About Piaera’s Residency
This LGI Residency is the first development of a new project, Is It Working?
Here’s what Piaera said of the project on the eve of the residency:
“Over the residency week, I plan to play with gestures, spatial pathways and physical interactions that my collaborators and I witness our bodies finesse within a variety of workplaces.
“This idea draws on my frequent attempts to lessen the gap between my identity at ‘work’ and as an artist, which has so far entailed me reimagining long retail and hospitality shifts as choreographic performances. Our explorations will extend beyond clear employment spaces to reflect the substantial amount of time independent artists commit to completing unpaid labour within our areas of expertise.
“These lived experiences unfold other questions concerning the definition of work: Does it lie in productivity, repetition, effort, duty or outcome? In performance, does a work exist before being presented, or only when consumed by viewers? Who owns the work – artistic or otherwise – and how do we validate, quantify, monetise, and label this work?
“We can be out of work, losing work, looking for work. We can work out (bodies, solutions), work through (difficult times, schedules, emails), work on (social issues, gardens, jigsaw puzzles, ourselves), and strive or struggle for personal, political, social justice to say we are “doing the work”.
“Alongside exploring these semantic nuances, I aim to tackle the binary classifications encouraged between ‘work’ and ‘life’ and the inevitable blurriness of these boundaries. These conversations must - and will - involve class, privilege, race, age and gender throughout all stage of the project’s development.
“I am very excited to embark upon this initial development of ‘Is it Working?’ with collaborating dance artists Claire Leske, Momoko Nanri and Emma Riches. I acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, on whose lands this residency will take place, and I pay my respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.“
About Piaera Lauritz
Piaera Lauritz is a Naarm/Melbourne based dancer, choreographer, and internationally-screened filmmaker.
Recent performances include Billy Soy: a silly boy at Out Of Bounds (facilitated by Temperance Hall and Lucy Guerin Inc), Bodylex by Rhys Ryan, and the role of The Black Cat in A Midnight Visit by Broad Encounters. Her dance films have been screened at festivals in eight countries, with her 2019 work (like a) Less Dense Brick winning Best Film at Multiplié Dance Film Festival in Norway, and Softer Terracotta a 2020 semi-finalist at Dumbo Festival in New York.
She is grateful to be a recipient of support from the Dr Phillip Law Travel Scholarship, City of Yarra grants program, City of Port Phillip Cultural Development Fund, and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust.
Find out more: https://www.piaeralauritz.com
About LGI Residencies
LGI Residencies offer artists the freedom to explore new ideas, develop new works and cultivate their choreographic practice. Studio space and administrative support are offered by LGI, as well as the invitation to share outcomes of the residency in a way that best supports the artist in residence.
For more information on LGI’s residency program and the other 2020 Artists-in-Residence, please visit the Residency tab on our Programs page.
Image: Angus Strachan