Binaural and Associação Cultural de Nodar present:
Media Arts. Tradition. Environment.
A multidisciplinary event in rural context, organized within the scope of the Nodar Artist Residency Program. An encounter between contemporary and traditional cultures. A dialogical reflection of Nodar geographical and socio-cultural contexts, directed to both rural and urban audiences.
Nodar, S. Pedro do Sul (Portugal) 19 April 08 – 3.00 p.m.
3.00 p.m. – Pedestrian Walk on the Banks of the river Paiva
5.30 p.m. – Three Audiovisual Projects by Artists from MoKS (Estonia): John Grzinich, Evelyn Müürsepp and Toomas Thetloff
7.00 p.m. – Traditional Songs by Two Local Collectives: Worksongs from Sequeiros and Challenging Singing (ancient form of Rap) from Parada de Ester
9.30 p.m. – Cinema: Three feature movies about rural life
Three artistic projects will be presented in the scope of a cooperation agreement in place with the Estonian organization MoKS:
John Grzinich | USA, Estonia
“Flowlines” | Sound and Video Art
A Sound Locations Project
My interest is to carry out a sonic and visual survey of the landscape around Nodar through a series of site-specific recording sessions. In particular I will attempt to compare and contrast the geographic lines caused by the natural water flows towards the river at the bottom of the valley versus the man-made aqueduct that transverses the vertical lines and brings water into the village. Both of these phenomena actually rely on natural forces yet one was created for a specific purpose for the local inhabitants.
John Grzinich is a mixed-media artist who has worked primarily with sound composition, performance and installation since the early 1990s. He has performed and worked on projects extensively throughout Europe and the US and has published a number of CDs of his compositions on such labels as Staalplaat (NL), Edition Sonoro (UK), SIRR (PT), CUT (CH), CMR (NZ), erewhon (BE), Intransitive Recordings (US), Orogenetics (US), Elevator Bath (US), Pale-Disc (JP), Digital Narcis (JP), and Cloud of Statics (CH). Currently John is a project and media lab coordinator for MoKS – Center for Art and Social Practice, an artist-run international residency center and project space in southeast Estonia.
http://maaheli.ee/
Evelyn Müürsepp | Estonia
“Pattern Research” | Drawing, painting, photography, installation
Recently a visit to Obinitsa (Setu village in Estonia by Russian border) twisted my mind. A local craftswoman showed me traditional patterns that ladies have done for hundreds of years and what they still keep creating on their clothes (embroidering, crocheting, knitting etc). There is one rule they have followed – one is never allowed to copy given pattern, but one always has to alter it somehow and must be able to show where the alteration was made. By coming to Nodar- I keep my eyes, senses and ears open. What can I find there? To research and collect patterns in and around Nodar. Drawing, painting, photographing, and recording them. These can be either patterns from nature or patterns from people’s activities (eg wallpaper patterns, stichings on fabrics). Work produced based on research: either animation, video, drawings, paintings or installation. It depends on the material I gather and in what I find.
Evelyn Müürsepp, is an Estonian visual artist. She holds a B.A in Fine Arts by the University of Tartu and is one of the coordinators of MoKS, an art residency center in Mooste. Evelyn collaborates with the sound artist John Grzinich in several projects combining sound and visual arts, and she has presented her solo works (mainly graphic art, painting, photography, site-specific installations) in galleries and festivals in several Baltic and northern Europe countries.
http://maaheli.ee/eku
Toomas Thetloff | Estonia
“Nodar Vs. NOGS” | Still photography video.
To perceive the fruitful characteristics of a subject, it is wise to examine it from many different perspectives. If we consider a space to be a vocabulary then we also need tools of common language to share the experience. For this reason I want to undergo the collective experience of Nodar through the eyes and ears of an ordinary villager. In a small community it is important for an organization to be aware of its impact on the community. One way to learn this is by examining the myths and stories people hold on them.
Toomas Thetloff is an Estonian interdisciplinary artist working in the fields of photography, sound, installation, performance and video. Since 2005 he has been running several performance-actions in cooperation with „Art Security” and EKSP. He is also a coordinator for an experimental project space „p.o.t.t.” and a member of MOKS.
http://www.fantomas.jabber.ee
Poster of the event (click on image to enlarge the poster’s size):