2022 IDOCDE RESIDENCY

RESIDENCY #1

hosts: Defne Erdur and Marco Pellizzari

MA - Pregnant Nothingness

“Where there is clutter, even valuable things lose their value. Where there is too much, nothing stands out. The essence of Japanese aesthetics is a concept called 'MA' (pronounced "maah") — the pure, and indeed essential, void between all "things." A total lack of clutter, MA is like a holder within which things can exist, stand out and have meaning. MA is the emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled. … MA is in the purposeful pauses in speech which make words stand out. It is in the quiet time we all need to make our busy lives meaningful, and in the silence between the notes which make the music. MA is what creates the peace of mind (called 'heijoshin' in Japanese) we all need, so that there is room for our thoughts to exist properly, and to thrive.” (1)

In this residency we want to co-create “empty space” as an interval, a threshold – experiencing timelessness, spacelessness, pregnant nothingness which may allow us to transform, discover/recover, reconnect to our creative potential as artists, researchers, teachers, facilitators, students from any field of knowing, i.e. curious beings on this planet. We (Marco & Defne) will do our best to do as little as possible to create a clear and simple time-space frame in order to contain what is being born in our togetherness. We will invite each resident (including ourselves) to focus on their individual states, needs and desires; their own inquiries within the collective. Antonija Livingston’s invitation will be one of our principle mantras “Do. Don’t Do. Modify. Witness. Report. Reset. Recover.” Anyone interested in co-creating and experiencing MA is welcomed. We do not know what it is and what it may hold and/or uncover, but we know we are curious and full of joy.

“EMPTY SPACE BRINGS FERTILITY TO THE RESEARCH” - Giulia Ravarotto 

In Taoism empty space is considered as important as full space. As in the harmonious balance between yin and yang there is not one element that prevails over the other, but a continuous balance of forces, so the empty and the full are in a reciprocal relationship of interpenetration and transformation. (2)

In Buddhism the concept of emptiness is expressed in the so-called "emptiness" (空 kū in Japanese, शून्यता Śūnyatā in Sanskrit), through which the believer reaches enlightenment. The practitioner can realize that the "true nature" of things and human beings is emptiness: everything is basically "emptiness", impermanent (Anicca, in Pali) and the absence of a concrete and stable "I" (Anattā in Pali). This awareness cannot be achieved through the continuous accumulation of theoretical knowledge, but through meditative practices. (3)

In farming leaving the soil empty, i.e. lying fallow is a technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallow is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycles and soil borne pathogens by temporarily removing their hosts. (4) 

Participation:
Max 10 people from any background, age, culture, discipline. (First come first entry. No selection process. All are welcome.)

Expectations: 
Being available to attend 3 Zoom meetings at the end of June and beginning of July (to be scheduled together).

Being physically present in Vienna between 18-24 July.

Registration:
Please register your attendance via pavle.heidler@idocde.net.

RESIDENCY #2

host: pavleheidler

to walk to think to dance

In the desire to explore the notion of emergence practically, I think of walking. Historically speaking, walking has been associated with contemplation, with thinking and doing thinking. Walking has, too, been associated with art and philosophy and science making. And thinking. And doing. And doing. And thinking. And making.

Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker famously called her walking her dancing. I frequently mistook her suggestion to walk to dance with to walk to think to dance, thereby transforming my thinking into the equivalent of my moving and experiencing my moving as my thinking. Today I cannot tell one apart from the other, and let me tell you: I don’t think Descartes would appreciate that.

"Of course walking, as any reader of Thoreau's essay "Walking" knows, inevitably leads into other subjects. Walking is a subject that is always straying."

– Rebecca Solnit, wanderlust: A History of Walking

I hereby invite you to walk with me, whether or not you are thinking of attending the upcoming IDOCDE symposium. I invite you to walk with me, intentionally leaving any defining of what that could mean for you or me or us… not to chance, per se, but to real time. The practice I am hoping to develop during this residency is that of relationship building. And as is true of all relationships, they cannot be anticipated. This is what makes them fun.

The possibilities are endless, our interests paramount, and the only thing suggested: that we literally take this one step at a time.

I will be walking for 90 minutes every Saturday, starting with Saturday of June 25th–what in Sweden is celebrated as the Midsummer Day. My first walk will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, where I will be at the time. I will broadcast my walk via Zoom, which will make it possible for you to join me virtually. At the end of every walk, I will announce where I will be walking next Saturday, if ever you’d want to and could join my walk in person. I will share the location of the next walk via idocde.net and idocde’s social media channels.

""
Of course walking, as any reader of Thoreau's essay "Walking" knows, inevitably leads into other subjects. Walking is a subject that is always straying.

– Rebecca Solnit, wanderlust: A History of Walking

On July 20, 21, and 22–the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday leading up to the symposium weekend–I will be walking in Vienna. All those in the city at the time are welcome to join me in person.

Please register your attendance via pavle.heidler@idocde.net. The specific time of the walk will be scheduled relative to which time zones the fellow walkers will be tuning in from.

till soon,
pavleheidler for Team IDOCDE

 2022-06-17

I decided to start reading and writing about walking today. I decided to create a research diary to follow this process, to document this experience. The process begins here.

(1) https://wawaza.com/pages/when-less-is-more-the-concept-of-japanese-ma.html
(2) https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_(cultura_giapponese)
(3) https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_(cultura_giapponese)
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallow#:~:text=Fallow%20is%20a%20farming%20technique,by%20temporarily%20removing%20their%20hosts