ARChIVE — WORK
Wiska / Weave — Colaborar is the Name of the Game
Public intervention with Sin Fronteras
2017
Watch video
(external link to YouTube)
On Saturday April 20th 2017, we invited our friends and family to take part of a public intervention in Burgess Park. The intervention started with us weaving long pieces of fabric to create a structure upheld by our bodies.
The wiska or weave plays with ideas rooted in South American textile based cultural expressions and provided a space to experience, embody and interrogate what upholding ties amongst each other might mean. This exercise required us to constantly communicate as to maintain the same speed and tension, it also required us to be aware of the space we were occupying and moving through so that we could adapt with flexibility. As a collective we negotiated the hurdles of moving through the park while maintaining the weave structure.
Wiska / weave made us collectively visible in the landscape of Burgess Park, a meeting point for the Latin community in London, and it made us accountable to each other in maintaining the crisscrossing structure of our ties.
Images by Carlos Rojas Poeda
2017
Watch video
(external link to YouTube)
On Saturday April 20th 2017, we invited our friends and family to take part of a public intervention in Burgess Park. The intervention started with us weaving long pieces of fabric to create a structure upheld by our bodies.
The wiska or weave plays with ideas rooted in South American textile based cultural expressions and provided a space to experience, embody and interrogate what upholding ties amongst each other might mean. This exercise required us to constantly communicate as to maintain the same speed and tension, it also required us to be aware of the space we were occupying and moving through so that we could adapt with flexibility. As a collective we negotiated the hurdles of moving through the park while maintaining the weave structure.
Wiska / weave made us collectively visible in the landscape of Burgess Park, a meeting point for the Latin community in London, and it made us accountable to each other in maintaining the crisscrossing structure of our ties.
Images by Carlos Rojas Poeda
Fruit Joy
SPILL Festival of Performance Art
Ipswich, October 2016
Ipswich, October 2016
He said I can speak Spanish, Hola señorita, Una cerveza por favor, Mi casa es su casa, La isla bonita.
Hey, tell me, do you know where to get really good cocaine?
Fruit Joy is a durational performance placing the body as a site where desire, consumption and culture collide. It enacts the otherness of the exotic body, linking it to the everyday materiality of tropical fruit, and articulating the complexity of power relations beneath the surface.
Fruit Joy subverts the appeal of tropical exoticism, by initially embracing it to then expose its oppression, until it collapses under its own weight as fruit juices ferment and sweetness turns sour.
Fruit Joy subverts the appeal of tropical exoticism, by initially embracing it to then expose its oppression, until it collapses under its own weight as fruit juices ferment and sweetness turns sour.
Image credits
Daniella Valz Gen, Fruit Joy, SPILL Festival of Performance 2016, produced by Pacitti Company.
Photo by Tom Vaughan-Mountford
Post by Jason Haye
naked tangle self
#selfcare (gif series)
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Touchscreen
Digital Performance, 2016
Please follow the instructions before listening. This piece is designed to be listened on a hand held touchscreen device (smartphone or tablet).
Hold your device in your hand.
Press Play.
DISCLAIMER For the piece to be effective it should be listened to on a touchscreen hand held device. I know this is not accessible to everyone, and if this is your case I invite you to listen to it keeping this in mind.
Please follow the instructions before listening. This piece is designed to be listened on a hand held touchscreen device (smartphone or tablet).
Hold your device in your hand.
Press Play.
DISCLAIMER For the piece to be effective it should be listened to on a touchscreen hand held device. I know this is not accessible to everyone, and if this is your case I invite you to listen to it keeping this in mind.
Some[w]Here
Some[w]Here is a contemporary arts project led by the drawing shed. It took place from November 2014 until June 2015 on the housing estates of Carey, Patmore and Savona in Nine Elms, Wandsworth, an area located at the shadow of the Battersea Power Station Development.
Throughout Some[w]Here I experienced a lot of questioning and resistance. My participation consisted in performative interventions around the area, and also in conversations with the other participants and people that live in the estates.
Throughout Some[w]Here I experienced a lot of questioning and resistance. My participation consisted in performative interventions around the area, and also in conversations with the other participants and people that live in the estates.
Light Trap (walking)
Durational performance
December 2014
Patmore Estate
Image by Bobby Lloyd
Durational performance
December 2014
Patmore Estate
Image by Bobby Lloyd
When I crossed paths with someone I made direct eye contact. I should add that to do this I also used the eye hanging on my chest. Some people smiled, some averted my gaze. When I didn't encounter anyone, I played at observing details of my surroundings through the eye hanging on my chest. I wanted to get a sense of being able to trap or see these images through my body, my torso, my solar plexus. A form of synaesthetic awareness. I wanted to focus on details: windows, rabble.
When the sun came out I could trap the light on the surface of my eye mirror, I could make that light reflect in an intense burst, specially when it bounced off the surface of reflective signs on the street (No Parking, No Crossing). These bursts of light seemed to immediately attract attention, either to the burst itself and the reflection, or to me. I felt a sense of awe at the power of the simple effect of sunshine on mirror. I found it playful and beautiful and it allowed me to direct the light onto the surface of the architecture around me, enabling me to draw, through the movement of my body and the reflection, invisible traces of light only comprehensible as a sequence in the present moment.
What I didn't perceive until later was how my presence and the outburst of light reflected on the signs seemed also a form of aggression. A group of kids felt intimidated by it, as if it was a direct attack on their eyes. They came up to me, hesitantly, and shouted at a distance: "Are you mad?" "Do you want to hurt us?".
When the sun came out I could trap the light on the surface of my eye mirror, I could make that light reflect in an intense burst, specially when it bounced off the surface of reflective signs on the street (No Parking, No Crossing). These bursts of light seemed to immediately attract attention, either to the burst itself and the reflection, or to me. I felt a sense of awe at the power of the simple effect of sunshine on mirror. I found it playful and beautiful and it allowed me to direct the light onto the surface of the architecture around me, enabling me to draw, through the movement of my body and the reflection, invisible traces of light only comprehensible as a sequence in the present moment.
What I didn't perceive until later was how my presence and the outburst of light reflected on the signs seemed also a form of aggression. A group of kids felt intimidated by it, as if it was a direct attack on their eyes. They came up to me, hesitantly, and shouted at a distance: "Are you mad?" "Do you want to hurt us?".
Precarious Vehicle (FT series)
January 2015
Savona Estate
January 2015
Savona Estate
I made this. It was intended to be a vehicle. For the vehicle to be mobile I had to be inside it and walk around. When I did this I could not see where I was going. The vehicle and I became an inadequate moving assemblage. I discarded the vehicle. It remained largely ignored. I watched people ignore it and kick it about. Somehow this completed something. I don't know what it is that was completed.
Precarious Structures in Financial Times (FT series)
2015
Digital print
2015
Digital print
About Some[w]Here
During Some[w]Here’s research phase, the drawing shed artists Bobby Lloyd and Sally Labern, with performance artists Jordan McKenzie and Daniella Valz Gen and supported by Esther Carolin, Holly Smith and Anna Viani, explored the history of the area, including the old soap factories, and learning from older people living on the estates about how go-carting (using soap boxes) lit up their imaginations on the streets back in the day, just like skateboarding does today.
the drawing shed also worked with two designer-makers, George Williams and Nozomi Nakabayashi, inviting residents to make a number of playful mobile structures, using this community-making as the vehicles through which stories are told, local heritage and new ideas are explored – across the estates, cultures and generations.
The project culminated with a symposium at Pump House Gallery, THE DAY OF SMALL CONVERSATIONS where participants talked openly about ideas of ‘social responsibility’ in regards to collaborative making and collectively questioned the role of contemporary artists within opposing cultures of resilience, resistance and regeneration.
More information on the project's development here.
More information on the project's development here.
The Sun
The Nunnery, 2015
Performance commissioned by Bow Arts on the occasion of Boo Bah, an exhibition of works by Mary Barnes.
Performance commissioned by Bow Arts on the occasion of Boo Bah, an exhibition of works by Mary Barnes.
Binary Code (live stream)
2014
Live Stream performance for TYS TV
A two hour live streamed performance broadcast from TYS exhibition space in Copenhagen.
A live collage of readings (Kierkegaard's Either Or) and gestures behind a glass screen.
Live Stream performance for TYS TV
A two hour live streamed performance broadcast from TYS exhibition space in Copenhagen.
A live collage of readings (Kierkegaard's Either Or) and gestures behind a glass screen.
FT Reading 2
2014
A performance as part of Steakhouse Live at Hackney Wicked
Images by Drew Hoad
A performance as part of Steakhouse Live at Hackney Wicked
Images by Drew Hoad
Turn Me On
The House Party, group show at Ladette Space, London 2014
Performance. Polyester, polystyrene, cotton, compact mirror, laser pen.
Image by Natalie Marr
Performance. Polyester, polystyrene, cotton, compact mirror, laser pen.
Image by Natalie Marr
Untitled Park Sculpture
Untitled Park Sculpture is the outcome of my time as part of The Drawing Shed's project Ideas from Else[W]here at the Winns Gallery in Lloyds Park, Walthamstow, throughout June and July 2014
For a period of a month I went twice a week to Lloyds Park. Throughout my time there I developed a series of small interventions on the subject of public art. This was triggered by the presence of a beautifully carved tree stump. I used its image as a leitmotif. I made a replica, a series of signs and a performance.
This work was developed with the support of The Drawing Shed.
Images of performance by Natalie Marr
For a period of a month I went twice a week to Lloyds Park. Throughout my time there I developed a series of small interventions on the subject of public art. This was triggered by the presence of a beautifully carved tree stump. I used its image as a leitmotif. I made a replica, a series of signs and a performance.
This work was developed with the support of The Drawing Shed.
Images of performance by Natalie Marr
FT Reading 1
FT Reading 1
Birthdays, 2014
A performance at the launch of Soft as Snow's Glass Body EP
Images by Drew Hoad.
Birthdays, 2014
A performance at the launch of Soft as Snow's Glass Body EP
Images by Drew Hoad.
All across a shattered sky
Solo show, Jubilee Gallery
Nagoya, Japan, 2013
Works
Light-traps
shibori dyed cotton, polyester, dimensions variable
We climbed the peaks of glass
tie-dyed cotton, polyester, brass, resin, angelite
Feast -Harvest
plywood, resin, brass, soil, plants, amber, pyrite, onyx, dalmatian jasper, pink quartz, amazonite, fuchsite
Nagoya, Japan, 2013
Works
Light-traps
shibori dyed cotton, polyester, dimensions variable
We climbed the peaks of glass
tie-dyed cotton, polyester, brass, resin, angelite
Feast -Harvest
plywood, resin, brass, soil, plants, amber, pyrite, onyx, dalmatian jasper, pink quartz, amazonite, fuchsite
Binary Code
8bit, Kingsgate Gallery, 2013
A live collage of quotes from Bridget Riley, Joyce Caroll Oates, collected black and white materials and some of my writing.
A live collage of quotes from Bridget Riley, Joyce Caroll Oates, collected black and white materials and some of my writing.
Primal Cord
Freud Museum, Totemic festival, on the 100th anniversary of the publication of Totem and Taboo.
London, 2013
I wove a cord from my waist to the totem tree in the Freud Museum's garden, as I wove more I got closer to the tree. During this process strange things happened. I became invisible, I received hostility by those questioning what I was doing. When I could weave no more I unraveled the cord and walked away from the tree until it tore, then I went to Anna Freud's room.
London, 2013
I wove a cord from my waist to the totem tree in the Freud Museum's garden, as I wove more I got closer to the tree. During this process strange things happened. I became invisible, I received hostility by those questioning what I was doing. When I could weave no more I unraveled the cord and walked away from the tree until it tore, then I went to Anna Freud's room.
S. A. G.
SINGLE ACTIVITY GROUP (S.A.G.)
Berdmonsey Square, Vitrine Gallery 2013
S.A.G is a collective of like-minded artists who make performances together on a specific premise. Each artist devises their own single, work-orientated activity to repeat alongside each other for one hour in a static position (seated or standing).
The cue for S.A.G comes from Lillian and Frank Gilbreth’s controversial ‘Time and Motion’ films from the 1910s that were designed to maximise factory production through workers performing a ‘single activity’, day in, day out.
S.A.G performances reference the economic/historical phenomenon of labour-exploitation filtered through an evergreen, aesthetically acclaimed artistic trope – of minimalist-conceptual performance art redolent of the 1950s -70s. Typically, the S.A.G’s work is low-paid and mind numbing. The duration of one hour suggests the pay-system of repetitive labour.
The ambition is to evoke, through artist’s performances, an image of a factory of operatives that doesn’t make any productive sense. To reflect the work theme, a S.A.G performance is un/paid by the hour.
‘I used to work in a factory, and I was really happy because I could daydream all day’. (Ian Curtis, Joy Division)
S.A.G. are
Jack Catling
Kate Mahony
Jordan McKenzie
Simon Raven
Holly Slingsby
Lili Spain
Daniella Valz Gen
Aaron Williamson
Berdmonsey Square, Vitrine Gallery 2013
S.A.G is a collective of like-minded artists who make performances together on a specific premise. Each artist devises their own single, work-orientated activity to repeat alongside each other for one hour in a static position (seated or standing).
The cue for S.A.G comes from Lillian and Frank Gilbreth’s controversial ‘Time and Motion’ films from the 1910s that were designed to maximise factory production through workers performing a ‘single activity’, day in, day out.
S.A.G performances reference the economic/historical phenomenon of labour-exploitation filtered through an evergreen, aesthetically acclaimed artistic trope – of minimalist-conceptual performance art redolent of the 1950s -70s. Typically, the S.A.G’s work is low-paid and mind numbing. The duration of one hour suggests the pay-system of repetitive labour.
The ambition is to evoke, through artist’s performances, an image of a factory of operatives that doesn’t make any productive sense. To reflect the work theme, a S.A.G performance is un/paid by the hour.
‘I used to work in a factory, and I was really happy because I could daydream all day’. (Ian Curtis, Joy Division)
S.A.G. are
Jack Catling
Kate Mahony
Jordan McKenzie
Simon Raven
Holly Slingsby
Lili Spain
Daniella Valz Gen
Aaron Williamson
Images courtesy of Vitrine Gallery
Video filmed and edited by Rachel Dowle
Tectonic Rim
Building a house at the edge of a cliff
New Gallery, 2013
Slide projection and text
New Gallery, 2013
Slide projection and text
No power in the world can stop the power the power in our cells
Cosmos, Rare Doings
Peckham, 2012
I talk about orgone energy, orgone accumulators, becoming an orgone accumulator and dressing as a supernova. Then I release my orgone.
Peckham, 2012
I talk about orgone energy, orgone accumulators, becoming an orgone accumulator and dressing as a supernova. Then I release my orgone.
Wormhole
Performance at Lock In Performance Art
ICA, London, 2012
ICA, London, 2012
Tender Buttons and Eroded Things
Performance and Installation
Hyperrealz, Bruno Glint, 2012
A live collage of different materials: images taken from interior design blogs, objects and fragments of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons.
Hyperrealz, Bruno Glint, 2012
A live collage of different materials: images taken from interior design blogs, objects and fragments of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons.
LUPA 6
Performance at the LUPA garage in Bethnal Green, 2012
A scroll reading, a channeling, a golden triangle.
A scroll reading, a channeling, a golden triangle.
We shall drink this golden storm
We shall drink this golden storm, 2012
Mixed media installation at the shut down Chelsea Pianos shop front. A collaborative project with Tal Regev.
Tufted floor piece made of various yarns, fabrics, wood, plaster, resin, acrylic, oil painting by Tal Regev.
Mixed media installation at the shut down Chelsea Pianos shop front. A collaborative project with Tal Regev.
Tufted floor piece made of various yarns, fabrics, wood, plaster, resin, acrylic, oil painting by Tal Regev.
Sleepy outpour, 2012
Performance in collaboration with Tal Regev.
Public intervention on the King’s Road, Chelsea.
Performance in collaboration with Tal Regev.
Public intervention on the King’s Road, Chelsea.
Transverse Wave, 2012
Performance, a scroll reading, a channelling, dance and music.
With the help of Tal Regev and Mirei Yazawa.
Performance, a scroll reading, a channelling, dance and music.
With the help of Tal Regev and Mirei Yazawa.
Sponge Joy
Mixed Media installation, 2012
Comprised of the following sculptures:
Outside-in (Metal, hand-dyed velvet, wadding, tufted pieces made of various yarns and stitched together)
90cm x 107cm x 107cm
Mass Mater (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
50 x 50 x 50cm cube
Foxes (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
Two 30 x 30 x 30cm cubes
Plinth (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
75 x 35 x 35cm cylindrical shape
Hat (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
30 x 35 x 40cm triangular shape
This one is for you (Hazel, cherry and apple green wood, willow, nails)
Column Feature (Orange willow, metal, acrylic)
Covers and sketches
Performance
Recitation and singing of a series of covers of 70s and 80s pop songs including David Bowie's Moonage Daydream, Modern Love, Heroes and Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Choreographed movements and sketches of 70s physical performance art.
Performers
Tony Burch, Sheila Miranda Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Madeleine Robinson, Krista Sharpe (soprano), Jessica Smulders Cohen, Daniella Valz Gen
Images by Oda Egjar Starheim
Comprised of the following sculptures:
Outside-in (Metal, hand-dyed velvet, wadding, tufted pieces made of various yarns and stitched together)
90cm x 107cm x 107cm
Mass Mater (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
50 x 50 x 50cm cube
Foxes (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
Two 30 x 30 x 30cm cubes
Plinth (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
75 x 35 x 35cm cylindrical shape
Hat (Foam, machine knitted animal print fabric)
30 x 35 x 40cm triangular shape
This one is for you (Hazel, cherry and apple green wood, willow, nails)
Column Feature (Orange willow, metal, acrylic)
Covers and sketches
Performance
Recitation and singing of a series of covers of 70s and 80s pop songs including David Bowie's Moonage Daydream, Modern Love, Heroes and Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Choreographed movements and sketches of 70s physical performance art.
Performers
Tony Burch, Sheila Miranda Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Madeleine Robinson, Krista Sharpe (soprano), Jessica Smulders Cohen, Daniella Valz Gen
Images by Oda Egjar Starheim
Cocktail
2012
Papyrus, charcoal, graphite, acrylic, gold leaf, resin, pigment, plaster, wood, laminate, metal, glass.
Papyrus, charcoal, graphite, acrylic, gold leaf, resin, pigment, plaster, wood, laminate, metal, glass.
Stand by me
2012
Drift wood, metal, plaster, acrylic, pigment, crocheted wire
Drift wood, metal, plaster, acrylic, pigment, crocheted wire
Any way the wind blows
2011
Mixed Media installation and Performance
Green wood, metal, plaster, acrylic, pigment, machine knitted pieces of wool and acrylic yarns.
A dramatic reading of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Mixed Media installation and Performance
Green wood, metal, plaster, acrylic, pigment, machine knitted pieces of wool and acrylic yarns.
A dramatic reading of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Pachamama my soul (Makeshift Utopia)
2011
Mixed Media installation and performance
Tufted piece 3.10 x 1.50m
Various yarns, canvas, latex, plaster, resin, brass metal powder, acrylic, gold leaf
Homegrown
2011
Digital inkjet prints
I grew pink fir apple potatoes because I love to look at them and to eat them. They are tasty and kinky. Also, potatoes are from Perú. I am from Perú. People in England love potatoes. I live in England. Potatoes grow all over the world. An Irish person once told me potatoes were Irish. There is confusion. Pink fir apple potatoes are confusing.
Digital inkjet prints
I grew pink fir apple potatoes because I love to look at them and to eat them. They are tasty and kinky. Also, potatoes are from Perú. I am from Perú. People in England love potatoes. I live in England. Potatoes grow all over the world. An Irish person once told me potatoes were Irish. There is confusion. Pink fir apple potatoes are confusing.
No-space for nostalgia (Makeshift Utopia)
2011
Mixed Media installation and performance
Flour, anya potatoes, acrylic, pigment, card, machine knitted fluorescent lurex and wool.
I walked into the installation barefoot and read a poem about love
Mixed Media installation and performance
Flour, anya potatoes, acrylic, pigment, card, machine knitted fluorescent lurex and wool.
I walked into the installation barefoot and read a poem about love
Outpour (Makeshift Utopia)
2011
Mixed Media installation
Mixed Media installation
Interventions/Interruptions
35mm slide series (selection)
This is an ongoing collaboration with Alfonso Vargas Saitua. We go around Lima, the city were we grew up, and I “try” to make myself fit into the landscape, whilst he takes documents it.
This is an ongoing collaboration with Alfonso Vargas Saitua. We go around Lima, the city were we grew up, and I “try” to make myself fit into the landscape, whilst he takes documents it.
Launderette
2011
Performance
I went to a launderette on New Cross Road, put my jeans and jacket in the machine and start belly dance to its undulating movements, whilst wearing my belly workout suit.
Performance
I went to a launderette on New Cross Road, put my jeans and jacket in the machine and start belly dance to its undulating movements, whilst wearing my belly workout suit.
Jirón de la Unión
Lima, Peru, 2009
Street intervention
Costume made of machine knitted fabric (wool and lurex).
I knitted a suit. I wanted to turn myself into some sort of social sculpture. I don’t know what that means.
I went to a pedestrian street in the old colonial part of Lima. This street connects two main squares: Plaza San Martín and Plaza Mayor, where the Cathedral, Palace of Government and Municipal Palace are.
I distributed 500 keyrings and stickers a day before and after the day I wore the suit.
The day I wore the suit a friend was with me, she asked people to stick their hands into my suit and walk with me down the Jirón de la Unión. A lot of people did, and we walked up to the Palace of Government, and then we stood there. It was a nice day. There was one guy that was with me for the whole walk, he had his hand on the glove stuck on the top of my head. I don’t know his name, but I feel I know him and will never forget him, even though I wouldn’t be able to recognise him. When I returned the next day to hand out more stickers and keyrings, some people showed me pictures of me they took on their mobile phones. Some people asked questions, some didn’t. I didn’t have anything to say.
Parque Salazar
Miraflores, Lima, Peru, 2009
Public/Private space intervention
Costume made of inflatable toys and balloons.
Trade action that took place in a former public park, the site is now part of a shopping mall that sits on the cliff. It seems like a public area, but the traditional street commerce that used to take place in the park is now forbidden. People could trade anything for a toy or balloon. I traded until I was left with nothing and the police and municipal guards argued bout who was supposed to deal with me, so I left as they were absorbed in their discussion.
Public/Private space intervention
Costume made of inflatable toys and balloons.
Trade action that took place in a former public park, the site is now part of a shopping mall that sits on the cliff. It seems like a public area, but the traditional street commerce that used to take place in the park is now forbidden. People could trade anything for a toy or balloon. I traded until I was left with nothing and the police and municipal guards argued bout who was supposed to deal with me, so I left as they were absorbed in their discussion.
51
2009
Performance
I wore a boiler suit and asked people to give me something. They gave me different things and I stuffed them all inside my suit. When they stopped giving me things I unzipped the back and started taking them out. I stuffed 51 objects inside my suit.
Performance
I wore a boiler suit and asked people to give me something. They gave me different things and I stuffed them all inside my suit. When they stopped giving me things I unzipped the back and started taking them out. I stuffed 51 objects inside my suit.
