Fresh Performance Chapter 6: Intuition & Vision in Performance

October 2, 2013June 9, 20151 Comment

FRESH MILK in collaboration with Damali Abrams presents Chapter 6 in the Fresh Performance Project: Intuition & Vision in Performance

Being an artist means being able to trust one’s intuition. Intuition may be viewed as an abstract concept. Some may even think it is nonsense, the kind of foolishness that intellectuals or sensible people do not discuss. Since artists are often dismissed as senseless dreamers, intuition is risky territory for us to cop to. Contemporary art is about research and rigor, strong concepts and aesthetic concerns. Of course all of these elements, as well as technique and skill are crucial to the work. Yet that does not diminish the importance of intuition.

Growing up I remember hearing my mother exclaiming in frustration, “I should have followed my mind!” anytime she ignored her intuition and faced negative consequences. This always stuck with me and as a result I try to follow my own intuition as much as possible, especially when it comes to making art. My practice is very research-based and I love to read and write about a project extensively before, during and after creating it. But at some point I have to surrender to my muse and follow the art wherever it takes me.

Suspecting that other artists might approach their processes similarly, I interviewed Brooklyn-based artist Maria Hupfield, who is a member of Wasauksing First Nation, and Jamaican artist Olivia McGilchrist. Both use their own bodies to explore issues of culture and race in order to address universal concepts such as connectivity and alienation. They both also utilize costumes and props in creating the scenarios in their performances. These artists begin with a clear concept, an ideal vision of how their performances will manifest. But at some point they let go and allow the performance to carry them in order to create change by furthering dialogue about pertinent issues in their respective communities.

Maria Hupfield is a multi-disciplinary artist who creates the objects that she uses in her performances along with bodily gestures and her voice. These tools facilitate her performances, which are part of what she deems “new conversations.” However there is simultaneously a timeless as well a futuristic quality to her work. I met with Maria in her studio in an industrial area of Brooklyn. In performance, Maria is bold and confident. Yet in casual conversation she is soft-spoken and very careful about her thoughts and words. Talking with her it became clear that she applies the same careful consideration to her work so that by the time she arrives in front of an audience she can embody that sense of confidence and clarity.

Olivia McGilchrist was born in Jamaica to a French mother and a Jamaican father. She spent most of her life in Europe and suddenly had to return to Jamaica two years ago. This is the impetus for her alter ego “Whitey.” This work is not only about Olivia’s experiences of whiteness in Jamaica. She hopes to raise questions about whiteness in the Caribbean context. Olivia is using performance to help process these heavy personal as well as societal concerns.

This is my final posting for my six-month off-site residency with Fresh Milk. I am so grateful to Fresh Milk and all of the amazing artists that I have had the opportunity to speak with and learn from during this time.

What I did not reveal is that the six chapters of the Fresh Performance Project were based on the chakras, which are energy centers throughout our body. There are seven that people tend to focus on and I used these as the template for this project, inspired by the work of performance artist Linda Montano.

The first chakra is the root chakra and it is the place of grounding. So chapter one was about defining performance art in order to ground the project.

The second chakra is the sacral chakra and concerns sexual matters and chapter two focused on gender and sexuality.

The third chakra is the solar plexus and is our power center so of course chapter three was about performance and power.

The fourth chakra is the heart chakra and is all about love, as was chapter four.

The fifth chakra is the throat chakra and governs communication. Chapter five discussed how performance communicates.

The sixth chakra is our third eye, which is the space of intuition and here we are at chapter six: intuition and vision.

The seventh chakra, the crown chakra, is about Divine connection and oneness. Instead of a seventh chapter, this chakra will be represented by a full-length documentary bringing together all of the artists I have interviewed over the last six months. The intention of Fresh Performance was to learn about the connections and differences amongst artists working with performance in NYC and those in the Caribbean. I have learned a tremendous amount, not only about performance art and contemporary Caribbean art, but also about kindness, generosity and the ways in which we are all connected.

For the next four weeks I will be in residence at Fresh Milk as well as Groundation Grenada completing this project. I will contribute weekly blog posts to FreshMilkBarbados.com documenting the experience. Please also check out damaliabrams.tumblr.com for less formal updates.

Thank you so much to all of the artists who have participated and a huge thank you to Fresh Milk and Groundation Grenada! Also, thank you the U.S. Embassy for funding this amazing residency. I am infinitely grateful for this opportunity.

– Damali Abrams

About Olivia McGilchrist

Born in Kingston (Jamaica) in 1981 to a French mother and a Jamaican father and educated in France and the U.K., Olivia McGilchrist moved back to Jamaica in 2011 after completing a Photography M.A. at the London College of Communication (2009-2010). Since this sudden return, her current practice has incorporated her body, remapping it within the tropical picturesque through photographic tableaux and multi-layered videos. She has indulged her alter-ego Whitey in her appropriation of this space of utter difference, Jamaica, by exploring trans-location and physical expressions of emotional states in the search for her cultural identity. McGilchrist was recently awarded the prize for Best New Media artist at the 2013 trinidad+tobago film festival.

About Maria Hupfield

Maria Hupfield (born 1975) is from the Georgian Bay region Ontario, Canada and currently based in Brooklyn New York. She is of Anishnaabe (Ojibwa) heritage and a member of Wasauksing First Nation. Hupfield holds an MFA in sculpture from York University, Toronto. She recently participated in: A Conversation on Performance Art: Women Redrawing/Performance, organized by The Feminist Art Project at SOHO20 Chelsea NY; (2013) Wave Hill’s Winter Workspace Program, Glyndor Galley, Bronx, NY; and (2012) Artist Leadership Program, National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC. She has performed at ACCOLA GRIEFEN GALLERY, Chelsea NY, Grace Gallery, Brooklyn NY and (2012) 7a*11d International Performance Festival, Toronto ON. Hupfield’s work is currently in the traveling exhibitions Beat Nation and Changing Hands III.

Hupfield’s work was featured in the 2011 winter edition of Black Flash Magazine on performance photography and in the North Edition of Fuse Magazine winter for the collaborative artist project “From the Moon to the Belly” with Laakkuluk Williamson.

Fresh Milk and Groundation Grenada welcome Damali Abrams

September 30, 2013July 18, 2019Leave a comment

FRESH MILK and Groundation Grenada are pleased to have NYC-based, Guyanese performance artist Damali Abrams visit our platforms as artist in residence for the month of October, 2013.

Damali, who has been working with FRESH MILK on The Fresh Performance Project which features interviews with Caribbean-based and NYC-based performance artists, will spend three weeks in Barbados and one week in Grenada. In addition to editing a full length documentary around Fresh Performance and producing her own work, Damali will also be conducting workshops and community outreach projects in both islands.

This exciting residency not only marks the first official collaboration between FRESH MILK and Groundation, but will also expand the cultural arena for both NY based and Caribbean based creatives, contributing to critical discourse around performance art.

Fresh Milk and Groundation Grenada wish to engage with the Caribbean diasporic art community in the New York area as well as a wider U.S. audience, and projects of this nature are unique in that they reverse the trend of Caribbean based artists wanting to find relevance for their work in a North American context. In this instance, it is a U.S. based artist who is keen to see how her work resonates within the Caribbean environment.

Given that performance art in the Caribbean is practiced by a small number of artists, this project will contribute to expanding a critical and creative community by offering support to performance artists who often work in isolation. Finally, the project will build cultural bridges between the U.S. and the Caribbean and generate understanding and community through the arts.

Damali will share the outcome of her residency at a public event to be held at FRESH MILK on October 24th. More information on this to follow!

Special thanks to the US Embassy in Barbados for supporting this project.

Caribbean Linked II Artist Blogs: Robin de Vogel

September 27, 2013May 20, 2015Leave a comment

Dutch/Aruban artist Robin de Vogel shares her experience during Caribbean Linked II, a residency programme at Ateliers ’89, Aruba. She describes her need to appropriate and settle into a studio space, accumulating ‘objets trouvés’ as a part of her creative process. As she carved out this space for herself, she also discovered where she fit in the environments constructed by her fellow resident artists. Through their time together she noticed the closing of a gap between the Caribbean islands, building “a bridge where only creative-exchange is accepted as toll fare.”

Robin de Vogel marking the Ateliers ’89 van

Planting Long-distance Seeds

After the first breakfast with all of us at the table, eating while debating politics and manners of campaigning in the Caribbean, I walked through the blue and yellow halls of the Ateliers in pursuit of a good spot to start working. Sofia had set up shop in the far left corner of the first room, one of the larger and lighter spaces in the building. With some of the space already being semi occupied, I moved some tables around to figure out where I’d want to put down roots for the coming two weeks of our residency. I strategically placed myself facing away from the doorway, as I know myself to be continuously curious and therefore easily distracted by everything around me.

About two months ago, two weeks prior to my graduation show, the time had come to clean up the studio space I had inhabited for the past year. I felt like a snail without its shell after everything was moved around, cleaned up, thrown out or saved by taking it home. All the different materials I’d managed to accumulate during the semester to “one day” be of use and my ever-growing collage on the wall. Pictures, postcards, newspaper clippings, objets trouvés, souvenirs and film stills.

Studio space snapshot 2012

They function as tangible trains of thought being slowed down and captured on the walls around me, as though the content of my brain is lightly hugging me.

Appropriating a studio space as my own is crucial for my sanity. During the first few days of the residency I started a small investigation into the studio spaces of the other resident artists. It was exciting to see each individual formulate their workspace in their own style. My own ideal ‘two-week-working-space’ needed a mascot of some sort, sooner rather than later. I promised myself to make, find, steal or collect one object a day, for a week. It led to a small altar.

A mascot a day keeps the doctor away, Robin de Vogel, 2013

As the days progressed I began to realise the vast significance a project like Caribbean Linked II carries within the development of Caribbean art today. The project is not only about establishing a direct link between ten young Caribbean artists during their time in Aruba, but it forms a direct bridge between the islands, a bridge where only creative-exchange is accepted as toll fare. Upon asking curator Holly Bynoe why she believes in this project so very much she answered: “We are planting seeds”.

Image by Shirley Rufin

The work I made during the residency spoke about our ‘reach’ as a human being. Our reach can be categorized as something tangible and measurable like a radius or a circumference, but at the same time our reach can be something elusive and invisible. An opinion exchanged about a work in progress can lead to a complete overhaul in someone’s point of view. Hence the reach of that particular dialogue is immeasurable and untold, as is the importance of the seeds planted during Caribbean Linked II. The elements I take home with me from the continuous exchange that took place during those two weeks are undeniable. I have become aware of a much broader range of artistic possibilities within the Caribbean, various residency programs, projects and creative institutes that I am extremely excited about. Getting to know these beautiful human beings from all over the Caribbean and sharing my island with them makes the oceanic barrier feel so much smaller. Ultimately it leads to an amplified sense of connectivity amongst the different islands as well as an increased feeling of personal responsibility to promote and unite in our diversity.

Image by Shirley Rufin

Image by the artist

About Robin de Vogel:

Robin de Vogel is a Dutch artist raised on the island of Aruba. She participated in photography, drawing, painting and installation art workshops provided by Ateliers ’89. In 2008, she moved back to The Netherlands to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Ceramics Department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She also engages in various collaborative projects and exhibitions in Europe and the Caribbean. Robin’s work often takes the form of installations that revolve around the sensibility of the viewer. Her pieces aim to serve as a subtle disruption of the daily routine. Currently, Robin is completing her exam year and is preparing to pursue a Master of Fine Arts Degree after the summer.

CARIBBEAN LINKED II is a residency programme and exhibition organized by Ateliers ’89 Foundation in collaboration with ARC Inc. and The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc. and funded by the Mondriaan Foundation. The programme took place from August 25th through September 6th, 2013 in Oranjestad, Aruba.

Adrian Green and Sky LARC’s Residency: Week 2

September 25, 2013May 20, 20151 Comment

Spoken word artist and Adrian Green and filmmaker LARC are collaborating at Fresh Milk for the month of September and working on the production of a video short. See LARC’s photographs of the performing artists they are working with, and read Adrian’s blog entry about the challenges of filmmaking, and innovation necessary to adapt to the process.

Reviewing the performance

I instinctively understood it before. But I can appreciate more now. Film making in Barbados is H(art)D. I’ll come back to that.

This process of film making is entirely new and fascinating to me. This is my first time working in the medium and thus far it is very different.

This is my perception of the process thus far. We are in the pre-production stage and at this point there is not a lot of “art” going on. The “art” goes into the conceptualisation and production of a script and/or treatment, and the production of visuals in filming and editing. Aside from that it is planning and administrative work to be done, to ensure that the small window we have for shooting does not close on us prematurely.

The planning involves scheduling, corresponding with actors, securing props, equipment and finalising locations. In other words, looking around making calls and waiting. This is hard work for me who is not the most organised and usually depends on no one and nothing but himself to get his art done. This is definitely not a 9 to 5 type gig. Long periods of seeming inactivity are set to be followed by marathon sessions of filming and editing.

Now on the difficulty of island film making…

Time and budgetary constraints make it so the local film maker must be extra creative. I think I’ll call it “Jazz style film making” or “Mcgyver film making.” This is because the of the level of improvisation, ingenuity and innovation required. You may start with a vision but can expect that the flexibility of your creative muscle will be tested when lack of resources, responses, time and so on, require you to find new ways, approaches and ideas.

But then again, I guess this is not unique to film making. That is just art. Somehow though, it seems amplified when applied to screen. Movie Magic?

– Adrian Green

Megghan and friends

Caribbean Linked II review: Sofia Maldonado

September 23, 2013May 20, 2015Leave a comment

Puerto Rican/US based artist Sofia Maldonado writes about her experience during Caribbean Linked II, a residency programme at Ateliers ’89, Aruba. Maldonado cites the importance of projects like this in transcending boundaries – geographical, political, cultural and language limitations – and instead revealing the commonalities of the region. The relationships and dialogue that emerged out of the diverse work each artist produced for the final exhibition was testimony to the fact that in the Caribbean “there is far more that unites, than separates.”

Sofia Maldonado and Kevin Schuit jump off pier. Image by Mark King

A Jump into the Sea

Aruba was home to ten Caribbean artists for two weeks from August 25 to September 6. This 19-mile long island of the Lesser Antilles happens to be one of the great tourist stops in the Dutch-Caribbean, but for these contemporary artists it became an artistic workshop. For two weeks, Aruba was transformed into a studio of endless possibilities, conceptual research, and multicultural exchange. Between long walks on the white sand of this intriguing “desert island” and sporadic swims in the pristine Caribbean Sea, ten artists from the Spanish, French, English and Dutch Antilles were able to meet face to face and share an incredible moment of creative exchange.

This cultural exchange was made possible, thanks to the three daring directors that organized Caribbean Linked II at Ateliers ‘89. Annalee Davis, director of the Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc., Holly Bynoe, curator and Editor-in-Chief of ARC Magazine and Elvis Lopez, director of the Ateliers ’89, challenged the great geographical barrier of the Caribbean, its sea, and brought together artists from “afar”, representatives of the cultural diversity inherent to the Caribbean. Artists whose origins, languages and artistic media are very diverse were invited to converse about the importance of creating alternative spaces, establishing links between the artists of the different islands, exchanging ideas and sharing their creative process.

Caribbean Linked II artists- top to bottom, left to right: Germille Geerman, Robin de Vogel, Mark King, Sofia Maldonado, Omar Kuwas, Rodell Warner, Shirley Rufin, Kevin Schuit, Veronica Dorsett and Dhiradj Ramsamoedj. Image by Mark King.

Economic and artistic limitations in many Caribbean islands often compel young contemporary artists to turn their heads towards the booming capitals in the US or Europe that have larger art budgets and art markets; leaving behind – much to their regret – the Caribbean as a possible creative arena. Caribbean Linked II at Ateliers ’89 offered a journey into the artistic complexities of a postcolonial society. All Caribbean artists have at least two things in common: their colonial past and their postcolonial present. Aruba provided the perfect setting for a natural and spontaneous dialogue between the artists who found themselves “at home in the Caribbean”. The trips to the arid landscapes, the interactions with the Aruban people provided the opportunity to discuss a shared history and culture. It was a voyage of cultural, historic and political awareness. The artists were given the space to puzzle out their own experiences, experiment and create. Some collaborated in a physical way, others on a philosophical level.

Ateliers ’89 is not alone in this endeavor. Important creative networks have been on the rise in the Caribbean. A growing need for global and intra-island connections has encouraged the creation of spaces such as: The Fresh Milk Art Platform in Barbados, NLS (New Local Space) in Jamaica, Ateliers ’89 in Aruba, Instituto Buena Bista in Curacao, Alice Yard in Trinidad, Beta Local in Puerto Rico and many others. These programs have inspired contemporary art practices in their own countries and have projected them outside of their natural boundary, the sea. Although the Caribbean islands are pretty close together, the natural barrier hampers cultural exchange and communication. There are also other obstacles, besides the sea, that impede the flow of ideas between islands, most of which have their origins in the colonial period. Whatever political discrepancies, cultural and language differences exist are the remnants of colonial times. Creative spaces, like Ateliers ’89, hope to break through these complexities and obstacles in order to bring together artists, artistic manifestations and people. Experiences like Caribbean Linked II bring forth the pivotal truth: there is far more that unites, than separates.

Work from Sofia Maldonado ‘Tropical Studio’. Image courtesy of Rodell Warner.

Elvis Lopez, director of Ateliers ’89, recognizes the communication barriers within the diverse islands of the region. He has been able to provide a crucial exchange by inviting the selected artists to CARIBBEAN LINKED II: Omar Kuwas (Curaçao), Veronica Dorsett (The Bahamas), Mark King (Barbados), Shirley Rufin (Martinique), Sofia Maldonado (Puerto Rico/US), Dhiradj Ramsamoedj (Suriname), Rodell Warner (Trinidad and Tobago), Robin de Vogel, Kevin Schuit and Germille Geerman (Aruba). A group exhibition concluded the two week long residency. ARC Magazine and Fresh Milk will publish each artist’s written contribution and recollection about his/her experience on their online platforms.

As Mark King wrote, “CARIBBEAN LINKED II was an experiment gone right. Throw ten artists into a beaker, step back, and see what happens. Having Aruba as the setting was a great call. The island is such a cultural melting pot, an ideal space to navigate our processes and promote collaboration.”

During two long weeks, winds of creative and conceptual freedom blew in Aruba, the desert-island. Caribbean artists explored outside the boundaries of the art studio. Some artists worked with what they found: construction materials, all sorts of objects, fabric, rocks and money. Others developed an evident curiosity for the arid landscapes of Aruba, patterns found in floor tiles and political propaganda. The use of photography as final medium or part of the creative process was a constant in the group.

Work from Sofia Maldonado ‘Tropical Studio’. Image courtesy of the artist.

There was an intriguing correlation between all the projects. Surprisingly all of the pieces synced. Ten artists speak one language. It is Caribbean. It is Contemporary. It is World-art. It is the voice of an emerging generation of artists that speak a universal language independently of our Caribbean heritage.

About Sofia Maldonado:

Sofia Maldonado is a muralist mixing interdisciplinary art practice with street culture. Born in Puerto Rico, from a Cuban mother, 1984. In 2002 she participated in a Sculpture and Installation Seminar at the School of Visual Arts, in New York. Between 2002 & 2006, she pursued undergraduate work in art and design at the La Escuela de Artes Plasticas. In 2006 she achieved a Painting MFA from Pratt Institute, New York. In 2009 she received a scholarship by the Cuban Artist Fund to be part of Vermont Studios Residency.

CARIBBEAN LINKED II is a residency programme and exhibition organized by Ateliers ’89 Foundation in collaboration with ARC Inc. and The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc. and funded by the Mondriaan Foundation. The programme took place from August 25th through September 6th, 2013 in Oranjestad, Aruba.