RESIDENTIAL MOVEMENT WORKSHOP 11-14 June 2020 Llanaelheaern, Llyn Penninsula, Wales/Cymru
’There’s nothing more innovative, nothing more present, subtle, technical and artificial…nothing more creative, nothing more contemporary than to negotiate landing on some ground.’ (Bruno Latour- Down to Earth. 2018)
It is 25 years since Locator began on the Llyn penninsula, so this year we return to the scene and landscapes of north Llyn to locate ourselves where this all began, as a way to orient to where we find ourselves now; living in a fundamentally different geo- political age and in a place of ‘mixed up’ uncertainties.
So, leaning into Bruno Latour’s proposal to negotiate ‘landing’, we will ground ourselves in this place- walking, moving, drifting, eating, fasting, swimming, drawing and thinking; led by the patterns of weather, land, sea, atmosphere and the other beings we encounter. A time of gentle resistance to productivity and a time to land within the inspired fellowship of others.
Locator is an ongoing series of residential workshops created by Movement Artist Simon Whitehead and developed over the last 25 years. Residing in the sensory life of the body and its weave with other beings, Locator is an active practice of deep ecology and performance. Facilitated through a process of moving, dancing, walking and drifting, witnessing, howling, drawing, writing, fasting & eating, making and resting; all within transient community.
Locator began on the Llyn peninsula and has subsequently played out in Tycanol, an ancient sessile oak woodland and a SSSI nested beneath the Preseli hills, west Wales- the adopted home for this located performance practice. Locator has evolved as a way to share practice with others. We cultivate a sensory porosity to the influence of things and the life of ecosytems. Through movement we sensitise to their generous affect and make them familiar to us.
Accommodation is in a Bunkhouse above the village of Clynnog Fawr, with amazing sunset views across the North-west Llyn. The centre is a converted farm, with showers, kitchen, bedrooms and outdoor facilities, including a hot tub. The location offers open access to the special uplands of Llanaelheaern; quiet wooded valleys, rivers, trails and pilgrimage routes along a wild coastline.
*(Locator 30 will be a largely mobile, laptop and tablet free- zone! However, each day for one hour it will be possible to walk up a hill to find a signal and plug in…)
Cost (including welcome meal):
£250 with full accommodation
Please book early to reserve a place by arranging a £100 deposit
(limited to 10 participants, one bursary place for a north Wales practitioner)
For information and travel contact: simon@simonwhitehead.net
(closest rail links: Bangor, Pwllheli)
Simon Whitehead is a Movement Artist based in rural Wales. His works respond to circumstance through movement and image and may manifest as solo actions or social choreographies, often working with the public, other artists, animals and places.
Simon is currently movement artist in residence at Plas Glyn y Weddw Gallery on the Llyn penninsula, where he is growing a herbaceous dance lawn and curating a season of dance film and performance. He co-curates an annual programme of events, performances and artist residencies in his home village Abercych, west Wales. He is a Craniosacral Therapist and a Phd researcher in Dance and Ecological practice at Glasgow University.
www.simonwhitehead.net
www.untitledstates.net
www.may-nard.org