OLOS Winter Happening 2020
2020 brought many challenges, including a hiatus on any in-person retreats. That didn't stop us from reflecting fondly on all the great times we've had over the years, the incredible people we've met, and the inspiring artworks we created. In December 2020 we decided to bring the Other Lands Other Sounds family back together for a special online "Happening".
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A "Happening" is any one-off collaborative event as devised by one or two of our artists for all the other artists to participate in, often with a time limit.
For our OLOS Winter Happening, Filipe and Kate devised a virtual happening based around the card game Dixit, a ubiquitous presence at OLOS workshops. We were joined on zoom by 15 alumni artists, from 3 continents and 7 countries. We set the artists a few quick tasks to create audio and visual material based on several questions:
- create an audio recording capturing what you feel grateful for
- create a short video clip capturing a challenge or frustration you are feeling
We then paired them up and asked them to devise titles for a dixit card of their liking. The pairs were tasked to choose their favourite title and to create an audiovisual work of max 1 minute to share the next week. Meanwhile, Filipe created a sound piece from the audio material collected, and Kate and Bea collaborated on curating everyone's short video clips.
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Many of our artists from across three years of OLOS had never met before, so it was a beautiful moment to make new connections and share the feeling of a family bond. Likewise, though created quickly and remotely, the resulting creations were inspiring and moving. They each capture some aspect of the strangeness of this year and what it feels like to try to create in this environment.
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The OLOS Winter Happening 2020 reminded us of the good times we have had together, but also our creative resilience. The simple act of reaching out to collaborate with another person can truly wake up your creative life force. We hope you enjoy the results of these brief encounters below. Thank you to everyone who participated, and to those who weren't able to join - we are so grateful for all of you!
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Gratitude Suite
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sound clips collected from all artists
editing and sound design by Filipe Sousa
Challenges
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video clips collected from all artists
editing and curation by Beatriz M Barrio with Kate Smith
Deep Blue Sleep
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created by Jason Gong and Sonya Rademeyer
Hide and Seek
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created by Adam Paroussos and Josh Geffin
Restricted Requiem for the Resigned​
created by Marie-Pierre Cravedi and Francis Booth
Religious Tabooism
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created by Delara Navaey and Geoffa Fells
Say That Again​
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created by Sevda Khatamian and Paul Reynolds
Say That Again​ (Again)
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created by Sophie Reeves and Nuno Melo