Maria Pask

Summer School

Maria Pask will be presenting at Ellen de Bruijne Projects her Summer School which took place in Milton Keynes Gallery, England in 2005. The exhibition will give an insight into the Summer School and she will be showing a “cocktail of social commentary, political doctrine, ecological soundings, philosophy, feminism, body politics and religion”, as MK G director Michael Stanley put it in his accompanying text to the project (see above link for full text). In August 2005, Amsterdam based artist, Maria Pask, brought together actors from Milton Keynes to work with a small group of Dutch artists. Arriving and encamping at MK G in a VW Camper van, Pask’s ensemble ‘spilt out’ into the exhibition space, transforming the gallery into an all-in-one production site for stage design, a prop making facility and rehearsal space, open for gallery visitors to watch.

The project comprised of a four – day workshop, using a script devised by the artist. The play was performed over two evenings; one act presented each night, the script for which the actors had only been given the day before. Pask’s project made visible the very structure of an artwork, and, racing against time, created as many possibilities for it to fail as to succeed. The script focuses on the life and work of John Newton, past resident of Olney (a village near Milton Keynes), reformed slave trader and author of the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’. Pask’s project fittingly contemporises the past, connecting 18th century social reform with the social and political complexities of today.

In the series of Free Exchange evenings, Maria Pask will offer two presentations:

Lecture on Summer School and John Newton by Maria Pask
Date: Friday 17/03/06, 20 hours
Language: English

Workshop: Exercises designed to build self-motivation and awareness of the group dynamic.
Date: Wednesday 22/03/06, 19 – 21 hours
Language: English
Please reserve at edbprojects@cs.com
(Loose clothing advisable)

Exhibition: 25/02/06 – 01/04/06

Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS
Rozengracht 207A
1016 LZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands