Stories for honey
There was an open invitation to attend a honey shop opening the day after the foraging and cooking. This is a project developed by Christina Stadtlbauer, of FoAM, and seeks to exchange stories for honey. More specifically, stories about bees! And for every minute of story, you receive a small amount of honey (c. 6 grams). Christina is an urban bee-keeper, among other things, and is absolutely fascinated by bees. Her website is full of information. As the shop had only just opened, there had not yet been many people drop by to tell stories. It was also perhaps quite intimidating, as although there were drinks on offer, there was also a video camera pointing at one of the seats.
This project is supported by another lab in Brussels, who have close ties with FoAM, called Nadine. They have a specific page on the project, or honey-shop-residence. What was really interesting was that there is an explicit naming of the space as a laboratory, and that there is a working definition:
Arts laboratories are places where innovative – and thus, daring – work is supported. As forerunners for the major culture houses, they are an indispensable part of the contemporary artistic landscape. Arts laboratories support the work of artists whose artistic quality they believe in. The laboratories support the production of new work by providing a place for artists to research, create, develop and present their work.
Furthermore, the term art laboratory (or kunstenwekplaats, or lab-art, depending on the language of choice) is a rubric with its own website:
An artlab is a type of organisation that is focused on providing a framework for the artist’s creative process. The unifying theme of the artlabs covers a huge diversity, comprising various types of activity: experimental laboratories, artist collectives and alternative management offices.
Experimental laboratories and artist collectives provide opportunities for artistic investigations, experimenting and creative achievements. Rather than being confined to acting as a workplace, this forum may also cover a content-based/artistic input, support for the production process and business advice,… tailored to the artist’s profile. These fertile grounds offer facilities for artists to develop their artistic ideas, take risks and work according to a process-oriented approach rather than focusing on results. The presentation is of secondary importance but it has to be factored in, because the relationship with the (future) public is a key ingredient of the artistic process.
Acknowledged as other types of artlabs, the alternative management offices lend support to artists in terms of financial management, distribution and the promotion of their works.
The Arts-lab.be portal site keeps artists and the general public informed about the variety of services the artlabs provide. In its role as a platform, Arts-lab.be is responsible for organising creative thinking sessions, exchanges of experience and knowledge, while adopting positions in the light of these initiatives. Promoting artistic, production and organisational cooperation, the platform acts as a consultation body concerning the various types of activity the network represents.
This post is tagged bees, conversations, f0.am, laboratory, nadine