New residencies collate art, science and sculpture

Deanne Butterworth Siteless NowDance inspired by public art and music that incorporates DNA science will be the focus of two new artists’ residencies as part of the City of Melbourne’s thriving Creative Spaces program.

Dancer Deanne Butterworth and sound composer Elissa Goodrich will have free use of Creative Spaces’ Boyd Studio One in Southbank and Carlton’s LAB14 Studio to develop and test new work in a Council-managed space.

Chair of the City of Melbourne’s Arts and Culture Portfolio, Councillor Rohan Leppert said the Creative Spaces Arts Residencies gave artists the freedom to use their talents to explore new ways of producing unique creative work.

“The Creative Spaces program gives artists an opportunity to develop and expand their practice, which is vital for our city’s continued growth as a vibrant and diverse arts capital,” said Councillor Leppert. “These artists both have new, unique and creative concepts, and I look forward to seeing what they produce during these residencies.”

Deanne will develop a choreographed response to sculptures within the Hoddle Grid, with the public encouraged to engage with the project to assist her research process.

Deanne is a Melbourne based dancer and choreographer and has been nominated for many Australian Dance Awards. She has had her work presented in and/or supported by Dance Massive Melbourne, Lucy Guerin Inc., National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne international Arts Festival and more. Since 2006 she has been concentrating on creating a body of mostly solo work.

Elissa will use genetic data as the basis for music compositions in collaboration with theatre and multimedia practitioner Nadja Kostich and evolutionary biologist Dr Anna Syme. Together, they will use visual modelling of DNA changes for a musical score.

Elissa is a percussionist, sound artist and composer, she records and performs in contemporary classical, jazz and pop groups and works in independent theatre and dance. In 2013 Elissa released the critically acclaimed jazz debut for States of Play and solo marimba project, Bach Conversations.

The Creative Spaces Artist-in-Residence initiative consists of six residencies each year for both individual artists and arts organisations. Each residency receives a stipend of between $7,000 – $10,000 and free use of the space at either Creative Spaces LAB-14 Studio (three-month residency) or Boyd Studio-1 (six-month residency).

The award-winning program currently manages 130 spaces that house over 220 artists and the Creative Spaces website – a free resource for the arts sector that lists available space across Australia for creative work. For more information about the residencies, visit: Boyd Studio-1 and LAB-14 Studio for details.

Image: Deanne Butterworth in Siteless Now