Raymond Meeks/Federico Clavarino
Myrto Steirou/Brad Feuerhelm
Group K
Workshop 19-24, May 2023, 6-Day Workshop
Athens, Greece, IFAC Athina
Most of us spend our entire lives avoiding the inconvenient edges of things, places, and other people. Edges are implied at the end of things familiar. They create definitions, both good and bad. This workshop will be devoted to confronting the seams of things, the borders between two finite propositions, and their in-between points of convergence. The remit is simple: find, interfere, observe, and document any edge between two parallel possibilities. There are no limitations, just intentions.
The results of this workshop will culminate in a portfolio/book with all parties to be published by Nearest Truth Editions in the late autumn of 2023. On-site, we will collectively print and produce individual versions of the portfolio for participants to take home. We will employ scanners, small prints, Xerox copies, glue sticks, and different papers. We will use local copy shops, and participants will be encouraged to bring new materials, printing substrates, etc., to the table.
As this will be a shooting workshop, digital is recommended for the sake of time. Analog will be strongly discouraged due to group discussions. Analog is possible, but associated scanning, etc., will have to be troubleshooter on the participant's time. We can suggest some developing shops etc.
We will have daily editing sessions and work fastidiously together to make an experimental book. The participants and instructors of this group are listed as Group K, their position indexed and relegated to posterity through book production. Group K is an ephemeral collective motivated by edges at defined space's ends.
Participants will join the workshop with a focus on the concept at hand. There will be a 25-minute Zoom session with each instructor two weeks prior in which the participant may show Raymond or Federico existing bodies of work for feedback. You can send pdfs to the instructors to ensure the most efficient use of time.
There will also be an additional Zoom session where we will meet as a group to show our existing work for 15 minutes. Each participant in the group will be able to show what they usually produce before we arrive in the city. When we begin in Athens, all focus will be on the current collaborative project.
We will limit this course to 16 participants. There will be two leading instructors with two supporting instructors throughout.
We will offer one Full Scholarship to a Greek national living in Greece. Greek nationals simply need to send a CV and pdf of images. We will announce the winner the end of March.
The price for the 6-day course is 1075 Euros + VAT. This will be for the first ten seats; thereafter, the price will be 1175 + VAT. Save yourself money; apply early. Current Nearest Truth Photobook participants will automatically receive a 15% discount.
This fee will include some materials for the book, but participants should be expected to push their work by thinking ahead and bringing some materials with them, which will be explained closer to the time. Participants will receive a copy of the published book when it is finished. Additional copies may be purchased at cost (limit 2) per individual. The final book will be edited, sequenced, and arranged by Brad Feuerhelm (Nearest Truth) and Myrto Steirou (VOID).
This workshop will function like a laboratory. Teamwork and constructive critique are the rigor of producing an optimal book. It will be expected. This is the first Group workshop and publication for Nearest Truth. It is expected to be one of many modeled after the Japanese Student Workshop collectives and workshops led by Tomatsu Shomei in the 1970s and 80s in Tokyo. It is a form of observation but also subtle resistance. Participants should use this moment to develop their work through new experiences, break patterns, and push their aesthetic limits.
To apply, send a pdf of your work and a bio to the email below. Existing participants in the NT Photobook Workshop only need to send an email nearesttruthworkshops@gmail.com
If you are a Greek national looking to join with a full scholarship, please email your work to the same address. The scholarship covers the entrance fee only.
At present, we accept bank transfers, but you may also use transfer wise.
