PAVES crossing zones was a collaborative project between the artists
Anne Bean
Anne Bean (born 1950) is a London-based artist who works in installation, large-scale sculpture, sound art, and performance art. She was born in Livingstone in Northern Rhodesia (now Maramba, Zambia). She lives in Limehouse in the East End of Lo ...
, who initiated it,
Sinead O'Donnell
Sinéad O’Donnell (born 11 September 1975, Dublin) is an Irish artist. She currently lives and works in Belfast and travels extensively with her work.
Artistic Practice & Background
Sinéad's practice is performance based and site/context resp ...
, Poshya Kakl, Efi Ben-David and Vlasta Delimar, which aimed to reflect on how "intense, wider political context inevitably sculpts work". The project aimed to use dialogue & debate to develop trust and understanding between communities, whilst enriching the cultural landscape of Europe and its surrounding nations.
The process began with the artists spending a week in residency in Toynbee studios in March 2009, making and sharing work together. Following this, they simultaneously made a durational work in their own countries (England, Ireland, Croatia, Israel, Kurdistan-Iraq), keeping an awareness of shared consciousness. In Anne's words "Frontiers, borders, demarcations, boundaries, barriers, bureaucracy, officialdom, laws, regulations and rules all became irrelevant to the fact that we were making a collaborative piece".
The artists then spent a week in each other's countries, developing work together for the duration of a year; this process driven approach is typical of both Anne Bean and the other artists involved whom stem from visual and
performance art backgrounds. Unfortunately due to visa restrictions Poshya Kakl was unable to travel and contributed from
Erbil
Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000.
Hu ...
, Kurdistan-Iraq (where she is based), thus the artists are yet to meet and work with all members physically present.
Poshya's inability to travel had a profound effect on the project's development and artists' relationships, resulting in the 'Crossing Zones' interface. This interface used digital technologies such as video phone projections during live performances.
In August 2010, Anne Bean and Sinead O'Donnell were interviewed by Helen Kaplinsky for
Resonance FM about the process and politics that informed the project.
References
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Installation art works