It’s been an honour to be invited to write a blog for Writers Rebel, which you can read here: https://writersrebel.com/out-of-sight-out-of-mind/
Writers Rebel
Category: Photography
CVAN Spotlight
As the first of our featured artists, the spotlight is on Emma Critchley, an artist who uses a combination of film, photography, sound and installation to continually explore the human relationship with the underwater environment as a political, philosophical and environmental space.
In response to the ongoing environmental crisis, we asked Emma how her own practice and experiences have been affected by the issue, and the wider impact on the arts sector.
Follow the link to read this blog….https://cvansoutheast.com/our-work/spotlight/emma-critchley/
Routledge Handbook of Ocean Space
Greer Crawley, Mariele Neudecker and I have contributed a chapter ‘Imaginaries; Art, film and the scenography of Oceanic Worlds’ to this newly published Routledge Handbook of Ocean Space, edited by Kimberley Peters, Jon Anderson, Andrew Davies and Philip Steinberg
Invisible as the seas and oceans may be for so many of us, life as we know it is almost always connected to, and constituted by, activities and occurrences that take place in, on and under our oceans. The Routledge Handbook of Ocean Space provides a first port of call for scholars engaging in the ‘oceanic turn’ in the social sciences, offering a comprehensive summary of existing trends in making sense of our water worlds, alongside new, agenda-setting insights into the relationships between society and the ‘seas around us’. Accordingly, this ambitious text not only attends to a growing interest in our oceans, past and present; it is also situated in a broader spatial turn across the social sciences that seeks to account for how space and place are imbricated in socio-cultural and political life.
Through six clearly structured and wide-ranging sections, The Routledge Handbook of Ocean Space examines and interrogates how the oceans are environmental, historical, social, cultural, political, legal and economic spaces, and also zones where national and international security comes into question. With a foreword and introduction authored by some of the leading scholars researching and writing about ocean spaces, alongside 31 further, carefully crafted chapters from established as well as early career academics, this book provides both an accessible guide to the subject and a cutting-edge collection of critical ideas and questions shaping the social sciences today.
This handbook brings together the key debates defining the ‘field’ in one volume, appealing to a wide, cross-disciplinary social science and humanities audience. Moreover, drawing on a range of international examples, from a global collective of authors, this book promises to be the benchmark publication for those interested in ocean spaces, past and present. Indeed, as the seas and oceans continue to capture world-wide attention, and the social sciences continue their seaward ‘turn’, The Routledge Handbook of Ocean Space will provide an invaluable resource that reveals how our world is a water world.
Barbican screening: Figuring Bodies of Water
Fantastic to have been part of this screening curated by Alona Pardo.
Figuring Bodies of Water (PG)
Outdoor Cinema
Thu 25 Aug 2022, 20:30 ,Sculpture Court
Dive into a curated selection of films exploring our relationship to water through contemporary artists and filmmakers, including Susan Schuppli, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Tabita Rezaire and more.
Water is the element that, more than any other, ties human beings to the world around them – from the oceans that surround us, to the water that makes up most of our bodies. Exploring the cultural and philosophical implications of this, Figuring Bodies of Water considers the connection between our watery world and the (post)human body.
Through film, the evening takes a look at ideas around queer ecologies, investigating how hermaphroditic, transgender, and gender-swapping aquatic life constantly shift sexual gears to adapt to human environmental irresponsibility; the ‘right to be cold’ in a world of disappearing sea ice; and the power of water as a conductive interface for communication.
Call out for performers for Brighton Festival installation
We are looking for 3 performers to be part of Emma’s art installation at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts this May which explores global warming through personal accounts of glacial retreat and scientific research into ice cores.
We require:
1x performer who speaks Swahili
1x performer who speaks Italian
1x performer who speaks Latin American Spanish
All performers will need to be fluent in speaking and reading English.
You can read about the project and watch a trailer for the work here: https://venice.sciencegallery.com/emma-critchley-witness
Performers will be asked to perform a spoken word script live to a three-screen film installation, which has a soundscape (not live).
Performances will take place on 7th, 8th, 12th and 13th May.
Specifications
- We are looking for applicants with experience – you might be a performer or spoken word/stand up poet for example.
- Availability as per the timeline below.
- You will be over 18.
- You can be male, female or non-binary identifying.
- The artist is looking for people interested in collaborative working processes.
Timeline
March:
9th – deadline for applications
March:
16th or 17th – Selected performers audition in a central Brighton location.
Date TBC – First workshop/rehearsal with selected performers.
April:
Date TBC – 2 further workshops/rehearsals
May:
6th – Technical rehearsals at ACCA
7th and 8th – Performances at ACCA. Performances at 5pm and 7pm. Call times TBC
12th and 13th – Performances at ACCA. Performances at 5pm and 7pm. Call times TBC
Selection Process
Emma will select Artists to audition.
For the audition we will ask you to read a section of the script. This, along with a private link to the film will be sent to you in advance of the audition, so you can prepare.
Fee: The total fee is £1,000.
For an additional fee, we are also looking to have the English script translated into Swahili. Please indicate on your application if you would be interested in this additional work.
Management: You will be working directly with Emma and a team of creatives and technicians. You will be contracted by Brighton Festival.
Access: Please get in touch if you need some additional support with your application
Contact: Please submit enquires and applications to sally.scott@brightondome.org
To apply please email the following to sally.scott@brightondome.org
- A CV/biog including background, relevant experience and your age.
- 200-400 words on why you are interested in this opportunity and what you think you can bring.
- Link to online showreel if you have one (optional) or a short self-recorded video of you performing (optional)
- Link to your website if you have one (optional).
Reminder:
Closing date for submissions is 5pm on Wednesday 9th March.
The Bird and the Elephant – outdoor film screenings as part of Coventry, UK City of Culture
‘The Bird and the Elephant’ is my new film which celebrates the legacy of the iconic Coventry Sports & Leisure Centre, through an underwater performance; a swan song to the space. Featuring ballet dancer William Moore performing an underwater choreographed dance inspired by the stories and memories of the Coventry Baths community the film will be shown outdoors over two weekends in November as part of Coventry UK City of Culture.
The screenings will take place at The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and Starley Gardens, Coventry (with Coventry University & CineCov) on the evenings of 11th – 13th and 26th – 27th November 2021 respectively.
To accompany the film screenings there will be a series of free dance workshops for young people aged 13 – 21 with ballet dancer Tom Rogers (Birmingham Royal Ballet) and an artist in conversation event with Heidi Saarinen (dancer and architecture academic, Coventry University) and myself chaired by Anthony Luvera (artist & professor of photography, Coventry University.)
The screenings taking place at Starley Gardens will be accompanied by a special programme of short films curated by Flatpack Festival.
The Bird and the Elephant project was funded by Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Coventry City of Culture Trust and supported by the Oral History Society.
The Coventry city screenings are presented in partnership with The Belgrade Theatre and Coventry University and part of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 and Flatpack Festival’s CineCov programme supported by Coventry Business Improvement District.
Witness exhibition at Sala del Camino, Venice, presented by Science Gallery Venice
Witness, the film I created through my Earth Water Sky residency, will be shown as a dual-screen installation at Sala del Camino Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, Italy, presented by Science Gallery Venice at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 16th September – 3rd October 2021.
The exhibition will be open Thursday – Sunday, 15:00 – 19:00 (on 16th, 17th and 18th September the exhibition closes to the public at the earlier time of 18:00)
Witness premieres at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale
My new film, Witness, created during my Earth Water Sky residency with Science Gallery Venice at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, premiered in the Italian Pavilion, live online and in person, on 24th July 2021. The screening was part of the Resilient Communities programme, an event organised in the context of the Italian Pavilion at the 17th International Exhibition of Architecture at La Biennale di Venezia.
The work is premised on the examination of an ice core as the post mortem of a glacier, drawing connections between the human body and the body of ice through movement, sound and words.
My partner on the residency was climate scientist Carlo Barbante at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and his Ice Memory Team. The Ice Memory Project is a global initiative to create an archive of ice cores from glaciers that are rapidly disappearing.
You can watch the introduction to the film by myself and Ariane Koek, one of the invited Creative Directors of CITYX VENICE, the official Italian Virtual pavilion, and the curator/producer of Witness here: https://www.facebook.com/100876598609867/videos/518992852765648.
The Earth Water Sky programme is fully funded by Fondation Didier et Martine Primat.
Water Meets Sky
Back in October 2020 I was invited to be in conversation with the 2nd Earth Water Sky artist in residence Haseeb Ahmed. Chaired by the curator/producer of the Earth Water Sky residency programme, Ariane Koek, and hosted by Science Gallery Venice, we spoke about our respective practices, the process of working with scientists through the residency, and our approaches to the respective themes of water and sky. You can watch the talk here.
Aesthetica Magazine
Aesthetica Short Film Festival have published an article on Common Heritage my film about the imminent gold-rush of deep-sea mining for rare earth minerals and the potential ensuing environmental impact. The film was shortlisted for the Aesthetica Short Film Award 2019 and more recently for the AHRC Research in Film Awards 2020 in the Climate Emergency category. https://www.asff.co.uk/underwater-exploration/
Emma Critchley 