Join a day of presentations, conversations and provocations, exploring aloneness through the lens of geography, technology and disability.
We’re excited to announce a one-day seminar, taking place on Friday 13 March, 10.30am – 4.30pm, at OSR Projects, West Coker.
Tickets are £20 plus booking fee, including a home-cooked lunch. Book your place now via Eventbrite.
About the event
Solitary Encounters will bring artists, curators and cultural producers together in rural Somerset to consider the ideas, politics and experiences of solitude and isolation through artistic practice.
Solitary Encounters introduces the themes of Od Arts Festival 2020: Alone with Everybody, taking place 15-17 May, and features invited speakers and provocateurs: Mark Farid, Angela Charles and Gaada.
For his latest artwork Seeing I (2020), artist Mark Farid will wear a virtual reality headset, experiencing life through the eyes and ears of one person; hearing only what they hear and seeing only what they see for two weeks.
Ten years ago abstract painter Angela Charles was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa. Following two years of dramatic deterioration her work has evolved into a material-led practice, and she is now coming out as a blind painter.
Based on Burra Isle in the farthest north easterly corner of the UK, Gaada offer meaningful and critical art activities for the diverse communities of Shetland from their visual art workshop in a converted methodist church.
Xavier de Sousa is an independent performance maker and cultural worker based between Brighton and Lisbon. His practice explores personal and political heritage within the context of belonging, nationalism and migration.
Alongside inspiring presentations, this event is a chance to share food, meet future collaborators, and explore new perspectives through creative interventions and conversations.
The seminar aims to be relevant to all creative practitioners with an interest in the opportunities as well as the challenges of being alone in the world. It is organised and hosted by OSR Projects and supported by an Arts Council England Project Grant.
Access information & travel
The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet. Any images used in presentations will be audio-described by the speakers. If you have access requirements and need to bring a companion or personal assistant, we can provide a complimentary ticket for them. To book this additional place, please contact us directly on 07967 756320 or info@osrprojects.co.uk.
The event takes place at OSR Projects, Church Street, West Coker, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 9BD. The nearest train stations are Yeovil Junction and Yeovil Pen Mill. The number 96 bus or a taxi can bring you to West Coker from Yeovil. We recommend car-sharing where possible – get in touch (info@osrprojects.co.uk) if you’re looking for a ride or have a space in your vehicle, letting us know where you’re travelling from.
About the contributors
Mark Farid is a British artist, speaker, and cultural critic, who examines the formation of our projected-self, and how our constructed identity is shaped by societal and cultural expectations. Farid’s work embodies hacker ethics, such as privacy policies, use of surveillance technologies and the critique of social, legal, and political models. Farid gave a TEDx talk in 2017 about his first two projects, Data Shadow (2015), and Poisonous Antidote (2016), and took part in the Sundance New Frontier program, 2016, for his on-going project, Seeing I (2020). Farid had a solo exhibition at Ars Electronica Digital Arts Festival, 2019, and was recently selected to be the final British artist for the European Media Residency Exchange, 2020/21.
Since graduating from Goldsmiths in 1989, Angela Charles (also known as Angela Blackwell) has combined her career as an award winning Curator with that of a visual artist. From regular shows in St Ives to commissions for a high profile exhibition in Milan, Angela has achieved commercial success with her paintings drawn from her memories of place. And yet, unbeknown to purchasers of her work and the galleries that represent her, for the last ten years Angela has been losing her sight. Angela has felt alone with what she refers to as her ‘guilty secret’ still painting and exhibiting whilst denying the existence of her Blindness and her Guide Dog to buyers and galleries. It is only now, after much personal turmoil, she has decided to ‘come out as a Blind painter’. Angela is working with OSR Projects to develop a new project around this experience, collaborating with filmmaker Liberty Smith, and opening an exhibition in Autumn 2020. Find out more.
Gaada is a visual arts workshop based in Burra Isle, Shetland. They work with communities in Shetland to develop meaningful and critical art activities including workshops, exhibitions, events, publishing and research. Gaada’s core activity involves sharing specialist art facilities and skills with Shetland’s diverse communities Since Gaada opened the studio doors in 2018, they have been developing their facilities with the aim of becoming Shetland’s first accessible visual art workshop.
Xavier de Sousa is an independent performance maker and cultural worker based between Brighton and Lisbon. His practice explores personal and political heritage within the context of belonging, nationalism and migration. Xavier is currently developing a trilogy of works about belonging and power structures. He is co-founder of Migrants in Culture, a support network and action group that holds the cultural sector accountable to to migrants, citizens of colour and all others being impacted by the UK immigration regime.
Wanna come? Book your place now via Eventbrite!
