R\evolutions Through Distribution

Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire, UK. 15 - 18 February 2010.

A four-day retreat of talks, performances and workshops, which looked at the theme of distribution as a common thread, programmed by the first year Curating Contemporary Art MA students, Royal College of Art.

The retreat pointed to the models that have revolutionised distribution – from the printing press to the internet and digitisation – and the evolutionary forms of social change that open up or are constrained by these changes in communication. We explored how artistic practices, literature and film have addressed these issues. Guests and events included:

Mark Essen (Artist, UK) Record Exchange and Celebration, live performance. Essen set up a record exchange space whereby participants were invited to bring records, videos, magazines and other paraphernalia for exchange.

Mark Essen (Artist, US) For the duration of the retreat the participants were invited to play Flywrench (2007) and Scrap Collector (2008), video games created by the artist.

Maria Fusco (Director of Art Writing, Goldsmiths and the Editor of The Happy Hypocrite), conducted a writing workshop exploring exercises in writing in first, second and third persons.

Mindaugas Gapševičius (Artist and curator), gave a presentation on o-o, the first Lithuanian new media art platform on the net and explored important tendencies in digital / networking arts from different viewpoints.

Emma Hedditch (Artist), lead a video workshop focused on thinking about self-reflexivity both within her own practice and contemporary art practice, in relation to issues of distribution and self-representation.

Francesco Pedraglio (Curator, writer and co-director of FormContent) in conversation with Daniella Saul (Curator). Pedraglio gave a presentation, All Right / All Wrong, which explored the distribution of history and knowledge through subjective literary methodologies. Saul presented her research on her upcoming exhibition at FormContent, which explores issues of contemporaneity in art.

Mike Sperlinger (Head of Distribution, LUX) in conversation with Karen Alexander (Senior lecturer, Royal College of Art) addressed the challenges of distributing artists' moving image today.

Film screening programmed by CCA of Space is the Place, 1974, featuring Sun Ra and directed by John Coney.