Many Mini Residency at Koh-i-noor in Copenhagen

In an effort to not spoil my "internationally unknown" artist status with a Many Mini Residency at Koh-i-noor in Copenhagen, I spent my residency time in the very local setting of my bathtub.

Sinking down in the bathtub until my ears are submerged and listening to the filtered and strangely distant sounds in and around my thin-walled house are a regular practice for me. During my Many Mini residency, I listened to downloaded traffic sounds from Copenhagen through the water of my bathtub in Houston, Texas. This was a very conscious yet meditative experience which allowed my mind to wonder and dream of being in Copenhagen. At times, I felt the sounds of Copenhagen were on the other side of the wall as they were brought into a close parallel with the sounds occurring around me my Houston dwelling and neighborhood.



About the Many Mini:
Many Mini Residency is a short-term residency program operated in conjunction with alternative exhibition venues in Europe and the United States. The name ‘Many Mini’ encompasses two main components of the project which is hosted in one room 24 hours a day for one week. The ‘Many’ describes the open call for proposals and the resulting multiplicity of responses and participants. The ‘Mini’ component of the residency describes the limited amount of time available and the scale of the room.

Many Mini Residency is open to applicants from all disciplines (art and non-art alike) and encourages participants to customize their residency experience. There is no minimum time-limit for a stay at the residency but the maximum stay allows use of the space for half a day. The space may be used for public programs, personal studio time, a rehearsal space, a dinner, or whatever the resident sees fit. Participants provide documentation and a short statement about their time spent in the residency to serve as both a record and a resource displayed online as the final component of the project.

In January 2012, Many Mini Residency will be hosted at Koh-i-noor, an artist-run independent project space in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 2004, the focus of Koh-i-noor is to create a space for experimentation and to have an influence on the discourse of contemporary art. Koh-i-noor aims to provide and uphold a collaborative, process-related and interdisciplinary, informal platform for open thought, information exchange and spatial experiments. Although operating within an international network, Koh-i-noor’s activities are also informed by and related to its local context and situation. Koh-i-noor seeks to ensure a critical distance and take position towards contemporary cultural and social conditions.

Many Mini Residency: Copenhagen at Koh-i-noor will additionally exist in conversation with other Many Mini Residencies; the first hosted by The Berlin Office in Berlin, July 2008 and the second hosted by Skydive in Houston, TX, July 2011. Many Mini Residency not only provides an opportunity for interaction among participants within each locale, but creates a comparable portrait of each city where the residency is held.

About Emily Sloan:
Internationally unknown multidisciplinary artist Emily Sloan is the founding reverend of the Southern Naptist Convention and chief caretaker and curator of The Kenmore exhibition object. Sloan is based out of Houston, Texas, and is hoping the Many Mini Residency has not spoiled her "internationally unknown" artist status. To learn more about her practice, please visit: www.emilysloanblog.blogspot.com

A Movie with Marvin: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

For a Many Mini Residency at Skydive ArtSpace, Zarvin Mindler hosted a movie night with friends to watch “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” This movie and former Broadway musical is inspired by a brothel outside of La Grange, Texas that Houston investigative reporter Marvin Zindler, Zarvin’s hero, helped bring to its knees.


Above: Skydive ArtSpace, 2041 Norfolk St., Houston, Texas 77098

The show offers a glimpse of some Texas history including some references to Houston. The majority of the viewers had not seen the movie with a few people having seen it when it first came to movie theaters in 1982—almost 30 years ago.


Above: Emily Sloan's character Zarvin Mindler acting out a scene in which Marvin Zindler's character Melvin P. Thorpe is de-wigged.

A Movie with Marvin: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

This Thursday, July 14 from 10pm until mid-night, Zarvin Mindler is having friends over to watch "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (staring Dolly Partin!). This movie, whose story was once a Broadway musical, is inspired by The Chicken Ranch, a long running brothel outside of LaGrange, Texas, which investigative reporter Marvin Zindler had a hand in bringing to its knees.

This movie night is Zarvin's Many Mini Residency project and will take place at:
SKYDIVE
2041 Norfolk Street,
Houston, TX 77098
info@theskydive.org

Tactics for Napping in Rebellion

Sunday, July 10, 2011http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
1-3pm @ SkyDive ArtSpace
as part of a Many Mini Residency

“NAP Church: Exercises for Rebel Nappers”
Prepared by Emily Sloan

Above: prepared materials and extra pillows, ear plugs, and eye coverings.

REBELLIOUS USES OF NAPPING:

To protest. Napping as a protest delivers a message and is fast, easy, recordable, and free.

To avoid undesirable events. Napping can make travel seem faster, can delay meetings, can block entrances, can create confusion, can get you dismissed from jury duty, etc.

To avoid danger (rebellious if unsupported in work environment, etc.). Napping can prevent work-related injuries and accidents endangering the environment.

One of the beauties of napping is it is a benign. By its nature it is anti-spectacle, but in an unexpected setting or situation can become a mild spectacle. Also, though there is often a stigma of laziness or time-wasting associated with napping, but when a group comes together to nap, non-nappers can begin to feel uncomfortable or agitated.

Many situations will require adaptation. A comfortable environment for rest may not be available. Hard surfaces, loud sounds, and annoyed non-nappers are potential interferences. Eye coverings and earplugs (when appropriate to safety within the environment) can alleviate these problems.



References: Glitter Bombing, Buck Wild trial, How to Get Away with Sleeping at Work by Adam Dachis

For more information, please visit: www.nappingaffectsperformance.blogspot.com

"NAP Church: Exercises for Rebel Nappers"

Sunday, July 10, 1-3pm, at SKYDIVE ArtSpace as part of a Many Miny Residency.

"NAP Church: Exercises for Rebel Nappers" by Rev. Emily Sloan
Napping Affects Performance’s NAP Church will meet for a Sunday nap on July 10 from 1-3pm. In addition to napping, we will be discussing rebellious napping strategies. This B.Y.O.P. (Bring Your Own Pillow...and blanket, yoga mat, whatever suits you) event of “two or more gathered” to nap is open to all faiths!

Location:
SKYDIVE
2041 Norfolk Street,
Houston, TX 77098
info@theskydive.org

About the Many Mini Residency:
Many Mini Residency is a short-term residency program operated in conjunction with alternative exhibition venues in Europe and the United States. The name 'Many Mini' encompasses two main components of the project which is hosted in one room 24 hours a day for one week. The 'Many' describes the open call for proposals and the resulting multiplicity of responses and participants. The 'Mini' component of the residency describes the limited amount of time available and the scale of the room.

About SKYDIVE:
SKYDIVE is an artist run exhibition venue unique to Houston. Its mission is to broaden the spectrum of the dialogue in Houston by bringing in artists from outside of Texas. The aim of SKYDIVE is to host a range of art practices that push the limits of their material forms, including non-traditional methods of sculpture, installation, video, performance, and works that engage the viewer through participation, as well as text and web-based projects.

SKYDIVE utilizes an open and collaborative model for producing its programming. A group of artists, curators, and other professionals function as Advisors to help create shows, invite artists, and collaborate in the mission and programming of the space. Participants in SKYDIVE will be invited to Houston for a sustained number of days, previous to the exhibition to make their work, interact with the Houston community and see the sites in Houston and surrounding areas.

About Napping Affects Performance:
Napping Affects Performance (NAP) and NAP Church are interactive performance projects by 14 Pews artist-in-residence Emily Sloan providing community naps in collaboration with various performances, including (but not limited to) collaborations with sound, word, touch, and the delivery of naps to various sites and/or contexts. In May and June of 2010, NAP operated out of Art League Houston with six weeks of continuous performances taking place during Art League’s regular hours of operation. Since then, followers and napophiles began meeting once a month for a Sunday naps and naptisms during NAP Church services.

NAP Church meets monthly for Sunday naps.