Nomadic Artist in Residence Program in The Philippines [November 2015: Eric Peter]

October 11th, 2015 |  Published in News

In November, The Unifiedfield Nomadic Artist-in-Residence Program in The Philippines will host Dutch artist Eric Peter who will work on his ongoing project ‘Familiar Strangers: Conversations on the Near Future’.

Assisted by Angely Chi, Eric Peter will be having dialogues with members of communities in Mindanao, Philippines including Bajaus living in a settlement in Barangay Matina Aplaya, Davao City; a transgender, and small-scale miners in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, amongst other familiar strangers. Eric will also be conducting a video making workshop with Manobo and Mandaya elementary students in partnership with the Philippine Eagle Foundation in Barangays Cabuaya and Luban in Davao Oriental. He will be presenting his work and project in the University of Mindanao and in local artspaces in Davao and, at the end of his residency, he will conduct an artist talk at 98B COLLABoratory in Manila.

*For updated information and pictures, please check our FB page.

FAMILIAR STRANGERS: CONVERSATIONS ON THE NEAR FUTURE

“With the concern of global crises, conflicts and wars at the back of our mind, we are in desperate need of a social transformation worldwide. A new state of mind which is more positive, more considerate and more friendly. The film and performance project ‘Familiar Strangers: Conversations on the Near Future’ explores this social transformation towards the more positive from a personal and local point of view.

The concept of the ‘familiar stranger’ relates to the meeting people I am not acquainted with, yet with whom this certain mindset turns out to be shared. From actual and sincere meetings with strangers, I construct performances in which they partake themselves. These performances, but also the meetings beforehand, are documented and compiled as different chapters of a whole. The various chapters of performative dialogues reflect the most human desire to connect with others. They speak of a search for happiness, friendship and love through people’s distinct voices.”


Familiar Strangers: Conversations on the Near Future (Ch. 10) from Eric Peter on Vimeo.


Project funded by Stroom Den Haag & Mondriaan Fund.










ERIC PETER’s BIO

Eric Peter is a performance and installation artist from The Netherlands. During his four years of studying at the Royal Academy of Art, he was working with performance art in one way or another. Sometimes in the shape of performative objects, sometimes as live acts. After his graduation in 2013 he was awarded the ArtOlive Young Talent Award and the Fine Arts Prize, as well as the Invest Program by Stroom which stimulates selected young artists in their endeavors. He has exhibited throughout The Netherlands and internationally in Ukraine, Albania and Pakistan.

Currently, he is exploring performance art in relation to video. Whereas live performances have their own qualities, he feels the recording of performances can elevate a project to something else. Meanwhile he is in collaboration with Sandra Gnjatović for an art program, which will take place in project space W139 in Amsterdam at the end of 2015.

http://www.ericpeter.eu/weblog

ARTIST STATEMENT

“The common thread in my work is the search for a larger understanding of life. In order to do so I approach socio-psychological situations from a personal point of view. Within other cultural, historical or social contexts, these situations are given a different meaning. It is this otherness that can shape realities besides the one we know. In investigate projects this very otherness is being explored.

The motivation for a project originates in the friction within a particular subject. By immersing
myself in this subject completely, my own sensibility acts as a tool to experience various perspectives. This is reflected for instance in the usage of performative media. In performances I integrate physical objects, when in fact the sculptural works serve as a kind of props. My sculptural pieces are activated so to say by a viewer’s presence. Because of this, my works may be seen as a window into different realities.