image: Residence spaces Tenuta Dello Scompiglio Courtesy Associazione Culturale Dello Scompiglio
The Art for the Environment International Artist Residency Programme (AER) was launched in 2015 by member of the UAL Research Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) and UAL Chair of Art and the Environment Professor Lucy Orta and coordinated by CSF Associate Curator Camilla Palestra.
We can announce that Clara Boulard – MRes Moving Image at Central Saint Martins has been selected for this years’ AER 2017 Residency at the Associazione Culturale dello Scompiglio, Tuscany, Italy.
The Tenuta Dello Scompiglio is an area of 200 hectares situated in the Vorno hills, near Luca in the Tuscan region of Italy. Historically the estate was a self-sufficient farm, cultivating olives, vines and fruit.
In the last decades it has been abandoned and nature has regained the upper hand. The Progetto Dello Scompiglio residencies intend to re-establish a dialogue both with the present environment, with its natural and architectural elements, and with its history, seeking contemporary forms of interaction and responsibility, as well as relationships of interdependence, exchange and symbiosis, through the visual and performing arts.
Within this context, the resident will be invited to explore and reflect on the concept of life-cycles, from a social, anthropological, philosophical or environmental perspective, as part of a two-year programme launched by the Associazione Culturale dello Scompiglio in 2017.
Read Clara’s successful application here:
This program is a unique and diverse experience that would allow me the opportunity to work and exchange ideas within an incredible organisation. Another main reason for my interest in this program is the opportunity to explore in-depth the nexus between my artistic practice and an incredible environment that offers the Associzione Culturale dello Scompiglio. My aim for this residency is to investigate solutions, through my video installation work, on the basis that the planet can be sensationally experienced by humans while still subsequently preserving it.
My current artistic practice is informed by my previous experience working in cinema. I first became interested in images, particularly in their semiotic power, whilst studying communication. I then studied cinema at Saint Denis University in Paris where I embraced a more practical approach to images using film materials as a medium on which I painted and scratched. Alongside my self initiated experimentation in film, I worked in more traditional collaborative roles of which included cinema set design, production, camera and editing.
Image; Clara Boulard ‘Inside Substance’ – Interactive Installation 2017
Central to my practice is the investigation into sensorial and perceptive experiences of the human body, which I am researching in-depth as part of my Masters study at Central Saint Martins. Here, I’m writing a thesis on viewer’s perception through video installations, focusing on the act of conjuring the subconscious of dreams and illusions through research of methods that deceive and trick the body of the audience. A recent example of an immersive audio-video project that I made is titled Inside Substance (2016), which was a video installation that I staged to observe and interrogate the viewer’s sensuous perception. The visitors were invited to stand at the centre of four floating screens to observe footage of expanding ink within water, while sound compositions resonated through the entire room and reverberated back through their bodies. I did audio-recorded interviews of people’s experience within the installation. Using this data within my theoretical research allowed me to dig deeper into the extent of an illusion, in order to better understand sensorial body reactions.
Image: Clara Boulard ‘Coins Situations’ – Performance Installation
Today I continually investigate space and the natural environment by working with the VOO art collective. Through site-specific performances and discussions, we work to maintain a critical approach to the world we live in. I am confident that, this residency at the Associazione Culturale dello Scompiglio, is harmonious considering my art practice and research modes. My experience in making and collaborating with others through art indicates my aptness to work on long term and effective projects.
Image: Clara Boulard ‘Bodybuilders Greek Statues’ – Film in Progress 2017
The project I want to develop during the residency revolves around the investigation of the human body and its perceptual field. To realize this, I am aiming to apply my multidisciplinary approach through my experience within this specifically anomalous environment of the Vorno Hill. In particular, I am looking to explore the ways in which our individual perception and cultural context can make us more aware of our surroundings to better understand the importance of the space we live in. I truly believe that harmony between humans and nature is still possible if we work a bit harder to see nature in a more sensual light. Playing on viewers’ perceptions will allow me to create balance and strengthen the link between the two. After studying and experimenting with human’s bodily perception, I realised that many people are able to feel and become aware of a situation more effectively when it traverses their body-frame. Thus, it seems relevant to play with this notion of the body’s receptivity to raise attention to the current and future significance of the Environment that I will attempt to experience from my past personal context within this new context. This challenging experiment will allow me to better grasp the essence of the problem so that I can communicate an essential message. My intent then is to conduct a experimental research that will culminate in an audio-visual installation which by playing with visual elements, sound, and décor, will emanate different channels to activate the bodily and mental perception.
I aim to offer a simulation of nature, where people will become more conscious of their natural environment. My project is a claim for a possible sustainable relationship between humankind and the planet. Therefore, I aim to emphasize the link between the mind and the body through emphasizing the link between felt sensations and projections. I expect that the enchanted experience will initially help the viewers to understand a better concept of their bodies parameters of which will extend to realizing their presence within this planet.
Image: Clara Boulard ‘USA’ Photography
I feel the need to be absorbed by an environment to express an authentic and sensitive piece of work. Being immersed in 200 hectares of nature will definitely allow me to take my body as the reference from which I could start this research. Moreover, having the opportunity to spend few weeks in the diverse and effervescent natural environment of Tuscany, would be the upmost inspiring experience that would deeply resonate with my existing curiosity, as an artist focused on interactive bodily condition that intends to constantly push the boundaries of my comfort zone.
I strongly believe that this project will be of benefit to the Associazione Culturale dello Scompiglio. Having the opportunity to share an experience with a team of specialists and artists would be a tremendous opportunity for growth.
As part of the AER Residency agreement, Clara Boulard will be writing a report upon completion of his time at Associazione Culturale dello Scompiglio which will be published on this blog site.
Read previous AER Residency Reports here
Related Links