It all started on Monday the 13th of May 2013. Participants arrived from Berlin, England, Poland, Switzerland and of course France.
For the last year SP23 has been involved in a European-wide skill sharing project which, to date has included two screen-printing events – one hosted by the Czentrifuga in Berlin, and the other by the Druckerei at Reitschule in Bern. This time round it was our turn to host the DIY event. Live electronic dance music and visuals is our specially – so we shared our skill sets – focusing on themes of connection and interaction.
On day one, Simon (aka Crystal Distortion); Seb (aka 69DB) and Toma (aka Tomagnetik) lead the ‘Capture’. Taking the fifteen-strong group of international artists to explore the narrow streets around the old port of Marseille. With audio recording equipment and cameras we captured slices of sound and images to use directly, or as inspiration in the following week of creative interactions.
To make it all happen we had organised four main bases across the city.
ArtSPace 1 was on Rue Estelle. A labyrinth of old government offices – reclaimed and occupied by a group of international arts activists as free social space and studios.
ArtSPace 2 was Casa Consolat, a cafe and community art centre run by a group of Italians. Crystal Distortion filled the house for three nights with interactive Ableton Live workshops which where geared to teach beginners ‘how to fly’.
ArtSPace 3 was 69DB’s apartment – turned ‘Intuitive Electronic Live Laboratory’. Here, Seb gave one to one tuition which concentrated on improvised music. After an hour of connecting minds to machinery and opening the library of captured sounds, each participant made arrangements and recordings of their electronic explorations.
ArtSPace 4 was a huge stone-built warehouse that had originally been used as a livery stable. Now it’s run by Mafalda Camara’s theartre company. Feenix 13 and myself (Stray Wayward), set up the graphics jam there, and on the final day (Friday) staged the Playback Event. This was where the recordings, images and artwork – which had been created across the week – were presented to the public. A traditional meal was cooked by our Polish contingent – washed down with local wine. The evening’s music was provided by Crystal Distortion.
Next up: SP23’s skill-share festival. This will be a small family friendly event which will, over several days, offer opportunities to others to come and join our skill-sharing community. Tickets will be limited. Watch this SPace for details…
Many thanks to all who participated – and all those behind the scenes who helped to make it happen.