Consuming (In)Dependency by Biggi Stiller - shortlisted for Fierce Festival

Consuming (In)Dependency
by Biggi Stiller

has been shortlisted for the Fierce Festival 2008
in Birmingham, www.myfiercefestival.co.uk
www.biggistiller.net, biggi@biggistiller.net

Fierce Festival
After a decade of stop-you-in-your-tracks live art events and performances FIERCE the much loved international arts festival is trailblazing once more giving you, the audience, the power to programme your own festival!
Twenty-four live art performances have been shortlisted by Fierce but only nine of them will feature in the Fierce! Festival itself. You now need to vote for the performances you most want to see live. It’s free!
The twenty four shortlisted acts are divided equally into three venue categories – Conventional Theatres, Public Places and Unconventional Spaces. Fierce have reserved a range of spaces. You decide what goes in them.
So how does it work?
• Read the artist pitches on the My Fierce Festival website www.myfiercefestival.co.uk
• Choose your top three performances and vote! (one act for each venue category)
• Help is at hand with a leader board; vote tactically to ensure your favorite acts make the final cut!
From 7th April shows with the least votes will be eliminated each day, the most popular shows will then be performed LIVE during Fierce Festival at venues across the West Midlands 23rd – 26th May.
Fierce! International Performance Arts Festival, featuring My Fierce Festival takes place from 21 May 2008 to 1 June 2008.

The Art of Cooking: Guilt, Power, Pain and Dependency
The participatory project “Consuming Independency“ is dealing with issues of power and moral responsibility. It was first explored during the Eat Art Party, curated by Elodie Silberstein, in July 2006 in London.
A limited number of guests (who bid for their tickets on eBay) are invited into a house, where they might end up cooking a meal for the artist without the artist herself being directly involved in the process. Biggi suffers from food intolerances and allergies, which pushes her to stick to a restricted diet. The participants themselves will decide what they want to cook, go shopping and make a meal, which she then eats with the participants. A few weeks later each participant will receive a personalised limited edition project book of the event, including photographs of the process and sound clips of the discussion.

Excerpts from Elodie’s comments in 2006:
“Provocative… this is how at first glance visitors could describe the work of artist Biggi Stiller. But the first sensationalist impression is deceptive and hides a humanistic, respectful and questioning approach. The conceptual side of the work has many complex layers to explore among others, guilt, power, pain and dependency.
To be able to attend the event the public was forced to bid for tickets, to take decisions and to face the consequences of these actions. It was the viewer’s choice and sole responsibility to select and prepare the food that Biggi would then eat, these choices being made with the knowledge of which foods could make Biggi sick…
The project culminated in social interaction between Biggi and the participants. It demonstrated her genuine interest in colluding with the public to confront, analyse and understand issues and concepts that generally remain unsaid.”

Hi all, as you can see above I have been very lucky to be shortlisted for the Fierce Festival in Birmingham. Would be absolutely fantastic if you would drop a vote for me...
http://myfiercefestival.co.uk/artist/biggi-stiller-consuming-in-dependency/

Hope you are all well.
Lots of Love
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Biggi

WYSING ARTS CENTRE RE-LAUNCHES : OPEN WEEKEND WITH OPEN STUDIOS

Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th January 2008

On the evening of 18 January Matthew Collings will open the new and improved Wysing Arts Centre, followed by an Open Weekend when to launch our new buildings a gallery exhibition showcasing Wysing’s 24 resident artists will be on display and all 24 studios will be open to visitors.

In addition, past artists and exhibitors at Wysing have donated drawings towards a ‘benefit’ drawing show which will also be on display, with works available to buy at an affordable fixed price.

Over the past year Wysing’s Bourn site has been closed while we have constructed a £1.7 million building housing artists’ studios, administration offices, a dedicated education space, a new media facility, and reception and gallery improvements.

Our 11 acre site housing 24 artists’ studios, set in farmland, will be open every day during both exhibitions, which continue until 24 February, 12-6pm. Admission Free.


To join Wysing's EBulletin for monthly updates, please email info@wysingartscentre.org

Hi everyone

Hi, Firstly I'm sorry I've been absent for so long. Secondly I'd like to say I have been reading the blog from afar with interest and it has taken me ages to work out how to blog again -forgotten passwords etc.... I couldn't make the last meeting as I was in Sicily... Which was ok but actually quite scary. Two guys jumped in to the back of our car and took all my friends things - for some reason I put up a bit of a fight and managed to keep hold of my bag! As for the Sicilian police station... well that was quite scary too!
Ok, so I wish I could have been at the meeting and I'd like to come to the next one. Art wise I have actually been pretty busy. I'm at the Florence Trust now for the year and making new images and exploring my themes further...lots of light and layers but nothing I want to post just yet. Anyway really just wanted to say hi and I don't know where the time has gone. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Miranda x

how about meeting later in november?
22 of november? after 6 in arts admin cafe?
or 23 of november? evening time?
maybe we should all post possible dates and times.....

Me too..

I'm very sorry everyone, but i'm afraid i fall into the same camp as jon steve and franko in that i'm afraid i won't be able to make the meeting. I have to be in bristol in preperation for a residency (the dates have been moved back), i was genuinly looking forward to this, but it may end up being a good thing... I hope all goes well, minda xx

I will be more than happy to discuss the outcomes on the blog etc..

hello

Hello everyone, I'm sorry to say that I will not be able to make this Thursday. . I just need to get my health back on track and I'm teaching on thursday and friday afternoons throughout this month. I also have an open studios coming up towards the end of the month and have a commitment to the people in the studio base to allocate my duties of marketing, cleaning etc. I need to concentrate on the studio base at the moment as we are under threat of being kicked out by our council who are looking at other uses for the farmhouse. Presently it's all hands on deck to show the council what we do, what can be done and what we have acheived...

Arrrggghhh I hate powerment deadlines, but hey ho.

Steven and Rachel, Hapy birthdays to you both for the end of the month and the beginning of next.

Franko, I'll see you on the 5th November

group meeting

dear colleuges, frfiends, menteres..
watching from afar on the blog i can see a development in the group dynamic.
so i think it's better if i let you get on with it, and i'm not going to come to the meeting as i also have a lot of work on especially my commitment to finish all the one to ones i have before the 4th of december.
sorry if i sound a bit distant but i have a lot on and i feel that i have done what i could for the mentoring group. i feel i need space from the group and to take time off.
x x franko

a picture from the meeting..

hello everybody.
here is a picture from the night after the meeting, i think it captures some of the atmosphere quite well..
there's been a lot of talking here (on the blog) about what happened and where we go now. things happen. i like the image that it made. it's worth clicking it to see it large and really look at everon'es expression.
tom x
(i look forward to the next meeting)

ok, first things first.
we were not sitting around complaining... at least i was not. i was talking about it and digesting it. i do not see anything wrong with that.
but of course i was upset and disappointed. i think i have the right to feel that and express it.
i have tried since then to find other solutions around the challenge of having an exhibition in london.
no one ever said we could not make a show together anyway.
besides we are all independent artists and all of us have exhibitions already planned for this year or at least try to get them planned indepedently of the group or whatever.we could have an interesting experience having one together.that was never written off.at least not in my head.

i am up for the meeting on the 1st of november as we had agreed from 18:00 onwards so we can discuss who wants to work on this and how we can work things out. please everyone post if you are still up for it.

roxani