New Life residency

NEW LIFE RESIDENCY is the world’s first non-visual residency program for artists. The residency is organized by Wooloo as their work for Manifesta 8, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, and will take place in the fall of 2010 in the Region of Murcia, Spain.
Selected from an international Open Call, five artists have been picked by Wooloo to live and work in a dark exhibition space. To support them in their life and work for the week, each artist will collaborate with a local Murcian assistant who is blind or visually impaired.

In cooperation with her/his assistant, the artist will use the one-week residency to create a guided tour of the non-visual space and experience in which s/he is living. The guided tour will take place on the last day of the residency and will be open to the biennial audience. A tour of a social sculpture, so to speak.

Additional to the guided tour, the five selected concept proposals will furthermore be exhibited at the MURAM (Regional Museum of Modern Art) in Cartagena, and will be on view throughout Manifesta 8 from October 7th, 2010 (preview) to January 9th, 2011.

The five selected residency artists are:

Helidon Gjergji (Albania) who aims to to realize an olfactory installation comprised of the spices traditionally cultivated, consumed and relished by the five predominant ethnic groups of Murcia: the Spanish, the Ecuadorians, Moroccans, Britons and Bolivians. Helidon will be the New Life resident from October 3rd to October 9th in collaboration with Cristina Martínez Roldán.

Clarinda Mac Low (USA) who will collaborate with her blind assistant to explore their surroundings through touch and proprioception only. Together they will create an internalized tour of the residency space for the general public through simple guided movement scores. Clarinda will be the New Life resident from October 10th to October 16th in collaboration with Maria Jesús Cascales.

Matthias Neumann (Germany) who proposes an investigation of architectural thinking that excludes the visual element. The work will be conducted in complete darkness and in close collaboration with the assistant who will partially assume a client’s role. Matthias will be the New Life resident from October 17th to October 23th in collaboration with Patricia Carrillo.

Pedro Guirao (Spain), who was born in Murcia, aims to remap his home city. Together with his assistant – also a local Murcian – he will create walks of sounds and memories that will act as a filter of non-visual life in the city. Pedro will be the New Life resident from October 24th to October 30th in collaboration with Maria Jesús Ballesta.

Gema Alava (Spain) who aims to develop verbal descriptions of artworks on view in Manifesta 8 for her blind collaborator. Descriptions that will then be passed on to the general public by the collaborator inside the physically empty and dark space. Gema will be the New Life resident from October 31st to November 6th in collaboration with Rocío González.

Each residency begins on a Sunday and the final guided tour happens the following Saturday at:

Espacio 5, Centro Párraga.
Antiguo Cuartel de Artillería. Pabellón 5.
C/ Madre Elisea Oliver Molina, s/n
30002 Murcia (Spain)

Saturday, October 9th from 12 PM
Saturday, October 16th from 12 PM
Saturday, October 23rd from 12 PM
Saturday, October 30th from 12 PM
Saturday, November 6th from 12 PM