ARTWORK AS A TOOLKIT

The Artwork as Toolkit* lab began with the question What are our tools? This lab stems from the intersection of two online platforms such as www.arte-util.org and www.dpe.tools presented by Alessandra Saviotti in collaboration with Gemma Medina Estupiñan and Owen Griffiths. Starting from the recent usological turn* we looked into a set of tools and exercises - such as the ‘Coefficient of Art’ and ‘A Capitalist Reading of our Usual Breakfast’ - that place art at the outset of the development of a set of tactics to achieve societal change. Analysing the idea of 'the-artwork-as-toolkit' the mentors proposed to look at how socially engaged art can be understood as an expanded technology that manifests itself as practices on a 1:1 scale*. 

From our diverse and often specific practices and projects what surplus can we share, preserve, ferment and take forward for the future?

The module was based on a dialogical approach therefore, in the syllabus are included the activities that helped to introduce the topic of the day.

👉 This module is for up to ten artists, curators, socially engaged art practitioners, researchers, academics and so on, who already use art as a tool to engage with other people

👉 To provide a supportive environment to develop individual and collective research

👉 To explore and engage with the post-industrial and rural landscape of Biella

👉 To create a toolkit for embedded arts practice*

The day starts with an icebreaker exercise that would facilitate introducing individual practices to each other using a different format other than the presentation. The objective of the activity is to understand which tools the group can share to support their occasional collaboration within the module.

Exercise: Referential Introductions Game

(20' each round + 1h plenary discussion)

In pairs, introduce yourself to each other under the lens of your practice and follow the questions:

Where have you come from?

Why are you here?

Where are you going?

Change your partner and introduce to them the story of your previous partner.

To conclude, you should tell the story of your last partner to the group.

When you hear your story from another person's point of view:

What resonated?

What was missed?

What was lost in translation?

What would you clarify for the group?

The day starts with an exercise aimed at discovering some personal aspects that would otherwise be overlooked in a professional environment. Nevertheless, sharing personal facts, stories, or anecdotes is important for creating a situation of trust which is at the core of collective work.

Exercise: Fun Facts!

Tell a fun fact about yourself that very few people know.

How does telling a fun fact about yourself to strangers make you feel?

Exercise: Observation - The Choir

This exercise is an adaptation from Augusto Boal's 'Games for actors and non-actors'. The exercise combines individual and collective perception of a place to understand how we react to our surroundings. 

Everyone chooses a spot in the room; sitting or standing. Look around the room in silence for 2'. Think about the following questions:

Is the lighting enough?

Is it well-ventilated?

Is it cold? Or warm?

Can you move around with your eyes closed?

Does it allow silence?

Is the floor clean? Can you sit on it comfortably? Can you lie on it?

What are the colours of the walls?

The group describes the room, mentioning every detail that catches their attention, as a choir [so everyone speaks simultaneously]. The instructor interrupts the choir and calls the name of one person, who continues with the description. After some seconds, she calls again the choir that goes on together. 

Variations

You can repeat the exercise with your eyes closed to describe the memory of the space.

The instructor can call 2 people at the same time.

If you are in a room with several languages spoken, the instructor asks the people to describe the room in their mother tongue.

Debrief questions:

What did you particularly like about the descriptions?

What was the difference between doing it with open or closed eyes or in your mother tongue?

Did you find some similarities in the descriptions?

Did the perception of the space change?

Exercise: What are our tools?

In 10 minutes, introduce yourself through the tools you use in your practice.

Who would you like to share your tools with?

Under what conditions?

What are the terms of use?

Have the global events of the last two years (related to the pandemic, war, social unrest, and so on) required that you expand or change your toolkit?

What should we take forward and what should we leave behind?

Exercise: Toolkit Making

When you make your toolkit, you may want to take the following questions into account:

What is the project about?

Where is it taking place?

Why is the project urgent?

For and with who will you realise the project?

What are the tools?

What are the gaps, obstacles and challenges?

What are the tools you would like to borrow from other projects?

What tools do you offer each other?

Under what conditions?

What do you need to source from elsewhere?

Remember to write down the guidelines, FAQ, Dos and Don'ts for the toolkit

The conviviality of a shared meal is included in the syllabus as the conclusive exercise of the module. Try to buy food at a local farmer's market if possible and use the network that the hosting institution already has in its locales.

For this module, we invited Let Eat Be, a project by Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, to support and facilitate the development of a local network of different organisations, farmers and businesses working for sustainable economic development through conviviality and ethical approach to food production.

Every Wednesday, Let eat Be organises a farmer's market in the garden of Cittadellarte.