Documentation 4bid Shuffe project

20th-26th January 2014

4bid gallery, OT301 Overtoom 301 Amsterdam

Guest participants:**Rosemarijn De Ruiter**Tascha Toverwolf

4bid participants:*Giacomo Cardoni*Paolo Paggi

4bid documentation:*Irina Baldini

Themes treated in the workshops:

A space for feelings by Giacomo Cardoni

Exploring circles: Enso by Rosemarijn De Ruiter

The Fun of Conscious Creation by Tascha Toverwolf

Talking about the image of evil by Paolo Paggi

day 1

day 2

day 3

day 4

Open Show on 26.01.2014The Open Show on the last day of the Shuffe, Sunday the 26th shared with the public parts of the progress of the week of workshops, allowing the visitors to enter the space where most of the activities had happened and to taste each workshop's result through products and works in progress which were elaborated during the hours of exposition in the Gallery space.

Workshop 1, proposed by Giacomo Cardoni, “contemporary artistic philantropeuta”

A space for feelings

notes by the artist in response to :- coincidences- inclusion in collective decisions- any discovery, personal or of another person that stroke you at any particular point of the week.

I gave a workshop on the frst day of the Shuffe. I chose to apply a symbolic ritual from an oriental conception and way to prey: the Mandala concept. I applied this to a physical and psychological exercise where the participants and myself used color and paint. We followed a schedule I suggested and focused on the fow of the workshop. There were no diffculties, no dead points, no questions, but interest. all people whit the their questions and issues arrived to an end of the work, living an amazing sign of their passage on the foor, prepared to contain all of our bodies, all of our spaces and feelings in the fnal work. When the hardship and tiredness were at peak level I felt we reached the point I wanted to arrive to, bringing the group together beyond the diffculties, to start to enjoy the last part of the workshop, focused on re-gaining energy and allowing change to infuence the relationships in the space. discovery? I don’t think so, but maybe re-discovery of some feelings I had abandoned somewhere inside me, in my past, a kind of knowledge about time, life style, child's power.

Documentation of the workshops

Workshop 2, proposed by Rosemarijn De Ruiter, an anthropologist, a singer, a dreamer, a buddhist, a lover of life and its creations....exploring a circle, fnding my way. Enso!

Gain a fresh perspective on artistic creativity within ourselves

notes by the artist:Approaching art and creativity from a different mind-state brings in new possibilities. I would like to share this experience: how things seem to have a different glow when you look at things differently, when you stop thinking and approaching things with your head, and give some space to your body and spirit to create. Furthermore, I'm curious about other peoples journey's within the creative feld, and I'm curious about other peoples creative approach and use of a circle. I'm curious about the collaborative process and mingling of skills and perspectives within the group. And I'm curious of what happens with the artist within myself while I'm sharing my creative process.

I can just say that it left a very warm trace in me. an opening up of creativity.a visualization of the space carry with me and share with others. a very colorful, warm, welcoming atmosphere. a feeling that i can do and be everything I like to be or do, as long as I let enough room for creativity to meander. it was very inspirational to move within this creative feld for a full week. to create together, to facilitate, to create for myself. i will use this experience as a kickstart for other projects.

Workshop 3, proposed by Tascha Toverwolf, muppet.

Conscious Creation through Spontaneous Intuitive Focus

notes by the artist:This workshop combined storytelling, identifying desires and calling in energy to support them, in the most playful ways we can co-create together. The focus of this time together was on getting familiar with the physical experience of conscious creation so it becomes an easy stream in the body to connect to.

“I opened and shared and received and was received and it was wonderful.”

Workshop 4, proposed by Paolo Paggi, Curator and Artist

Talking about the image of evil

Notes by the artist in response to:- response of the participants to your workshops - feelings about collective decisions - any discovery, personal or general that stroke you at any particular point of the week.

Diffculties in communication – Poor critique – Frivolity – Superfciality – Lack of depth – Sadness – Anger – Serenity – Acceptance of the 'different' – Good.

Transcript of the workshop:

“I'll tell you the story:” says Paolo.

-the topic of today is evil, or badnesswhat is the 1 step is introducing each other and what you do in tour life, 1st meeting, 1st step.After that we have one hour of silence in the space.15 min of nothing, Silence, and 15 min to know each other's presence in the space also through the body.Any time you feel bad and want to come out of the space, just come to the bar area, behind the curtain. It's the safe place.

Start with a presentation of each other, a short summary of who we are: (see recording, to transcribe r..?)

Finished with the 1st 15 min of silence and nothingness. Beautiful.looking at each other, sometimes, sometimes eyes closed, sometimes looking at an empty spot int he space.

CHANGEa sudden schist in the room. wake up moment, everyone feels the obligement, or the need to fnd a place, a person, a direction to move to.and the participants now go for a physical exploration, a playful communication with the body. sometimes mime, threes gestures that suggest an intention, others just complicity of the movement or a wish to be noticed and supported in the choices.

and CHANGE AGAINcomplete stillness. Complete silence, and no noise at all. stillness, but who knows, perhaps sounds of thinking, of trying to switch off. Of the camera capturing what I see.I think I am writing a narration of the week. It is not an objective view that I will be giving. It's what I see, and not only what I am looking at. (like mentioned yesterday, perhaps looking is tiring for the eye, but seeing is not. I'm seeing and writing it..and let's

see..let you see!)what is everyone thinking about..it is almost visible through their gazes. Is it a bother, is it an effort to be doing nothing, and being given the time for it. Doing 'the' nothing.Hoping for something? (me)

CHANGEfnding moments alone, and moments of con-division. Looking for things, looking for noise. Looking for excuses to play, to communicate perhaps, as there is n word involved.making rhythms, testing each other. Responding to one another's propositions.creating relationships by reacting.

OK, i have to stop, and propose to use a game in 2 teams.start to make an experience about the body, your body, It's about pain. try to feel the other, feel how the other feels when you slap, increasing the strength. You know how hard you can go.It's a 'sadist research' not masochist. ha ha! ℗

"If someone did not have the chance to feel pain, think for yourself of a painful moment in the past." (P)

15 min of modellingiri models, they draw15 min of sitting

iri sits, they describe her through words10 seconds of movingiri moves, they try to imitate what she has just done.

Communication:try to communicate with a very loud sound in the background. 2 words. Mime, or scream through the music the words from one to the other side of the room.the experience of it being a bad thing not to be able to communicate with others. The diffculty of misunderstanding. (P)

Exercise about loneliness. Solitude.5 min of loneliness in the corner. The others just watch who is staying alone, isolated, being looked at.Just stay, sit, look, (P)

BREAK>>>>>>>>

EXPLANATION OF PART 1 in a few words to recollect the group.

PART 2

The word Bad, Evil, in the past had come from people who don't work..it's bad as he doesn't want to work.So the exercise was to try to do nothing, or to have a physical injury (in work or other) and be in pain, and

not being able to do something.The 2nd part was about being skill-less, or unable to draw, write, dance, communicate..The last part of the workshop was about diversity and loneliness. Today in most cases people recognise the evil from diversity (gay/lesbian/bad/strange/weird) Make the duality to make a normal out of me. I make you feel different, so that I feel comfortably normal. (try through the exercise to feel this).

Giacomo wants to know the sensation of the others.But this will be done later.

Now we try to make a photo of the evil. Participants are asked to stay 15 min with eyes closed and imagine all the evil in their lives.It's possible to think what happened in life, or outside of them..but not through words, just with imagination. An image of evil, through collage of visualisation."Don'd say blinded, just please with blind folded, or with eyes closed." (T.) -only a few words give me such a visceral reaction-15 min to drop in. (bad, pain, hurt, suffer, evil, mean, cruel (me)and come back from imagination. open the eyes and do something more practical and easy. (P) Now draw on paper what is the image of the evil, what are the attributes of this fgure, choosing if it is anthropomorphic, but not abstract. It's concrete, an

true image. (P)"The most evil thing for me is Emptiness"..grey shade (R )"evil could be a very anxious look, an expression that creates a strong bad feeling in you" (I)" to me evil is always man-made, there is no such thing as evil, the wish to unravel what is good, taking apart what is good. You can't help but picking at the good thing one has in ones life. To me this is evil 'is this real?, is it?'. This is evil. I can't access images so easily. (T)Does it have to be a thing, a concrete image, or can it be a small piece of paper where everybody draws their personal interpretation? I feel that in our mind, it goes into something anthropomorphic (I)I have three colours, and these three are perfect to describe my image of evil. (G)

____I feel that language has changed a lot the nature of this workshop. evil/devil; bad/pain; it's interesting to see how the interpretation of a task is so related to one's culture and imaginative background, depending on what one has lived or what was taught to them in the past. (me)

"Abstract, nothing, emptiness, disappearing, nothing, fog, can't see through, lost, not knowing where to go. (R )"Someone saw an image of the word evil, that started spinning and disappeared. evil for her is a life unloved

(T)"I still resembles my feeling (R )"To me evil is not emptiness (T)"To me empty is white space (I)"a person who does nothing or has nothing to say is more evil than the one who makes a choice" (I)"not being there, not present, soul-destroying, total nothingness, emptiness, something that fascinates/scares/attracts you. Some can become evil when they act in 'this' way. (all)"evil is given from the context one was brought up in (if one sees much pain/torture/suffering) one is more prone to acting evil as this is normality. (I)"This is greyness: the distance between what people do and their responsibility to do something (dropping the bomb is stepping in the greyness, bang detached) (R )"The detachment is not the evil. It's an active thing. Hitler did the thing because he was damaged. he decided to do his way of 'bringing love' into the world,"Evil is an active choice (T)when a choice id made from a conscious / unconscious way…what is more evil?? (debate)there is not one image of evil (R )I can feel these teeth like mine in a lot of situations (G) -referring to his drawing of a tooth-…missing...//everything to me is energy. there are energies that vibrate. Some things work, some others don't. evil is

a sticker, a word used to negate responsibility. (T)nobody does something that doesn't make sense for them, int heir concept of the world, of reality, and that makes sense. was that evil? if it makes sense to you, can it be evil. (T)the absence of love is evil (R )it's not static. it's moving, but it's very clear for me.I don't have a visual image of it.I need some tea! (T)I have explored this before, it's an image that comes back, a line and nothing, and a line, and behind it's grey. And here a tunnel, it smells like beer and piss, and gutter, and then there is a door to the grey, and somebody sitting on the threshold of the door, and this person stays there, is not choosing. (R )You can look at this picture, a big picture, but where do you zoom, and defne what in this is evil ? (G)Grey (R )

What do we call evil? it's not an absolute, so what to we feel like evil?( P )Everything can be evil, it depends on the choice made. (T)What makes one lost, is the limitlessness of evil. It's capable of anything. (I)Some serial killer who doesn't feel anything. Is this evil And the hired assassins? they are able to kill you, or even their own children, if they are in the way. There is an obsession for their job, for money, not necessarily a belief. They kill for themselves. (I)

Within certain rules it is not evil what one does (T), is this a parameter?

Everyone made ONE trace on the paper.Triangle (relation to Masonic) to create power, lines, grey colour, words, hierarchy.Everyone goes behind the curtain in the bar to look at images collected by Paolo about evil.The conversation carries on on the topic of evil, and I can't but get involved.

Language defnes how we interpret a theme. There are some groups in africa for example, that have a very different perspective on looking at each other and the world. They have a different sense of time, defned by language and how you talk about evil in this case, how you conceptualise it. ( R )

We are close to each other right no, so we are certainly in the present time (I)

We arrived to think some dynamic 'statements'. evil is not concrete but more ideal. it's like an idea, but in some results it can be tangible, power, emptiness, a word, a colour, a structure to induce something people want/ don't want and a form through which we fnd control. ( P)

in english it's a different word by itself, you can't say dark, or bad, to say evil. (I)

each language found a different way of naming the thing, which has similar attributes. But slightly different interpretation according to the culture. (me)

Evil is too easy (it's more acceptable to dislike yourself rather than liking yourself, being realising (or else don't be so happy). Evil is just too easy, enabled. (T)

PAOLO: tell you one thing: why i proposed this topic?about

and I want to make a book about black, linked with it, and evil is often related to black and darkness. I wanted to see what would come out in the group.