Sophie Foster

Learning Designer

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Place is Paramount: Sophie Foster

Sophie Foster is an English artist based in Germany. This interview was recorded in December 2019 during her residency in the Leitrim Sculpture Centre. Her project Customs House was one of my favou…

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Customs House - Sophie Foster Opening Reception: Friday 29th November, 5-8pm at Leitrim Sculpture Centre

Exhibition Statement:

CUSTOMS HOUSE is an area of artistic research into the complexities of borders. Viewing from the map, the Irish border near to where Manorhamilton is situated is more or less invisible, interweaving unconventionally through farmland and homes causing numerous unofficial crossing points that are difficult to concretise. During the course of the residency, artist Sophie Foster visited sections of the north side of the Irish border between Belcoo and Belleek, collecting physical associations of its landscape such as water, stones, sticks and vegetation. These items have been precisely catagorised through the GPS code of where they were found and organised within the exhibition space as a pop up exchange centre. They will be available to be traded with other natural items brought in by the audience members from the Irish Republic side of the border. By asking people to choose and reposition objects from bordering locations, the natural and artificial functions of the border have been reinforced, drawing attention to the socio-geographical contradictions of the current European political debate -  the dividing line reflects on both sides an area of displacement and turbulent history as well as what is now an open border and freedom to cross.

The artist will be available to manage the exchange of goods in the gallery, meet the public and continue the project between 1pm – 4pm weekdays and 11am-4pm on Saturdays.

Biography:

After completing a Combined Honours degree at Newcastle University UK, Sophie Foster remained in the city working as a contemporary artist and arts educator within the lifelong learning sector. She accomplished her first solo exhibition Transitions: At a Snail’s Pace (2012) with the National Glass Centre in Sunderland and later awarded a residency at Northumbria University, working in their paper studio. She is now based in Weimar, DE after recently completing an MFA in Public Art and New Artistic Strategies at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar under Prof. Danica Dakić. From there, her work has made a shift into photographic reconstruction, site-specific performance and temporary interventions about narrative, identity, memory and place.

Proud to be supported by the Arts Council.

Light refreshments will be served, everyone welcome.

Exhibition runs until Saturday 14th December.

Gallery opening times 

11am-4pm.Thursday to Saturday - Doors open at front of house. Tuesday and Wednesday - Go first to central reception at the side of the building.

Leitrim Sculpture Centre, New Line, Manorhamilton, Co LeitrimIonad Dealbhóireachta, Cluainín, Co. Liatroim

[email protected] www.leitrimsculpturecentre.ie

LSC acknowledge the financial support of the Arts Council and Leitrim County Council.

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10/10/19 - 11/11/19

Coming Home @ Bauhaus Eins

I am delighted to be a part of this exhibition presenting: Building My Memory House, developed for my MFA Thesis defence and performed in July 2019, which coincided with my exhibition A Memory House at Bauhaus Eins, Weimar.

THIS approximately 150-year-old house is rather unremarkable according to Weimar standards, no historical figures lived here, the architecture is not particularly noteworthy and like many homes in the area our basement floods every time there is a lot of rain.

WHAT makes this house remarkable are the people inside and the activities that are happening here for the past 10 years. The house also has a fortunate address name, Bauhausstraße 1 and is located adjacent to the university’s main building which was designed by Henry van de Velde and built between 1904 and 1911. The University’s main building can be seen from our kitchen windows and was one of the most important art school building projects at the turn of the century and was also the birthplace of the Bauhaus in 1919.

HOW we want to show you this diversity of personalities who have lived and lived here is both simple and extensive. Arts. Music. Inventions. Design. Concepts. Projects. In a one-month-and-a-day-long exhibition, we´re inviting the public to enter our doors to learn about our mission, participate in activities and see some of the artists we have supported over the years. All floors will be filled with exciting objects, arts, and installations which try to grab and portray all that has happened in the Bauhaus Eins in recent years.

VISIT www.bauhauseins.de or COME HOME (10th Oct – 11th Nov / Tuesday — Friday 4 to 8 pm) to have a look into the renovated living spaces and some of the innovative research and interior decoration that has taken place over the past decade. This house is a type of laboratory and similar to the Haus am Horn Musterhaus we hope that the best ideas inside will be distributed and shared with others to spread awareness and concepts for better, more ecologically sustainable renovation methods and architecture in the future. Every Wednesday we will talk at 5pm about how to renovate in modern ways keeping old traditions alive – that‘s Bauhaus Eins.

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10/10/19 - 16/12/19

Artist in Residence at The Leitrim Sculpture Centre

I am excited to be one of the five exhibition residencies of 2019 at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre, Manorhamilton, Ireland, in association with the Arts Council. The centre is a national resource for advancing the practice and knowledge of visual art making and its creative and critical engagement with the ecologies of landscape, place and the rural. Functioning as a laboratory for creativity and innovation LSC encourages experimentation in the material productions and display of compelling and challenging new work and in the wider public acquisition of traditional and contemporary skills and knowledge across all media. I am really looking forward to engaging with their support and facilities as well as expanding my work in areas of social engagement, rural arts and the environment.

Click here for more information

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03/08/19 - 20/09/19

DID YOU MEAN BAUHAUS?

How do 17 young international artists from 11 different countries studying at the Bauhaus-Universitat Weimar translate the ideals and basic ideas of the Bauhaus tradition into new, contemporary and cultural questions? Find out from 7pm on Friday, 2nd August 2019 at the opening of their exhibition "Did you mean Bauhaus?" at the Gallerie Bernau. The group exhibition will be opened with an introduction by former MFA Public Art and New Artistic Strategies collaborator Anke Hannemann.

With artists:

Denise Rosero BERMÚDEZ (Ecuador), Constanza CARVAJAL (Chile), Ah Ram CHAE (South Korea), Sophie FOSTER (England), Kathryn GOHMERT (USA), Devadeep GUPTA (India), Stefan LESUEUR (USA), Ma Hie (Iran), Yael PERI (Israel), Yagmur Iskin RUZGAR (Turkey), Nora SPIEKERMAN (Germany), Edoardo TEDDE (Italy), Jakob WIRTH (Germany), WONG Sze Ting (Hong Kong), Astrid TRUE MAY (Germany), Sergio VALENCIA (Mexico)

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29/06/19 - 01/07/19

A Memory House

From Friday I will be exhibiting my Audio walk A Memory House as part of the final presentation of my Master Thesis work. Opening: 

Friday 28th June 18:00 - 20:00

Exhibition:

Saturday 29th June - Monday 1st July 12:00-16:00

Master Thesis Defence:

Monday 1st July 15:00

@ Bauhaus Eins 1.0G, Bauhausstrasse, 99423 Weimar

A Memory House was developed as an audio walk for the indoor, private space of an artist atelier. From exploring the rooms of the first floor, which housed many interesting objects and pieces of furniture, the ancient concept of  the mind palace came into place as a form that would unleash memories of the walker as they move from room to room. The goal is to create a dialogue between the artist and audience, a compelling voice inside the head that guides, instructs and picks out various aspects of the space that was either interesting, or evoked certain narratives from everyday home life such as the change of the seasons, packing in order to move out and communicating with family members. Through the power of sound this ensemble of everyday scenarios can be explored at a more personal level, creating new narratives that can be transferred and performed over and over, gaining a new clarity each time.

© MFA-Program “Public Art and New Artistic Strategies”, Bauhaus-Universität    Weimar. Organised by: Prof. Danica Dakić, Anke Hannemann, Ina Weise.  Coordinated by: Jirka Reichmann

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18/05/19

BUSINESS AS USUAL

I would like to warmly invite you to presentation of my work during the Lange Nacht der Museen 2019 for the IMAGINARY BAUHAUS MUSEUM:

22.00 - Midnight | BUSINESS AS USUAL Public Projection / Performance by Sophie Foster Projection Locations from start to finish: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Campus / in front of the Main Building Marienstraße Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, University Library Schützengasse Theaterplatz Wielandstraße Goetheplatz Karl-Liebknecht-Straße Bauhaus Museum Weimar The project consists of an outdoor projection of an animated neon sign with the slogan BUSINESS AS USUAL and its acronym BAU, meaning construction in German. The phrases each define an ongoing and unchanging state of affairs despite the difficulties or disturbances of an area under construction, reflecting on the status of construction in Weimar as it undergoes reconstructions for the Bauhaus centenary. The artist uses irony to highlight the way people’s surroundings are in constant change marked by an adaption to everyday circumstances, regardless of what architects, urban planners and administrators originally envisaged in the blueprint. The scale of the work also plays on the notion of ambiguity- while the typeface and neon medium suggests a branding of the space similar to advertising, the installation can easily be taken away, acting more as a means of highlighting what is already there than of intervening into the urban environment. Text by Xenia Schürmann Photo: Nathalia Azuero ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMAGINARY BAUHAUS MUSEUM is an artistic research exhibition series of the MFA program „Public Art and New Artistic Strategies“, Faculty of Art and Design at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar under the direction of professor Danica Dakić, Anke Hannemann, Ina Weise, Jirka Reichmann (coordinator). For more information and full schedule click here  With special thanks to Nathalia Azuero and Vasili Macharadze

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IMAGINARY BAUHAUS MUSEUM

03/04/19 - 02/06/19

IMAGINARY BAUHAUS MUSEUM is an exhibition project by the MFA programme "Public Art and New Artistic Strategies" from the Bauhaus University Weimar in association with the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. In the Schiller Museum (April 3 - June 2) and in urban space (April-July 2019) international students and teachers explore the utopian possibilities of a Bauhaus collection of the future in performances and installations together with the audience.

With artists:

Minhee Ahn, Moawya Al Khadra, Elham Asadpour, Nathalia Azuero, Denise Rosero Bermúdez, Vanessa Brazeau, Vincent Brière, Nine Budde, Nicolas Buenaventura, Miguel Buenrostro, Antonije Burić, Suelen Calonga, María Constanza Carvajal, Ahram Chae, Vienne Chan, Julieta Ortiz de Latierro, Egemen Demirci, Lucía Diegó, Runze Feng, Adhika Ferdinand, Sophie Foster, Kathryn Gohmert, Pia Grüter, Devadeep Gupta, Katherin Gutiérrez, Anke Hannemann, Lucero Hernández, Sam Hopkins, Kavachi, Nikola Kekerović, Iva Kirova, Stefan Klein, Denise Lee, Asha Lester, Stefan Lesueur, Sujin Lim, Vasili Macharadze, María Paula Maldonado, Atsuko Mochida, Maayan Miriam Mozes, Hannes Neubauer, Matheus Opa, Mila Panic, Eleftheria Panousi, Yael Peri, Saman Pourisa, Iskin Yagmur Ruzgar, Paloma Sanchez-Palencia, Claire Seringhaus, Lena Skrabs, Nora Spiekermann, Natsumi Sugiyama, Saša Tatić, Edoardo Tedde, Cansu Naz Tekir, Daniel Theiler, Michael Usling, Farzane Vaziritabar, Ginna Alejandra Vélez Carrasco, Claire Waffel, Isaac Chong Wai, Maria Walcher, Ina Weise, Jakob Wirth, Sze Ting Joephy Wong

Exhibition opening: Wednesday 3rd April 18:00 - 20:00

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07/02/19 - 09/02/19

Looking out of Windows 

From tomorrow I will be presenting my sound installation Looking out of Windows for the Winterwerkschau 2019 at the Bauhaus-Universität, Weimar.  Thursday 7th February 16:00 - 18:00 Friday 8th February 15:00 - 18:00 Saturday 9th February 12:00 - 16:00 @ the Project Room 601, Limona building, Steubenstrasse, 99423 Weimar

Sophie Foster's sound archive displays various narrations that her Grandfather recorded in 2006. Originally complied as an audio diary, he reflected on what he saw out of his kitchen window, from the weather to the wildlife. The work invites the viewer to follow the same action, to look out to an unconnected landscape and draw parallels that question the importance of place.

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YOU HAVE A STRANGE PERCEPTION OF YOURSELF

27/11/18

Come and join the international students from Bauhaus-Universität's MFA Programme "Public Art And New Artistic Strategies" as we transform our studios into an exhibition space for one night only. Students will present a variety of artwork, installations and performances as part of the "Freie Kunst Exhibition Series." Featuring work by: Edoardo Tedde, Nikola Kekerović, Yael Peri, Constanza Carvajal Ferrer, Yagmur Ruzgar, Devadeep Gupta, Ah Ram Chae, Elham Asadpour, Stefan Lesueur, Asha Lester, Denise Lee, Michael Usling, El Pan, Cansu Naz Tekir, Matheus Opa, Adhika Ferdinand, Minhee Ahn, Suelen Calonga Pessoa, Maria Paula Maldonado, Moawya Al-khadra'a, Katherin Gutierrez, Nathalia Azuero Suárez, Miguel Bnrstr, Farzane Vaziri Tabar, Sophie Foster, Vincent Brière and Lucía Diegó. From 19:00 onwards

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A Walk to the Forest Warden's House Participatory Workshop ​ WORKSHOP PART 1: Planning the route Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September between 10:00 - 17:00 WORKSHOP PART 2: The Walking Tour Saturday 15th September 13:00

A Walk to the Forest Warden's House is a participatory workshop which aims to open up personal narratives of places of interest and generate new perceptions of locations within Helsinki through the act of walking. Over the course of the project, participants are invited to discuss and submit locations and a walking route of the city will be created. The following week, personal histories of the locations will be introduced as an interactive walking tour. A new photo of each location will be taken and at the end of the walk, comparisons between old and new will be discussed. The inspiration for this workshop came after I found two family photographs taken 40 years apart of the Forest Warden's House on Seurasaari island. The first photo, taken by my grandfather in 1959, represents my own family migration history as my grandparents lived in Helsinki for a number of years. The second was taken in 2004 by my father during his first visit to the place after being born there. This location will be included as the last point of the walk where I will be able to take the third photograph as the next generation. If you have an idea for a location, please download the location criteria instructions here and send your submissions to [email protected] or do it personally at Third Space by joining the WORKSHOP PART I on the 8th and 9th September between 10:00 - 17:00.

A public art project in association with Third Space, Helsinki and the European Cultural Foundation

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25/08/18

1. Internationale Bauhausmeisterschaft

Documentation from our 1. Internationale Bauhaus-Meisterschaft with Denise Rosero, Jakod Wirth, Stefan Lesueur and myself. Special thanks to the teams that took part, our host Cornelius Ludtke, the people of Kunstfest Weimar, Çağdaş Biber for the photos, those who helped promote our event and our spectators who stopped by Theaterplatz to cheer the teams on. We had a great afternoon!

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25/08/18

1. Internationale Bauhausmeisterschaft 

How Bauhaus are you? Who are the new Bauhaus Masters? How well do you measure up to the Bauhaus ideals? We are looking for teams to participate in a series of games and athletic challenges which reassess the legacy of the Bauhaus.

After almost 100 years of the first materialisation of Master Gropius’ ideals could Weimar offer, among its people, the excellence Gropius was aiming for? Can the infamous trifecta of Architect, Painter and Sculptor join together once again and master their crafts bringing all their creative efforts into a whole? Do the people of Weimar have the kindred spirit to test their own strengths against the Bauhaus ideals?

In the context of Acting Space – Bauhaus Goes Kunstfest 2018 The 1. Internationale Bauhausmeisterschaft will put the Bauhaus Principles to the test through a series of challenges in an attempt to finally find the New Gropius Musterschüler.

If you are interested in participating register with your team until 14/08/18 here

Or complete our questionnaire letting us know what Bauhaus means to you

Curation

Prof. Liz Bachhuber, Anke Hannemann, Janek Müller, Kunstfest Weimar Artists Sophie Foster (GB), Stefan Lesueur (USA), Denise Rosero Bermúdez (ECU), Jakob Wirth (D) Production Kunstfest Weimar Funding Founded by Kulturstiftung des Bundes im Fonds »Bauhaus heute« im Rahmen von »Hitze Kälte Apparate. Bauhaus – Versuche am Gleichgewicht«, Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Härterei Reese Supported by Stadt Weimar

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12/07/18

Let’s Walk

Let’s Walk by Mobile Spaces is now live for Summaery 2018 at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. The course led by Michael Markert explores how spaces, places and our perception of space are transformed by mobile technologies.The results of this module, in which we applied techniques such as Dérives and walk science, are presented online in an augmented space, where users find themselves in virtual space between venues, concepts of mobile applications and in-situ analysis and experimentation.

Experience our online exhibition here All you need to do is walk to unlock the virtual content which includes a teaser to my upcoming project in Helsinki with Third Space and the European Cultural Foundation.

Other content to unlock has been created by: 

Luis Alvarez, Maud Canisius, Zaryab Chaudhry, Sinan Chen, Erich Flock, Annika Hollmichel, Charles von Humboldt-Dachroeden, Mohamad Ghadir Khalil, Andreas Kühn, Michael Markert, Jonas Obertüfer, Muhammad Qumail, Juliane Schwabenbauer, Xiaoxi Zheng and Tobias Zimmer

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27/05/18

Wir sind auch Enten / We are also Ducks

As a group of MFA Public Art and New Artistic Strategies students, we are trying to create our own platform to experiment in the public space of Weimar. We see this as an opportunity to work together outside the typical class structure, creating a series of interventions around the city. The first edition, to be held tomorrow, from 15:00 to 18:00, will take place on the Sternbrücke. The bridge is the main theme, both in terms of the literal bridge and the idea of “bridging” as a concept. The title, “Wir sind auch Enten”/”We are also Ducks”, refers to the ducks presence around the Sternbrücke and our goal to also become a part of the landscape.

This is a self-organized exhibition, with the aim of making the procedure as simple as possible. This means that everyone is responsible for their own work, materials and documentation.

With: María Constanza Carvajal, Ahram Chae, Sophie Foster, Devadeep Gupta, Nikola Kekerović, Stefan Lesueur, Asha Lester, Jasmin, Yael Peri, Iskin Yağmur Ruzgar, Nora Spiekermann, Edoardo Tedde, Daniel Theiler, Astrid True May, Jakob Wirth

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26/2/18 - 12/3/18

Adventure-Country Winter Campus Artist in Residence 

I am excited to be part of this year’s Winter Campus at Künstlerstadt Kalbe, a living and working space for a total of 16 scholarship holders of various nationalities. This year’s participants  come from Germany as well as Armenia, Chile, Great Britain, Austria and the Ukraine with disciplines ranging from photography, painting and film. I am really looking forward to meeting and working with them all over the next two weeks!

We will present our work and projects during weekly studio tours, which start every Saturday from 2 pm at the Gutsverwalterhaus in Vienau’s Wiesengrund. The official opening of the Winter Campus is next Tuesday, February 27, at 7 pm.

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17/1/18

„Desintegriert euch! – Postmigrantische Kulturpraxis an der Schnittstelle von Kunst und Politik.“ Shermin Langhoff is director of the state-run Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin, which was voted Theater of the Year in 2014 and 2016. Previously, Langhoff founded the post-migrant theater at Ballhaus Naunynstraße, whose concept and productions caused a stir internationally. Under her leadership, the Gorki is also becoming a theatre that has received a lot of attention throughout the world. It tells stories of today's heterogeneous society in contemporary pieces and radical reinterpretations of well-known texts with a multilingual ensemble. Shermin Langhoff received many awards for this work. BAUHAUS DINNER WITH... is a performative dinner and talk format by the MFA-program »Kunst im öffentlichen Raum und neue künstlerische Strategien/Public Art and New Artistic Strategies«, Faculty of Art and Design, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, under the direction of Professor Danica Dakić, Anke Hannemann, Ina Weise and Jirka Reichmann (Coordination).