For their Spring residency melissandre varin invited Ryan Christopher, Rupi Dhillon, Sebastian H-W, and Mandip Singh Seehra to intervene on/with the land commonly known as Arcadia Gallery.
investigating the backbone question pertaining to their seasonal residency with Coventry Artspace: how to grow collectively otherwise? This residency poetically resonated on Others’ frequencies. The artists revolved as gatherers of gestures, light-touch landworkers revealing details inscribed in the quotidian – practicing everyday refusal.
Artists and visitors engaged in an experimental community research whose architecture/infrastructure is constantly in process/ in the making. They used what was at hand: each other (including the Earth/soil/ seeds…) and were in turn used as resources.
Much love was sent to collaborative artists, IRL and digital visitors, to the land/gallery for (de/re)forming essential parts of our conditions of co-creation. Our love was extended to visitor-contributors for their support, inspiration, and donations.
Donations of seeds, seedlings, cuttings, top soil, and other donations were shared by beings living in Coventry. Donations were welcome with both hands. If you were into offerings/ bartering/ exchange you could find in us like-minded beings. The surplus of seeds collected, compost, materials and plants were donated to Foleshill Community garden, and beings passing by at the end of the intervention.
Speculative re-imagination of the present was to be expected.
We marked our calendars with 8pm Saturdays ‘the party is over’ programmation for performances (Jade Blackstock, Sebastian H-W and Aflredo, Izdihar Afyouni, Human Oil with Indira Lakshmi and Georges) , film sharing (Yas Lime, Joyce Treasure, Rupi Dhillon, Ryan Christopher, and Nyuguen E. Smith), and conversation. Sebastian H-W and Yas Lime gifted us with seed bomb workshops for little ones and grown ups. Visitors were also invited to recover the ground of the gallery with sand previously extracted from the space by another artist. We drew in sand, we grew edible plants (they survived too!), we nurtured friendships, and met new friends. There was plenty, plenty, plenty of food for thoughts catering for different dietary requirements.