The Contexts Ephemeral Art Festival in Sokolowsko

The Ephemeral Art Festival Contexts took place in Sokolowsko, between August 10^th and 14^th, 2011. Sokolowsko is a small village in the south west of Poland, in the Sudety Mountains, near the Czech border. In the 19^th century this place (that was then a German village called Göbersdorf) served as a health resort for patients suffering from tuberculosis. Many famous people, such as Gerhart Hauptmann, a Noble Prize winner, recovered their health here. After World War II Sokolowsko lost its significance and the splendid neo-gothic property of doctor Brehmer’s health resort turned into ruin. A couple of years ago the health resort, along with some neighbouring buildings were purchased by the contemporary art foundation “In Situ”. The main aim of the Foundation is to successively restore the neglected buildings and create an area for cultural meetings. Around 30 artists and 9 theoreticians took part in the Contexts Festival. The curator of the event was Lukasz Guzek, who does research on Polish performance art.

The EL Gallery as an inter-space – a virtual tour around the exhibition

On September 8^th an exhibition entitled miedzy-przestrzen (English: inter-space) was opened in the EL Gallery in Elblag (Poland), in which artists from various countries who work with non-objective art and site-specific projects participated. Most of the works presented in the EL Gallery were prepared especially for this exhibition to match the unique gothic interior of the building built as a church in 13^th century.

Irma Optimist’s reply to our projects: What is performance art? and Timeline of performance art

From a performer's point of view a performance deals with certain dynamics which do not exactly begin or end with the performance: performances are instantly visible fixed points of a feedback process. A performer uses the time available to plan performances and to observe new ways to comment as an artist. The micro circuit of performances expands into a macro net of retrospective dimensions.

Colectivo Madre Arana reply to our project: Feminism in the art of women artists born after 1970. and Sex in art of artists born on or after 1968

Colectivo Madre Arana – a joint multidisciplinary performance collective, who also devise and present installation, photography, graphics, video and artistic intervention. They emerged in 2009 out of a frustration with established art. Influenced by daily life and society, the collective has worked in both public and private spaces. It comprises of two artists: Esmeralda Perez Gonzalez and Ruth Vigueras Bravo. Their art has appeared in public and private spaces as site-specific interventions.

Paul Panhuysen’s reply to our projects: What is performance art? and Timeline of performance art

Performance art is time-based visual art. It is an exploded theory that art is made for eternity. Presenting art on a temporal basis in a process of performance takes away this perpetual aspect of art.