






Working-progress.
Golnaz Bashiri and Rosie Benn, (c) 2020,
All rights reserved.
Working-progress
Abschluss in limbo
The title working-progress was derived from the experience of working on a final master project in the middle of a world pandemic. We responded to the context by taking our practice outside of the studio, university, gallery situation and rather took our viewers, sitting at home to the so-called outside world, the garden and running route through the neighbourhood of Hernals. Brought together in a shared online place, zoom.us.
One after the other, we raced through the virtual space, handing on the platform to present like a baton.
Within the baton marathon, the work 'Running position and Sitting position' explored the metaphorical and methodical practice of leaving the comfort and familiar zone to new unknown places, in which the courage of an individual or group of people is nurtured. In the time of quarantine, ‘Running’ from the location of the house to the outside world requires the willingness to take action as well as the foresight to possible or potential events in the future. Within the project the subject of running is narrated in parallel with the tension between the media coverage and personal perceptions of the Iranian Green Movement (2009-to present), it considers the method of running and sitting with the aim of transformation and reformation in the scale of self and society.
In this format, the work 'What's easier to train, a cat or a human?' enquired into the experience of mutual struggle in re-training, and interrelating to others via ones own habits, contradictions and dependencies. Observations of ecosystems within the garden, as well as representations within imagery on cat food packaging; toyed with the question of how cultural and legal constructions affect critters within formats of so-called pet and animal contextualizations, as well as how these can be a catalyst for the politics of negotiating symbiosis within wider zones and human interrelations.

Running Position and Sitting Position.22.06.2020. Golnaz Bashiri
Golnaz Bashiri
Running Position and Sitting Position
The Path from unconscious to consciousness
Master thesis in Art & Science
Live Running Practice, 17. 06. 2020, 10:00 - 11:30.
Hernals. Himmelmutterweg. Grünbeckweg. 1170. Vienna, Austria
When the decision is taken by a person, it is the conscious action, which brings new possibilities to shift from unconscious thoughts and fears to the progressive process. The action of ‘Running’ is not only the movement from place A to place B rather it also involves dynamic mental changes through the thinking process.
This thesis directs the viewer’s attention to the duality and also the relative relationship between two actions, ‘Running’ and ‘Sitting’.
tinyurl.com/ybl77jm9
What's easier to train, a cat or a human?
Rosie Benn
Masterwork in Art & Science
Storytelling, lecture-performance, artistic research book
June 2020, Vienna, Austria
Your five zones are already at work. The fifth in a deep slumber. The hunch, speedy girl, and perennial time are making a plot. In the garden by the orange house storytelling and wild
accusations will be brought into practice. A pinboard way of trying to making sense of
things. A look into the micro-politics found in living with cats. There may be enactments of mutual appreciation and we might encounter a series
of rude interruptions. As we graze over the trials and tribulations of crisis and kinship in the animal kingdom.
Props were used as cues to trigger the live analysis of everyday artefacts, elements of strain and contradiction were embraced rather than hidden in order to expose complexities when delving into this personal interpretation of the current ecological and social crisis.
Parallel to the development of the lecture-performance, the research was also manifested within a written component. Primary and secondary research, ranging from material such as scientific journals, sketches, sound recording and interviews manifested themselves in a story of critical reflection and fantasy.
Excerpts of the story as well as a bibliography for the project can be found via the following link
https://issuu.com/rosie_benn/docs/what_s_easier_to_train_a_cat_or_a_human__excerpts_
To read the full version of this work or to put forward a comment or question: your interest is welcome at rosie_benn@yahoo.com