PAY ATTENTION, please

a collaboration between FARE and SYB promoted by Comune di Milano curated by Valerio Del Baglivo & Angela Serino

Milan (IT) – Beetsterzwaag (NL) 28 October 2012 – 2 January 2013

Is it possible to interrupt our usual routine and suspend our daily pro- gramming – however briefly – to rethink the ways and the rhythms of our ‘making’? Can art provide us the opportunity to activate a different level of attention towards ourselves and the environment around us? If any ac- tivity requires a certain degree of attention, what happens when the con- tent of an artwork considers the aesthetic dimension of concentration it- self?

Through a series of collective activities, involving both physical and mental exercises, the artists of “PAY ATTENTION, please” will generate mo- ments of concentration that aim to encourage alternative ways of observ- ing, experiencing and relating to our surrounding environment.

The proposed exercises will allow us to develop new abilities and skills, as well as to gain new knowledge. But they are also intended to cause shifts and deviations in the experience of each participant, helping them to focus on their relationships with other people, as well as with the familiar gestures they make every day. Transforming the creative act via group actions that also require a degree of individual concentration, “PAY ATTENTION, please” aspires to stimulate a different understanding of our everyday experiences.

“PAY ATTENTION, please” stems from a reflection on the role of residency programs as places of isolation and concentration, and it takes inspira- tion from the recent projects “ON Residency or an (in)visible production”, curated by A. Serino at Kunsthuis SYB, and “Decompression Summer Camp”, co-curated by Valerio Del Baglivo and Radical Intention at Corniolo Art Platform in Tuscany.

The project consists of a series of public activities that take place at Sala delle Colonne, Fabbrica del Vapore (Milan) and Kunsthuis SYB (Beet- sterzwaag) between late October and December 2012. These activities re- late directly to Angela Serino’s residency at FARE and Valerio Del Ba- glivo’s residency at Kunsthuis SYB.

PAY ATTENTION, pleaseis part of www.artinresidence.it, a platform dedicated to residency programmes in Italy and abroad for artists and curators. It stemmed from an idea from FARE, in collaboration with Open Care, and with additional contributions by Fondazione Cariplo, NABA (New Academy of Fine Arts) and GAI (Association of Young Italian Artists). PROGRAMME

Milan (IT), Fabbrica del Vapore, via Procaccini 4

Paola Anziché - I Reversibili/Giardino

Sunday 28 October, time: 15.00 - 18.00 Monday 29 October, time: 16.00 -19.00 Tuesday 30 October, time: 15.00 - 18.00 Monday 5 November, time: 18.00 - 21.00 Sala delle Colonne, Fabbrica del Vapore

The artist proposes sessions of collective work with recycled materials to rethink the relationship between space, nature, body, time and culture. Starting from the analysis of the folds and shapes that are hidden within the forms of origami and Pop Up, together we will build “open / close” foldable shapes inspired by nature. Leaves from trees, flower and plant stems, real or imagined, will become the foundation of a portable garden. Each participant will be asked to think of a plant or flower to be realised as a card- board folding structures made to a human-sized scale.

How to participate: this exercise is open to all adults and children. Anyone interested in participating can register by email: [email protected]. It is not required to be pres- ent for each session.

Maja Bekan / P for Performance - “If I do fail, it will be a collec- tive failure”

Monday 29 October: time 13.00 - 14.00 Friday 9 November: time 13.00 - 14.00 Sala delle Colonne, Fabbrica del Vapore

The artist proposes a series of exercises in the form of instructions, intended for the diverse people who work at Fabbrica del Vapore. These will include actions, physical movements and conversations, all taking place during the lunch break of a normal working day in one of the most productive areas of the city. The goal is to jointly develop col- lective practices and a possible sense of belonging, getting in touch with and altering – even if subtly – habits and gestures of daily work routines.

How to participate: This exercise is open to everyone who works at Fabbrica del Vapore (employees, trainees, professionals). To participate you need to register by email: info@ farearte.org. Lunch is included.

Rory Pilgrim - “Listening”

Tuesday 6 November: time 20.00 - 21.00 Sala delle Colonne, Fabbrica del Vapore

As a shared action, music represents a part of our lives in which listening to oneself and to others is a fundamental aspect of our culture. However, in so many other areas of our lives and in the world, we experience an absence of listening and the potentially damaging effects of not doing so. Stemming from this reflection, Rory Pilgrim has devel- oped a series of exercises for a small group of choristers from the Carish Choir, with the intention of reflecting and commenting together about the rites of listening, music and language. The result of such a shared experience will lead to a small and intimate performance open to the public. Beetsterzwaag (NL), Kunsthuis SYB, Hoofdstraat 70

Valerio Rocco Orlando - “Endless”

Sunday 11 November: time 16.00 - 18.00 Kunsthuis - SYB

Through what kind of relationships can you imagine a better society? Starting from this question, Valerio Rocco Orlando will lead a discussion about relationships, community awareness, and collective and individual identity. A selection of writings developed during this discussion will be included in the forthcoming edition of the artist’s book Endless. Endless (Mousse Publishing, 2011) is an open book; a shared portrait that will be composed over time, recount stories, relationships and visions from the varying expe- riences of Valerio Rocco Orlando’s life. It includes texts and contributions by Caroline Corbetta, Maria Paola Fimiani, Gilbert & George, Liam Gillick, Corrado Levi, Jean-Luc Nancy, Valerio Rocco Orlando, Mario Perniola, Ugo Rondinone and Luigi Zoja.

Marwa Arsanios

Saturday 17 November – Sunday 18 November: time 16.00 - 18.00 Kunsthuis - SYB

Marwa Arsanios proposes a collective collage as a way to think about the ways we negoti- ate the space of a white paper, how we talk to each other and develop stories, and get to know one another without necessarily talking. The action of making a collage together will directly put the group in an unexpected interaction with each other. On the first day we will depart from a list of songs that tell a specific story and try to translate this into the collage. On the second day we will depart from specific literature. A se- lection from novels and plays will be read and translated into the collage.

Italo Zuffi - “Toothpick Geometries”

Wednesday 28 November: time 16.00 - 19.00 Amsterdam – Kunstvlaai Festival

As part of SYB’s presentation at Kunstvlaai, Festival of Independents, Italo Zuffi pro- poses the collective action “Toothpick Geometries”. Outside SYB’s booth, the visit- ing public will see images of basic geometric figures in constant adjustment (a line, a triangle, a pentagon...) projected onto a screen. Simultaneously, the public will note, gathered within the small booth, people blocked in the act of bringing together the points of toothpicks ‘hoisted’ on their mouths. Not the exercise of those bodies, but only an abstract detail is filmed and taken out of context – and, in real time, projected on the screen. BIOGRAPHIES

Paola Anziché (1975, Milan, IT) Lives and works in Turin. Anziché studied at Accademia di Brera in Milan and graduated at Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main in 2004. She had solo shows at Fondazione Remotti a Camogli 2012, Vitrine alla Gam di Torino, Torino 2012; Greater Torino alla Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino 2010; “Tapis a porter”, Careof Milano 2009. Anziché has been a resident at Resò Network, Capacete (Rio Janeiro/São Paulo, Brasil) 2011; Pact Zollverein, Essen, 2010; Centre International d’Accueil et d’Echanges des Recollets, Parigi, 2008.

Marwa Arsanios (1978, Washington DC, USA) Lives and works in Beirut. Arsanios obtained her MFA from Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts, London (2007) and she is currently a researcher in the fine art department at the Jan Van Eyck Academie in Maas- tricht. She has exhibited in London, Beirut, Athens, Oxford, Lisboa, Santiago de Chile, Rome, Da- mascus and recently at NGBK in Berlin. Her work was shown at Art Dubai in the Bidoun Lounge (Art Park), at the Forum expanded of the Berlinale 2010, at the Homeworks V forum in Beirut, at Tokyo Wonder Site in Tokyo and most recently at the 12th Istanbul Biennale and the Cornerhouse in Man- chester. Her videos were screened in several festivals and events such as the Rio de Janeiro film festival in 2010, the e-flux storefront in New York, and at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. She has been nominated for the Pinchuk Future Generation Art Prize 2012, and the Sovereign Art Prize 2012. She is a founding member of the artist organization and project space 98weeks research project, and one of the organizers of the travelling project Platform Translation.She has been granted the art- ist’s residency at the Arab Image Foundation for 2009 and the research residency at the Tokyo Won- der Site in 2010. Arsanios is also a part-time teacher.

Maja Bekan (1975, Trebinje - Former Yugoslavia) Lives and works between Den Haag/Rotterdam and Bel- grade. By working with different mediums Maja Bekan explores the notion of free time, the use of it, its initiation, establishment and ritualisation. She received a master’s degree in Fine Art at Piet Zwart Institute & Fine Art at the University of Plymouth (2008). Bekan is a member of Kunsthuis SYB’s Arts Committee (since 2009) and the Advisory Board of Master of Fine Art Programme at Piet Zwart Institute (since 2012). Recent exhibitions include: “Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self-Respect in Troubling Times vol.3” (solo) in The Art Gallery, KCB, Belgrade RS (2012); “Secret Powers for Identity, Security and Self-Respect in Troubling Times vol.2” (solo), Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, NL (2011); “If you say it loud and clear, I might understand” (solo), Remont, Belgrade, RS (2010); “Florida”, TENT, as a part of the collective ADA, Rotterdam, NL (2010); “My travels with Barry”, TENT, Rotterdam, NL (2008).

Rory Pilgrim (1988 Bristol, UK) Lives and works between UK and Amsterdam. Rory Pilgrim graduated from Chelsea Collage of Art, London in 2008 and later participated at De Ateliers, Amsterdam from 2008-2010. In his work Pilgrim explores the ways in which we voice what we believe in and strive to change. His work is based upon emancipatory concerns, in which personal, political and social concerns can be developed with honesty and optimism in the hope of creating greater understanding. Central to Pilgrim’s practise is the use of music and musical composition as a way to explore dialogue, language and collective experience. Pilgrim was recently honoured by be- ing commissioned to orchestrate the official reopening ceremony the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam with a large scale performance. He has also exhibited internationally throughout Europe.

Valerio Rocco Orlando (1978, Milan, IT). Lives and works in Milan and New York. Valerio Rocco Orlando received a BA in Dramaturgy from Universitàn Cattolica in Milan and an MA in Film Directing from Queen Mary, University of London. Valerio Rocco Orlando won the ISCP New York Prize 2009 promoted by Parc/Seat/Gai and a Civitella Ranieri Foundation Visual Arts Fellowship in 2011.

Italo Zuffi (1969, Imola, IT). Lives and works in Milan. Zuffi is a visual artist who employs sculpture, performance, text-based work and video to create ‘no total design, just an indefinite series of stanzas’ (Pier Luigi Tazzi, 2003). He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna (Diploma in Painting, 1993), and at Central St Martin’s College of Art & Design, London (Master of Arts, 1997). In 2001, he was awarded the Wheatley Bequest Fellow- ship at the Institute of Art & Design, Birmingham. Currently a PhDArts candidate at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, University of Leiden, he is focusing on the notions of aesthetical competition, indivisibility, and the hyper-lyrical.