19-31 July 2021

​

This residency at London Performance Studios happened when it felt like the doom day for freelance (migrant) artists: Reduction in fundings for art and culture; increasing competition in the industry with the illusion of scarcity of resources; reducing mobility across borders and class in a society with rising far-right politics. What we, as independent artists, can do in this very unpredictable and chaotic (post)-pandemic world became the question that started this research. 

​

This is a two-week project of creating an anarchist space for independent artists to exchange knowledge, experiment on new ideas and present new findings. This happened in July 2021, is an experimentation on radical acts of resource re-distribution. 

​

Ghost and John received the "Seeding Space" residency from London Performance Studios. Instead of making another Ghost and John duet, we decided to take a bold turn and invited eleven other artists to respond to the following four themes: 

​

- socio-politically sensitive subjects 

- materials and societies 

- post-humanism 

- displacement and memories of home 

​

The structure is simple: workshops in the mornings and R&D on the twelve scores in the afternoons. We touched on a lot of topics: sensory theatre, voice, Le Jeu, apocalyptic shopping, virgin territory, cyclical bodies, seasons …

​

On one hand, we are testing our capacity in holding a safe, brave and non-judgemental space for fellow independent artists to do bold experiments on contemporary ideas. The resources we have are the space, our bodies, our very limited administrative skills and support from London Performance Studios. We push our limits at making sure that everyone online/offline participants feel well-attended to and included. Then, we see how these artists make use of the resources and find ways to get what they currently lack. 

​

On the other hand, we keep asking the basic question: where should we go? At one point during these two weeks, the phrase “shared vulnerability” popped up and got stuck in our minds. We are like a group of thirsty elephants, looking for water. How can we, under such conditions, create a healthier ecology in the freelance art scene? (BTW, we did apply for ACE and a few other grants, which are all unfortunately unsuccessful) (Perhaps we are just really shit at writing grants.) 

 

Two weekends of performances have been presented. You can see their scores for this project here.