Do you ever wonder about the creative potential of everyday materials? How does performance feature in the process of art-making? To coincide with A Bigger Splash exhibition, this practical two-day workshop invites you to engage with and activate a range of everyday materials such as foil, fabric, spices and paper through subtle gestures to explore and rethink your relationship to them and the world around you. Through visits to the exhibition, making sessions, group activities and discussion, you have the opportunity to handle these ideas and materials, culminating in an optional performance. Please bring with you an everyday material you would like to work with. No technical knowledge is required. All levels of ability are welcome.
Led by artist Rita Evans
Event programme
Sunday 23 March 2013 13.00–17.00
13.00 Welcome and introduction to the workshop and Day 1. Activity: getting to know each other through the different materials.
13.30 How and why do artists activate materials? Looking at the work of Lucio Fontana, Helen Almeida, Ana Mendieta, Yayoi Kusama, Edward Krasinski, Joseph Beuys and Hélio Oiticica in Tate Modern Collection displays and A Bigger Splash exhibition, followed by an activity inside the exhibition and concluding discussion.
Testing Sensitivities: introduction to making live performance through examples of material explorations by workshop tutor Rita Evans and a look at developing gestures/performance work followed by material testing activity.
14.45 Break
15.00 Exploring and developing small scale performances inspired by artists’ work and materials discussed earlier.
16.00 Group perform prepared pieces to each other, followed by a discussion and conclusion to Day 1.
17.00 End
Sunday 24 March 2013 13.00–17.00
13.00 Welcome and introduction to Day 2, and discussion about final performance and documentation.
13.20 Activity: the group use foil to connect everyone in the room, relating to connection based performance works and interventions by Yayoi Kusama, Edward Krasinski and Lygia Pape.
14.00 Work towards final performance that can be as grand or subtle as you like.
15.15 Break
15.30 Rehearsal for final performance.
16.00 Performance and final discussion.
17.00 End