“Like now (would be good”). A performance-installation by Affect/Production in Bilbao

Affect/Production presents a performance at Bulegoa z/b, as the result of a weeklong collaborative workshop that takes place in Bilbao and the surrounding area.

With artists Ingeborg Entrop, Frederik Gruyaerts, Yunjoo Kwak, Toeh Meisami, Lara Morais, Emilio Moreno, Charlotte Rooijackers, Gonçalo Sena, Vanja Smiljanic, Vittoria Soddu, Witta Tjan and Barbara Wagner.

Affect/Production is a research project tutored by Phil Collins, and curated by If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution at the Dutch Art Institute, a master of Fine Arts programme located in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Special guest tutor in Bilbao is Sharon Smith.

For Affect/Production, Phil Collins meets with students of the DAI in Arnhem on a monthly basis, working with critical texts relating to the field of affect and introducing them to aspects of performance and live art. Guest visitors so far have included Simon Will (Gob Squad), Sanja Mitrovic (Stand Up Tall Productions), Sharon Smith (Max Factory), and Nick Powell (OSKAR). During the trip to Bilbao the students will develop a collaborative project through workshops and meetings with Basque artists, local students, and the collective Bulegoa z/b. The trip includes a stay at Azala, the residency space of choreographer Idoia Zabaleta.

If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution engages in long-term inquiries with artists, based on an interest in the evolution and typology of performance. The name is based on a quote attributed to the anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman (1869 –1940) reflecting If I Can’t Dance’s aim to articulate the field in art practice where the critical and celebratory meet. If I Can’t Dance produces new works with artists along a collaborative systematics with international partners. The headquarters of If I Can’t Dance are located in Amsterdam.

The artistic practice of Phil Collins is performance-based and conceptual in its approaches to video and photography. His works investigate the nuances of social relations in various locations and communities, employing elements of popular culture and documentary to address the camera as an instrument of both truth and deception. Recent solo exhibitions include British Film Institute, London and Marabouparken, Sundbyberg (both 2011), Cornerhouse, Manchester and daadgalerie, Berlin (both 2010), and Tramway, Glasgow (2009).

Sharon Smith is a founding member of Max Factory (UK) and now a member of Gob Squad (Berlin). She makes work between the languages of dance, theatre and visual art. Her projects are generally collaborative and produced out of dialogue and negotiation. She works with Katie Duck in Amsterdam in an improvised performance collective and holds improvisation as a useful practical tool for understanding better ones performative involvement with a live event. She runs the Blue Stocking Social Club, rooting experimental performance in a northern English tradition of community and audience engagement. She has a PhD in the area of Live Performance Practice.

The Dutch Art Institute/MFA ArtEZ offers a space for artistic research and experiment that exceeds the limits of conventional art education. Through affiliations with cutting edge curatorial platforms and research institutes the DAI seeks to create fleeting collectivities that operate as ‘interfaces’ between art, education and the world.