"The more industrialized and technological areas of human agglomeration become, the more indispensable it is to find an antidote to survive in the anthill. The hectic pace of urban life, albeit immortalized in the poetry of Baudelaire, would not prosper if it dispensed with the “playful” dimension. When the space of the game also begins to demand rights of citizenship and social well-being, the obstacles hindering the execution of projects are of a different nature. The possibility of carrying out a work plan in the public sphere lies beyond the competence of art. For this reason, we must analyze the figure of the architect who guides the utopia of art to the common spaces without denying them the full force of their reality."
LISETTE LAGNADO - Shifts in the Dérive: Experiences, Journeys, Morphologies
Background
OuUnPo is a research group made up of artists, curators and researchers who together look at the boundaries of performance by appropriating and stretching the language of workshops, seminars and meetings. The group travels to different cities and investigates a given problem. The members of the group change at each meeting. We interact extensively with local institutions and creators at every location. We have previously collaborated with Tate Britain, in London; MACRO in Rome; Serralves in Porto and Deste Foundation in Athens to mention some of the most well known. We are usually 10-15 creators who travel to each meeting. Meetings have been held in Athens, Belgrade, Amsterdam-Nijmegen, Paris, Skopje, Stockholm-Norrköping, Porto and London.
Field of Research
OuUnPo will examine if they can a facilitate a more meaningful understanding of a series of existing contemporary art exhibition by interacting with groups of visitors. The OuUnPo group will also examine whether visits to other sites in the urban space together with the audiences. We do so with the aim of creating links between the visitors' everyday life experiences and the works of art on display.
Work methods
OuUnPo is preparing a meeting in Japan in spring 2013. Since the group’s modus operandi is mobility, we will focus on temporary and mobile architecture in the urban spaces in the visited Japanes cities. The group will look for traces of human action that highlight and affect architecture without necessarily being part of it. We are particularly interested in the playfulness of artistic invention in Japanese culture and its ability to come up with dynamic solutions to difficult problems.
The project is going to operate on two interconnected levels:
1. The group is going to carry out investigations in the urban landscape of the visited cities. We take the starting point in the Japanese cityscape and carry out performances, sound-interventions and smaller installational activities. These will be private, public or sometimes for a smaller invited group.
2. OuUnPo will also make interventions in existing exhibitions and collections. We offer to museums to activate the temporary exhibitions and permanent collections with creative guided tours, walks, performances, sound-interventions, readings and lectures. These can also take place at a given place in the city in order to in order to highlight a given aspect of the exhibition or collection. In other words, we become a kind of fleeting architecture –that highlight and affect the exhibition without necessarily being part of it.
The London-based design group Åbäke and Marcus Pettersson who have already carried investigation into temporary architecture in Tokyo are specially invited for the event. We are also looking forward to collaborate with inspiring people and groups like Momus, Neko Lobby and Creative Hub 131 to mention a few. Negotiations with more collaborative partners are under way. So keep your eyes peeled for further updates.
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