Edgecentral is the site of Graham St John who is a dance-festival specialist – words, images and more. A must for electronic dance music fans.
The website’s intention is: “A COMMUNITY-POWERED LEARNING LIBRARY AND ALTERNATIVE NEWS CENTER - FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD.”
Links to thousands of challenging films and clips.
A movement or a non-movement? Performance as art? Free spaces as art?
Founded from ideas in the Manifesto developed by George Maciunas who was Lithuanian American artist. He was a founding member and the central coordinator of Fluxus, an international community of artists, architects, composers, and designers. Other leading members brought together by this movement included Ay-O, Joseph Beuys, George Brecht, Dick Higgins, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, and Wolf Vostell.
Complex ideas…
Freedom Cove: Wayne Adams and Catherine King have built their floating arts island in Canada. Some controversy about this as it is a visitor centre too. The link includes video.
This group describes itself as:
“The [freespace] movement is an experiment in what is possible when a community shares the gift of physical space. A [freespace] is a gathering place for people to come together, to create, teach, learn, and share the things which they are truly passionate about, and strengthen connections between individuals as well as communities through art, events, and long term projects.
[freespace] began in June 2013, inspired by the National Day of Civic Hacking, when a building was gifted to the community for just $1. The radically low barrier to entry and open door policy lead to a hugely diverse range of people from different cultural, economic, and professional backgrounds connecting and creating projects together such as a free bike share, maker classes for people in homeless shelters, and a community garden.
To date, [freespace] has hosted over 300 free events, seen more than 30 murals, fostered 4 long-term projects within San Francisco, and instigated an immeasurable amount of inspiration, collaboration, and solidarity within the communities it has touched.
[freespace] is now a global movement. Currently there are [freespaces] developing in 26 locations and 18 different countries around the world.”
Artist, eco-architect and playful eccentric from Vienna. Visionary thinker as well as pioneering environmental-artist. He re-invented himself a number of times during his lifetime. His art statements/proclamations about life are particularly powerful in his ‘5-skins’ model. Worth checking out if you enjoy visual art that reflects the environment. A world of art without straight lines! His Hundertwasser house in Vienna is spectacular. He died in 2000.
Links to the official site about his life and a video of him talking about his dreamscapes.
A fire festival in Switzerland. Small, vibrant and growing. Totally off grid. Nothing for sale. Bring what you need and to give away. Arts structures are built AND all burned at the end of the festival. Also features music, dance and all sorts of creativity. The title is a word game (apparently) meaning avanti, forwards towards the fire, and let's go...
The Gängeviertel (English: Slums-quarter) consists of a few streets that remain of the old poor mans´ quarter in Hamburg, with smaller innercourt-streets called ´gänge´. What was vacant, was squatted in 2009 and the artisan collective thus prevented it from beeing torn down by an investor. Surprisingly, the Municipality bought the houses back from the investor and thus the squatters could continue to evolve the Gängeviertel further, as a legalized entity now. However, the urgent restoration of the buildings is still ground for discourse between local government and the circa 200 residents, since gentrification is on the lure and they want to keep control over the housingpolicy.
The website presents an overview of the public activities and what happens in which houses. It is only in the German language, but under the das Gängenviertel-section you can find some visual Impressionen on what is beeing done there. During the G20 in 2017, the Gängeviertel shows itself as a haven for protestors and a oasis of freedom in a militarized city.
UK Channel 4 TV documentary show featuring lots of literally, amazing spaces for living and working. Many of them low-impact, sustainable and DiY. From sensational sheds, fabulous floating homes, to eye-watering nomadic bus conversions. Lots of great ideas and some amazing builders too. Artistic and practical ingenuity in bucket-loads!
Perhaps the ultimate free cultural spaces band so far known to the world. They evolved out of the Californian scene of the mid 1960s to become the nexus of the free-festival, love-ins, be-ins and all that was the ‘hippy’ evolution. And their exploits on the Magic Bus with the Merry Pranksters gave birth to the never ending gigs that are the stuff of legend. Millions of Deadheads worldwide still believe that the Grateful Dead will live on for ever...as does the artwork associated with them.
Links to the official Dead site. And to a vast archive of their music.