Radiance

Some LocationS viSited1. Waterfront at Kopli

2. Estonian open air museum3. Walking path, hippodrome4. Russian church

5. Old city port of Tallinn

6. Heina street

7. Old Town

The Space BeTween US Rose Staff, Rose Sugarlove, Radium Salt, the fractured identities merge into highly functional cyborg. The human and machine interface through headphones, keypad and mouse; over sized eyes reflect blue of the massive laptop screen, She is not playing a movie or running a program, she is performing the cyborg unity, a technical process of fracturing and reconstructing images, of engulfing real space in digital media.

Rose first came to Culture Factory Polymer, a disused Soviet toy factory in Tallinn Estonia (since 2006 operating as a centre for cultural production and exhibition) in 2012 through our artist residency fellowship program. While in residency she was collecting video footage and training in the use of mapping software. She worked with international and local media artists to coordinate a workshop about mapping. She made several installations and performances in Polymer and other venues throughout the Baltic States. In 2013 she returned to Estonia and to Polymer to collect more video and to complete the project “The Space Between Us.”

The audio visual work is a combination of animation, advanced video editing, programming and real time performance. In this moment the cyborg forms into unity. The human part, absent - mindedly holds the coffee cup, the cyborg part is signalling, new possibilities and what is signified is complex communication about love, loss and despair. The contrast between the projected digital objects and the dilapidated atmosphere of our old factory is surprisingly cohesive. From a single low lumen projector, multiple moving images are diffused between the floor, walls and ceilings.

While at Culture Factory Polymer, Rose was in a constant mode of ritualized production, collecting video, making photos, drawing on paper or transfixed in front of the computer screen, programming, designing, networking researching and experimenting. Her commitment to the work was the meeting point with the other artists in Culture Factory Polymer as she embedded herself in our community and rendered in our lives. The human to human interface freezes, stalls and glitches but mediated through technology merges into perfect unity.

ernest truely 16 may 2014

culture Factory Polymer

artist Residency coordinator 2008-20014

aBOUT ReSidencY

Being an artist myself, I have always been afraid of one aspect that in nowadays` world accompanies this profession:

meaning the residency. I have no idea how many non-artists are aware of this part of artistic life style and part of so called

creative industries. Artist residencies are usually not situated in metropolises. The artists, coming here for a few months, test

themselves in a new environment and use the impulses from this place in their art works.

One has to admit, maybe even Tallinn is too big of a city for an artist residency like the one that was run at Culture Factory

Polymer in Tallinn, Estonia for seven years. This was where Australian artist Rose Staff / Radiance was for a few times.

Many of the residencies created for artists, musicians, writers and other creative people are situated in remote places, small

towns or in the countryside and are a steady part of the regional politics in Estonia. Another example of a remote centre is

the Kultivator on the Aland island in the Southern Sweden which is even a symbiosis of a milking cow farm and a residency.

As an artist, I never wanted to go to any of those places, because I have been afraid of that “space between us”, that Rose

Staff / Radiance is dealing with in her solo exhibition of the same name. Loneliness, “space between us”, that apart her from

her home, important people, things she has gotten used to do, together with little everyday rituals. In her case, emptiness

and loneliness are fought with everyday ritualized walks for hours, that are based on maps --- aren`t the maps as such

always meant for strangers. For a visitor, A guest. For the ones who are not become familiar with a given space during long

months and even years.

Rose Staff / Radiance documents the environment that surrounds her every day at 4 o`clock afternoon during her stay in

Estonia. But it is only a condition and a fore work for her current show. It is not really important, the fact that this young

woman might have felt herself lonely during her last stay in Estonia. That she might been longing for something or someone.

What is important is this magic video piece, the result of her personal experiences, of her artist talent and of her revelations.

engLiSh

Olles ise kunstnik, olen ma alati peljanud ühte selle elukutsega tänapäeval lahutamatult kaasas käivat olemisviisi:

residentuuri. Ma ei tea, kui paljud mittekunstnikud on kursis selle omamoodi loomemajanduse osa ning ühtlasi elustiiliga.

Kunstnike residentuurid ei asu reeglina metropolides – pole just kõige lihtsam teha selgeks näiteks Berliini või New Yorgi

linnavalitsusele: just see on meil puudu! Kunstnikud, kes mõneks kuuks siia tuleksid, ennast uues keskkonnas proovile

paneksid ning saadud impulsse oma loomingus kasutaksid. Sellistesse märgilise tähtsusega kohtadesse lähevad kunstnikud

niigi. Tuleb tõdeda, et õigupoolest on isegi Talllinn võibolla liiga suur linna sellise rahvusvahelise kunstiresidentuuri jaoks,

mis Kultuuritehases Polymer seitse aastat toimis ning kus ka Austraalia kunstnik Rose Staff / Radiance korduvalt viibis.

Sest suures osas asuvad kunstnike, muusikute, kirjanike ja teiste loomeinimeste residentuurid üsnagi kõrvalistes paikades,

väikelinnades või suisa maal ning on kindlasti regionaalpoliitika osa. Lõuna-Rootsis Alandi saarel asuv Kultivator on isegi

sümbioos täiesti toimivast lehmakarjaga farmist ning residentuurist.

Jah, ma ise pole kunstnikuna soovinud üksinda minna mitte ühtegi sellisesse residentuuri, sest ma olen kartnud just seda

„ruumi meie vahel“, millega Rose Staff / Radiance oma samanimelises meediakunstinäitusega tegeleb. Üksindusega, „ruumiga

meie vahel“, mis lahutab teda kodust ning olulistest inimestest ja harjumuspärastest tegevustest koos igapäevaste

väikseste rituaalidega. Sellega, kuidas tühjust ning üksindust täidetakse igapäevaste ritualiseeritud tundidepikkuste

jalutuskäikudega, mille aluseks on kaardid – ja eks ole ju maakaart kui selline alati mõeldud võõrale. Külalisele. Sellele, kes ei

ole antud koha, antud ruumiga kuude või aastate jooksul tuttavaks saanud. Rose Staff /Radiance dokumenteerib ka enda

ümbrust Eestis viibimise jooksul iga päev kell neli pärastlõunal. Aga see on kõigest tema praeguse näituse tingimus ja eeltöö.

Tegelikult ei ole oluline, et see noor naine tundis end ehk oma ema viimase Eestis-viibimise jooksul üksikuna. Et ta ehk igatses

kogu selle aja millegi või kellegi järele. Oluline on see maagilise mõjuga video-ja heliteos, mis on tema isiklike kogemuste,

kunstnikutalendi ning äratundmiste tulemus.

Sandra Jogeva

visual artist / Polymer curator / art critic

eStonian

aRTiST STaTemenT During 2012 and 2013 as I was travelling throughout Europe,

the landscape began to speak to me. . Arriving in Tallinn,

Estonia to undertake a visual arts residency at Polymer

Culture Factory I noticed that the geography was very

different to that of my home country Australia and I was

inspired to explore it.

Walking was my way to engage with the landscape and

became meditative— a space for reflection. I pondered

the real and imagined distances between locations and

also the emotional space and proximity between people

separated by geography. My walks became both physical

and psychological journeys.

With my camera in hand I processed my surroundings,

making meaning from my experiences and engaging with

the new environment. I was interested in exploring ways

to document and combine performance art and actions of

physical endurance with digital media and live video.

The way in which people navigate the physical landscape has

been greatly impacted by new technology with printed maps

diminishing to be replaced by screen-based maps. Maps are

powerful tools of communication which show a point of view

or inspire a journey in a particular environment. As universal

instruments they can guide us not only from one destination

to the next but provide a unique perspective on the world,

selecting information and ‘framing’ the space presenting it

in scale.

In this work I have used the triangle as a motif to depict

the journey from one destination to the next - A to B to

C. The geography of a place is mapped through personal

experiences, using macro and aerial footage to represent

multiple perspectives and ways of understanding

In Tallinn, Estonia I felt separated from loved ones by

geographical distance. Digital media such as skype, email,

facebook make people feel like they are closer through

creating the illusion of closeness. It enables us to connect

regardless of our physical locations. However it does not

replace human interaction and intimacy.

Rose Staff

aBOUT The aRTiSTRose Staff is a new media visual artist, Vj and designer from Byron Bay, Australia also known under the pseudonym Radiance. She works with video and live performance in a

range of settings, from contemporary art installations to

large scale glitchy vibrant projections at festivals around the world.

Playing with the audio-visual aesthetic and concepts of

synaesthesia she has showcased her work events such

as Vivid (AU), Glow Festival (Italy), White Nights (AU),

Glastonbury festival (Uk), Scopitone (France), LPM (Italy),

Sonica Dance Festival (Montenegro), AV playground (Austria),

Creature Live Art (Lithuania), Polymer Culture Factory

(Estonia), Burning Mountain Festival (Switzerland) and The Brisbane Powerhouse (AU), Australian Centre for Moving

Image (AU).

Using experimental hybrids of traditional and digital art forms, she explores how contemporary phenomena such as

communication technologies and audio-visual space influence

our perception of the modern world.

She has been exhibiting for the last 10 years and studied the first of her formal training in at Southern Cross University

in Lismore completing a BA in Visual Arts (Fine Arts) in 2004.

She then went on to complete a BA in Visual Media (Digital

Design) at QCA in 2007. She has been awarded two emerging

visual artist grants; one of which included a mentorship with

international digital artist and director of the IDA Steven

Danzig under the Young Artist Mentor Program (YAMP).

City Of Melbourne

MAB

Places Victoria

Renew Australia

Supported by:

d11 at docklands www.d11artists.wix.com/d11-ari