EINlab: culturia | artist talk

EINlab: Interact! organised an event open to the public. In collaboration with other based in Berlin residency programme Culturia, we organised project presentations with 3 international artists working with photography: Laurianne Bixhain , Jake Brooks and Hannah Goldstein, which followed with a panel discussion moderated by Aleks Slota and Ania Pabiś from TA collective.

Before the presentations, everyone had some time to introduce and get to know each other.

Then Andrzej Raszyk, Ania Pabis and Aleks Slota (from left) welcomed all the guests and introduced the Culturia and EINlab: Interact! to the public:

culturia is a unique residency programme. It exists as both an artist residency and a non-material collection of artists and researchers involved in a deeper way of thinking about art. It is a place for exchanging knowledge, sharing personal beliefs & aesthetic strategies and is open to artists and researchers working in various disciplines

The “EIN lab: Interact!” is a 3 week residency workshops that brought together 16 young and creative people from Poland, Germany, Slovenia and Latvia to create individual photographic series and who will be assisted by 4 Youth leaders. Through photography and creativity workshops they will develop their portfolios and gain tangible/marketable job skills all this is aimed to alleviate youth unemployment in an exciting setting.

Participating artists (from left to right): 
Jake Brooks

 Laurianne Bixhain 
Hannah Goldstein 

After the presentations, the audience involved in a panel discussion with the artists. 

They discussed such topics as authorship in art, contemporary ways of displaying photography, and  what's the place of ethics in art.

After the event we could all relax and talk with artists personally.

Last EINlab: Try! : group crit.

On Monday we had the last crit. Agnese, Matej and Katarzyna presented their iconic photos. 

Agnese Mūrniece 

This photo is a part of big serie that Agnese is working on. She still has a lot of work to do and many questions to answer. We tried to help her with it.

Matej Župec  

Also Matej's picture is a part of a serie that deals with a controversial topic of degrading women. 

Katarzyna Branicka 

Katarzyna showed a picture that she had made for a study project.

Photographed by: photos n. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 by Katarina Jazbec, photo n. 4 by Baiba Bucenice

EINlab: See! : Imagination and Visual Perception

For this EIN: See Lab, participants practiced the fluidity of visuals in drawing to stimulate their visual imagination.

Groups of 2-3 were created, and were asked to create a collective drawing: they took turns creating an improvised concrete image. 

Some even developed narratives along with the work.

In another exercise, the group was asked to individually create an ongoing drawing for about a minute without lifting the pen. This is a representation of the commitment often required when undergoing a project, as well as the ability to develop new ways of thinking under uncomfortable circumstances.

After the drawing warm up, participants discussed what imagination is based on a BBC programme with With Dr Susan Stuart, Lecturer in Philosophy of Mind at the University of Glasgow. After the theoretical part, they turned to photography. The participants had two exercises that let them use imagination actively while taking photos. 

After the exercises we viewed and discussed all the images taken. 

Photographed by: photos by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 by Katarina Jazbec, photo n. 10 by Baiba Buceniece; Text by: Enya Mommsen

EINlab: Try!: The Group Crit

On last Friday four participants (Una, Xisco, Aljaž and Agata) presented their iconic photos. All photographs were very interesting. However, the longest discussion was provoked by Aljaž's photo. 

Una Stade 

 Xisco Rosell
 

Aljaž Celarc 

Agata Zubrzycka

Photographed by: Baiba Buceniece

EINlab: Try! & See: Composition!

Friday opened with EINlab: Try! Aleks shared a useful method  "The Box", which can be applied in the creative process.This was an efficient way of experimenting with combinations of ideas and new patterns of creative thinking to get out of the limitations of the box our mind gets into.

His motto for this lab was: 

If you always think  the way you always think you will always get what yu always get.

....and some really, really intense thinking

EINlab: See! was about composition and visual perception. Participants started with a warm-up: they were asked to blurred their view to get more abstract view of what they photograph. Then Ania discussed with participants the problematic aspects of " good composition" in photography. Participants got a list of  popular "rules" that they were supposed to experiment with.

Approaching different ways of taking a photograph, no matter how seemingly absurd, can often help to understand the basics and why it is important to break from them.

Participants had to understand the rules of composition and then they experimented to see what happens if they break them.

Finally, Ania showed photos by Magnum Group  as an example of a different approach of composing an photograph and gave an exercise that can be useful for getting the composition we are striving for.

After the exercises we all viewed and discussed the images.

Photographed by Katarina Jazbec; Text by Enya Mommsen

After the Lab, the group felt encouraged in utilizing these new means and continued on to a Crit session in preparation for the show. 

Creating the projects

There are different ways how participants do their project for the EINmagazine and for the final exhibition. Each of the participants respond to a common theme: " It's not good enough" and work on the projects after the Labs. Here some examples of their working methods:

Studio work

Ania showed participants how to work with studio equipment. Learning process was intense but fun.

It appeared that one of our photographers has an amazing and very useful talent. Francesco is a make-up artist. Great transformations happen in our working space.

Tools for "transformations"

However, most of our participants are doing their project outside the studio. 

Photographed by: Baiba Buceniece

Active Minds in the EIN Studio

See one day of the Interacters! How they work during EINlab: See!, what they do to create a project for EINmagazine and how they spend their free time. It's all in EIN studio.


 from enya mommsen on Vimeo.