An exciting new series of immersive performances that will add to the Serpentine’s growing programme of experimental live events, are set for the 2016 calendar at the gallery. The Magazine Sessions include the acclaimed Park Nights series in the Serpentine Pavilion and the annual Marathon festival of ideas. The Sessions complement the Fiorucci Art Trust’s artist-led programmes of site-specific experiences, including the Volcano Extravaganza festival, held every summer in Stromboli, Italy.
The result of a creative collaboration between the Serpentine and the Fiorucci Art Trust – with the participation of The Magazine restaurant – The Magazine Sessions invites artists to devise site-specific evenings of performance, where all aspects of the experience are considered. Events range from specially- conceived music and theatre performances to immersive environments to be explored and activated by the visitor. As part of the concept for The Magazine Sessions, artists will devise unique menus of food and drink, in collaboration with The Magazine restaurant.
The Sessions begin on Monday 15 February with A Woodland Truce, an installation and performance by 2014 Bloomberg New Contemporary- exhibited artist Matt Copson, whose work addresses fable, myth and philosophy through light installations, sculpture and sound. A Woodland Truce is presented in collaboration with musician and producer Felicita, who is renowned for his musical abstractions that mash up melodies, sound effects and spoken word into what he describes as ‘floating forms’. A Woodland Truce also includes a vocal performance by Musarc. Artists confirmed for further Magazine Sessions include Anthea Hamilton, Celia Hempton, Karl Holmqvist, Emily Sundblad and Christian Holstad.
The Fiorucci Art Trust was founded by Nicoletta Fiorucci in London in 2010. With Milovan Farronato as Director, the Trust was conceived to promote contemporary art in conventional and unconventional ways. The Trust produces artist’s commissions, publications, residencies and workshops every year in London as well as abroad, including the recent Mycorial Theatre, co- curated with Paulina Olowska in Rabka Zdroj, Poland, in 2014 and 2015. Most recently, as part of the public programme of the Istanbul Biennial, the Trust organised a one-week workshop on the island of Kastellorizo, Greece, titled The violent No! of the sun burns the forehead of hills. Sand fleas arrive from salt lake and most of the theatres close. The Trust presents the annual Volcano Extravaganza, an artist-led programme, now in its fifth year, on the volcanic island of Stromboli, Aeolian Islands, Italy. The Trust also runs a programme of artist’s residencies in Stromboli and in Li Galli island, Positano, Italy. In 2013, it initiated Lezioni d’Italiano, a series of performative lectures by artists addressing Italian subjects. In collaboration with Creative Perfumers, London, the Trust produced a series of perfume workshops to promote artist’s research in fragrances which culminated in the exhibition I’m here but you’ve gone. The Trust has started promoting meditation as a new tool for artistic research through weekly meetings called Meditative Tuesdays. The Fiorucci Art Trust distinguishes itself from the collection of its founder.
In 2016, The Magazine Sessions will run from February-May and then following the closing of the Serpentine Pavilion, the series continues in November and December.