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"There was
a confidence in the studios during APPEX, but no arrogance. It allowed
a kind of generosity to flow that in turn allowed everyone to let go of
their assumptions, to rest in an open place, waiting for new meanings
to arise."
--- Victoria Marks
In the summer of
2000, five writers and twenty-two artists are invited as Fellows to participate
in the full-time, intensive residency program on the campus of UCLA. APPEX
Fellows live together in a residential home on sorority row. Workshop
activities take place in the studios of the Dance Building.
Workshop
Activities
APPEX is a six-week
full-time residency. For five days a week, artists and writers engage
in all-day workshops and explore ideas for collaborative projects in classrooms
and studios. On weekends and evenings, participants are introduced to
the vibrant arts and culture scene in Los Angeles through specially planned
field trips and concerts. Activities are structured as a series of interconnected
components to progress over the course of the residency.
Individual
Presentations
Oral and video
presentations
During the first week, all fellows introduce themselves to one another
by describing and demonstrating their own work and explaining the dynamics
of cultural and professional circumstances.
Mini workshops
In week 2 and 3, each fellow teaches an hour-long workshop to the
group. These workshops could be a class or lecture-demonstration, showing
a technical aspect of their art form or a more open-ended approach to
"creation". The content of these sessions range from meditation
practices, dance movement with modern as well as traditional origins,
vocal exercises, music lessons and improvisation, and techniques in theater.
Experimentation
Group projects
and improvisations
Large blocks of time in the studios are devoted to creative experimentation
and exploration. Fellows discuss and vote for ideas to be developed into
collaborative projects. Subseqently smaller groups are formed to work
on "studies", for which they are to devise, develop, and stage
performance projects.
Public presentations
Salon performances are organized to present new and traditional work
by APPEX artists at the mid-point of the residency. Collaborative projects
developed during the APPEX residency are presented in informal public
showings during the final week.
Reflections
and reviews
Artists and writers
forums
Artists and writers meet in a weekly forum to reflect and discuss
critical issues about intercultural collaboration. Some of the topics
covered in previous sessions include: Encounters with critics and writers-the
artists' view; What's at stake for artists? How has tourism affected your
art?
Debriefing and
wrap-up sessions
Periodical debriefing sessions and weekly wrap-up sessions allow for
a more informal sharing of cultural and personal backgrounds as well as
to discuss artistic issues and concerns emerged during lab hours or in
the creation of group projects.
Informal writings
All participants are to submit informal writings in the forms of letters
or journals before, during, and after the residency. These writings record
the expectations, reaction and assessment of the program on an on-going
basis and are shared among fellows.
Field trips
Artists and writers are introduced to the vibrant arts and cultural scene
in Los Angeles through a variety of specially planned activities, including
performance at local venues, attendance at concerts, and visits to sites
which show the diverse faces of Los Angeles.
Writers
Workshop
In addition to participating in the creative and collaborative processes
of the artists, APPEX writers engage in assigned writing projects and
hold discussion sessions.
Meetings and
Discussions
Writers convene in small group sessions several times a week to discuss
general issues of theory, methodology and ideology, as well as approaches
to observing and describing aspects of these creative processes, and to
explore effective and perhaps novel ways of doing this.
Writing Projects
There is a writing project (750 - 1,000 words) each week for the first
three weeks. Writers will exchange with one another critiques of their
manuscripts. By the end of the third week, each writer may have a sense
of what he/she wishes to concentrate on as a major writing project, which
will result in a fully developed article. A completed manuscript of the
article is due six months after the end of the residency, which will be
edited and become part of a final published volume.
Participation
in Performance
Writers are encouraged to find a way to participate in some aspect
of performance showcase and experimental projects. In this way, writers
will approach the artists on their creative "turf". The active
participation of writers in performance projects will create a sense of
community and provide a point of entry for viewing the performance as
an insider.
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