LILIANA ODERSTONE

Following the Connecting Corner exhibition that i had in December-Jan at the Library, where i had two installations in two corners on both levels, the idea for this project was to co-exhibit with another artist from the college who covered similar themes- with a purpose to present the library as a wellness space for meditation in line with the concept of The Big Refresh, a University wide wellness week.

 

First of all, this project allowed me to develop my installation into a more directed participation led- with addition of the string of lavender filled eye pillows that the audience is asked to put around them for the closer engagement with the aroma in a more physical, haptic way.It also allowed me to test out two versions of the audio recording with a female and male voice, putting them one after the other on one track. 

In terms of the collaboration, this was a two way one- between me and the library staff as i was proposed to do this project by them after they saw the value in the first one and relevance of the theme has to The Big Refresh.It is also a collaboration between me and another artist that we co exhibited with.

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This installation was the first project that you could call a commission. It was also the first time when i exhibited with another artist as a pair dividing this space between the two of us to tell a common story. We were both exploring meditation this time however offering different experiences,each adding our bit to that story.It was about learning to perceive another artist as a collaborator rather than a competition. 

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We have closely discussed what kind of format they would like to see based on the previous experience with the Connecting Corner  

 

Co leading a tour for the staff and students with the co-exhibitor, Maria Ieva Loze,   was a new experience where i have further developed both leadership, collaboration and crytical analysis skills. the idea behind the Tour was to talk how we have explored the theme of meditation and wellness covering a range of senses  of the human body and also different formats that fine art can have: between installation and drawn animation.

 

We have compared our approaches to research, making and personal experiences. That helped in mapping my practice having compared to the artist working within the same theme where i have contemplated on what i have to add to the topic. 

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During the tour, i have asked my audience to give me a feedback straight away about their experiences and how they though the placement of the work within the library worked in terms of creating that isolated space, how well that allowed them \