Austria | LAND.body.scape art workshop

A ChoreoLab for art-based research into the interface of body, mind and nature takes place in an art and nature sanctuary in Austria in late summer. International call for applicants.

LAND.body.scape_corpography

Art-based research in the interface of body, mind & nature in St. Margarethen/Burgenland

August 27th – September 2nd 2012

As a new transdisciplinary artistic field work in nature this ChoreoLab combines performative training, lecture, demonstration & discussion with experts from the fields of choreography/dance, body-mind techniques, architecture, land art & botany.

Performers and interested protagonists from other fields are invited to the collective unfolding of creative potential in a communicative forum taking place at the art and nature sanctuary of St. Margarethen.

Corpography

As “dance of things” LAND.body.scape_corpography mediates between the internal and external bodily spaces and provides a redefinition of modalities, investigating the living environment through the body. Corpography implies a critical process of reflection and inquiry on anthropological and socio-cultural transformations of both the individual and society. At the same time it provokes wide-ranging questions about body and environment as a complex system in constant evolution.

The focus of this corpo-topographical research lies in the exploration of surface textures/patterns, not as inanimate matter, but as vital interfaces of relationships, determined by their innate characteristics such as proximity/distance, porosity, mimicry, weight, flexibility, fullness/emptiness. In this specific format combining theory and practice, contemplation and realisation elementary interrelations such as shape and scape, mass and fragility, motion and emotion, action and inaction will be investigated through gardening and bodywork.

Art & Nature Sanctuary in St. Margarethen

The sculpture symposium movement was founded by the international renowned sculptor Karl Prantl (1923 – 2010). While working in the stone quarry of St. Margarethen, Karl Prantl underwent the experience that sculptures are determined by other factors and influences out in the open than they are in a closed room. This led in 1959 to the foundation of the first “Symposion Europäischer Bildhauer” (Symposium of European Sculptors) which was held annually with a working group of up to 15 sculptors over a period of two to three months.

In the following years a unique cultural stronghold has been growing at the hill of St. Margarethen, harbouring exemplary land art positions which through the ChoreLab will once again be the starting point for a new initiative of collective artistic enterprises.

Target Group

Empowerment, compassion and deep understanding through shared experience characterize the activities of the ChoreoLab since 2009 and provide a distinct label within the multitude of international interdisciplinary education programs. This new strand of a creative team work format has attracted experts of all professional fields, ages and cultures.

The target group includes protagonists from various fields such as the arts, architecture, humanities, social sciences, (new)media, pedagogy and environmental studies.

Faculty

(The ChoreoLab will be taught in English)

Sebastian Prantl (Dancer/Choreographer, Artistic Director Tanz Atelier Wien, Austria)
Artistic Director ICLA

Cecilia Li (Pianist, Musical Director Tanz Atelier Wien, Taiwan/Austria)
Musical Director ICLA

Tomas Nelissen (Founder of the Hara Shiatsu Institute, Netherlands/Austria)
Topic: Shiatsu

Johanna Rainer (Architect, Austria)
Topic: Urban Spaces – Rural Spaces and Architecture

Othello Johns (Dancer/Choreographer, Dance Pedagogue, USA/Germany)
Topic: Energy Space / Ritual Space"

Renate Hammer (Architect, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Culture & Building, DUK, Austria)
Topic: Origins of Stage

Alexsandro Araujo Guerra (Dance Artist, Brazil/Italy)
Topic: Corpografia (Feldenkrais)

Michael Weiss (Social Anthropologist and Performer, Butoh Expert, Austria)
Topic: Philosophical Framework: Stillness Touching Emptiness

Georg Schramayr (Nature & landscape guide, expert on agriculture & wild plants, Austria)
Topic: Nature sanctuary of St. Margarethen

Fee

The participation fee amounts to EUR 500 (incl. breakfast + dinner).

Accomodation

Due to this special community format, we strongly invite the participants to camp with their own tents on the grounds around the sculptor’s house without charge. Please inform the Tanz Atelier Wien beforehand if you plan on doing so. Otherwise accommodations within the village must be arranged by the participants themselves.

Contact

Mag. Susanne Senekowitsch, MAS
Tanz Atelier Wien
+43 1 522 60 44
office@tanzatelierwien.at