March 2022 – VITAL CAPACITIES

A photographed portrait in cold tones, with white background in the distance. The image is square and shows violet's face and shoulders. It shows a white non-binary person, with shoulder-length hair that is bleached blond at the very front, and the rest of the hair is natural ashy blond. violet has blue eyes and rather small facial features. The expression on their face is neutral, they are looking away from the camera, into the distance. They are wearing an oversized suit jacket that is grey and has thin white stripes, underneath it they are wearing a white shirt opened up, you can see silver jewellery like a small hoop earring and a silver necklace. — Portrait of violet.

Hi, my name is violet/a marchenkova, and welcome to my studio. I am an artist filmmaker, writer, arts worker and community organiser with Devil’s Dyke Network. For the longest time, I’ve been a student of spaces and environments, learning how to create moments of communality, connection and the life-affirming energies of the erotic. It’s almost like I needed to create those spaces that strive for acceptance and a radical kind of inclusivity to affirm the place and possibility of my personal creative work.

Sometimes I think that this queered intimacy is the only medium I’m truly interested in. Otherwise, I’m obsessed with many other things: diaristic practices, dance music, embodied dance practices, mental health, Disability Justice, queer TV content, bisexual culture, why my zoom sangha makes me feel so good, rethinking autism, and more.

I’m going to use this residency as a moment to finally sit down and review various film footage and written pieces I’ve collected over the years, to see if a new film emerges. I’m going to use this time to play and connect with people as much as possible, maybe record some conversations, see people, be seen.

You can watch the last diary film I made in 2019 here. It is called jet lag. These diary films are me but also not me. Parts of me that exist or existed, questions and insecurities I purged (or maybe, reintegrated).

Please feel free to leave me comments on the posts, I’m looking forward to chatting with you. I hope we can connect, even briefly, over these very silly and very serious things.

Lots of love,

INTRO

by Andrew Luk

Hello,

I am Andrew Luk and welcome to my virtual studio. I am a sculptor and installation artist from Hong Kong who was trained as a painter, but has never painted since. I am mainly fascinated with history and how certain civilization-building mythologies and ideologies unknowingly transpire and are unwittingly express themselves, which has lead me into some very diverse territories of research. Often this means working with ideas surrounding preservation and entropy as well as working with the false binary between natural and the man-made.

During my time here I will be working on “Leave Your Body”, a virtual residency that takes place in the computer game Minecraft, with the Hong Kong based organization, Videotage. I expect this will be challenging as it involves learning about an entirely new reality with its own integrated aesthetic, parameters and limitations. Not only do I plan to update my know-how of video games and world building, but I plan to undertake a project that will explore my recent research about the subterranean as well as infrastructure and processes related to Hong Kong’s relationship with geology and resource extraction.

Please feel free to have a look around and please do not be shy; make yourself known. Comments and questions are encouraged.

Thank you very much for stopping in,
Andrew

Introduction

by Jessica Starns

My creative process is participatory, collaborative, and inclusive with a focus on disability, neurodiversity or history. It is also multidisciplinary, with materials and approach informed by the theme of the project. I have an interest in using digital technology creatively and finding new tools to create art. I am neurodivergent and due to my dexterity, I am always looking for new innovative ways to create art that is accessible to me and others. A big part of my creative practice is finding accessible tools to collaborate with others to create art that doesn’t seem like you are creating art. I have an MA in Inclusive Arts Practice from the University of Brighton and have a background working in museums with young people. I was awarded a place on the Shaw Trust ‘Power 100’ 2018 list of the most influential and inspirational disabled people in Britain.

A photograph of me, Jess at my University of Brighton MA end of year show. I am standing next to my final piece of work called 'Neurodiversity Museum'. The exhibition walls are painted cream and on the walls are 3 glass cyanotypes and 4 paper cyanotypes. I am leaning against a plinth which is the same colour as the wall and covered in felt tip pens. On top of the plinth is a polystyrene head. The polystyrene head symbolises Percy F. the first person to be diagnosed as dyslexic.

Month: March 2022

Welcome to my studio

INTRO

Introduction

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