Workshops

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Information about next workshop in News… HERE.

PERFORMANCE ART WORKSHOPS

Performance art is an artistic practice linked to plastic art, being eminently ephemeral and intangible, in which the process of creating has priority on the object of art. It is an intermediate art where other artistic disciplines converge such as installation, video, poetry, dance, theatre or music.

It is an art of the present, the here and now. It is not needed any technical, manual or physical skills to create, you just need to want to express. Each artist finds his own way, because the essence is in being oneself. Action art is closely linked with life, with everyday life, playing, random or absurdity.

We believe that performance art is essential to understanding contemporary art. Also, its connection with the rest of the arts makes it indispensable for development and training of any artist or person interested in artistic creation.

 

WORSHOP FORMATS

1. Themes and receivers

  • Introduction to performance art. Basics to help understand and appreciate this artistic practice.
  • Performance art as teaching tool. For parents and teachers.
  • Creative Creation EXCHANGE Workshop (with Ana Matey). Performance score as a paradigm of message; the communication.
  • Scenic Arts vs. Performance Art. Relationship between performance art and theater or dance. Common and differences and how they enrich each other.
  • Performance art for women. Identity and emotional expression.
  • Performance art for teenagers. Self-discovery, reaffirmation and communication.

Length 

  • Talk-practice (2-3 hours)
  • Microworkshop (5-8 hours)
  • Intensive (10-15 hours)
  • General (20-25 hours)
  • Advance (30-40 hours)
  • Seminar (+40 hours)

Each session 3 to 5 hours, weekends, one week or several weeks alternate days.

METHODOLOGY

  “Performance art cannot be taught, it has to be practiced” (Esther Ferrer)

On this premise, we propose a workshop based on experience and own practice of performance art. This practice will be accompanied by a reflection and sharing in working the theoretical side, helping to consolidate the knowledge gained from the experience.

It is about being aware of the fundamental premises of performance art through exercises and simple actions, helping to know what are its main tools. These tools will be used freely by each participant, who will develop their own an entirely personal language.

There is no need to have any technical, manual or corporal skill, just wanting to express ideas, thoughts and emotions, starting from their “I “as the raw material for creation.

Depending on the length of the workshop we shall include the viewing of performances and consulting of magazines, books and catalogues. Likewise, if the format of the workshop and dynamics permits it, a final show will be opened to the public, with performances by the participants.

Several of the proposed workshops are conducted with the collaboration of different professionals from different areas of art and knowledge.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives common to all offered workshops are:

  1. Understand, appreciate and value performance art, offering tools to become a performer as well as audience with criteria.
  2. Get to know the importance of the process when creating. The value of the ephemeral: here and now.
  3. Promote student self-learning, encouraging personal reflection through the work done, showing new views with which widen borders.
  4. Provide an environment that facilitates the disinhibition and the expression of ideas and emotions.

Each specific workshop also has specific objectives.

CONTENTS

The main theoretical contents that we will work with in the workshops will be::

1. Historical introduction. From Duchamp, Cage, Fluxus and Zaj… to the present.

2. Basic premises. Open work. Truthfulness. Random and Flexibility. The Absurd.. Relationship Art-Life. Merger between disciplines. Beyond Performance Art. Documentation (photo and video). Presence of a public. Here and now. No representation.

3. Formal tools.

  • Body. Presence. Be present and be yourself. The skin. The absence. The voice.
  • Time. El rhythm. The relativity of time. Let’s wait and see.
  • Space. Where to develop your work. Personal space. Social space.
  • Elements. Objects and materials.

These contents are a general approach of the Performance Art workshop.
Each workshop is expanded with specific contents according to the theme treated, as well as special approaches or dynamics according to receivers.

TEACHER: ISABEL LEÓN

Isabel León. Born in Cáceres (Spain) in 1974 and currently lives in Granada (Spain). Artist, independent cultural organizer and teacher. Bachelor in Fine Arts, Valencia Polytechnic University. Valencia, Erasmus Scholarship in Athens, Valencia Polytechnic University Scholarship in La Habana and Master in Art Production and Research in Granada University.
Her work has evolved from photography and video to performance art, discipline that she is dedicated since 2007 almost exclusively. She conceives artistic creation as an act closely linked to life, so that her works need, inexorably, be sincere and connected to her feelings, thoughts and deepest emotions.
She is interested in performance art because its interaction with the public and how it contributes for the work to exist, making them the protagonist of her performances, austere in terms of techniques and materials needs. Often, her performances are displayed as games or challenges in which experiencing situations or sensations to help to dilate limits.
She has taken part in numerous performance art festivals and events, as well as national and international residences.
She also organizes and promotes the practice of performance art by organizing meetings, festivals and working groups, local and international events. In this moment she is working in EXCHANGE Project with the artist Ana Matey that investigates about communication and interpretation, around performance art as a base.
She combines her artistic and management activity with teaching, giving workshops in different contexts and institutions, such us art centers, universities and independent spaces.

Curriculum Vitae HERE.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

+34 687 83 13 75   /   isabel@isabelleon.com / isabelleonguzman@yahoo.es