Sanctum, Bristol. Call for poets and spoken word artists.

Sanctum, Bristol. Call for poets and spoken word artists.

 

THEASTER GATES, SANCTUM

 

29^TH OCTOBER – 21^ST NOVEMBER 2015

 

Call for poets and spoken word artists to take part in a 576 hour performance project.

 

Theaster Gates, a Chicago artist,  has been invited by Situations to produce his first UK public project as part of Bristol's cultural programme for European Green Capital 2015. One of the most sought-after American artists of his generation, Theaster Gates’  project will occupy Temple Church in Bristol City Centre for 24 days, 24 hours a day. A visually remarkable structure will be built inside the bombed-out ruin of the church. Theaster has proposed to offer this special, temporary space as a platform for a continuous performance of sound sustained over 576 hours by Bristol performers. The proposal connects with Theaster’s belief that public space cannot be simply designed and built, but must be cared for and thoughtfully sustained through the temporary communities that occupy it.

Theaster has gathered materials from sites of dereliction across Bristol: disused places that were formerly sites of labour or sacredness. This has led him on a journey to hear voices from different people and communities across the city. As Gates’ contribution to Bristol 2015, his project proposes an alternative approach to questions of sustainability – namely what might we need to sustain ourselves spiritually; what spaces of contemplation, gathering and listening might we require to sustain our towns and cities.

 

“What’s been most exciting is that any platform that I create, Bristol and its cultural communities have the capacity to respond in great ways. So I’m hoping this will be like a collaboration with every artist in the city, with the city itself – the city’s materials, the city’s administrators, the city’s creatives. Rather than imagining the monumental public artwork – it’s more like a right-sized platform, an amplifier. That’s what the work is – a big amplifier of Bristol.” Theaster Gates

 

The Invitation

Alongside an open call to the city, we the producers (Situations in collaboration with MAYK) are making direct approaches to artists who we believe might respond to this invitation and connect to Theaster’s vision in extraordinary and fresh ways. What we’re looking for in the live programme is a celebratory, sensitive animation of what will be a unique temporary space in the heart of the city. There are no rules as such, our questions here are simple – it’s an attempt to keep the space living and breathing, a kind of heartbeat for a city - so how might you contribute to sustaining a sound in this space? This could be music, words, conversation, a whisper – anything we can hear.

For further information and to sign up to take part in this project email Kate Yedigaroff at [email protected]

 

DATES

Thursday 29 October: Launch of Theaster Gates Bristol project to coincide with Art Weekender – Bristol & Bath

Saturday 31 October: Theaster Gates performance at St George’s.

Saturday 21 November: Project closes

Ffi: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015