paule gabrielle kline
COMMITTING VOICE: INTERDISCIPLINARY ART IN A NEW MILLENNIUM
INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTISTS CONFERENCE

artistic practice

my artistic practice - this sounds like one of those containers that tries to categorize my doing. i am an interdisciplinary artist as andreas kahre defines:

...interdisciplinary practice is more like traversing a landscape... even if part of that landscape is already 'owned' by others. It is a condition of art-making in which the boundaries of established forms are not so much broken as they are ignored.
as an artist, we are all loaded with desire of self-expression, of others' expression, of connection, of healing - the past, the present, the future. healing my / our wounds ... i am a political-linguistico-mystic skeptic. as a french canadian immigrant, i feel as though my linguistical obstacle has brought me to reflect on the concepts of linguistics, and in elaborating my own theory of translation. from a place of insecurity, i have grown to understand better the concepts of power, and found a creative way to navigate between all these things... i define myself by the pushing / pulling / negotiating of the boundaries [linguistic, physical, disciplinistic...]

project description

i have found that my artistic practice, and my emotional well-being - needed the support of a community, of artists that could relate to my negotiation of boundaries - which was the starting point for the principles of my practicum: an interdisciplinary arts conference that would provide a safe space for interdisciplinary artists to share, challenge [in the supportive sense] each other. thus came the mission of the conference:

Based on a participatory model of learning, this event seeks to actively question the notion of "expert and audience" by inviting all participants to engage in dialogue as both artists and as citizens. Participants will be encouraged to share their unique perspective, present and discuss their own work, and benefit from the feedback of a supportive audience of peers.
  this original work by julian haladyn and miriam jordan consisted of a tea garden where the passerby could relax and converse with others. this meditative piece brought the group together where they enjoyed great conversations in the sunny august afternoon.

participant description

peter hocking animated, with his colleague janet isserlis, a workshop on the complexity and ethics of community-based art work
devora neumark facilitated a hands-on workshop titled "quantum gestures"

this conference was somewhat experimental as it was designed to bring together goddardites and other interdisciplinary artists together, in hopes that they could all share and speak the same language regardless of their different approaches to interdisciplinarity and the arts. the conference consisted of three full days of workshops, with a total of 11 workshops / presentations. we had received about eighteen proposals, of which we had to select what we felt were the more diverse and stimulating ones. their forms varied greatly, from formal presentations to hands-on workshops, from performances to an interview of carol becker. they included titles such as: "bringing voice - templates for activism," "the complexity and ethics of community-based work," "tea garden - a sanctuary [...]," "l'espace traversé," "quantum gestures," "body sight/site" etc.

of course, the whole time, there was the doubt: what if no one came to my great big party? - a risk that we all take in a practicum, but which is really a mirror of our practices- isn't art-making a never ending risk? this anxiety peaked three hours before the conference opening. "why did i have to do this? couldn't i just make something simple once in my life? etc." [in other words, stage fright!]

as i had chosen to design a conference in the form of a "community-based art project,", it was important for me to receive feedback - this would ensure the continuity of a satisfying event for participants. the closing session of the conference brought me very positive feedback, and enthusiasm at the idea of organizing another conference the following year. i also distributed a survey and gathered comments:

A very inspiring (and relaxing) week. [...] Although the conference was worth every penny, it would be good to have some sort of financial aid in the future.
This was a very good event and I appreciate the effort in bringing this group together. I think the format [...] has great potential.
It would be great to have some space to share with others personal work in a not so formal way.

what i learned

i am realizing more and more that sometimes, there just aren't any words to encompass experience. but if i absolutely had to put a word on the experience, i would have to say ... i've learned to... trust-the-process-even-if-it's-painful [and goddardites will laugh here, ... but it's really true. even in the most painful experiences - anxiety about continuity, and letting go-, there is sometimes interesting insight to be found.

pam patterson in "body site/sight"
after thoughts

in times of doubt, i wondered if this conference would have a continuity. and it will. i am currently working, with collaborators, on a second conference, which will have the following as a theme:

As interdisciplinary practitioners, we are nomads, traversing the borders and boundaries of disciplines. As we travel, we challenge the parameters of disciplines, creating new thresholds for dialogue. We are often defined by the boundaries we break. How do we map ourselves as a community of interdisciplinary practitioners and citizens within the new territory we have created?
guy laramée presented the original myth "the biblyos". a "sickness" attacked their books, that were disintegrating

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