Words of the Why’s
posted by: Nathan Stevens 05th August 2009
The last week of the lab with less than 24 hours until the big 'Itch', and the group seems to be feeling a bit pressured. With tomorrow's project proposals on the horizon, the final provocateur, Dominico De Clario, offered the group great insight and perspective into the previous week's exercises of inner soul-searching and self identification exercises. 
Presenting a condensed version of his practice as a visual and performing artist from the late sixties to present, Dominico reflected on aspects of engaging the audience with the self through an exploration of what is presented in the world (site). Provoking the artists to engage with their relationships to self, others, and environment or site, today's workshop reminded me of a soothing meditative session, with Dominico's soft, comforting voice reassurring and strengthening the groups new-founded fragile equilibrium as a collective entity of creative selves.
Reminding the group of the importance of the "seeding process" and relating the Splendid Arts Lab's experimental dynamic to that of his own creative processes, Dominico expressed that in every creative situation "99% happens after the event. You experience then you think." In this way the lab has been the site, the event, for this genesis of artistic collaboration to unfold. To take this experience as a seed that will grow into perhaps some larger-than-life cross-art collaboration and other-worldly artwork.
Dominico concluded the Splendid Art Lab's provocation with easement and a reassurance that while the past two weeks have been rather exhausting and emotionally, physically, and intellectually demanding, "if anything makes you uncomfortable it is really, really useful, it's a gift, explore this...[The Arts Lab generates] a process that demands a deep searching for an evaluation of your own response...in the end, anything that you make is only as good as your self knowledge. This is the only thing that sustains and endures, all else will fade."
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