Blitz has announced its first intake of the Blitz Residency Programme, Scott Lyman. Lyman occupies the new residency space throughout January as he creates an evolving collage inside Blitz.
Based in London and New York, Lyman recently graduated with an MA in fine art from Central Saint Martins, London, and is currently part of the Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition at London’s Institute of Contemporary Art.
“It is a very exciting opportunity to be the very first artist in residence at Blitz, Valletta. During my three-week residency, I will immerse myself in artistic research surrounding the architectural identities of Malta through interviews, public discussions and observations. My primary interests are focused on economic and social changes in Malta and how these changes impact architectural identity. This research will be presented through an evolving collage inside Blitz,” Lyman said.
The artist will also engage with local practitioners, professionals and audiences through a series of public programmes. More details will be announced soon.
February and March will see Berlin’s Claire Tolan taking up residency. Tolan is an artist and programmer whose focus is on human-computer interaction, intimacy and privacy in online communities. At Blitz she will develop her current fascination with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, a physiological reaction to soft sounds.
Sensory Apparatus is an immersive space in which involuntary data leakage from smart phones activates hidden sensors, making it possible to physically inhabit the apparatus
Between March and April, an exhibition, titled Sensory Apparatus, showcasing works by Bonamy Devas, Neale Willis, Libby Heaney and Anna Ridler, will be held. The exhibition is an immersive space in which involuntary data leakage from smart phones activates hidden sensors, making it possible to physically inhabit the apparatus.
The exhibition defies curatorial convention by embracing the invisible elements typically excluded, filtered or discarded from an exhibition – invisible electromagnetic radiation, data leakage, infrared emissions of the body – and foregrounding these un-seen elements as central to the present moment.
Another collective exhibition, You Are What You Eat, follows between April and May, featuring artists Aaron Bezzina, Sarah Maria Scicluna and Pippin Barr. The exhibition is a creative collaboration between Blitz and the human rights NGO Aditus foundation. The initiative unearths the cultural roots of Maltese cuisine and its ingredients through an exchange of historical, anthropological and culinary research with the three artists, who will respond in their respective mediums.
The first half of 2016 comes to an end with Harry Sanderson’s residency in June and July. Sanderson is a new media artist whose practice ranges from sound performances to interactive software sculptures, video work and online commissions. His current focus is on the emergent field of caustic imaging technology.
The Blitz Residency Programme is supported by Valletta 2018 Foundation. Blitiz is located at 68 St Lucia Street, Valletta.
www.blitzresidency.com