ecoLAB is holding a new public gathering with electronic workshops and guided visits
The activity is open to the public who will be able to see “El enjambre”, an exhibition on the working and documentation processes of this project by LABoral
'The Swarm' is a show documenting the activity carried out over the last year by the ecoLAB. Photo: LABoral/Sergio Redruello
With a series of workshops open to the public and guided visits to El enjambre [The Swarm], a work and documentation space, ecoLAB, the experimentation laboratory at the intersection between ecology, art and open electronics, is holding its last session of the year, which is open to the public, on Saturday 24 November.
Starting in the morning at 10 until 2 in the afternoon, an electronic workshop led by .Tape. will take place which will deal with concepts related to Arduino and data capture sensors. In the afternoon there will be guided visits to Patio Sur [the southern courtyard] and to El enjambre, a show documenting the activity carried out over the last year by this working group at LABoral which aims to contribute in generating subjectivities and dynamics in relation to the biosphere and its ecosystems.
A swarm is a group of similar insects, especially bees, whose natural tendency to divide and generate sounds acts as a metaphor for the activity of social groups. With this idea, ecoLAB’s working group opened the doors of Almacén Sur [the southern warehouse] last 9 November to present a hybrid space showing ecoLAB’s work processes, meetings and activities, the artists’ way of working, and the secrets of the non-garden.
Many local artists and collectives who have been working in the open sessions and assisting in documenting the work processes are collaborating in this show, which is coordinated by Lorena Lozano and Rubén Suárez.
The artist Cristina Ferrández has made a video called Narrativas del No-Jardín [Narratives of a Non-garden], documenting the changes that have happened at Patio Sur, the monthly meetings and the philosophy behind the general project. Rubén Suárez presents the documentation of the project on sustainable design, Low Tech Monitor Architecture, which is based on the study of traditional building techniques for their application in today’s context. This part will show the building construction process of the “Tendayu” [Asturian open-walled barn] at Patio Sur and of the “Teitado” [Asturian thatched roofing] workshop which took place in Somiedo.
Resulting from the residency by .TAPE. at ecoLAB, the project Cultivar el sonido [Cultivating Sound], an animation film that visualises the data collected by the sensors on the atmospheric conditions at Patio Sur, will be presented. El enjambre also includes a Microscopy booth where the biodiversity of the well water can be visualised through a DIY video microscope, which was made in a workshop by Andy Gracie.
The group of artists settled in rural areas, Re.colectivo, have prepared a Banco de Semillas [a Seeds Bank], including a mural illustrated with the botany, natural cycles and humans of a non-garden, which is complemented by a seeds workshop for families and children on Saturday 24 November. With the central theme Otros espacios para la alimentación [Other Spaces for Feeding], the mobile kitchen built by Re.colectivo and Javier Palacios will be on display.
Additionally, Patio Sur, the ecoLAB physical experimentation space, has a new signage providing an insight into the secrets and workings of this green area, which conceals the beauty and richness of a non-garden beneath an apparent formal disorder.
Coordinated by: Lorena Lozano and Rubén Suárez
Participants: Cristina Ferrández, Rubén Suárez, .TAPE., Andy Gracie. Re.colectivo, Javier Palacios
Venue: Almacén Sur and Patio Sur
