occasionals /
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is an artist run project space where artists, writers and curators can present their work in a one day or evening event. This might be an exhibition, screening, reading or performance, a work-in-progress or not exhibited before, and a chance to discuss it with other people there and then.
address
studio 15.3
third floor
1 - 15 Cremer St.
London E2 8HD
bell: occasionals or third floor west
directions & map >
future /
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details will be announced in March.
previous /
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Friday 11th December 2009 - Single, Plural, Multiple
a screening of five short films, selected by five different people, accompanied by twenty-five short texts about the films.
The contributors and their chosen films are
Richard Birkett - 'Disgrace' by Kate Davis
Vanessa Desclaux - 'The Hand is Quicker Than The Eye' by Yael Davids
Mike Sperlinger - 'Necrology' by Standish Lawder
Cally Spooner - 'Not I' by Samuel Beckett
Marina Vishmidt - 'Sonnet' by Lili Dujourie
Each person was invited to select a film up to 15 minutes long and to write a few reflections on all five films; a booklet containing all the texts was produced and provided to the audience alongside the screening.
The short texts, twenty-five in total (five from each participant) are not intended to be comprehensive accounts, rather indicators of ways of looking at and thinking about the same films, reflecting the writers' shared or differing interpretations and points of reference.
Doors opened at 6:00 p.m.
The screening began at 7:00 p.m.
Total running time was approximately 1 hour with a short interval half-way through. After the screening there was an opportunity to talk with the participants.
image from the cover of the booklet Single, Plural, Multiple
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Friday 24th July 2009 - Will Holder
Will Holder presented "Middle of Nowhere", a book he has been writing and publishing since 2005. It is an adaptation of William Morris' "News from Nowhere (or An Epoch of Rest, Being Some Chapters From a Utopian Romance)" of 1890.
Morris' original novel, a utopian description of a 2004 society, rooted in Victorian Socialist ideologies. Holder's "Middle of Nowhere", also set approximately 115 years in the future, follows the chapter structure of the original, whilst taking significant phenomena into account of which Morris could have no knowledge. Central to the original, the chapter "Questions and Answers", is a discussion between the visiting protagonist and a historian, who recounts the history of the previous 130 years. In the case of "Middle of Nowhere", the historian will account for the history of the 21st century.
"Middle of Nowhere" has been described as "a guide for design education and practise set in 2135" and is written in a serialised form, published in dotdotdot magazine and various publications. It is an account of the formation of an adaptive, self-conscious and collective voice that could represent a history whose closest description to date is "Some time then there will be very kind of a history of every one who ever can or is or was or will be living. Some time then there will be a history of every one from their beginning to their ending. Sometime then there will be a history of all of them, of every kind of them, of every one, of every bit of living they ever have in them, of them when there is never more than a beginning to them, of every kind of them, of every one when there is very little beginning and then there is an ending, there will then sometime be a history of every one there will be a history of everything that ever was or is or will be them, of everything that was or is or will be all of any one or all of all of them." (Gertrude Stein, "The Making of Americans, a History of a Family's Progress").
Doors opened at 6:00 p.m.
The presentation began at 6:30 p.m.
Readings from "Middle of Nowhere" were interspersed with discussions between Will Holder, Philomene Pirecki and everyone who wanted to participate.
image from William Morris' 'News from Nowhere'
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Friday 16th January 2009 - Lois Rowe
occasionals presented 'Argument from Design' 2006, and 'Mannerism to Mind' 2007, two videos by Lois Rowe.
Both works were shown twice (4'48" and 10'32"), from
6:30 - 7:30 p.m with short intervals between each screening.
At 7:30 there was an informal discussion between Lois Rowe, Philomene Pirecki and everyone who wanted to participate.
video still of 'Argument from Design'.
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Saturday 14th June 2008 - Double Object
a group exhibition curated by Leigh Robb
Six artists have been invited to respond to the construct of the double within their practice. Using the exhibition as a site of research, the artists will present works which investigate the potential of the double in some of its guises to see how, or if such a simple construct can open a more complex field of possibility both formally and conceptually. From a pair, copy or diptych to studies in repetition, synchronicity and comparison, the double is a structure that forces questions of singularity and difference. This exhibition is an opportunity to think about why it recurs as a pivotal strategy for Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roni Horn, for example, to artists working today.
Participating artists
Bradford Bailey
Vanessa Billy
Jason Dungan
Elizabeth McAlpine
Sam Porritt
Maria Zahle
Earlier works by Dieter Roth, Barry Flanagan, Glenn Ligon and Michel Francois were also included.
The exhibition was open for one day only
Saturday 14th June, 2:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m
At 7:00 p.m.
there was an informal discussion between Leigh Robb, the exhibition artists and Philomene Pirecki, along with anyone else who wanted to join in.
installation view of Double Object. Artists from left to right - Jason Dungan, Glenn Ligon, Barry Flanagan, Maria Zahle.
installation view of Double Object. Artists from left to right - Elizabeth McAlpine, Vanessa Billy (floor), Dieter Roth, Bradford Bailey, Sam Porritt, Michel François.
More images from Double Object >
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Saturday 15th March 2008 - Juan Cruz
occasionals presented 'In The Shape of What We Know', a video work by Juan Cruz.
Two videos are projected onto a wall where they partly overlap; one uses images and sound of the artist and his immediate environment, the other uses text recounting intimate memories and thoughts. The videos differ in length, which changes their synchronisation as they loop and continue to play. This presents us with a literally overlapping, contextually shifting structure that inflects upon the relationships between what is read, seen and heard.
In part it is a reflection upon reconciling daily life and art practice, upon unexpected recollections triggered by seemingly unrelated events, and the contradictions and compromises that many of us are often faced with.
The work was shown from 6:00 p.m until 8:00 p.m (duration approximately
8 minutes).
At 7:30 there was an informal discussion between Juan Cruz, Philomene
Pirecki and everyone who wanted to join in.
the video and the crowd during the projection of In The Shape of What We Know
more images from Juan Cruz's event >
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Saturday 26th January 2008 - Ian
Whittlesea
occasionals presented 3 projections by Ian Whittlesea. Each projection shows a series of names and is an attempt to list chronologically everyone an individual met in their lifetime. The names are projected as white text on a white wall in an illuminated space. Each name slowly appears and fades away to be replaced by the next. This is an ongoing work, altered and added to as the artist acquires new biographical information about the subjects.
The work could be viewed from beginning to end, or at any time between 2:59 – 8:00pm.
2:59 – 4:53pm > Everyone - Peggy
Guggenheim
4:53 – 6:26pm > Everyone - Frank
O’Hara
6:26 – 8:00pm > Everyone - Gertrude
Stein
There were drinks and a short, informal discussion during the
final projection from 6:26 - 8:00pm.
image from Everyone - Frank O’Hara
more images from Ian Whittlesea's event >
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The first in a series of occasional events happened on
Friday 5th October 2007 - Andrew Chesher
Andrew Chesher showed his video 'Changing the System', a documentary about musicians rehearsing.
In 1973, taking his title from a remark by Tom Hayden, a key figure of
the Student Movement of 1968, the American avant-garde composer and erstwhile
student of John Cage, Christian Wolff, wrote a score called ‘Changing
the System’ - a kind of ‘participatory democracy’ for
a large scale musical ensemble. Following the preparations for a performance
of the piece to celebrate Wolff’s 70th birthday in 2004, Andrew's
film observes the musicians and their discussions during rehearsals, elucidating
the score, its significance and the experience of rehearsing it through
comments by the musicians themselves.
c. 53 mins long.
After the screening, Andrew Chesher talked about the video, his working
process and ideas relating to it.
video still from Changing the System
more images from Andrew Chesher's event >
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organised by Philomene Pirecki