Week 57: Wednesday 5th February [13:00-15:00]
Independent Study
Tasks:
- Prepare a timeline document outlining the stages of your project and plotting its delivery point[s]. Upload to folder [here]. Refer to the Suggested Project Timeline page on Moodle for a suggestion of how your project should be unfolding.
UPDATED PROJECT PROPOSAL AFTER PEER FEEDBACK: INCLUDES TIMELINE
- Look into the socially engaged art practice example assigned to you below and prepare some notes / reactions to share with your peers in today’s class.
- And if you were not able to complete your pre-reporting evaluation during our class in Week 56, then please make sure you have time to! You can find and download the template [here].
Read + Watch + Listen + Prepare:
- Melissini Motiti = ‘Complaints Choir’ (2005-) by Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen and Tellervo Kalleinen [useful links here, here and here]
The Complaints Choir is a collaborative art project initiated by artists Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen and Tellervo Kalleinen in 2005. It involves creating choirs where people come together to sing about their complaints and grievances, turning everyday complaints into song lyrics. The project aims to provide a creative outlet for expressing frustrations, highlighting common issues in society, and fostering community bonding through shared experiences. Each choir’s performance typically includes singing these grievances in public spaces, turning personal frustrations into a collective expression. It’s a unique blend of art, music, and social commentary aimed at exploring the cathartic and communal aspects of complaining.
Georgia Kotretsos: By inviting people to
lodge their complaints, to protest, to express
their objections, to speak (sing) out, to make
a statement of disapproval, to stage that very
act and perform it in public, you offer the par
ticipants a platform to communicate their petty
every-day gripes as well as issues that affect and
concern every citizen. You invite them “to take
responsibility for their complaints,” to stand up
straight and face collectively their own reflec
tion. The participants sing together and to one
another, they do not exclude themselves from
what they are singing about. It’s not an act of
pointing their finger to a third party but of dis
tributing responsibility first among themselves
and then among their listeners. What are your
thoughts on the socio-political “Valituskuoro”
dimensions in practice
Live Sessions
The details of this session will be updated after the Week 55: Project Proposal Review class and be tailored in relationship to your proposals and the types of public engagement your projects will likely involve.
The session will be divided between small lectures / peer-to-peer discussion / staged debate*. Expect to be asked to a) conduct small scale experimental engagement activities to connect with publics in playful ways; b) to study materials related to one of five socially engaged art projects, either assigned to your directly or distributed internally amongst yourselves.
From this class you should think of ways to augment, expand and refine your Unit 6 projects.
* In a staged debate you will be asked to adopt one or two positions on a given subject and argue against your peers. The purpose of this is not to win the argument, rather it helps to dislodge readily assumed positions and to critically examine a case study.
FEEDBACK
15 INTERVIEWS.
FOCUS ON WHAT U WANNA TELL THROUGH THE QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
QUESTION FOCUS (SOCIAL? POLITICAL?) SOMETHING THAT CAN SHOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LONDON/ CYPRUS!!! IN LIVING COMMUNALLY? SOCIALLY? RACISM? RELATIONSHIP TO FAMILY? TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIP TO PARENTS/ GRANDPARENTS
ETC ETC
SOMETHING THAT WILL DO NUMBERS ON TIKTOK AS WELL.
questions that arent too leading.
example: what is the last thing that really annoyed u
am i able to create scenarios that create vulnerability
cricise my self/ the intereactions/ maybe it isnt the best moment/ maybe i didnt create a safe space.
think of the history of sitting with someone and the power dybamics
am i creating a situation were vulnerability can be achieved i a meaningful way
does this conversation achieve something intercultural.
model- artist RELATIONSHIP!