Service: performance programme

Saturday, 18 June, 2pm – 8pm

Kaunas Artists’ House

V. Putvinskio str. 56 

Kaunas 

Service – a one-day performance programme takes place on 18 June at Kaunas Artists’ House presenting a multitude of unique “services” by 18 participants: Vaidas Bartušas, Dasha Chechushkova, Gabrielė Černiavskaja , Anton Karyuk, Borys Kashapov, Mila Kostiana, Natasha Kushnir, Dovilė Lapinskaitė, Lithuanian Queer Archive / išgirsti, Lisa Lurati and Noah Sartori, Ieva Maslinskaitė and Bødvar Hole, Martyna Meškauskaitė, JL Murtaugh, Saulė Noreikaitė, Kseniia Shcherbakova, Olena Siyatovska, Erik Vojevodin.

Service is a project by curator Lesia Kulchynska that was initiated in Kyiv in 2021 in collaboration with Goethe Institut Kyiv. The project website compiles existing proposals developed by artists in Kyiv:https://www.srvc.website/

Service functions as a platform for participants to offer an unusual service to the general public in the form of a performative action in exchange for money, something material or immaterial, something symbolic, another kind of exchange, or just for free.

In this context, the understanding of “service” represents an intention to go beyond the logic of the market service industry and invite participants to reinterpret and appropriate the idea of “service”. Instead of simply providing goods to others, participants are invited to design the process of exchange in their own specific way – proposals should embrace one's peculiar experience, skills, knowledge and attitude, and deliver a valuable experience to someone else. In this way, Service intends to enable the exchange of both energy and care. 

Services might take the form of a unique nail design or distinct make-up concept, a reading of a story with a special timbre, a lesson to impressively whistle one's favourite song, a conversation about the weather, or anything else that can be imagined. Serving each other gives us the possibility to become connected, needed and loved. Sometimes not having the chance to do that is the saddest story. The situation of service delivery also generates room for exchange with a stranger, a chance to know someone or something unexpected.

Service is the first project in a programme of performances co-organised by Kaunas Artists’ House and Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts to take place in Kaunas, Nida and Vilnius in 2022. The programme is an adoption of an annual event at Kaunas Artists’ House, a celebration of Art's Birthday usually held on 17 January in memory of Fluxus artist Robert Filliou.

The performance programme at KAH and NAC is co-funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Kaunas city municipality and partly co-funded by Goethe-Institut. Support for artists and cultural workers from Ukraine – Goethe-Institut.

Participants :

Vaidas Bartušas 

Vocal Yoga

Vocal Yoga is aimed at people who frequently use their voice as their main working tool and equips them with methods and strategies on how to cope with throat tension during speaking or singing. During the service the participant will encounter unique every-person voice usage problems and try to solve them. 

Means of exchange: 10 € – 25€ per consultation.

Vaidas Bartušas is a professional singer, and founder of the Network of Vocal Arts and has released two albums "Kodėl?" and "Silent meadows". Bartušas has participated in various multidisciplinary projects with the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra ensemble Musica Humana, the Lithuanian State Wind Instrument Orchestra, and the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre. 

JL Murtaugh 

The Bureau

The Bureau is an ongoing consulting service, whose model is inspired by Lori Waxman’s ongoing 15-year project ’60 wrd/min art critic’ which increases accessibility to artists through professional writing. Sessions might be on production, technical advice, a second opinion on a current project, or strategy. 

Means of exchange: sessions are documented and can result in a written response tailored to the participant. Participants should pre-register and book times via a simple form to determine their specific needs and research interests. Sessions will be conducted in English and last approximately 45 minutes.

JL Murtaugh is an artist, curator, writer, and consultant organising projects as Syndicate since 2014. Murtaugh is currently an artistic director of Autarkia, an arts club and workers' canteen in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Syndicate is a liquid contemporary art platform – part production office, independent gallery, and creative advisory consultancy – staging international exhibitions, events, and publications.

Dasha Chechushkova 

Co-being With Tree

For this service, Dasha Chechushkova invites you to participate in a group conversation with others, with nature and with yourself while being wrapped with bandages (drawings on the field of textiles) around a tree. This action is about healing and experiencing inner feelings together, an attempt to feel like a small young tree that is tied up and supported for better growth.

Means of exchange: donation of your choice.

Dasha Chechushkova graduated from Grekov Odessa Art School, and entered the National Academy of Arts in Kyiv. Chechushkova uses mixed media in her practice, including photography, video, drawing, painting, poetry, embroidery, and happenings and is interested in understanding the connection between nature and humankind, and how strongly a person stays in harmony with the environment and self. 

Gabrielė Černiavskaja 

Un-spaced

Stability might imprison future thoughts so Černiavskaja suggests a conversation and drawing session to try to un-space and re-space your spaces in an unusual, sometimes non-practical, and strange poetic way. During the 1 to 2 hour session in a preferred space, Černiavskaja will define obstacles, “use patterns” and rethink the space while getting to know you, imagining and visualising ideas on paper. 

Means of exchange: a future service or object of the participant’s choice, or an invitation to collaborate in the future.

Gabrielė Černiavskaja is an architect working with an interdisciplinary practice in which architecture is merged with other media. Her current interests centre around  immaterial architecture and spatial transformations using non-conventional tools as well as merging architecture with psychophysics, using space and object to “ignite” personal feeling. 

Anton Karyuk 

Personal Flag

Following a brief conversation, Karyuk will create a flag based on whoever the participant is that day. It will contain a unique combination of abstract fields of colours, in which one can only find visual pleasure, ignoring the concept of "norms", creating its own meanings, not assigning any usual denotations to this symbol.

Means of exchange: free or a donation of your choice.

Anton Karyuk is a Ukrainian interdisciplinary artist currently based in Vilnius. Building upon his experience as a queer migrant, he explores topics such as social ecology, humanism, marginality and identity. Not limited to museums and galleries, Karyuk’s artistic practices shift to the wider public space. 

Borys Kashapov 

Painting on Nails

Kashapov creates unique nail art, conceiving of the individual who hosts the artwork as a live nomadic art institution that tours the nail exhibition wherever they go. During the manicure, Kashapov talks about the origins of the abstract painterly tradition, action painting, and participative art practices, which he refers to.

Means of exchange: becoming a temporary nomadic art institution to promote the exhibition on the nails.

Mila Kostianá 

Roots

In times of instability and emotional exhaustion, meditative work helps us navigate thoughts and feelings. Kostianá invites participants to have a cosy conversation to recreate symbols and images of places and other things that come up in the discussion.

Means of exchange: trust.

Mila Kostianá received her formal education in the field of cultural studies and design. As a multimedia designer and visual researcher, Kostianá is interested in feminism and gender studies, queer and decolonial theory, political philosophy. Her practice mostly revolves around Kyivan cultural heritage. 

Natasha Kushnir 

Chain Reaction

Natasha Kushnir lays out a pattern of dominoes. Each pattern symbolises the most universally important things – home, love, nature, peace, life. Kushnir invites participants to play this game and permit themselves the  immense pleasure gained from knocking dominoes over , and being reminded of these crucial aspects within  our lives. 

Means of exchange: participants take turns to launch a chain of dominoes.

Natalia Kushnir (Natusya) is an artist who makes picturesque, sculptural objects and installations. The leading theme of Kushnir’s work is the human and its direct participation in social life, means of survival and the observation of individuals.

Dovilė Lapinskaitė 

The Dreamcatcher

Dovilė Lapinskaitė invitesmembers of the public to use The Dreamcatcher or become dreamcatchers themselves. Participants will choose between telling Lapinskaitė one of their dreams to, which will be recorded in a dream journal or choose a dream that they want to hear. Exchanges will take place incognito.

Means of exchange: participants will share dreams while using The Dreamcatcher.

Dovilė Lapinskaitė is a writer, artist and History of Art and Contemporary Art Criticism graduate from Goldsmiths University, London, exploring her artistic practice via storytelling and zine making in unexpected and various environments. Lapinskaitė’s field of interest includes LGBTQ+ archives, queer diaspora, exploring of passion and desire, political art and film history. 

Lithuanian Queer Archive / išgirsti

Guided Tours of the Queer Archive

For this service representatives from išgirsti will talk about queer memories, queer objects and the Lithuanian Queer Archive. Random or planned choices will direct participants to specific materials, such as photos, writings, sounds or other materials, through close engagment with the service recipient who will be invited to discuss the queerness of the materials and their perceptions.

Means of exchange: participants are invited to share their oldest queer story.

Augustas Čičelis and Viktorija Kolbešnikova are researchers in gender studies, initiators of the Lithuanian Queer Archive, members of the team of the Vilnius Queer Festival, Kreivės, and curators of the cultural-social space išgirsti.

Lisa Lurati and Noah Sartori 

Message Delivery

Message Delivery consists of a phone call to a third party, chosen by the participant, with a message. The message could be of any type*: of love, friendship, a reminder for a coffee meeting, a simple greeting, an abstract thought, a line from a poem, the dream they had last night. The message will be delivered by Lurati or Sartori, by choice. 

*Messages of hate, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, or of sexual harassment will not be delivered.

Means of exchange: a short neck and shoulder massage for Lisa / a short hand or finger massage for Noah.

Lisa Lurati is an artist working with photography-based processes, video and sculpture. She is interested in the relationship between human, non-human, nature and in the in-between celestial bodies. Noah Sartori is a musician, event organiser and aspiring farmer.

Ieva Maslinskaitė and Bødvar Hole 

The Laboratory of Deep Play

The Laboratory of Deep Play is based on the idea that loose parts, or unrelated materials, can be moved, reshaped and otherwise tinkered with, creating infinite possibilities for creative actions and a deepened sense of play. The Laboratory provides a collection of objects and materials with limitless possibilities of play, as long as the participant employs imagination and plays with these familiar objects in an unfamiliar way: hold it, squeeze it, throw it, draw on it, paint it, rearrange it, dissect it, combine it with something else, destroy it and so on.

Means of exchange: the play starts with the participant! To gain access to The Laboratory, a sacrifice is needed. Donate one object or item to the collection, and the collection is the participant’s to play with. 

Ieva Maslinskaitė and Bødvar Hole, collaborate as an artist duo as well as having distinct individual practices. They are from Lithuania and Norway respectively and are currently based in The Hague, The Netherlands. Their different working methods yet shared deep appreciation for intuition and unconventional knowledge often results in fruitful collaborations. Hole’s work is instigated by spontaneity and guided by intuition. Maslinskaitė’s practice is driven by an interest in human relationships to the environment in the age of environmental doom. 

Martyna Meškauskaitė 

Move Booth

Move Booth is an untraditional therapy room meant to move, shake off daily pressures and burdens, or otherwise boost an already positive day. The main agreement of this therapy is to choose a favourite song, dance and shake like nobody's watching. Meškauskaitė will be there to keep you company while fooling around and helping to boost your daily dose of serotonin.

Means of exchange: for this service Meškauskaitė simply asks participants to record their mood before and after the service. Feedback is anonymous and will be used by Meškauskaitė for the development of her project.

Martyna Meškauskaitė graduated from Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy with a contemporary dance and pedagogy BA degree. She now works as a contemporary dance artist and teacher, mostly with somatic dance fields and movement research. Meškauskaitė owns a dance studio in Vilnius where she teaches somatic movement and improvisation for non professionals.

Saulė Noreikaitė 

Face Up

For Face Up participants receive an individualised face self-massage and exercise guidance. This service is ideal for those who need to feel refreshed, and focus on their physical body and perception of their physical self. The individualised guidance is beneficial to the participant as it can be repeated at home, taking care of a body part where many forgotten muscles lay.

Means of exchange: the audience is expected to be honest and open for this experience, to share details about their daily routines and their body, in order for the individualised session to happen.

Saulė Noreikaitė is an interdisciplinary artist working between the fields of visual art and dance. She graduated with a BA degree in Fine Arts from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and is currently studying Social Anthropology at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas. Noreikaitė questions what it means to have a body in the twenty-first century, and how the relations to our bodies change due to various environmental and societal factors.

Kseniia Shcherbakova 

Raiskii Raiii/Paradise Heaven

Shcherbakova imagines hair growing as a durational performance and the hairdresser as a guide to this process. The hairdresser paints a metamorphosis picture as they feel. It’s so important in which place the action is developed and also the state of the client, how open they are for the cut.

Means of exchange: as in a true hair studio, Shcherbakovaasks to pay for the service. The client chooses the price.

Kseniia Shcherbakova is an interdisciplinary artist based in Odessa, Ukraine, she is the initiator of various projects including the experimental music project -xraketa, the project Raiskii Raiii (Paradise Heaven), and, together with her partner, has established the recycling clothes brand “circulation of infernation“. Shcherbakov is a member of the Odessa creative community at the abandoned ship repaired factory SRZ-2. 

Olena Siyatovska 

Reading Before Going to Sleep

Bedtime reading is a common childhood practice. The process of listening is a form of meditation and a special kind of communication. During this service, participants will listen to Ukrainian lullabies.

Means of exchange: free or a donation of your choice.

Olena Siatovska studied at the National University of Oles Honchar and University of Fine Arts in Poznan. Siyatovska focuses on social relations, human rights, and identity in the digital dimension, she works with new media, performance, video and installation. 

Erik Vojevodin 

Walking for a Better World

Tired of trying to reach 10,000 steps? This simple trick will help you take all the necessary steps for your body & soul. Try now, for free! Use it with care, share it with your loved ones, enemies, friends, strangers. The best clients will get a surprise reward!

Erik Vojevodin is a graduate of the University of Glasgow and part of “Autarkia". He co-curated the Belarusian artist's Maxim Osipau exhibition "I can explain everything", worked at the Lithuanian pavilion as part of the 59th Venice Biennale with Robertas Narkus' project "Gut Feeling". Earlier this year, he participated in the group exhibition "Laimės ratas" in Šv. Jono gatvės galerija, Vilnius.