Since 24 March 2020
Video readings series by Armin Lorenz Gerold
IGTV
Since March 24, artist and composer Armin Lorenz Gerold has been publishing on his IGTV channel a video series whose recurring elements are a short and dense text (poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and their combination), a carefully composed fixed-camera shot (or two), a beautiful soundtrack, and a vibrant reading performance. The varied and unique selection of texts – picked by him and other persons that he asked to or spontaneously sent some – are by authors worth discovering or rediscovering such as Essex Hemphill, Paul B. Preciado, Olivia Laing, W.G. Sebald, Arthur Holmes, and Etel Adnan. I was happy to contribute myself a text by Nabarun Bhattacharya, and another by Ursula K. Le Guin, that became Episode 05 and 09.
instagram.com/wiredfoxterrier/channel
arminlorenz.net
22 April 2020, 5.30-7 pm
Microplastics and Coexistence – Kat Austen and Nana McLean
Art Laboratory Berlin website + Zoom
What is the ubiquitously presence of microplastics doing to the environment and how are living organisms such as plants, bacteria and fish reacting to it? I’ve been more and more interested in waste lately, and in how its technical and historical developments challenge, once more, the nature/culture and natural/artificial controversial dualisms. This “discussion workshop” presented by Art Laboratory Berlin and DIY Hack the Panke – to be streamed on Art Laboratory’s website, while a limited number of persons can apply to participate in Zoom – seems a great occasion to explore some further aspects of this yet to be written story.
www.artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-event-54.htm
25 April 2020, 8 pm
Andrea Belfi: “Hobocombo plays Moondog”
Dringeblieben (website)
I saw Hobocombo – a project that reinterpretes, reinvents and pays tribute to Moondog’s music – perform live twice in Berlin, once in Ausland and once in Acud. I wonder when I’ll be able to visit a public event in those venues again, and I’ve been involved already in a few “should we start booking gigs, is autumn 2020 too soon” online discussions. I’ll repeat here: yes, it’s too soon, we should wait. In the meanwhile, performing artists (as well as other professional categories) need different solutions to make a living and “do their thing”. I don’t know much about Dringeblieben yet, but they’re trying something in the direction – online events, in this case with a flexible “ticket” price starting at 5 Eur. The livestream will feature a special Hobocombo solo performance by Andrea Belfi (drums, percussions, voice), while the project usually consists of a trio including also Rocco Marchi (guitar, synth, voice), and Francesca Baccolini (double bass, voice).
dringeblieben.de/videos/andrea-belfi-hobocombo-plays-moondog
facebook.com/events/638310583398617/
Since 3 April 2020
QW – Quarantine Workout
Standards website + PDFs to download
“Which variations of the same movement produce different sounds?”. The team behind the Milan based music and art space Standards – together with some invited artists – is proposing on their website an ongoing “series of scores, practical exercises aimed at approaching the daily reality at different modes and velocities”. The excercises involve simple actions to be performed at home or in the few places we can currently visit (balcony, yard, the way to the grocery store): observation, movement, attentively listening, production of sound with common objects. The selection of the score format and the way the scores look like inevitably make me think about Fluxus, about visual poetry, about Dada – the series is actually introduced by a Marcel Duchamp’s quote. While many people, including several politicians, can’t wait to rush back to “normality” (whatever that is), or desperately try to figure out a virtual/remote version of everything they usually do, this series focuses on the here and now of our current condition, and on what we can make out of it. Precious!
www.standardstudio.it/quarantine-workout