Biographical-Documentary Working Methods in the Context of Art

About

This Workshop takes the participants' narratives as the starting point for an artistic process. The focus is on a personal, practice-oriented research to put the biographical material in a socio-political context and to test methods of fictionalization.

Biographical-documentary working methods are known in a wide variety of artistic disciplines, especially in the visual and performing arts. Installations by Tracey Emin and Christian Boltanski, performances by Josef Beuys, Christoph Schlingensief, Marina Abramovic or theater productions by Rimini Protokoll: they all use biographical and documentary working methods in their artistic practice. Especially with regard to equal opportunities and diversity, the biographical-documentary way of working is very constructive, since no prior knowledge is required. Therefore, this interdisciplinary workshop is aimed at both professional artists and non-professional interested parties of all ages.

In the practice-based workshop, concrete methods are conveyed that generate and artistically research biographical-documentary material. The focus here is on the methodology of creative writing, working with objects and body-based performance. The biographical experiences that are “written” into the bodies become the starting point for scenic improvisations and choreographies.

Participants in the workshop will also have the opportunity to reflect on their individual biographies in a socio-political context, to look at it from multiple perspectives and to try out fictionalization strategies. These working methods can be tested collectively in the seminar and modified and designed for individual artistic practice.

Course leader

Gudrun Herrbold. www.gudrunherrbold.de

Fee info