Wake Up & Smell the Tear Gas!
Event agendaThe public programme will happen online and offline at YBI's pop up space in London at Fitzrovia Noir's Making Space - 48 Aberfeldy Street, London, E14 0NU with more international events to come. All time is shown in GMT+1. For online events, access details will be shown on individual event pages.
Click for more about the project and access to the resources.
10 -16 Sept (Thu - Wed)
Studio opens for visit daily
On site
Climate Slacktivism: Grounded Rebellion
Post Carbon Lab in residence
Stemmed from their current work with microbial finishes for textiles and Post Carbon Lab would bring it into the context of activism related to environmental sustainability, humanitarian dignity, DIY-bio/making as an act for activism.
11 Sept (Fri) | 14:30
On site
Climate Slacktivism: Grounded Rebellion Vol. 1: Oil
Talk & workshop by Post Carbon Lab
This workshop will focus on soapmaking from used oil and the science of saponification.
More information here
13 Sept (Sun) | 13:00
On site
Free Improvisation Workshop
Led by London Improvisation Workshop
This workshop lead participants to unleash their musical inspiration as they are -
raw/organic/awkward/experimental or natural, without being formally refined. By doing so,
participants reset their attitudes towards objects that they have treated as tools (musical instruments, sound objects, themselves) and explore new relationships by playing with them.
This is not the type of activism that works directly on social problems, however, it provides temporary asylum for human spirits.
More information here.
17-23 Sept (Thu - Wed)
Studio opens for visit daily
On site
I Don't Know
Gareth Hopkins in residence
Acknowledging the importance of providing rest and breathing space as a form of activism, and at the same time investigating his own 'success' as an abstract artist and comic creator, Gareth Hopkins will transform a part of the space as some form of an engaging Garden of Eden with the focus on drawing animals, together with the visitors. Animals are seen as innocent as the civil unrest we face now is caused by humans, with humanity being the problem.
More information here
Made to Measure
Exhibit by Peter Barnard
In the same space, Peter Barnard will exhibit his piece “Made to Measure”, which fuses together the numerical actuality of measurement and the use of common non-art, everyday objects on an essential level - Made to Measure considers how conditions defined by a pandemic can inform activism through the language of sculpture.
The work comprises of multiple tape measures placed on the floor. Each measure has an audio recording and playback function and visitors are encouraged to interact with the objects and record sounds.
More information here
19 Sept (Sat) | 19:00
Online
Creative Rebels in Black Lives Matter
Conversation with Valerie Ebuwa and Lightbrush, hosted by Candy Choi
Together with London-based artist Valerie Ebuwa whose works actively challenges the predominantly white narrative through her black female body and Portland-based artist Lightbrush who uses projection mappings as his regular means to protest on site, Candy Choi will touch on their individual experiences in protesting creatively, their fight for BLM, their views on art and activism as well as the way to go forward. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A.
More information here
24-30 Sept (Thu-Wed)
Studio opens for visit daily
On site
Non-Active Activism: A Listening Space Colleen Bartley in residence
Exploring how our presence is active and how to activate our presence and be responsive, not reactive; sharing artistic practice and processes with locals to better understand issues and perspectives.
Colleen will be present to listen, witness and offer questions and activities that bring people into their bodies to integrate and respond.
More information here
26, 27 Sept (Sat, Sun) | 15:00
On site
Orientation, Sensation, Active-ation: Noticing & Moving Place
Workshop by Colleen Bartley
During this workshop, participants will be working with stillness, tuning in to self, noticing and working with perceptual awareness some gentle movement awareness exercises in the studio space and then prepare to go out in to the locality. Participants will work in pairs or trios with a silent walking, wandering, and witnessing score. There are opportunities to respond in movement to a place found on the walk and learn about another’s perspective.
More information here
30 Sept (Wed) | 19:30
Online & on site
A Tank Full of Memes
Performance by Bettina Fung, Isabella Leung, Iris Chan, Yun Cheng, Ghost and John
This performance is the aftermath of the action research earlier - “Meme-ify: An Attempt To Dance Through Pain with Humour”, where the performers explore humour as a strategy to combat absurdity and activist fatigue.
More information here
10 Sept (Thu) | 18:30
On site
Condolence
Performance by Mirei Yazawa & Sarah Wolfenden
A throwback, a ritual, an attempt to view human beings from a long term perspective of history and evolution in a poetic way where Yazawa will transform herself into a life form that has the features of sea creatures and reptiles. The performance is a composition of trumpet, song, objects and body movement.
More information here.
12 Sept (Sat) | 14:30
On site
Climate Slacktivism: Grounded Rebellion Vol. 2: Soy, Soil & Soul
Talk & workshop by Post Carbon Lab
This is a workshop is about soy milk making & composting.
More information here.
13 Sept (Sun) | 15:00
Online
Cafe Philo: Art, Activation, Activism
Open discussion led by Candy Choi
Does activism mean noise or vigorous action? Can silence play a role in it? In our world that is productivity driven, it appears that everything we do needs to be more. Can we play a part in creating change in our society while at the same time going against our productivity-driven mentality? Does activist action need to be seen by a crowd? Can we do something as artists even if 'we can only paint' and that we don't want to just create posters with political messages?
Regardless of the multiple facets of activism, many of us appear to have a linear understanding of what it is. Through discussions, we could eventually understand more and discover the many possibilities we as creatives could have in helping create change, all the while connecting with creatives in different countries.
More information here
16 Sept (Wed) | 14:30
On site
Climate Slacktivism: Grounded Rebellion Vol. 3: The Wild in Us
Talk & workshop by Post Carbon Lab
This workshop on foraging and picking wild seasonal edibles in the neighbourhood.
More information here.
19 Sept (Sat) | 13:30
Online
Silent Reading Group on Google Doc: The Role of Silence in Activism
Reading group led by Bettina Fung
Bettina Fung will lead this experimental reading group on Google doc that compares Audre Lorde’s ‘Your silence will not protect you’ with a short chapter from Hamja Ahsan’s ‘Shy Radical’ that harnesses the power of quiet.
Discussions will be carried out non verbally and possibly anonymously by typing in the shared Google doc. Playing with this online format, participants will experience a different form of discussion, typing simultaneously, and reading and responding to each other’s comments and opinions in a nonlinear way. The resulted document will be available online on YBI’s Wake Up and Smell the Tear Gas website. Reading materials for this reading group were inspired by the Syllabus IV retreat that Bettina was a part of in 2018.
More information here
19 Sept (Sat) | 15:00
Online
Art/ Activism: Bettina Fung’s ‘WORKBOOK’
Workshop by Bettina Fung
Should all art involve activism or is art itself an act of activism? Are artworks that don’t involve activism less important and meaningful? Who can afford to make art and who can afford not to express?
This online workshop aims to connect people globally and generate a playful space to contemplate and discuss ideas of art’s role in activism and in life as well as acknowledging our individual position in and relationship with art. Bettina will facilitate participants through a series of absurd and amusing exercises (performance scores) from her ‘WORKBOOK’, created for the Wake Up and Smell the Tear Gas project, that were designed to playfully question the roles of art and our own beliefs.
Workshop will involve movement, drawing and writing.
More information here
26, 27 Sept (Sat, Sun) | 10:00
Online
Action Research Together: Meme-ify: An Attempt To Dance Through Pain with Humour
Action research facilitated by Ghost and John
Core research team: Bettina Fung, Isabella Leung, Iris Chan, Yun Cheng
As we are getting tired from our ongoing resistance and fight for progression and freedom, it is time for exploring ways to review, rethink and remember. In this two-day action research, participants will explore not only the strategies that artists are taking in activism, but also ways for them to combat activist fatigue. Ghost & John will lead the participants to investigate how this translation from journal images to meme can be a tool for devising performances.
More information here
3 Oct (Sat) | 14:00
Online
Creative Rebels in Eastern Europe: A Conversation with Journalist Kseniya Tarasevich and Artists Monika Wińczyk & Hubert Wińczyk
Conversation with Kseniya Tarasevich, Monika Wińczyk and Hubert Wińczyk, hosted by Candy Choi
Together with Belarusian journalist Kseniya Tarasevich who recently published an article exposing the conditions at the detention centre for protesters in Homiel and politically-engaged Polish artists Monika Wińczyk & Hubert Wińczyk who organised the latest “Try Walking in My Shoes” intervention against violence, Candy Choi will touch on their individual experiences in protesting or supporting protest movements creatively, their fights for rights and justice, their views on art and activism as well as the way to go forward. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A.
More information here