Stone Oven House artistic residency
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
Stone Oven House is the artistic residency in Italian Alps born to inspire all the community. Here there is no real border between everyday life and art. Here artists learn by necessity to build dry stone walls according to the ancient technique and to new functions. Developers try to find the connection between rural projects, art and crypto currency. Curators redefine the function of contemporary arts. Plumbers rethink bathroom aesthetics.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
Stone Oven House was conceived by the collective Balovin&Beccato. When it was still just a dream, this was imagined as a place that could directly inspire the all community to the awareness of a more sustainable and beautiful life, through artistic and rural practices without intermediaries. And with no real boundary between the two.
The collective Balovin&Beccato has in fact focused its artistic research on the exploration of how art can move consciences towards more sustainable consumption and therefore towards a happier existence. It started initially with In Kind Exchange, a project launched by Sergey Balovin in 2010 and which sees the artist making portraits in exchange for useful things. From an artistic experiment it became a life practice. With In Kind Exchange Sergey Balovin travelled around the world for 17 months without spending money, visiting 36 countries. He painted portraits of people in many different contexts in exchange for train tickets, food and accommodation. In Kind Exchange took place in private homes, restaurants, shops, museums, art galleries, schools, art institutes and on the street. Up to now it has involved a community of 8000 people.
Stone Oven House was supposed to be the consequence and the next step in years of practicing In Kind Exchange and a place to share all these results with the community. In 2017 became reality.
Balovin&Beccato offered a family from the little town of Rorà to lend them an old traditional farmhouse not inhabited in exchange for maintenance and renovation. The family accepted the offer and the experiment started with zero budget. The house was renovated, furnished and equipped without money. The citizens of Rorà collaboratively participated in the process of creating the residency. Collective cooperation formed a community.
Since 2017 thousands of guests visited Stone Oven House and got inspired. Among them there were 97 international artists.
Key objectives for sustainability
Stone Oven House is the result of the artistic research by Balovin&Beccato collective which, through the In Kind Exchange project, reflects on the relationship between user and contemporary artist, on the sustainability of the artistic work and on the consumerist society in general. Why to produce art when only a small part is actually exhibited? How can contemporary authors relate concretely to the need for greater environmental sustainability? What we really need in our daily life?
The choice of the marginal territory make the artists in residence at Stone Oven House in continuous dialogue with nature and the limitation of its resources. In a mountain area, accessibility to resources is more difficult and less immediate, the same applies to accessibility to artistic materials. This leads artists to use organic and recycled materials and building with circularity. In fact Upcycling is one of the fundamental approaches of the Stone Oven House community. Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Stone Oven House is a place that was conceived and designed by artists. It itself is conceived as artwork. It is detached from the rules of the market and business. The design of the spaces respects the logic of functionality without following standards and tending towards harmony. Traditional construction techniques are mixed up with new installations. The old utensils are arranged as if they were in a museum. Stone Oven House exists to offer an aesthetic experience to visitors and guests.
To those who visit Stone Oven House is offered an experience that transcends everyday life. If they stay in the residence, a room is prepared for them that is in effect an art gallery. It respects the tastes of visitors, in fact in the booking form of the visit, visitors are asked for information regarding their artistic taste and their practical needs. But they themselves are also confronted with the pleasure of working to take care of this place. In fact, all the residents actively participate in the maintenance of the place. There is no service staff.
Moreover in the art of Stone Oven House residents, the dynamic innovative urban mind meets the conservative rural reality. The harsh highlanders, in fact, educated and sensitive, but different from us, appear as strict judges. Mediocrity is not allowed.
Key objectives for inclusion
Stone Oven House was born from the idea of Balovin & Beccato, but the realisation would not have been possible without the participation of a large community. There are many local inhabitants who have donated materials and furniture to the project. There are also many volunteers who have physically helped with the renovation of the spaces of the residence. Everyone participated in the project according to their possibilities.
Moreover at Stone Oven House the organisation of everyday life is quite far from common ideas and stereotypes. Unlike traditional communes, there are no permanent residents, except for the organisers of the project. The idea of the horizontal structure of universal equality is not applicable here, as well as the vertical hierarchical structure. Costs and responsibilities are distributed among all members of the community according to preliminary requests and agreements. This allows allows all kind of people to participate at the residency, despite their social level and their education. The commune is formed from three groups: artists, guests and helpers. If the main task of artists is to work on art projects, then guests who come on vacation support the project with material participation, covering a significant part of the costs of maintaining the residence, as well as supporting the artists and helpers. So the helpers carry out the main tasks of the household. At the same time, there are no clear boundaries between these three groups. Everybody has the right to work as well as to rest and to make art. And all the inhabitants of the commune meet for a joint lunch and dinner.
Results in relation to category
Stone Oven House brings together people to relate to new lifestyles inspired by exchange practices. In fact the artist in residency project, attracting hundreds of visitors every year, inspires the new generations and the local community to a more sustainable lifestyle, closer to nature, but still dynamic and international.
How Citizens benefit
Stone Oven House has a continuous impact on society in many different situations because it continues to inspire its visitors, residents and collaborators. Through the renovation and redevelopment of the farmhouse, the local family owner has revalued their property and after 3 years asked for the property to be returned. Currently this same family is starting an educational and hospitality farm activity in the farmhouse. So in this case the artistic experiment has brought to the local community new visions in terms of opportunities, both economic and social. It is the demonstration that the rural territory at the moment has great possibilities to be discovered and used and can be a place of social and economic experimentation.
Innovative character
The innovative character of Stone Oven House is that it is an artistic residence open to different people, despite their origin, education and social level. Art and rural practices are the link among the community of the residency. It is not dedicated only to artists, as the usual artists in residency. Here the artists come to work on specific projects or come to stay without a specific purpose. Volunteers and other professionals who are interested in a different lifestyle and close to nature come to stay at Stone Oven House for short, medium or long periods, sharing community life with the artists. So there is mutual comparison and inspiration. Interdisciplinary projects and cooperations arise from the spontaneous meeting of different people. And a unique model of life and work is born to which everyone brings their own experiences.
