The Public Office for Architetcure explores the link between private and public interest in the practice of architecture. A temporary architecture office was established at MoKS, open to the public and free of charge. The public was invited to consult any architectural needs or questions they may have. In return every project that was taken on by the Public Office added one component to the program of requirements that was decidedly of public interest, initiating a dialog between private needs and public needs in the dynamics of architectural services. Four distinctly different projects were taken on by the office while in Mooste which will be followed up over the coming months.

The Public Office for Architecture is conceived as a nomadic project that will span over several years. The inaugural project hosted by MoKS was followed by Public Office for Architecture at Galeria HIT in Bratislava, with several projects planned for 2012. The accumulated work will serve as a collection of case studies to argue for a revision in the client-architect relationship within the practice of architecture as a service industry.

Public Office for Architecture is generously supported by MoKS, Galeria HIT, CECArtsLink and the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts. Many thanks to Evelyn and Siiri from MoKS and to our fabulous assistant and translator Iris Allese.

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They also documented some events. This is a lecture/performance by Stuart:

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And here is a video document of the final performance of Bruno Humberto’s workshop at AVAMAA 2011:

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MoKS annual summer art symposium AVAMAA took place from August 16-21. The biggest challenge this year was to conduct the symposium almost without being able to use MOKS. With the exception of using the basement for 2 of the workshops, the building was pretty much unusable because of the current state of intensive renovation. The same could be said for the final concert event, Mesi Kõrvadele which was supposed to be held in the new Mooste concert hall (folgikoda), but was held in the Kultuurimaja instead also because of renovation work. Given these conditions we still managed to pull everything off, hosting and feeding all 37+ participants for a week creative endeavors in the Mooste schoolhouse. Details of the workshops, projects and week long program can be found on the MOKS website.

We would like to thank the MOKS team and all the participants for their creative energy this year: John W Fail, Giles Bailey, Natalia Borissova, Selda Asal, Cem, Marko Kosnik, Monica Glahn, Lara Tau Viera, Michael Saup, Di Clay, Nick Clay, Goncalo Leite Velho, Andrus Kallastu, Hans Gunter Lock, Leonora Palu, Indrek Palu, Kai Kallastu, John Grzinich, Evelyn Müürsepp, Maarin Ektermann, Mari Jõgiste, Patrick McGinley, Jaanika Jaanits, Piibe Kolka, Tom Grzinich, Leela Elison, Toomas Thetloff, Siim Tiirik, Mari Kalkun, Taavi Tatsi, Kaisa Sammelselg, Grigori Lotman, Caleb Waldorf, Piret K, Maria Rõhu, Kurt Korthals, Andreas Leo Findeisen

After Curatorial Dinner exhibition

The artistic project ‘After curatorial dinner’ was conceived by Petra Kapš during her one month x-op residency in MOKS. She researched the artistic production of a number of artists (Riho Kall, John Grzinich, Evelyn Müürsepp, Toomas Thetloff, Patrick McGinley, Erkki Luuk, Anna Hints) through dinner conducted as a social ritual. The exhibition contained works that were produced in connection to the process of her residency.

MUTOPIA 6

The 6th edition of MUTOPIA was held during the event and was led by Tero Nauha and John Grzinich. While the group was fairly small the effort was of the participants was highly focused and concentrated. Most of the workshop took place in the public spaces around Tomar and focused on two locations in particular, the monument outside the courthouse (in the middle of a parking lot) and the main gardens under the castle. Below is a short video compilation that randomly composites some of the sound, movement and text exercises.

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playing the great flagpole on Heybeliada, photo by Enise Gökbayrak

New Maps of Time sound workshop/residency Istanbul Turkey

‘New Maps of Time’ is a project and workshop about mapping architectural and urban spaces using sound as a means to express actions within a space. read more…

Workshop carried out in the frame of my X-OP residency at Apartment Project, artist-run project space, from February 8 – March 8, 2010

Idil trying a simple sound horn, photo by Enise Gökbayrak

The third X-OP event of this year took place in Novigrad Croatia in the frame of the Mediascape festival. In the X-OP “tradition” the meeting of the 9 partners provided a base for intensive discussions relating to the cooperation between the diverse group of project partners. While much of this is far too complicated to elaborate on here, the fact remains that cooperation and transparency are essential, not only for basic functioning within the project but also to generate new content with sincerity and a level of quality we are capable of. In parallel, we were treated to a series of artistic and curatorial presentations in the warm atmosphere of the Istrian sun taking while refuge in the shade of the Musej Lapidarium. In a sense one could get an overview of activities regarding artistic policies and practices from the region of Croatia and Slovenia which seem to differ greatly from those we are used to at MoKS. In between there was a touch of art, not quite enough for our tastes but a taste nonetheless with a few musical performances of the electronic vein and a spontaneous intervention in the city by Evelyn and Susanne Kienbaum of Berlin. What was the message here?Even with all the resources and beautiful environment of the Novigrad event, the most precious resource still remains to be time, of which there never seems to be enough, time to meet, time to share, time to listen from which new ideas and relations grow. If there is one thing to respect and understand, its the need for giving time to the process of the X-OP project, other wise that time will be sacrificed for continued misunderstandings and frustrations among ourselves, especially the ones who gave so much time in the beginning to make such a thing happen at all.

photos by John Grzinich