The Emely Research Centre was established to conduct research on potato-oriented issues.
In January 2010 the first Emely Research Centre conference will take place. It's theme is
Figuring something out with the help of potatoes
This is the schedule so far:
27th January
The first day of the conference is all about figuring out how to socialise with the help of potatoes.
Different kinds of potato salad will be served throughout the day at the Emely café.
Artist in Residency Trish Scott will run a workshop: "Potatoes as a Conversational Tool"
The potato will be used both as a physical and conceptual word building device. Participants will have the opportunity to carve letters from potatoes and play scrabble, leading to meaningful forms of linguistic and social exchange.
Those with an aversion to sociability can follow the alternate pathway "How to disguise oneself in a Fish and Chip shop". Participants will have the opportunity to transform potato peelings into a suit that, when worn correctly in a chip shop*, will render them indistinguishable from kitchen refuse and thus release them from the social pressures of conversation.
[* Please note: Disguise will only work in a) a chip shop kitchen and b) a chip shop kitchen that manufactures chips from scratch.]
28th January
The second day of the conference is dedicated to dilettantism and how potatoes help us to speak and think about it.
As a warm-up activity, Robin Hutt will be leading a passive exercise session for couch potatoes at 9.30am. All movement will be minimal and all exercises can be replicated safely on a couch in your own home. Potatoes will be provided. Please bring a couch if you have one.
There will be an ongoing discussion at the conference table, stimulated and interrupted by the esearch Centre Library and the following presentations:
11am
Rosalie Schweiker will use potatoes to elaborate the five main methods of dilettantism:
1.Not thinking about what one does (Ignorance and Limitations)
2.Doing it for oneself only (Subjectivity and Standards).
3.Doing what someone else has done before (Originality and Reproduction)
4.Not knowing how to do something but doing it nevertheless (Autonomy and Limitations)
5.Using something instead of representing it (Love and Money)
To put theory into practice she will also demonstrate her reproduction of Sigmar Polke's Apparatus Whereby One Potato Can Orbit Another. (See the original here: x ).
1pm
Arthur Hazlewood will show the conference his work "From which remarkably enough nothing develops" and explain how he has been influenced by potatoes and the discussion of dilettantism in Robert Musil's novel: The Man Without Qualities and in Joanne Lee's article Unprofessional Development (Read it here). The public will be invited to try out his work (See it here: IMG_6021.JPG).
3pm
Rosie Lee will be introducing the Starchy gallery. The Starchy Gallery has ever sinced promoted the Triumph of the Potato, how it has absorbed celebrity imagery, reshaped it in its own central domain and touched us profundly. Or as the article "Celebrity Potatoes - A 21st Century Phenomenon" puts it:
"Since its launch in 2004, The Starchy Gallery, South London blah blah bah blah blah wintessed the rise of celebrity potatoes blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, and its significance in British Culture today" (read the whole article here )
29th January
11am
Artist's talk with the Emely's Artist In Residency: Trish Scott.
Through linguistic analysis Trish Scott will uncover the pivotal role potatoes play in life, as it slowly unfurls. To test out her theory she willl re-examine several works of popular literature in order to prove the vital role potatoes play in plot development. Then she will see if similar principles can be applied to a number of outstanding mysteries submitted by members of the public. In order to aid this research, and embrace the subject matter to its sensory fullness, Trish Scott will keep to a strict diet of potatoes for the duration of her residency.
Parallel to the conference there will be an exhibition by Sarah Bahr at the Emely, featuring a selection of her masterly potato prints. Sarah Bahr currently studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Lyon, France, and has been working with potato prints since the age of six.
If you would like to participate in the conference or have a suggestion, please email rosalie.schweiker [at] googlemail.com
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