Gediminas Urbonas testing a mist projection screen at MIT
Urbonas Studio
30 July – 19 August 2012
Modern Art Oxford Project Space
30 Pembroke Street, OX1 1BP Oxford
Bookings: 01865 813800
http://www.modernartoxford.org.uk/
RIVER RUNS is a project that has been evolving over the past two years between artists Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas who live near the River Charles in Cambridge and Boston, US, and writer Tracey Warr who lives near the River Thames in Oxford, UK. Since 2010 we have engaged in residencies, workshops and symposia exploring relationships to rivers and waterways. This summer we are in residence at Modern Art Oxford where we will build sculptures to encapsulate our research, make films of river journeys, run workshops for children and adults and edit a book on the project. We are exploring how rivers in the local landscape define a sense of individual and collective belonging. There are Open Studio days when visitors can come and talk with us about our work and about their own experiences and engagements with rivers.
Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas have established an international reputation for socially interactive artworks. They develop models activating local communities’ cultural and political imagination and their work often takes the form of ‘devices for action’. Nomeda is a Researcher at the Norwegian University for Science & Technology, Trondheim; Gediminas is Associate Professor, Art, Culture & Technology at MIT; Tracey Warr is Senior Lecturer in Art Theory at Oxford Brookes University.
OPEN STUDIO DAYS
Friday 3 August, Saturday 11 August, Tuesday 14 August, Thursday 16 August, Friday 17 August 10am – 5pm
Free, just drop in
CHILDREN’S WORKSHOP: INVENTIONS FOR THE WATER AGE
FOR 8 – 14 YEAR OLDS
Wednesday 8 August, 1 – 4pm
Join artists Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas, writer Tracey Warr and an aquatic life expert to explore how we might imitate water-based birds, animals, plants and fish to adapt to an environment with rising water levels. Participants will be able to make films, models, paintings and drawings proposing solutions for living in a future ‘water age’. Workshop designed by Julie Turley.
£5, £3 concessions, booking essential
ADULTS’ AQUATIC BIOMIMICRY WORKSHOP
Thursday 9 August, 1 – 4pm
Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas will be joined by Tracey Warr, Senior Lecturer in Art Theory at Oxford Brookes University, and an aquatic life expert, to lead an aquatic biomimicry workshop for adults. The workshop will consider how we might imitate water-dwelling birds, animals, plants and other life to adapt to an environment with rising water levels. Participants will have the opportunity to make films, sculptures and drawings proposing new solutions for living in a ‘water age’.
£7, £5 concessions, booking essential
Urbonas Studio: Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas, Tracey Warr, Giacomo Castagnola
and thanks to: Mike Blow, Adrian Pawley, Laura Degenhardt, Ieva Kausteklyte, Julie Turley, Tazeem Majid, Haavard Helle, Rachel Cheer.
RIVER RUNS is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England Grants for the Arts, Modern Art Oxford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Oxford Brookes University Arts Research Practice Cluster – ARP.
RIVER RUNS Timeline
The project has progressed through a series of engagements with the River Thames in Oxford, UK and the River Charles in Cambridge and Boston, US.
- August 2012 – Modern Art Oxford: River Runs Residency, Oxford
- March 2012 – Oxford Brookes University at the Isis Farmhouse: Future Rivers Symposium, Oxford
- February 2012 – MIT Class: The Water Age, Cambridge
- January 2012 – OVADA: Aquatic Biomimicry Stammtisch, Oxford
- January 2012 – MIT Independent Activity Program: Learning from the River Charles, Cambridge
- May 2011 – MIT FAST Festival: Liquid Archive, Cambridge
- October 2010 – MIT Class: River Citizenship Devices, Cambridge
- July 2010 – Oxford Brookes University: The Culture of Rowing & Swimming Residency, Oxford