As part of the 2017 Gasworks International Residency Programme, Mercedes Zobel, in partnership with Outset, supported a 3-month residency for Filipino artist Cocoy Lumbao, hosted at the Outset Residency Studio.
RESIDENCY: 9th January – 27th March 2017
Cocoy Lumbao:
Cocoy Lumbao works primarily with video to explore the medium’s inherent qualities. He works with infrared video, digital manipulation and the loss of data in image reproduction, for example, to find new ways to understand particular phenomena, from cityscapes to urbanity or vision itself. The artist therefore understands video as an observational thought process rather than a mechanical tool, manipulating footage and images to reconstruct the passage of time or to show the ambiguity of the scenery, like in Expressionist painting.
During his residency at Gasworks, Cocoy explored how text can find its own language within the culture of the moving image, focusing on end credits as a key but often overlooked cinematic trope.
Gasworks:
Established in 1994, Gasworks is a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation working at the intersection between UK and international practices and debates. They provide studios for London-based artists; commission emerging UK-based and international artists to present their first major exhibitions in the UK; and develop a highly-respected international residencies programme, which offers rare opportunities for international artists to research and develop new work in London. All programmes are accompanied by events and participatory workshops that engage public audiences.
In 2014 Gasworks successfully completed a £2.1 million capital campaign project by purchasing and refurbishing its building. The organisation thus secured a permanent home and a substantial asset, a huge achievement that gives the organization unprecedented resilience and allows it to continue to nurture future generations of UK and international artists, develop new audiences and offer participation opportunities for local families. Gasworks’ redeveloped building opened to the public on 24 September 2015. Outset supported this capital campaign, resulting in the Outset Residency Studio.
The International Residency Programme was established in 1994 to support the development of emerging non-UK-based artists offering them a 3-month residency in London and the opportunity to research and make new work inspired by the local artistic community and in a supportive environment.
Each year Gasworks provides 16 international artists with a studio in a building that houses a total of 11 studios (7 rented to London-based artists and 4 reserved for the Residency Programme), a gallery and an education space for talks, workshops and other public events.
Residencies are generally non-prescriptive and process-based. They encourage artists to use their time in London to benefit from the resources that the city offers, from public libraries and archives to other arts institutions. At the same time, visiting artists work within a small community of artists and Gasworks provides opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with peers, arts professionals and the wider artistic community.
While the Residency Programme aims to facilitate research and the production of new work, it also includes a diverse range of talks, presentations, performances and open studios that help disseminate the work of visiting artists to the public. Residency artists are encouraged to participate in an events programme that aims to disseminate and further contextualise their practice, encouraging dialogue with the public. Events may include talks, seminars, screenings, workshops and performances.
Open Studios weekend session are held quarterly, offering audiences the opportunity to visit the studios and hear about the research and work-in-progress the artists have been developing.
Over the years Gasworks has developed a number of multi-year partnerships with prestigious international institutional and private funders. These include ARKO (Arts Council of Korea), Creative India, IASPIS (Sweden), Goethe Institute (Germany), Gulbenkian Foundation (Portugal), BECA AMA (Chile), Charles Wallace (India & Pakistan), British Council (India and Pakistan) and AC/E (Spain).
Some of the Gasworks alumni include: Subodh Ghupta (India), SongDong (China); Tania Bruguera (Cuba); Andrew Esiebo (Nigeria); Renata Lucas (Brazil); Gabriel Sierra (Colombia), Ibrahim Mahama (Ghana) and many others.
Cocoy Lumbao (b. 1977, Manila) is an artist and writer based in Manila, Philippines. He works primarily with video/film, music, and design. His works have been recently shown in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Design in College of St. Benilde, Manila (2015) and in Art Stage Singapore, Singapore City (2016). His recent solo exhibitions include Loose Continuity in 1335 Mabini, Manila (2015), New and Selected Video in Mo Space, Taguig (2016), and Untitled (Talks) in Blanc Gallery, Quezon City (2016). He was also included in Mind Set Art Center’s group show, Every Island from Sea to Sea, Taipei, Taiwan (2016). He is currently a faculty member at the College of Fine Arts’ Theory Department in the University of the Philippines, Quezon City.
