In April 2020, an experiment in ergodic participatory writing began as a short-term art research residency by the workgroup “
Art Shows and Public Health” for the online event Braiding Friction under the EU project
Biofriction. This workgroup's objective was to develop different scenarios for ensuring access to art spaces during pandemic times as an essential need for a society's cultural identity and its individuals. The research was based on historical data of previous pandemics, on technology and biocontainment protocols used in high-security labs, space, environmental and underwater research, and science fiction storytelling. The workgroup aimed to propose a variety of provisions to effect the required level of biosafety and security, further than physical distancing and decontamination methods. Among the various forms of documentation and outcomes resulting from this three-month experiment, supported by the Portuguese institution Cultivamos Cultura led by
Marta de Menezes, were: the pseudo-documentary “
Staying in Touch: post-coronavirus art curating,” edited by Pavel Tavares, and the short story of the same title co-created by
Isabel Burr Raty, Dalila Honorato, Louise Mackenzie,
Robertina Šebjanič and
Karolina Żyniewicz.
Link to video:
https://vimeo.com/440971577
"Staying in Touch" included cameo appearances by artists Marta de Menezes, Yann Marussich, and Adam Zaretsky
Presentations:
Biofriction: 23.07.2020:
https://biofriction.org/
Ars Electronica Festival: Kepler's Gardens: Acquired Immunity: September 2020
Taboo, Transgression, Transcendence in Art&Science: 28.11.2020:
https://avarts.ionio.gr/ttt/2020/en/presentations/172/
FACTT 2021: 06.04.2021
Con(fine)arts, Exposição: Belas-Artes ULisboa, 08.04-29.04.2021: https://www.facebook.com/events/288951109305001
Artnodes:
https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Artnodes?fbclid=IwAR1Kef7d5DMsMLuImwnLGT4ncxx_IFXWX8qKiinqdQ-Mx5XUulMEzI2RV08
Biofriction exhibition, Ectopia - Experimental Art Laboratory, Lisbon, 17.06-01.08.2021:
https://biofriction.org/biofriction/biofriction-exhibition/
