SOCIAL CLUB (2022)
Residency
of arts and social processes, that aims to collectively reflect on Social
Clubs with the community of Folkestone, UK.
For about two months, I was getting to know and joining some of the activities from Folkestone´s Social Clubs, especially the Bingo nights.
Through research and exploration in the territory, the Residency project consisted of taking the reflections and experiences learned inside the clubs outside of them. This "taking outside" was done in a camouflaged and careful way, taking care of their privacy, since to enter a club it is necessary to be a member or receive an invitation. Thus the "Topiary Social Club" was born.
The "Topiary Social Club" carried out various activities during the summer to share what it has learned, such as drifts through the territory to draw the topiary balls of the village (symbol of the club), meetings to play Bingo on the beach and the implementation of a community radio programme, where different experts and club members were invited to advise the new club. “The Topiary Social Club”, as a nomadic club, wandered around different clubs/spaces in Folkestone, building relationships and mobilising conversations about key elements of social clubs, which were archived in field notes.
The Residency project triggered discussion and identification with the community of commonalities between different clubs/spaces in Folkestone about 'clubbing'. In this way, the project did not seek to highlight the particularities of a specific social club but rather to enable members of the Folkestone community to identify club practices in their own meeting spaces, to make visible the shared need for belonging, as well as dreams for these spaces. The project's materiality was based on the performative aspect of the events collectively organised around the Topiary Social Club.
Project developed with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Chile and CT20.
For about two months, I was getting to know and joining some of the activities from Folkestone´s Social Clubs, especially the Bingo nights.
Through research and exploration in the territory, the Residency project consisted of taking the reflections and experiences learned inside the clubs outside of them. This "taking outside" was done in a camouflaged and careful way, taking care of their privacy, since to enter a club it is necessary to be a member or receive an invitation. Thus the "Topiary Social Club" was born.
The "Topiary Social Club" carried out various activities during the summer to share what it has learned, such as drifts through the territory to draw the topiary balls of the village (symbol of the club), meetings to play Bingo on the beach and the implementation of a community radio programme, where different experts and club members were invited to advise the new club. “The Topiary Social Club”, as a nomadic club, wandered around different clubs/spaces in Folkestone, building relationships and mobilising conversations about key elements of social clubs, which were archived in field notes.
The Residency project triggered discussion and identification with the community of commonalities between different clubs/spaces in Folkestone about 'clubbing'. In this way, the project did not seek to highlight the particularities of a specific social club but rather to enable members of the Folkestone community to identify club practices in their own meeting spaces, to make visible the shared need for belonging, as well as dreams for these spaces. The project's materiality was based on the performative aspect of the events collectively organised around the Topiary Social Club.
Project developed with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Chile and CT20.
FIELDNOTES
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