Action 11: Acknowledgement
April 6th, 2018
Averill Park, NY, United States
On April 6th, 2018, visual artist and performer eDuard Helmbold invited the community into his studio at the House on the Hill, where he had spent the last three weeks as artist in residence. Opening his studio was part of his final installation/sculpture/performance of this residency:
“For the duration of the residency I set the task of [mis]reading 15 chapters of the Michael Craig Martin’s text: On Being an Artist (Art Books Publishing, 2015). These mis-readings involved searching for insights and reflections on art history and practice relating to the past and present. Each day’s reading resulted in a conceptual practice that directed my Actions for the day. Sometimes these actions came as a result of direct quotes, other times it was through decontextualizing and twisting words by placing nonsensical notions together, and using the Studio to bridge the gaps. These Actions took the form of drawing, sculpture, performance and experimentation.
The 11 Actions (or parts thereof) that are presented are therefore both works in/of progress and works in/of process:
Process that allowed for a practice to emerge
Process that affirmed this practice
Process that questioned this practice
Process that opened new avenues
Process that created space to be an artist
Action 11 the final action of this residency is Acknowledgement: As the community that creates space around the space for Arts Letters and Numbers to thrive you are invited into your/OUR space. I invite you, not to a mere “show and tell”, but to participate in the last Action of my residency; an Action that materializes the people who, through creating space, now being IN the space – influenced my practice irreversibly.”
As the audience were invited to participate in eDuard's work, the studio that had been his space for the last three weeks now seamlessly became a space for everyone. We thank eDuard for coming all the way from Australia to immerse himself in his artistic practice and in our community. We also want to thank Natalie Dietterich and Dan Thorpe who amazingly rounded off the event with performing each their pieces on violin and piano.
