more concerned with the awkward clutter of life, the hard to speak of; the stuff that we may sometimes shrink from. The thoughts, emotions, feelings and messiness of experience, are the very stuff that art rescues from oblivion. Art must now be our ally in helping us rescue ourselves from an economics that denies us much of what it is to be human.
Andreia alves oliveira ldn_31052016, from the series The Framer: A Scripto-Visual Diary (2015-present) 1. Drawing Utopias: My series The Framer: A Scripto-Visual Diary consists of photographs and text (added using digital editing software), originating in the everyday activities of making photos, reading, thinking, living and establishing connections between these.‘ldn_31052016’ is composed of an image made in the path that I take daily on my way to the tube. I was drawn to the juxtaposition of skyscrapers and supernatural skies, by the geometry and symmetry of the view. That day I read on a sociology theory book the sentence, which is a quote taken from Karl Marx’s oeuvre. Its clear and simple articulation of the goals of a socially engaged scientific discipline struck me. The point of documentary and art practice could be conceived in the same terms. The path to the skyscraper city photographed earlier came to mind. The goal needs to be to study the deceitful utopia that these skyscrapers stand for and confidently take the path that leads to them in order to change it. 2. Dream Economics: Less economics, more dreams: to build a society less focused on consumption and its corollary: money-making activities, and more attuned to creative practices and aesthetic and intellectual production and enjoyment. The concept of an “universal income” which increasingly is moving from its academic and theoretical origins onto political and governmental arenas where its implementation is being studied and debated, offers an opportunity for citizens and voters to bring into being this simple but to the eyes of our current society perhaps utopian idea(l).
Anne Marte Overaa Viva la tristeza, photograph by anna wahlgren edition of 70 Society today tells a story of happiness and success that sounds like a promise but is felt as a demand. Fulfill your dreams! Anyone can reach their goal, grasp their rightful position in life. When we fall short, the gap between ambition and results leads to feelings of failure, jealousy and anxiety.I want to dissolve this inhibiting daily quest by creating unpredictable moments, to allow people to wriggle out from underneath the pressure of external expectation and embrace the befuddlement. 1. Drawing Utopias: As an artist, I often see myself as a teenager in the back of a car that I’m not in control of, listening to music through my headphones. Utopia is that place inside my mind, which allows me to envision things that cannot be. I would say that I consider all art-practices as linked to Utopia in one way or another, because art is so connected to the world of dreams and ideas. 2. Dream Economics: My idea of a utopian scenario for creative artistic practice would be the artworld as a place for soft elbows with a strong ‘live and let live’ mentality. However, when reflecting upon this dream, I can see it has its dangers: that art could become disengaged, implosive, and perhaps increasingly uninteresting as it would not reflect the turbulence and overwhelming flow of material that the world outside provides, whatever its difficult hierarchies and pressures, provides. It may also be impossible to achieve, but lets not talk about that ;) So meanwhile I strive to be able to preserve my own ability to stay focused and independent regardless of support from the outside. The work of an artist is like the one of researchers, we always have to convince someone to approve and support each step of our live’s work, it is a process of uncertainty. Constantly applying to keep your job, perpetually generating numberless applications takes a lot of energy. However, I cannot see a more decent alternative that could exist in the world we live in today. We can only strive for a fairer and more welcoming artworld, where diverse groups of people, unblinded by their privilege and aware of their responsibility, decide who will be granted the opportunities which make life as an artist possible. Those of use who depend on those people in power must (in an utopian, or even simply more hopeful, future) start to discover their own position of power, and be prepared to take responsibility for their artistic lives, as well as artistic work.
ANTONIO OCCULTO Decision-making Power, Collage and pen marker on paper, 20,7x27,3cm, 2016 1. Drawing Utopias: My collage art in itself is an utopian expression which binds fragments of broken realities into illusions that are more touchable. 2. Dream Economics: I dream of an art world in which gallery owners invest in artists without cheating them. Also where every sector is connected so that we can achieve transparency and inclusion instead of ambiguousness and impenetrability. In this way artists will have better chances of maintaining their integrity and profession.
daniel Fernandes untitled, charcoal, graphite and pigment on paper, 2015 1. Drawing Utopias: A twenty meters long yellowish grey arena. There are tables inside. Five tables of various sizes. To get there: walk for 30 min. A track, a circle, an arena. When I arrive, I open a door, close the same door and open another door. An outdoor space, an enclosed courtyard where the clouds are painted in a blue-grey on background wall. The relationship with the landscape is made through one of the various windows that are at the bottom of this courtyard. It is the third window from the top right. In it a distant reflection of an image. A dim reflection. The shadow of a landscape. 2. Dream Economics: A world so full of images, especially finished images. Drawing is immediate and economic practice favors the construction of unfinished and fragile images. Instead of looking for completeness, the practice of drawing produces fragments of a world in constant construction, which is made and remade in each drawing. These unfinished images may produce the possibility to make us dream again. In fact, the images that come to us from of this immense flow appear to be unimaginative, without time for imagination. In this sense lies an approximation to archeology in which the production of images, by drawing, are though as a practice of undoing the burnish.
Ditte Ejlerskov Abbreviation, 2016, 54 x 39 cm, photogravure This piece is made with 4 photopolymer plates as part of my Barbados project. The print is a still from the film, separated into 4 colors for the plates and then collected again on paper under pressure from the press. It all began long ago with an email from a scammer from Barbados. I replied and an enthusiastic correspondence unfolded. The dialogue is about fiction, fact and utopia! Before our dialogue came to an end, Fergal the scammer had, on my request, traveled across the island to document Bajan pop star Rihanna’s home. Time passes and the scammer begins writing me again a year later. One thing leeds to another and I find myself on an isolated beach on the other side of the planet—continuously writing his now dead email account. Pregnant, slightly confused but intensively alert, I am gliding around in Riri’s world. Through my camera I discover the ruin of Paradise Beach Club. This throws me back into a J. G. Ballard book about an imaginary vacation resort for artists and wealthy eccentrics. Intensely I google Riri paddling these very waters. I paddle myself on a cheap foam surfboard. The Barbados days are strikingly saturated, yet profoundly slow. And so warm. I keep googling, remembering, emailing, filming it all. Detached from the everyday hassle, I think differently (dream-like) and I keep writing. Eventually, my mind gets the googled paddle photos mixed up with Peter Doig’s melting canoe paintings. This, amongst other Island experiences, builds the core of my recent workflow. Super skilled filmmaker Simon Möller is post producing the film. Similar to what I am trying to do with paint in my studio, we have bathed the clips in aesthetics inspired by travel magazines. Here the water is cyan-colored, the sky is blue and all plants are greeeen (not the yellow-brown of reality). We are going for a composed ambience—reminiscent too of Sci-fi and early Net Art. Tina Sauerländer has written the afterword for the publication that consists of two books with the emails and one book with film stills. About the film she writes: “A huge cruise ship landing on a small picturesque island resembles a collage ignoring any scale or proportion. It looks unreal and the observer can hardly believe his own eyes. This feeling of disbelief haunts the reader of “My Bajan Letters” and leads to his wish to verify the information given. He googles. Nowadays anything you can’t find there does not exist. There is no need to visit any place physically, because when you can google it, it is there—and you could just photoshop yourself into the image. The artist sitting on Rihanna’s beach almost looks too good to be true. Was she really there? Was Fergal ever there? At the end of the film, Peter Doig’s Red Canoe melts into a googled image of Rihanna on a surfboard at a beach in Barbados… at least Rihanna was really there”.
ESPERANZA VAQUERIN Untitled, 2016, 39 cm x29 cm, ink and paint on hand made paper
My work is a poetic interpretation of the world we live in. An utopian drawing of my own presence versus the absence of those who leave or die. In my own practice I use materials that I find in my daily life to create my own language and narrative..Nothing is unimportant in my drawing. I use thread, paint, flowers that I dry and hold and pray with. I am trying to create an aesthetic utopia without pretension. I am trying to express the possibility of saying something with my drawing and paintings.. My work is symbolic and I use metaphors. I work with materials that are supposed to be “nature morte� but paradoxically they are very much alive within my discourse. I unconsciously choose found objects , I draw with materials , thread and paint. I use dreams and traces of my own memory. My work is in essence a dialogue with the inner void.
Gizem Enuysal Trekkie’s Dream, 59,5 x 47 cm59 x 42 cm, Oil and Pencil on Paper, 2015
1. Drawing Utopias: My work is associated with Utopia via child’s dream. As a Trekkie, the school boy dreams of becoming Commander Spock. He wears the uniform of Star Trek Crew, under his white collar, which is a traditional symbol of school. Commander Spock is an important character in the Star Trek society . This society has Utopian principles in itself, particularly in ‘the Federation’, such as as endless freedom, equality and peace. 2. Dream Economics: For me the ideal scenario is the diversity and equality of artist’s production conditions. My dream economics is share-ability of experience and artistic heritage between artists, without any obstacles.
Hugo Houayek Drawing of dystopic landscape, Digital Drawing
1. Drawing Utopias: All my works are little notes of personal utopias. 2. Dream Economics: Behaving like a paradox, a utopian dream will never come true, will forever remain a dream, a promise never fulfilled, is an illusion to be pursued.
INES ROLO AMADO Utopia-ing, drawing and photos, 2016
1. Drawing Utopias: By interconnecting life and art, addressing issues of sustainability, and environmental quests, through a collective and participatory practice. Whilst challenging the allure of the established art market. 2. Dream Economics: This would be a world where art and living would be an integral part of each other with no manipulation of market forces, or art being a privilege for the wealthy; collected and housed in spaces gathering dust and accumulating assets.
JILL ROCK DIVERCITY, Metal shelf, birch bark and texts, 50 x50cm 1. Drawing Utopias: I have made several attempts at defining my Utopia but always seem to come up against the personal problem of disliking fixed societies. Even so I recognise that we have to stand up and fight for the right to imagine our own Utopias and to fight those with dubious aims who impose themselves on society, so this is my solution referencing Thomas More, William Blake, the Borg from Star Trek 1990 and my own thoughts all colour coded for recognition. 2. Dream Economics: “There is no wealth but life”, said John Ruskin.I first heard this saying nearly 20 years ago and I have never found it to be at fault. My notion of economics is that I have enough money for my needs and a bit extra for pleasures. I prefer to go without than get into debt and believe me as an artist I can live very cheaply if necessary. But money itself is not the whole of economics. It is a frame of mind. To value things by monetary value is sad and a waste of time - “To know the price of everything and the value of nothing” is a cliche but worth having in mind when much of the political and economic world is concerned with “price”, “value for money” “economic benefit”.etc., it’s where rampant capitalism has got us to. There is no value placed on personal relationships, society or service. Personal judgement of value is ridiculed yet when you think about it economic thinking based on money is so simplistic as to be ridiculous itself. Someone said to me that financial success was based on hard work - no - then he said that people who acquired great wealth were more intelligent - no - the point is that they want to acquire great wealth and it becomes their aim in life and to me that is tragic. Concerning my art work I try to keep money out of it. My materials are not expensive because I use what is to hand. I don’t seem to have acquired the knack of getting funding so I get by. I like it if someone buys a work but that is a wonderful surprise. I have friends who value selling work more highly than myself and some musicians only work for money. That’s fine but for me my art work is my way of life, not a career and whilst I am lucky now to continue my life without a paying job it has not always been that way so I do understand money has to be acquired somehow. I suppose what I am saying is that at last I can pursue my art work without payment and I value that. So I come back to the distinction between money and value: THERE IS NO WEALTH BUT LIFE
I turn on some drumming music, close my eyes and there I go, on a journey. My mind travels back in time, to London, 500 years ago. The movie, begins, and with the images, I can also feel the sounds, and the intense scents of the city. And the city is dirty, bursting with life, filled with small businesses of butchers and bakeries, people moving around going inside and outside pubs, I see carriages being pushed by horses. i hear A small kid screaming, a laundry woman washing clothes at the river. Moving towards the Tower of London, I can see now the heads of executed people put on spikes. The smells are intense, of food and blood, dirt and excrement, of flowers too, being sold on a corner, by a dirty sweet girl . Can you picture it? Can you picture London in 1516? Now imagine a gentleman, an educated and civilized man, roaming around, day dreaming, with his hands in his pockets. Can you see him with his three point hat over his dark hair, walking back to his home in Camden, dreamingly looking at the sky? He is Thomas More. An important gentleman. Good and bad, as everyone, but a visionary. 500 years ago, Thomas More wrote the book Utopia. Born in 1478 in London, he was the son of a successful lawyer. He studied in Oxford and became a lawyer just like his father. Then for some time, he was the Lord High Chancellor of England. He lived all his life in London and died in London, condemned to death (having before though, tortured one or two catholics, accused of heresy). Despite his tough ending, Thomas More did drink Ambrosia,the elixir of immortality, because his consciousness, his words, remain alive. Utopia is a word that he invented, which entered the global vocabulary. Thomas More, I am sure, is now overlooking us from Heaven, enjoying eternal bliss while discussing his ideas, with his companions, at some sort of literary salon in Olympus. Utopia is the name of an imaginary island located in the Atlantic Ocean, and the book describes its socio-economic organization in detail. UTOPIA. I have always liked that word. So to celebrate its anniversary, I organized an exhibition with a a group of artists coming from different parts of the world. The idea was simple: To respond to utopia with paper based art works and to provide answers to the following two simple questions: how do you connect your work with utopia ? what would be an ideal scenario for your art practice in terms of economics? The exhibition happened at Iklectik art lab, in itself an utopia as well, an arts center dedicated to music and contemporary art, that results from the effort of Eduard and his grandfather, an elderly citizen living in Barcelona, who dared to invest in his beloved grandson’s dreams. So, 10 days before the opening of Drawing Utopias, I went to IKLECTIK, which is located on a little hidden village in the center of London (a 10 minute walk to Westminster), consisting of 5 houses surrounded by a garden, to check the art works being sent from all over the world. Very curious, I began unpacking one work after another, until I came across a squared cardboard box. I opened it, to discover that inside the box, there was an hand made black folder, protecting Antonio Occulto’s collage for the exhibition. Cut into the black folder, Antonio had designed an elegant little envelope. I opened it, and saw a brand new 20 euro note: Antonio’s contribution for the exhibition, sent from Norway. My heart sank with a sudden epiphany: how interesting the way artists look at everything aesthetically, even money. The insight triggered once more, inside myself, the question that has been haunting me for the past months. The query came back, crystal clear:
Utopia, first edition, 1516, by Thomas More
What is the force that drives us, artists, to make art, regardless of the fact that the economic reward for whatever we do, 99 percent of times, is zero ? And if so, how do we pay our bills ? Everyone has one answer, but I will give you mine: We are driven by our love of aesthetics, our investigation into the possibility of representing the invisible (the not seen/said), and the transcendental, but also the shadows, the questions the world needs to ask. ( “Artists ask questions”, my friend Jill Rock told me, over the course of a heartwarming phone call from Hastings, by the seaside). Artists do art, because they have to. The force is pulling them, from a strange attractor located in the future ( I would say) and their works, as they all affirm, are the vehicle through which they express their personal utopias, their dreams. Artists are used to the no money scenario. I’d say artists are a bit like spiritual people, whether they like it or not. Artists similar to monks, monks similar to artists. Historically, we have always produced art work without any type of expectation in terms of economic reward. Who doesn’t know the story of the artist as a romantic and poor individual living in a small apartment in Paris? Fast forward to the 21st century, we are still, one of the poorest and more precarious professional groups. Why is that? I suspect that artists look at money as an utopia. A no place. A no, no! Most of us just are not interested in money. Or if we are, we don’t know anything (plus we are not interested in knowing) about economics. We just quickly accept the reality that we will have to find a second job to pay the bills. Or we become more commercial. Money, for us, is bad, I suspect. No wonder everyone was so poetic when I asked them to write a comment on their dream economics. Karen Piddington’s dream economics, for example, was a place, “where monetary value doesn’t feature; where human beings do not exploit or dominate the natural world; and where they are reconnected to the earth and respect all species regardless”. As for Johanna Bolton, her ideal was: “A place where we measure achievement in terms of progress, knowledge and refinement, not money. “ And Jill Rock (I can picture her, dreamingly looking at the burst of waves, while I hear her slightly grave voice, over the phone): “Concerning my art work I try to keep money out of it.” Just like in the book utopia, artists thrive for a no money society... But Utopia holds some shadows... Jill was in Hastings, and had some free time, so she decided to re-read Utopia. She found the book creepy and sad, rigid and totalitarian. Her comments reminded me how a while ago, when researching films depicting utopia, I discovered that most, approached the topic through the idea of dystopia. Many artists present in the exhibition address dystopia. Hugo Houayek, from Brazil, poignantly evokes dystopia, by sending us a computer drawing and refusing any type of answer to the two questions. What a sharp example of dystopia, a minimalistic cold drawing, stubbornly refusing to relate to others. His art work, points to one of the greatest fears of our present times: the impact of automation and robots, leading us into a meaningless, disconnected humanity. A new question crosses my mind: Is money, what is leading us to dystopia? I mean, is money the reason for all sorts of problems, happening on earth? I thought so in the past, but today, that is not, my personal opinion. Money, stems from Monad, the one, the unit, and money, I feel, it is not bad. Its neutral, its immaterial, its whatever we want. Its an invention. Money is an invention Money is a unit of energy to be transformed into... whatever. We do live in a world that praises and honours money for all the wrong reasons though. Quite paradoxically, I think artists are profoundly integrated in that system, the capitalist system. They are embedded up to their bones, just like anyone else living today, in its core values. We all run after exhibitions, grants and open calls, produce art all the time, and dream of constant productivity. The funny thing, is that even though we are not interested in economic rewards, most of us are caught in the mouse trap of running after the carrot of career and success (in the carrot stick metaphor of classical capitalism the carrot is profit or success, and the stick is failure, or debt). As for myself, what is my carrot now, today, 40 days after I first began writing this essay, my personal carrot, is time, aeon. uchronia, no time. Time, is my personal utopia. I am running after time, to have time. More time, to do more art. Meaningful art, slow art. No Place Utopia, which in Greek means, no place, is a vision, a dream, a playful exercise of imagination, a sketch of an ideal place. It is the name of an imaginary island located in the Atlantic Ocean that is organized in such a way, that people are happier and better off than the one
Ralph Offenhauser, a financier from the XXth century, is a character from an episode of Star Trek, a famous TV series, that began in 1966.
Headpiece from Thomas Moore’s work depicting Hythlodaeus
Portrait of Sir Thomas More, by Peter Paul Rubens
Matrix (1999) is a science fiction film exploring dystopia. The film depicts a vision of life on Earth, where life is a façade created by a malevolent cyber intelligence.
In 2016 Switzerland voted a referendum about the basic income. A Basic Income, one of the Utopia’s previsions, is now being debated throughout the world as a possible future scenario.
Commander Jean-Luc Picard, for the TV and film series Star Trek
Charles Eisenstein is an utopian of the 21st century who writes about Gift Economy and how civilization can be shaped from the perspective of an evolution of the human sense of self.
Sacred economics is a book by Charles Eisenstein, that explores visionary ideas of money, gift and society in the Age of transition to a post carbon world.
Utopia, engraving by Johann Froben, 1518 edition
living in reality, ie, More’s reality, England, 1516. The inhabitants of the Island have no private property and people just have to work 6 hours a day.The book has an interesting structure: it assembles a collection of letters exchanged between a character called More, and a group of other people. Those letters introduce us to the traveller Raphael Hythlodaeus, who has visited Utopia. It’s Hythlodaeus who describes and praises the island of utopia. But his name, originating from Greek, funnily, means “nonsense”. It seems as if More, a public figure of his time, uses the book, to denounce private property, and advocate a form of communism through the epistles of Raphael Hythlodaeus/Nonsense. Through his alterego character Hythlodaeus, More gains courage to rant about the “conspiracy of the rich” which he characterizes as greedy,unscrupulous and useless. He even writes about a kind of gentrification happening in London 500 years ago. He explains how tenants are evicted so that “one insatiable glutton and accursed plague of his native land” may consolidate his fields. The problem, it seems, is always the same: attachment to money. “Monarchs”, he argues, “would do well to swear at their inauguration never to have more than 1,000lbs of gold in their coffers”. The fictional “More”, doesn’t always agree with what goes on the island of Utopia. As an experienced lawyer, he knows how to argue the pros and cons of Utopia, as described by Raphael. He claims that a country with communal property will have no prosperity. The people will have no incentive to work, since they will be fed by the labor of others. Lack of private property will also eliminate all respect for authority, and increase bloodshed and conflict. Hythlodaeus opinion about property, on the other way, is supported by a religious argument: holding property communally, he says, is the way of life Jesus instructed his apostles to follow, since it would lead to the reduction of pride, greed, poverty, irrationality, and exploitation of the poor by the wealthy. A second theme of Utopia is, once more, very up to date: the belief in technology and technological innovation as a means toward progress. Utopians are very enthusiastic about new technologies, and thrive to master the techniques behind it. Technology, for them, is a means to a better life. 500 years afterwards, technology is seen by many, as a scary evolution, somewhat out of control. The fearful “other” of the 21st century, is the robot, which is taking away humans jobs, and producing inequality. On the other hand technology is enabling now one of Utopias visions: the no money society. People increasingly engage in alternative ways of exchange that don’t rely on money : peer to peer economy, gift economy and the collaborative commons, become buzzwords. Some thinkers of the gift economy even venture to speak about a sacred economics, updating hythlodaeus religious arguments in favour of a no money society, to the values of the 21st century. Are we finally entering the no-money/gift economy era, as Hythlodaeus (Nonsense), so excitedly seemed to be announcing, as the holy grail of socio - economic organization, 500 years ago ? is Utopia’s vision coming true? that crazy/scary/wonderful dream? Drawing Utopias is a subchapter of a project, which began one year ago,
after a fantastic dream.
I was living in a run down large house, almost in ruins, with my family. The house had a patio and I was very tired as well as my family. In a particular moment of the dream, I was with my face on my hands, resting, talking tired words with my ex partner. Then my friend Marta Wengorovius, suddenly appeared, and walked down the stairs. She was happy and excited. She had come to help me organize my house. She had discovered marvellous furniture in its attic that I had no idea about, and helped me to decorate a business I didn’t know I had: a restaurant, that existed on the first floor of the house. My restaurant was filled with clients, various families, who were all eating delicious colourful food. I woke up in wonder. Striken by this dream, I began the project dream economics in 2016. My goal was to investigate the interconnection between art, dreams and novel economic models, broadly entitled “New Economics”. I was particularly interested in the field of gift economy, after attending a series of talks about it at Saint Ethelburga’s Center for peace and reconciliation in London. New economics originates from a profound disbelief on the current rationalistic approach to economics, that is seen, by larger and larger groups of people, as not serving anyone, anymore. The organizer of the event, Amrita Bhohi defined new economics in the following way: “New economics is not about a single alternative, but about many possible alternatives united by a common set of values. These values, models and practices - democratisation of wealth and ownership, localism, protecting the commons, community sustainability and resilience.” People ask me: Why dreams and economics? And I answer that economics means, in its etymological origin: “house keeping”. But to do a proper house keeping, we need to clean all corners and closed rooms. And dreams can help us do that. But how to explore and bridge night dreams ... with daily dreams/desires and utopias ? Night dreams tap into the unconscious. With their help we can truly engage in a profound “inner house keeping” which will help us on our outer world journey. What can dreams tell us about what is there for us to tackle, what is there that is blocking us? Carl Jung, a long time literary friend, studied the function of dreams, and he wrote how “dreams express new thoughts that haven’t reached the threshold of consciousness”. I wanted to map and decipher dreams, to then sketch new ways to organize my life, our lives.
Exotic Victorian City, collage and drawing over paper, Dreamscapes artist book, 2017, Maria Lusitano
What is happening now? in 2017 ? One year after that dream, I keep dreaming a lot about houses. Huge houses, filled with people, and curiously, always my own. The people in my houses, are not always connected, are not always talking to each other and listening to each other. The houses are a bit chaotic, queer, unusual and strange. But somewhat pleasant. I go around and around in my dream houses sometimes feeling tired and confused. I have been dreaming of houses, because I have been doing some dream housekeeping – dream economics. (Tonight, I plan to incubate a dream: I am going to speak to the strangers that are populating my house. They are myself,parts of myself. I am going to connect, by having the uncomfortable conversations, that need to be owned. I am going to do some proper dream housekeeping, dream economics. ) The strangers in my dreams are ... “I” and I... an a interbeing No woman is an island. No housekeeping is a solo work. For a proper house keeping (economics) we do need to deeply transform what we are. If we want a new world, shaped by a new, more sustainable and environment-friendly type of economics, that integrates people, animals, plants and minerals, we need to experiment with the idea that there is a stronger force than the one of our ego, our separate self. That force, I call it here the higher self, is deeply aware how it relates to everything else. The force knows that the wellness of all is the common good. This idea is beautiful, on a literary and idealistic viewpoint. But to put it into practice, is messy and tough. How can us, artists, so embedded in the tradition of the separate author, the romantic soul, living all her or his life under the spell of the dark night of the soul, (which provides us with our uniqueness) abandon that (perhaps) outdated skin, and move into the skin of the “commons-in-action”, embracing full heartedly the messy collaboration of the relational self, the interbeing ? We cannot fool ourselves. In order to do so, we will have to look at our shadows. Our nightmares. Our darkness. Our dreams. The people with whom we relate on our daily basis, can help us profoundly with that. They are our mirrors. As Krishnamurti says: “Relationship, surely, is the mirror in which you discover yourself. Without relationship you are not; to be is to be related;” Living as if there was no time... in uchronia As a child, I felt I had all the time in the world. I used to lay in bed, daydreaming, anxiously waiting for a space ship, that would take me time travelling through space. The future, I thought, was not on Earth, but on a distant planet that was watching us, observing our evolution. No wonder my enthusiasm, when I discovered the magic philosopher Mc Kenna, speculating about time, with his time machine. What drives history, or linear time, says Terence McKenna is a ‘Strange Attractor,’ a transcendental object at the end of time. What happens now, he kind of says, is in permanent flow towards a future that wants to happen. My childhood longing for a space ship was my own symbolical strange attractor, pushing me, step by step, towards my becoming. Back then, my favorite series, was Star Trek. I remember how I waited anxiously for Star Trek’s weekly episode, to travel to distant lands. I loved their adventures through space, but also their civility, when relating to each other, and their fascinating encounters with societies different from their own. In Star Trek´s ideal world, in its utopian territory, the federation, it seemed that essentially, everything had worked out. I’ll never forget the famous episode in which commander Jean-Luc Picard tries to explain to character Ralph Offenhouse, a banker from the 20th century, that there would be no need for the money of his law firm anymore: “A lot has changed in three hundred years. People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of ‘things’. We have eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions.” Ralph Offenhouse, was a Human financier that in the late 20th century had been diagnosed with terminal cardiomyopathy. He had himself cryogenically frozen, only to wake up 400 years later in a moneyless world, where his bank accounts didn’t exist anymore. Still stuck in the logic of capitalism Offenhouse expressed chock with the economic world of the 24th century. During the 90s, he had successfully pursued profit and self-interest, in tune with the values of his time, in order to have power. The power of money though, in the 24th century, was meaningless. People lived in abundance, thus they were now only interested in spiritual development and improving themselves. Star Trek sets up an unusually optimistic scenario for a sci fi film. But the curious clip with Ralph Offenhouse, is ambiguous. Money has to do with power, he says... Due to his money, he was able to wake up 3 centuries after his death. As for myself, living in the 21st century, what do I think about power? Power is a neutral force. It can be used in whatever way. Power is potere, skill. And if money unlinks itself from power, what is left? No power, can also be a quite dystopian scenario. What kind of world would we have if all would be sorted out, all in total contentment ? Johan Furåker plays with this idea in his mathematical drawing of a static idyl … “If ideal life is illustrated with mathematical graphics it will be a static line on the top of the paper. For all eternity.”
Star Trek Spaceship
The astrotravellers inner space journeys, Dreamscapes Artist Book, 2017, Maria Lusitano
A boring paradisiac idyll where there is nothing to do, is proper for angels, perhaps, but not for us, who have fallen from sky, and embodied matter, blood and flesh, to fool around, make scenes, have sex, construct houses and stories, be overwhelmed by tears and moved by laughter. I am reminding myself now, of an Indian tale, that at a certain point, says: “the well of suffering was getting dry, so it had to be filled again.” Discontent and thirst for new adventures means some degree of challenges, stuff to make us move on... to where? “Is it worth then, to thrive for utopia, for a better world? What is a perfect society, and what’s the best kind of utopianism?” asks Terry Eagleton, then concluding that our system is run by dreamers who call themselves realists. How can us, artists help creating dreams? I ask. Andreia Oliveira reminds us of artists political responsibility with her work. Answering the questions, Andrea refers to a practical possibility that would enable a dream economics: “The concept of an “universal income” which increasingly is moving from its academic and theoretical origins onto political and governmental arenas where its implementation is being studied and debated, offers an opportunity for citizens and voters to bring into being this simple but to the eyes of our current society perhaps utopian idea(l).
“...many spiritual traditions talk about ‘the space between us’ even calling it ‘sacred’. “ says Leandro Herrero. I make mine, his words. The space between us and the monad, money, can be sacred too. The world, can be sacred, is sacred. I am ready for drawing holy messy utopias, and with that move on, move on. Move into where no one has gone before.
Maria lusitano, 2017
Cyborg astronauts and Gods with Anus, collage and drawing over paper, Dreamscapes Artist Book, 2017, Maria Lusitano
Johan FurĂĽker A Static Idyll, 2012
If ideal life is illustrated with mathematical graphics it will be a static line on the top of the paper. For all eternity.
Johanna Bolton I Twang, A system for divining the future by found elastic bands. A gentle guide to the future.
1. Drawing Utopias: This work is a gentle play on the idea that the universe guides us through easily found signs. People crave guidance and reassurance. In childhood, a (hopefully) benevolent authority figure seemed to have all the answers. We long to get back to this certainty, I think that is why people are so willing to give up their freedoms to religious and political fanatics. 2. Dream Economics: A place where a human would get the means to grow to be all that she could be. A place where we measure achievement in terms of progress, knowledge and refinement, not money.
Karen Piddington Renegade heroes save the planet from automobile infestation through the use of giant magnets. Ink and watercolour drawing on A4 paper.
My vision of utopia is not one seen simply through the prism of humankind. Rather it is one where all creatures hold an equal status; where monetary value doesn’t feature; where human beings do not exploit or dominate the natural world; and where they are reconnected to the earth and respect all species regardless.
LAWRENCE CRANE Watercolour and ink on cartridge paper and parchement
“Of course the idea of Utopia differs from person to person, but while drawing and creating the world of my own Utopia, I stumbled across the idea of a robotic and natural world merged together. Within the world illness and war would be gone replaced with a world of serenity. Some would argue that this is similar to Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, but I would argue that this world is much like the idea of ancient civilisations where philosophy and free thought and speech are paramount. Very much like a dream.”
Maria Papacharalambous “Mnemotechnics of the Self” Small booklet of 48 pg. 21x15cm
Marta caldas untitled, 19x25, graphite on paper
1. Drawing Utopias: Drawing and utopia are both exercises of the possible. 2 Dream Economics: Its inconceivable an ideal scenario for creative practice. So inconceivable as an ideal creative practice.
Mercedes Marin portrait- abstrait_detrait , Printed CG image
My work is created by digital tools as emotional instruments through which we express our emotions and feeling nowadays. The work shown in this exhibition is a series of images if a Virtual Reality environment created in an attempt to shape the personal view of artificial paradises and utopia. As I consider the personal as geopolitical, this view becomes conditioned by space and embodiment. Through this enviroments the geopolitical condition become abstracted and dissolved into infinite possibilities for the construction of new landscapes.
Maria teresa silva Take one, 2016 , 100 balls Telefax paper 21 x 21 cm (8.3 x 8.3 in), organic seeds (variable dimensions).
1. Drawing Utopias: Is there really any connection to Take one with Utopia? 2. Dream Economics: My dream economics … would be to be able to “work to live” instead of “living to work”. A day’s work would have six hours, a night of sleep/dream would have eight and still be left so long ...
Niamh murray Krystallos 1, Graphite pencil and photograph glicee print, Size A1
I am interested in journey’s and journeying. In this series of work entitled ‘Panspermia’, I explore the question not of our origins but of where we might be headed. Panspermia is the theory or hypothesis that life on the earth originated from microorganisms or chemical precursors of life present in outer space which were transported to earth from elsewhere in the universe via asteroids, comets and so forth. These microorganisms are able to initiate life on reaching a suitable environment, such as planet earth. I have suspended rocks and fossils within the vacuum of a bell-jar as homage to those who have gone into space, written about space or dared to dream of other worlds or life forms. These specimens themselves represent just how little we still know about the wonders of our own planet, our solar system and beyond, offering great hope and excitement for utopian day dreaming. “It’s that surreal moment when you think of yourself standing on the surface of the earth and you draw your imaginations eye above the planet, to the stratosphere above and then out to the farther reaches of the cosmos extending into the Milky Way and beyond. There is a shift in your conscious being ,which causes you to question the present moment and everything revolving within it. “
ROSARIO REBELLO DE ANDRADE Untitled, 2016 (work in progress) (Deutschland, Übungskarte/Germany, Chart of exercises Germany) 1. Drawing Utopias: The following transcription, “a poem without end”, is part of one of my recent drawings “the light that comes through the window”. This poem translates my close connection to drawing Utopia. “The light that comes through the window at noon . when I walk or fall or arise . is the same that has always entered . even when my eyes don’t feel or perceive it . as the quality or quantity of this light . is not in me but in the emanated light itself . and if my eyes pause . to savour it at any moment in time . the light shall penetrate all my being . and emanate everything I can learn or apprehend . and then the window . or the light . or the light’s source . can or cannot be . a metaphor for my body . which shall transmit light . I repeat . not depending on my desire . but on letting me open to light . because if I close myself . the light is there anyway . but it is as if it wouldn’t be present . in order to enlighten my being . and all other beings and bodies from earth and heaven . and let them turn into a lamp . but if everything is connected and blended . then turns into an unending chain . which heats and transforms everything . from one state to another state . still to be known . the same way it happens with time . because the light that comes through…” 2. Dream Economics: Economics are important, yes, but only in the way we use it: investing in art should take a big role, yes, but in the sense of enabling the artist to live from his/ her work with dignity and with the purpose of contributing to build the ideal society. Economics are important, yes, but with the sense of creating subventions and support for art creators rather then allowing speculation or economical profit to individuals. The existing world borders, where art or artistic practice takes place, should be vanished, yes, but allowing each one to share individuality in which each culture can be maintained. Contemporary art should be seen as a portrait of the present, yes, but to any engaged artist should be given the possibility of bringing to public his/her expression in how hope towards the future is essential.
Valerie oliver Other Space of Conceptual Thought. Mixed media using two film negatives printed onto lining wall paper.
1. Drawing Utopias: I have discovered along the way, that I identify as being post structuralist and influenced by existentialism. I connect my work with Utopia as I explore ideas to create ‘other space’ of thought. To create space free from power of control within the limitations that are a part of our culture and society, according to Foucault’s (1984) heterotopias. 2. Dream Economics: My ideal scenario for creative artistic practise would be to have space and time to educate the whole of society to value freedom of thought for the enlightenment of an individual.
wayne clements Bookwork. Eight page booklet, size A5.
This is a bookwork. The book is comprised entirely of phrases taken from More’s Utopia. These phrases are all of the structure: ‘no ... ‘ A series of negations.
Andreia Oliveira Photographer and researcher based in London. My practice explores subjects related to contemporary life, more specifically life in Western, service-based society. I am interested in what is around, the reality I’m immersed in, what makes life here, now, what it is. Who are we? What is happening to us, in this moment, and why? Research interests include the notion of artistic research, and the theory of photography and theories of representation, in relation to concepts of space and the everyday.2015 PhD practice-based, CREAM, University of Westminster, London. Supervised by David Bate and Joram ten Brink. Fully funded (CREAM scholarship). 2009 MA Photographic Studies, Univ. of Westminster (David Faddy scholarship). 2008 Creativity and Artistic Creation Programme, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon Previously, studied law and worked as a lawyer. www.andreiaoliveira.net Alena (Vladlena) Kuznetsova I am an artist from Kiev. I was born in 1986. I began my art education at a children’s art school in Svitlovodsk Kirovograd region. I then completed my BA in Fine Arts at KNUCA, 2008. I am a member of art schools, and frequently participate in workshops exploring colour (from the point of view of classical and contemporary art) such as Contemplative (from the English «contemplate»), School of painting Anastasia Boronina (St. Petersburg, 2007-2010), Nicholas Shkaraputa Studio (Kiev, 2010), School of contemporary Art at Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (Kiev, 2014-2015), School of Visual Communication (Kiev, 2015) New Art School (Kiev, 2015). Working in the genre of non-objective (abstract) painting, I explore colour since 2007 to the present day, and new media. http://alenakuznetsova.com/ Alice Geirinhas Alice was born in 1964 in Évora. Degree (1984/89) in Fine Arts / Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon. Master in Contemporary Artistic Practices at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Porto University. Course in Animation Film at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Awarded in 1990 at Cinanima, International Film Festival, Espinho, the Animation Prize for Young Portuguese Filmmaker for the film Uma História de Amor. Taught illustration at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1995/1997) and in the art school Ar.Co (2000/2005.) Programmer and coordinator of the education department at Bedeteca, Lisbon (2001/2005). Currently lecturer of Design and Multimedia Design at the School of Science and Technology of Coimbra. Developing and participating in art projects since 1986. In the 1990s Alice stood out as press illustrator, having published the book “Alice” which gathers the graphic work from that period. Currently working on projects related to design and visual installation. alicegx.blogspot.pt Alison Miller My life in a dream is a graphic story to make you smile and think. Drawn by Alison Miller to reveal a dream she had in her twenties that still rings true. After a successful twenty two year commercial career, Alison escaped the corporate coil to do what she loves the most - tell stories to engage and entertain. A versatile talent, she is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Kingston University and already has a published short story in the literary anthology ‘Aestas 2014’. https://www.facebook.com/MylifeinadreamAlisonMiller/ Anne Marte Overaa Anne Marte is a visual artist living and working in Malmö, Sweden. Born in Bergen.Norway 1955.Educated at the Art Academy in Bergen.1978-82. Has worked as an artist since 2000. Between -82 and 1999 a mix of artist, mother and boatbuilder. http://www.annemarteoveraa.se Antonio Occulto Antonio was born in 1973. He is a self-taught Italian painter and collagist based in Stavanger, Norway. He lived in Parma for 20 years and began painting under fine artist Alberto Reggianini in 2003, before he started making handmade collages, painted collages and mixed media collages in 2009. He defines his work as ‘minimal decadentism’. Motto: ‘Unpack and Create. Destroy and Shape. We are mystical sculptures.’ Facebook: @antoniooccultocollage; Instagram: antonioocculto Daniel Fernandes Daniel was born in 1983. He lives and works in Lisbon. In 2015 he completed a Master’s degree in drawing at ESAD CR - School of Arts and Design of Caldas da Rainha. He is exhibiting his work since 2010, in solo and group exhibitions: 90-10 Exhibition 20 years Fine Arts ESAD - XXI Building, Technological Pole of Lisbon; Ikas-ART 2011 - Bilbao Exhibition Center; Ficar de Pé - Polytechnic Theatre Artistas Unidos, Lisbon-2013; On Drawing - in the House of Tavira Arts; Carvão Papel Sanguínea- Atelier 6, Caldas da Rainha 2014; Skin - Collective a9)))) Leiria 2015; Curatorial Project Voltar a Trás e Olhar a Gravura - works from the engraving Collection of Caixa Geral de Depósitos - Polytechnic Theatre Artistas Unidos - with Catherine Lopes Vincent and João Gabriel Pereira 2015, III x III – 111 Gallery, Lisbon ; and he won the D. Fernando II Prize, Sintra – 2016. http://cargocollective.com/danielfernandes Ditte Ejlerskov Ditte lives and works in Malmö, Sweden,. She was born in 1982 in Frederikshavn, Denmark. She graduated from Malmö Art Acedemy in 2009. Recent selected shows and projects include: THE MINAJ SHOW, Sommer & Kohl, Berlin, DE (solo 2015), Bow Down Bitches, LARMgalleri, Copenhagen, DK (solo 2014), Syster, Borås konstmuseum, SE (group 2014), A sip of COOL, Galerie Arnaud Deschin, Marseille, FR (group 2014), About: The Blank Pages, Malmö Konsthall, SE (duo 2014), Paradise Reclaimed, Galleri Nord-Norge, NO (group 2012), Alongside, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, Texas, US (group 2014), The Collector, Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala, SE (group 2012), In Search of Eden, CCA , Andratx, SP (duo 2012), Claude Rutault – L’exposition continue (écho), CNEAI, Chatou, FR (group 2011),Unbreak my heart, say you’ll love me again, MFA exam show, KHM, Malmö, SE (solo 2009). http://www.ditteejlerskov.com Esperanza Vaquerin I was born in Madrid in 1962. I moved to London in 1985 where I studied Fine Art in Chelsea School of Art , Saint Martin’s School of Art and Goldsmiths where I gained a PGCE in Art and Design. I have taught Art in Secondary Schools for several years. I have participated in several groups shows in London. I currently have two paintings in Worthing Museum as part of the Freud Friends and Family exhibition al the Norwood Gallery. Gizem Enuysal I was Born in Ankara, in 1979. I live and study in İstanbul. Currently I am a PhD student at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Painting Department. I concluded my MFA at the same university in 2010. My Works are mostly autobiographic and narrative. I work with oil painting and drawing. I had one solo exhibition in 2012 and participated in many group exhibitions. http://cargocollective.com/gizemenuysal Hugo Houayek Hugo is a visual artist based in Rio de Janeiro. He is currently undertakinga PhD at the Fine Art Academy – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He holds a MFA in Visual Langua (2010) and a BFA in Painting (2006) taken at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. https://hugohouayek.hotglue.me/ Inês ROLO Amado Inês was born in Leiria, Portugal. Inês is a London based artist, curator, academic and researcher. Her work spans several media: sculpture, video, site-specific installation, and performance with a particular interest in interdisciplinary, collaboration and participatory projects through a process of dialogue, interaction and exchange. Her main area of research focuses the relationship between doing, empowering, thinking and divulging art; her approach is reflected and interconnected through exhibiting, teaching and curating. Her most recent work focuses on the exile, displacement, temporality, change and transformation, including the investigation of spaces of transit and of transition invoked by memory and storytelling that reveal cross cultural semiotic aspects as well as historical legacies. River Flows a major exhibition in Leiria Portugal in 2015/2016, focussed these aspects. In 2014 she co-organized, co-curated and participated in the IV BreadMatters – Crossing Boundaries Intersecting The Grain in ARtos Nicosia, Cyprus. BreadMatters is a research program composed of exhibition and debate that questions and focuses on socio-cultural, political, historical and geographical issues around bread and the importance of bread in the history of humankind and which, brings together artists, art historians, writers, musicians, art critics and the public in a program of exhibition and debate. Inês Amado has a doctorate in Humanities – with a focus on Anthropology and Oral History. http://www.ines-amado.com/ia/ Jill Rock In 1997 in the Australian outback I had the opportunity to spend time with some aborigine artists. This experience re-connected me as an artist with nature. On my return to London I picked up a piece of tree bark, cleaned and painted it. My life as an artist had evolved from geometric abstractionist to painter of objects, a sculptor in colour. From that time on I have painted on natural found objects and geometric forms. I like to make work which is relevant to a place and time. I have organised events, worked and been included in exhibitions in London, UK including the Liverpool Biennale in 2004/6/8, USA, NYC, Austen Texas, Parc Ibirapuera Sao Paolo and Florianopolis Brazil, MAM CHILOE20 ANOS Chile, Uruguay, Italy, Holland, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Beirut, Australia, Hong Kong and Ghana. In 2014/5 I participated in the 4th Edition Biennalfindelmondo in Mar del Plata Argentina. I have
collaborated with poets, musicians, performance artists, playwrights, scientists, mathematicians, social scientists and philosophers. I have also worked in experimental art contexts organising and taking part in events outside the normal gallery situation. www.cargocollective.com/jillrock Joana Patricio Joana was born in Lisbon, 1975. Clinical psychologist (community and family therapy), worked in the area of Child Protection for several years (both in direct intervention and research. Her artistic projects include writing (mainly children’s theatre plays) and visual arts. With several projects in theatre (scenarios and animation), works in mixed media. Currently working on visual narratives and contemporary paradigms. Johan Furåker Johan was born in Sweden, lives and works in Denmark. Education 2009: MFA, Malmö Art Academy, Malmö, SE 2005: Umeå Art Academy, Umeå, SE 2003: Gerlesborgsskolan, Stockholm. Solo Exhibitions: 2016: The Female Dandy, Galleri KANT, Copenhagen, DK 2015: Encounters Without Memory, Espace pour l’art, Arles, FR 2015: Life of Leisure, Galleri Flach, Stockholm www.johanfuraker.com Johanna Bolton Originally from Sweden, Johanna Bolton graduated from Chelsea College of Art in 2014. Since then, she has participated in a number of group shows and residencies. Johanna is an active member of alternative university group Alt MFA. www.johannabolton.com Karen Piddington I’m an interdisciplinary artist, I magnify and manipulate the awkward conjunctions and contradictions of 21st century living, often involving people and animals. Similarities are exaggerated and juxtaposed to create a paradoxical scene. I use ambiguity, absurdity and humour to test boundaries between humans and animals, to question ways in which we relate to other species and to re-present definitions of humanness. Employing both a playful and a serious intent, my aim is to sweep the viewer off into the unfamiliar. http://www.karenpiddington.co.uk Lawrence Crane Lawrence is a self taught artist currently living in North London. Having drawn, painted and created since a child, Lawrence uses his personal experiences, dynamic use of colour and abstract themes to present people, places and things. Always based around a personal level, Lawrence experiments with watercolour, ink and a wide use of multimedia to reveal portraits and landscapes, however always his studies and observations are always manifested on a very human level. https://www.facebook.com/LFCraneart/ Maria LUSITANO Maria holds a PhD from University of Westmisnter (2015) and a MFA from Malmö Art Academy. Her current projects investigate the expression of expanded consciousness and its connection to emergent novel economic models such as the sharing economy/gift economy Her practice involves ethnography and participatory methodologies. http://www.marialusitano.org/ Maria Papacharalambous Maria graduated with distinction from the School of Fine Arts in Athens. She continued her post graduate studies at the Faculdad de Bellas Artes, Universidad Complutence in Madrid and at the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, Cuenca, Spain. She also holds a degree from Athens National Conservatory. She had solo exhibitions and she collaborated in different disciplines of artistic projects. She was selected to represent Cyprus in different European and international Salons / exhibitions, such as Biennales and Triennales, in the fields of painting, photography, engraving, architecture, stage and costume design, installation, video art, short films (experimental, animation and documentary). She organized or participated in various international cultural events. She created urban interventions/actions, online projects, geopolitical art, international projects, artistic publications. Sometimes she collaborates with the artist and scientist Achilleas Kentonis and they create together as Binary Art Group. Also they created together Artos foundation. As a researcher, she focuses on philosophy and psychology, merging them with art, creating socio-artistic and activistic work/projects as social sculpture. She is taking part in a life coaching study programme at the psychology department of the Aegean University. http://www.maria-papacharalambous.net/ Maria Teresa Silva I was born in Figueira da Foz, Portugal. I live and work in Lisbon. I prefer to work in temporary intervention spaces and which is suitable to the site specific. My projects usually start from places with history, memories, more or less uncomfortable. The impossibility of written and verbal communication, the public and private domains and the fugacity of memory, are some of the thematics reference. The medium used, depends on the concept or the place. Individual Exhibitions 08 Real Barraca/Without A Care, Avenida 211, Lisbon. 00 Looping, Diferença Gallery, Lisbon. Collective Exhibitions 14 Elevação / Suspensão / Afinação, with Eduardo Petersen, Mariana Ramos, Armanda Duarte, Marta Caldas e Thierry Simões, Parkour, Lisbon. 10 Quarta-feira (Convocatoria #3), with Eduardo Petersen, Mariana Ramos, Armanda Duarte, Marta Caldas e Thierry Simões, Avenida 211, Lisbon. Marta Caldas Marta Caldas Lisbon, 1982. Advanced Course in Visual Arts, Ar.Co, Lisbon. Post graduation in Bidimensional Intermedia, Evora University. http://www.drawingcenter.org/viewingprogram/portfolio.cfm Mercerdes Marin I’m a visual artist and designer. I hold a degree in Fine Art taken at Artez Hogeschool voor de Kunsten ( Netherlands), Interior Architecture at the Madrid School of Design and Digital Arts and Design Experience at the Instituto Europeo di Design (Madrid). I work mainly with digital arts. I create immersive audiovisual installations, video art , photography and sound art. I am interested in working with space and studying the progressive objectification of abstraction, utopia and altered states of consciousness and perception. My work has been shown at festival and galleries through Germany, The Netherlands, Iceland, Colombia and Spain. http://mercedesmarin.me/ Niamh Murray Niamh is an Irish born South East London based artist & secondary school art teacher. Niamh works in a range of media and especially drawing, whether that be using different materials to draw onto or drawing with light through Photography. Dreaming, journeying and crossing the threshold are all themes in the work. She studied a B.A. Hons in Fine Art Film, Video & Photography at Central St. Martins, and completed PGCE’s in both Photography at the University of Westminster and Goldsmiths. https://visualveloblog.wordpress.com/ Rosário Rebello de Andrade Rosário was born in Portugal in 1953. She lives and works in Germany. She completed the Master Course Program in Painting at Ar.Co, Lisbon. Scholarships: 1993 Fundação Luso-American Foundation, University of Massachusetts U.S.A. 1994-1995 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. 1994-1998 Professor for Drawing and Painting at Ar.Co, Lisbon. Solo shows since 1988 in Portugal and abroad. Her work is represented in public and private collections both in Portugal and abroad: PORTUGAL: EDP Foundation. Loures Museum. Caixa Geral de Depósitos. Novo Banco, Ar.Co, Fátima Museum. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. E.U.A.: Francesco Pellizzi GERMANY: Diözesan Museum Limburg, Sparkasse Mainfranken, Würzburg, Collection Diözese Museum Würzburg. Museum Burg.Miltenberg. SPAIN: CAC Málaga Centro Arte Contemporáneo. www.rosarebello.com Valerie Oliver Most of my work is site-specific, producing installations using video amongst mixed media materials, which are significant to an idea. My process encompasses a variety of subjects which displacement and space are key elements. The intention behind the work allows the viewer to engage in private thoughts in public places. Enabling viewers to think of their existence and question their actions within their own social structure. http://www.valerieoliver.com Wayne Clements Wayne Clements is a writer and artist. He studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design. His PhD researched computer methods of generating text. His artwork has been widely exhibited internationally. In 2006 he won the Award of Distinction (Net Vision). First published by Bob Cobbing’s Writers Forum Press in the 1990s, seven books of poetry and visual work have followed. http://murifri.blogspot.co.uk/%20http://www.in-vacua.com/
“Here the birds’ journey ends, our journey, the journey of words, and after us there will be a horizon for the new birds.” Mahmoud Darwish