MARTINE VIALE. SCHOOL OF PERFORMANCE, LVIV 2018
I had a very rich experience at Days of performance art in Lviv, as a participating artist of the festival and also as a workshop facilitator. As an artist I felt supported and listened to which is always reassuring. The festival team did everything they could to facilitate the work of all the artists and the event format, two or three actions a night, gives the audience the chance to reflect on each work and gives the artist the space to experiment. I appreciated this kind of direction which is not concentrated on productivity but rather on the reality of what the practice requires.
I was quite surprised by the instant commitment and curiosity of the group I was working with and by their capacity to process the work quickly. I felt a sense of eagerness in everyones learning approach, something that was established from the beginning.
Three days workshop can be too short with some groups but in this case it was just the right amount of time to give them material to reflect upon and tools to continue the process by themselves.
During these three days, we focused on the basic material of action art; the body, time and space with an introduction to working with objects on the last day. The work demands that one keep an open mind and to be physically able to work with contradictions and challenges.
As a final presentation, we chose the open lab format in the public space which is not an easy format but something I truly value because it helps the artists to abandon the idea of «making a performance » to the profit of being present, aware and open to unpredictability.
In spite of hesitation on the part of most participants, I am quite satisfied with the way they were able to transgress and create interesting experiences for themselves.
The final presentation was approached as a continuity of the process and I felt clearly that everyone was connected to the research aspect with great humility and to me this is very important.
