To produce or not to produce? ???? Deep Sleep & Transparent Operations ????

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On & For

We’re braving this new year with inspirational examples of production ‘how to’ and encouraging words on how not to do anything at all.

Check out the results of our inquiry into Production Models:

– Pause for thought with some soothing words on taking it slow by Niels Van Tomme in his article ‘Deep Sleep‘.

– Equip yourself with production knowledge and get motivated to do it your way by reading María Palacios Cruz‘s reflection on production models today: ‘How many employees are in the organisation?’

– Understand the conditions of production by engaging with the hard matter — the numbers — in our DATA SWAP.

And if you want to take things slowly and start from the first step, tune into our Production for Dummies workshop presentation that was especially made for students, graduates and emerging artists’ moving image makers.

We wish you a happy, healthy,
and well-rested new year!

May it be just as (non)productive as you’d like it to be!

Production Models

The process of artists’ moving image (AMI) production can be achieved through a plethora of [removed];On & For intends to shed light on these different options by sharing generated knowledge gained from artists, producers and other cultural agents on the intricacies and conditions of AMI production.

Originally devised as a public seminar, Production Models had to find another form due to the [removed];In September 2020, we invited María Palacios Cruz (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, ES) to guide an online conversation with selected contributors Leonardo Bigazzi (Lo Schermo dell’arte, IT), Mason Leaver-Yap (KW Institute for Contemporary Art, DE), Marie Logie (Auguste Orts, BE), Anže Peršin (Stenar Projects, PT), Reem Shilleh and Mohanad Yaqubi (Subversive Film, BE/PS) and to form a reflective text, which we are now delighted to be able to share with you here: ‘How many employees are in the organisation?’

The conversation’s analysis was accompanied by a production DATA SWAP, which provides a unique look at the figures of the production process of the said AMI organisations – obtained from the guest speakers through a questionnaire.

In addition, we invited Niels Van Tomme (ARGOS, BE) to provide a ‘keynote’ on AMI production. Due to the shift in events, he was asked to put pen to paper instead of presenting his thoughts to a live audience, provoking his text ‘Deep Sleep‘.

We’d like to thank our contributors for generously sharing their thoughts and figures with us, and with you, our [removed];

This event was made possible with the support of Flanders Audiovisual Fund/Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF).

Deep Sleep
Niels Van Tomme

“Like Lazy Smurf, the late Croatian artist Mladen Stilinovíc was a devout sleeper. Stilinovíc famously slept as an artistic gesture. First in his studio, gracefully captured in the now iconic photo series Artist at Work (1978), later on in exhibition spaces across the globe. To say it with his own words, he was at all times in praise of laziness, merging these two related acts of [removed]#8221;

—Niels Van Tomme, ‘Deep Sleep’

Niels Van Tomme, Director of ARGOS centre for audiovisual arts in Brussels, was asked by On & For to pen some thoughts on artists’ moving image production as an introduction to our research into ‘production models’. In response, he challenged us to think of non-productivity instead and to reassess the value of time for reflection, for contemplation, for rest, proposing that ‘napping and resting’ may provide ‘a meaningful variant to non-activity’.

We invite you to read his playful contribution and to allow yourself to fall into a Deep Sleep.

Image: Smurfs Wiki

How many employees are in the organisation?
Notes from a conversation on producing artists’ moving image
María Palacios Cruz

“In a time when the industrial mode of production is in crisis, the relative ‘smallness’ advocated by Maya Deren decades ago would appear to be a strength. As she wrote, ‘Cameras do not make films; film-makers make films. Improve your films not by adding more equipment and personnel but by using what you have to its fullest capacity. The most important part of your equipment is yourself: your mobile body, your imaginative mind, and your freedom to use both. Make sure you do use them.’”

—María Palacios Cruz, ‘How many employees are in the organisation?’

We invited programmer, curator, educator, and scholar María Palacios Cruz to guide us through a maze of production modes in order to uncover what lies at the core of each production organisation. She reveals: “If ‘labour relations’—who gets paid and who doesn’t and how much—was one of the principal threads of a discussion that largely revolved around ethics, the other main subject was ‘transparency’.”

We invite you to delve into her informative and thought provoking text ‘How many employees are in the organisation?‘ and to contemplate your own passage through production: how many employees are working with you at present?

DATA SWAP

Learning Resource—Online Free

In order to further the understanding of our field and the conditions under which differing models operate, figures on the operational side of production platforms (or other production constellations) were generously shared by our contributors — Leonardo Bigazzi (Lo Schermo dell’arte, IT), Mason Leaver-Yap (KW Institute for Contemporary Art, DE), Marie Logie(Auguste Orts, BE), Anže Peršin (Stenar Projects, PT), Reem Shilleh and Mohanad Yaqubi (Subversive Film, BE/PS) — and visualised by our intern Jan Costers, creating a free, online learning resource that we call the ‘DATA SWAP‘.

PRODUCTION FOR DUMMIES
Video Resource—Online Free

After a few pandemic-related false starts, in November, we finally got to have our Production for Dummies workshop, produced and distributed from the safety of our own homes.

Check out the online video for the presentations of our partners — Andrea Cinel (ARGOS) and Ellen Meiresonne (Atelier Graphoui) — and the live Q&A, moderated by Alice Lemaire (Michigan Films), with our dummies [removed];

Press play here: Video: Production for Dummies – Brussels, 2020, and follow the tips, tricks, and links shared in our chat, as listed from A-Z, below the [removed];

A special thanks to our local partners and participants for their patience and encouragement in this joint effort!

On & For: Production for Dummies is kindly supported by ARGOS and Atelier Graphoui and made possible with the additional financial support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF).

Find out more on our website

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On & For Production and Distribution

On & For Production and Distribution (On & For) is a cooperative European project that is conceived to advance and strengthen the field of artists’ moving [removed];

On & For is a project initiated by Auguste Orts (BE) in collaboration with Kaunas International Film Festival (LT), LUX/LUX Scotland (UK) and Nordland kunst- og filmskole (NO).

With the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.