The CYENS Thinker Maker Space presents a two-week event focused on mapping local materiality and its potential for CNC extrusion.
During the event our guest visitors Joëlle Bitton and Kevin Hinz will be exploring the opportunities afforded by clay extrusion together with local artists and practitioners Melita Couta, Souzana Petri and Vassos Demetriou, in a renewed engagement with materiality. Re-thinking traditional making methods we will be exploring the possibilities of making, through data controlling CNC-machines. In an experimental public space set-up in Dimarchia’s Square, Kevin and Joëlle will be showcasing their latest research through a social exchange of information and skills with passers-by and practitioners.
The event is organised by CYENS Thinker Maker Space with the support of S+T+ARTS regional centre CYENS Center of Excellence as part of S+T+ARTS Residencies and S+T+ARTS Academies.
The event is open to the public. Registration is required only to attend the talks and masterclasses, since limited seats are available.
Registration for physical presence to the talks are now closed.
You can still register to watch the talks online via the link below.
STAY TUNED FOR ANY UPDATES ON THE EVENT
The visiting facilitators together with local artists/practitioners and Thinker Maker Space, will be presenting their work and the possibilities offered by the CNC extruder.
16:00 – Digital Fabrication & Rapid Prototyping
Presentation by the Thinker Maker Space Team
16:30 – Embodied Fabrication or the Pursuit of Oddness
Presentation by Joëlle Bitton
17:00 – Brick Geometries: 5-Axis Additive Manufacturing for Architecture
Presentation by Kevin Hinz
Break (30 min)
18:30 – Ancient ceramics with a modern twist
Presentation by Souzana Petri
19:00 – From nature to art
Presentation by Vassos Demetriou
19:30 – Clay as Performance
Presentation by Melita Couta
Open Discussion (Snacks & Drinks will be available)
A two-day tour around Cyprus in which the team will be introduced to local materials, craftspeople and Cypriot ceramics history. During the first day of the tour, the team will be collecting physical and digital data, local clay and soil as an attempt of mapping the materiality of Cyprus and creating a materials library. Our local representatives will be demonstrating how these materials can be collected and used. On the second day of the tour, we will be visiting local ceramists studios, artists and museums, collecting information in order to generate a visual library of the Cypriot craftsmanship.
08:30 – Departure from Nicosia
CYENS will be the meeting/starting point
09:30 – Arrival at Kornos
– Collection of materials tour
– Demonstration by Souzana Petri
– Traditional wheel demonstration by Vasoulla Adamou
12:00-14:00 – Lunch Break
14:00 – Departure for Larnaca
15:00 – Arrival at Larnaca
– Visit at the Archeological Museum of Larnaca
– Visit at Vassos Demetriou studio
– Visit at Gitonia Kalitechnon (Artists Alley)
18:30 – Departure for Nicosia
20:00 – Arrival at CYENS
08:30 – Departure from Nicosia
CYENS will be the meeting/starting point
09:30 – Arrival at Mitsero
– Collection of materials
– Demonstration by Souzana Petri
13:30-15:00 – Lunch Break
15:00 – Departure for Phini
16:00 – Arrival at Phini
– Collection of materials
– Demonstration by Yiota Dimosthenous
18:00 – Departure for Nicosia
20:00 – Arrival at CYENS
The 3-day hands-on workshop will have an experimental set-up in Dimarchia’s Square, open to all, inviting passers-by to take part. The passers-by will have the opportunity to take part in/ observe the following activities:
Clay minerals are affordable, abundant, naturally occurring minerals found in many parts of the world that have been used effectively for environmental processes. These minerals have been used in the disposal and storage of hazardous chemicals and remediation of polluted water. In addition, the use of clay minerals as the adsorbents for the adsorption of various hazardous substances (heavy metals, dyes, antibiotics, biocide compounds, and other organic chemicals) and CO2 has been widely studied by many researchers. Their performance depends on their characteristics, such as particle size, surface chemistry, particle shape, surface area, and other physical and chemical properties specific to a particular application. The ability to alert its characteristics by various processes can potentially improve its performance in the applications above.
All the outcomes of the workshop will be showcased in the exhibition area of Thinker Maker Space. The showcase is going to include 3D printed objects produced by the CNC extruder, the material and visual library collected from the two-day tour and audio-visual documentation of the two-week workshop. The showcase will be open to the public and accompanied by open discussions & reflection sessions.
The showcase will remain open for viewings from the 23rd of May until the the 3rd of June, Monday to Friday, from 10:00 to 16:00.
Joëlle Bitton is an ‘undisciplined’ practitioner. She currently teaches at the Zurich University of the Arts in Interaction Design. With her works, Joëlle explores a sense of intimacy and personal geography with machines and systems that are usually considered cold or unfriendly.
She likes most to entangle strangeness and familiarity together. As such, in her doctoral thesis at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, she created embodied fabrication experiences of personal data controlling CNC-machines.
She has also conducted HCI research at Media Lab Europe, Distance Lab and Culture Lab/Newcastle University. She has explored the mediation of technologies in human relationships and their potential social impact, notably with the projects “RAW” and “Passages”. She graduated from Université Paris Sorbonne in contemporary history on the 19th-century rise of nations correlated with the development of networks and technologies.
She advocates for the de-evangelisation of technologies and of design as problem-solvers and as markers of progress, especially in the context of global warming.
SOCIAL MEDIA | instagram/msvarjak | linkedin/joellebitton | twitter/msvarjak
WEBSITE | freeradicals.io
Kevin’s professional experience began in the construction business, a hands-on approach of learning the craft of building in practice. His academic studies focused on digital technologies for architecture, culminating in a thesis titled Brick Geometries: 5-Axis Additive Manufacturing for Architecture, a topic that looked specifically at 3D printed ceramics. He contributed to the construction of multiple exhibits, system prototypes, and architectural pavilions designed to explore the future of ceramics in architecture. After setting up a lab to print ceramics in the University of Montreal to explore numerical simulation and model optimization for 3D printing clay, Kevin moved to Zurich, Switzerland to work as a Digital Specialist, developing digital tools for KCAP Architects and Planners.
SOCIAL MEDIA | linkedin/kevin-hinz
WEBSITE | kevinhinz.com
Melita Couta is a multidisciplinary artist born in Nicosia, Cyprus. She studied in Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London (BA in Fine Art- Sculpture) and at the Slade School of Fine Art in London (MFA in Sculpture).
She has been working with sculpture, ceramics, installation art, performance as well as using collaborative and participatory methodologies in order to investigate subjects related with narratives through personal and collective identities and memories. As a curator and Artistic Director she has worked with local communities on Cultural projects, Festivals and Workshops in order to revisit local histories and making processes.
She has been exhibiting her work widely in Cyprus and abroad in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Some of her participations include “TERRA MEDITERRANEA – IN CRISIS / STIS MARUDIAS” House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios – Ethnological Museum – Nicosia, “BEAUFORT 04” Triennale of Sculpture – Belgium, “The Location of Culture” Pulchri Studio – The Hague, “CHYPRE 2010: L’ art au Present” Gallery Espace Commines – Paris, “Breaking Walls – Building Networks” Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art – Thessaloniki, “AGORAFOLLY OUTSIDE – INSIDE” Place de Grand Sablon, Europalia – Brussels.
Melita Couta has been working extensively in theatre and performing arts as a director, performance designer and producer collaborating with the Cyprus Theatre Organisation and other independent theatres in Cyprus, UK and Poland.
She is a Visiting Lecturer at the Fine Art Department of The Cyprus University of Technology and at the Fine Art Department of The Nicosia University teaching Ceramics amongst other courses.
SOCIAL MEDIA | instagram/melitacouta | facebook/melita.couta
WEBSITE | www.melitacouta.com
With a specialisation in ceramics and metals, having completed her masters in 2015 with a distinction from Brighton University, Souzana returned to Cyprus and founded Souzana Petri Crafts in the historic center of Nicosia. Her highly acclaimed work has been featured in exhibits in the UK, Italy, Spain and Austria.
In Cyprus, Souzana’s reputation within her field has resulted in countless collaborations, workshops and exhibitions of her work within cultural organisations such as the Ministry of Education, Archaeological department of the University of Cyprus and the Pierides Archaelogical Museum – Bank of Cyprus Cultural foundation.
Souzana’s work represents a true and direct lineage to our ancient past. She draws inspiration from the ancient history of ceramics and incorporates a modernised perspective to continue the dialogue with today’s audience. As well as her private work, she holds innovative and interactive educational workshops all over the island to teach our local history through her art.
SOCIAL MEDIA | instagram/souzana.petri.crafts | facebook/SouzanaPetriCrafts
Vassos Demetriou was born in 1954 in occupied Famagusta. After graduating from Instituto d’Arte Ceramica in Italy, he returned to Cyprus and set up his own workshop in 1982. His first objects were raku pots and vessels but he eventually became an acclaimed potter, frequently receiving awards at the Panhellenic Ceramic Exhibition: 1st prize (1990), 2nd prize (2000, 1988), 3rd prize (1986 and 2010). He has had six solo exhibitions in Cyprus and has participated in various group exhibitions in Cyprus and abroad (Italy, Egypt, Malta, Kuwait, Bulgaria, Australia). He is quite optimistic about pottery, not considering it an endangered art, judging from the pottery classes he offers to both amateur and professional enthusiasts of the craft.
SOCIAL MEDIA | instagram/demetriouvassos | facebook/VassosDemetriouCeramicArt
Dr Ioannis Vyrides is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Cyprus University of Technology. He has been in the Environmental Engineering Laboratory group leader since 2012. He holds a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece (2005). He has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Imperial College London, where he worked on the Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Reactor (SAMBR) to treat organic saline wastewater (2009). He has worked as a Post Doc at the Kings College London (2009-2010) and was a Visiting Lecturer at CUT (2011).
SOCIAL MEDIA | facebook/Environmental-Engineering-Lab-Cyprus-University-of-Technology
The Cyprus Handicraft Centre is located in Athalassa Avenue in Nicosia, Cyprus, and houses the Municipal Handicraft Services of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry. The Centre functions as a means for the revival of traditional arts and crafts, and their gradual implementation in the contemporary craft-making practices. It provides workshops in wheel spinning and features replicas of the age-long tradition of the island in pottery and ceramics such as terracottas, glazed and byzantine artefacts.
SOCIAL MEDIA | instagram/cyprus_handicraft_service | facebook/CyprusHandicraftService
WEBSITE | http://www.meci.gov.cy/meci/chs/
