Երեւանը մարտ ամսին – Eriwan im März (Yerevan in March)

Երեւանը մարտ ամսին – Eriwan im März (Yerevan in March)

28th of March 2018, at Goethe Zentrum, 

Mher Mkrtchyan 1, 0010 Yerevan 

Photography exhibition runs until 8th of April 2018 

Yesterday evening at 18.30 was the opening of Eriwan im März. (Yerevan in March). The exhibition and presentation was opend by the German Ambassador Mr. Kiesler in Yerevan and the director of the Goethe Zentrum Mrs. Mikeladse-Bachsoliani.

With this project I tried something new out. Until now the performance pieces I did with other artists became everytime part of a performance video.This time I try to present and combine a live performance and a video at the same time.

The topic was a interpretation and reflection of the city of Yerevan. The video was how I see the the city through an eyes of a stranger. The live performance was a interpretation and reflection by five students of the Institute of Theater and Cinematography in Yerevan. How young citizens of Yerevan feel and think about their city. During the rehersals I interfered less as possible and gave the students the freedome to create their own ideas. Because I saw it as a intercultural collaboration project.

Even for most of the audience it was a new concept it is was at the end accepted and admired.

Thank you students of the Institute of Theater and Cinematography in Yerevan. You where a great team and it was a pleasure working with you on that project.

Social Sculpture Workshop Unfolding-Unwrappred in the Classroom

Goethe-Zentrum, Yerevan, Armenia

After a talk with the head of the langauge department and two teachers of the Goethe Zentrum in Yervan, I tried something new. The workshop became part of German langauge lessons. I adopted a shorter version in German of Unfolded-Unwrapped for to intregrate into the class room sessions. The experiment was carried out with three different groups of students. However it was not only for to conduct the workshop, but also for to explain more about the concept of Social Sculpture. That the term was first invented by Joseph Beuys and his ideas behind it. After the workshop the students discussed in German how they saw the workshop and concept

Finally for the students it was a complet new and different approached towards their use of langauge abiltities. As well to widen their knowledge about German culture from a different angle.

YEREVAN IN MARCH - Երեւանը մարտ ամսին

YEREVAN IN MARCH - Երեւանը մարտ ամսին

March 2018, Yerevan, Armenia

Since more then two weeks I am working on my interdisciplinary and collaboration project with the focus on the city of Yerevan, Armenia . Slowly the project is getting shape. Most outside video and photography shootings are done and the rehersals for the live performance started.

YEREVAN IN MARCH includes live and video performance / video / photography and poetry. The performance part is created in cooperation with students of the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography. Concept and content refers to the urban and social environment of the city of Yerevan. The city is interpreted and reflected performatively and visually.

In addition to the performance of the live performance, YEREVAN IN MARCH will be accompanied by a photo exhibition and video performances at the Goethe-Zentrum in Yerevan.

The project is made possible by the help of the Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory – ACSL, Yerevan and with kind support of Stroom, The Hague,Netherlands and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Yerevan

Visible Poetry Project - VPP

 Visible Poetry Project (USA)

December -2017 - April 2018

The Visible Poetry Project - VPP (USA) was founded in 2017 with the goal of bringing together a collective of filmmakers to create a series of videos that present poems as short films. Drawing from works created by renowned poets, including Neil Gaiman and Tato Laviera, as well as emerging poets, the Visible Poetry Project strives to make poetry accessible, exploring how we can recreate and experience poems through the medium of film.

Throughout the month of April 2018 - National Poetry Month - VPP release one visual poem each day. An exercise in translation and a reclamation of both poetic and film discourses, the resulting thirty videos explore how we read, interpret, visualize, and hear poetry.

I choose a poem from the American poetJennifer Tonge. Since December I am working on a video for to visualize the poem of her.

However I see the project as collaboration project and therefore I stand in regulary contact with Jennifer Tonge about the developed of the video. The video willbe relased in the month of April 2018

https://www.visiblepoetryproject.com

New Website Art Projects

In the past two weeks I installed a new website under

https://www.johannesgerard-artprojects.com

This website refers exclusively to my activities and experiences as visual artist in the areas of:

Social sculpture, performance, workshops, school projects, lectures and collaboration projects.

In my work and projects, the boundaries are often fluid, for example, some workshops and school projects contain strong elements of performance, which can turn into collaborative work.

My work or projects in this area are based and reflect the concepts and ideas of social sculpture. The four basic elements of social sculpture are:

Body awareness, spatial awareness, creativity, cooperation

The presented works and projects have strong emphazie on  education, social and political areas and not only to artistic aspects.

The works and projects presented here have a strong connection to the areas of education .... therefore less purely artistic aspects are dealt with

The works and projects presented  have a strong connection to the areas of education, social and poltical issues. Therefore purely artistic aspects will be less  dealt with by the presentation

Respublika ! Unfolding-Unwrapped in Nicosia - New Variant

13 & 15 December 2017, Phaneromeni Square, Nicosia

On 13^th and 15^th of December I conducted the workshop/perfomance 3 & 4 in Nicosia on the Phaneromeri Square.

However at the end it turned to be out I created a complet new version of Unfolding-Unwrapped.

The beginning of the workshop/performance on 13^th didn´t get really from the ground. Very different from Limassol. Nevertheless within half hour I tried a new variation out for to catch the attention of people passing by. Material and basic concepted stayed te same. By now my role in the performance became more active and the project move more towards a participartory street performance then to be a workshop. It went so well at the end,that I tried and conducted the same new creation twice on the 15^th. Here are a link to a  short video  and some images about the new variation of Unfolding-Unwrapped 

https://vimeo.com/247803799.

(15th December 2017, second performance)

                                              13th of December 

15th of December- Performance I & II 

W

Respublika Festival Unfolding-Unwrapped & Interview

Respublika Festival 
Limassol & Nicosia, Cyprus  08.12.2017-16.12.2017

Social Sculpture workshop/performance Unfolding-Unwrapped

At the Respublika Festival I conduct four workshops. All workshops happend in the public space. The idea is that also people who pass by can partcitipated spontaneously .
Two workshops already took place in Limassol at 9th and  11th of December  2017. The other two will take place on 13tn and 15th of December in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia on the Phaneromeni (sometimes also written as Faneromeni) Square in the old town at 15.00 h (3pm).

The location of Unfolding-Unwrapped in Limassol was on Plateia Iroon (Heroes Square).

Here is a link to an interview I gave about my concepts and ideas concenring Unfolding-Unwrapped 

http://respublika.neme.org/art-projects/johannes-gerard