The Abundance Irrigation Residency is a 9-month archival program re-membering how to irrigate the natural abundance of Black/Indigenous ways of being. Guided by the ITS-IN-SCOPE archive caretakers, participating individuals will have the opportunity to interdependently archive shared histories and intuitive futures cooperatively within our cohort of artists and archivists.
The Abundance Irrigation Residency is in service to Los Angeles / Tongva Land based artists and archivists seeking to create conditions for collective understanding by sharing in practices, intuitions, and memories. A 9-month program, the contemporary studies experience is organized into three seasons of collaboration:
ABUNDANCE ( Oct-Dec 2021 )
A shared study of ABUNDANCE lays the foundation for our residency program. The archive is the abundance and as the living embodiment of it so are we. All residents are invited to explore rich histories and intuitive memories through a 10-week curriculum examining art, culture, and Self. Beginning with an orientation on October 17, the course material will be curated in partnership with the residents and weekly shared study sessions will be guided by the ITS-IN-SCOPE archive caretakers. This collective learning experience is available via hybrid model, alternating between online and offline gatherings at our Memoryhaus in Historic South Central.
IRRIGATION ( Jan-Mar 2022 )
During IRRIGATION we consider how the abundance of collective memory may naturally overflow into additional artistic mediums, places, and practices. These three months will be observed as free time for the group to work interdependently on developing an archival collection of material artifacts, visual essays, research notes, and audio records. This collection will be archived via ITS-IN-SCOPE and cultivate economic abundance for all participating residents (see: Cooperative Economics). In service to these efforts, the Memoryhaus and material publishing infrastructure will be available to residents throughout the experience.
RESIDENCY ( Apr-Jun 2022 )
RESIDENCY completes the program by creating the conditions for community to make home in the irrigated abundance of our collective memory. By honoring the experience of home as where your history is, this term is in support of the residents producing and maintaining a public presentation of our archival collection as a portal for communal healing through home-making. The presentation experience will be supported by programming curated in our support of cultivating various pathways for community members to engage with their own archive.
October 2: Information Session at the Memoryhaus
October 9: Information Session in Leimert Park
October 10: Application Deadline
October 17 to December 22: Weekly shared studies alternating between Sundays at 2pm at the Memoryhaus & Wednesdays at 7pm online
January to March 2022: Interdependently developing an archival collection
April to June 2022: Producing and maintaining a public presentation of our archival collection
The final presentation is a collaboratively developed archival collection and public presentation presented by the residency cohort and faculty. The collection will be archived and made available for purchase through ITS-IN-SCOPE catalogue and is to consist of at least 6 material artifacts, 12 research notes, 3 visual essays, and 3 audio records.
The Abundance Irrigation Residency is not a transactional economic opportunity, rather it is a cooperative economic model that invites all residents to contribute in the collective’s abundance. The material artifacts from the archival collection will be sold via ITS-IN-SCOPE online catalogue and retail partners with 70% of the revenue to be irrigated amongst the residency cohort and faculty with the remaining 30% to reinvested into the archive.
Additionally, throughout the program all participating residents are invited to cooperatively sell and distribute select material artifacts through the ITS-IN-SCOPE online catalogue. A 70/30 split on the sales from individual residents will reinvest 30% of revenue towards monthly stipends for the entire residency cohort while maintaining 70% of revenue for the respective artist/archivist.
Our program is open to the people in our neighborhood of one, the artists, the organizers, and the neighbors, the thinkers, the doers, and the learners who bridge differences with oneness. If you’re able to join our residency program in Los Angeles, are over 18 years-old, and can receive monthly stipends through PayPal you’re welcome to apply below.
Note: We will be giving preferential treatment to friends and family, to members of our immediate community, and all of those who’ve been engaged with ITS-IN-SCOPE archival practice.
What’s the Residency experience like?
The residency should be playful, thought-provoking, and truthful. I’m expecting it to be time well spent and quite unexpected — also this is the first time we’re doing this so we’ll see! Building the plane while we fly it.
What are Contemporary Studies?
Our archival practice is grounded in an intersectional practice of studying social issues and their relativity to one another known as Contemporary Studies. There are seven degrees of study (for now), each of which serves as an archive in its own right, in no particular order they are: Abundance, Space, Love, Time, Technology, Movement, and Nature.
What is a Material Artifact?
A material artifact is a physical object designed to retain the findings from contemporary studies and inform continued conversation. This could be anything from a t-shirt to a textbook. When artifacts are published and sold, a % of profits are reinvested towards cooperative economic development.
What are Visual Essays?
A visual essay is a contemporary study archived through photo or video. This form allows us to craft new audiovisual languages that center the truth of our perception. Essays may range from a photo series, documentary, or a short film.
What are Audio Records?
An audio recording is a contemporary study archived through sound. This form allows us to escape the written word and honor oral tradition with records of our voices and the soundscapes that make up our histories. Outputs may vary from playlists, DJ mixes, podcasts, and more.
What are Research Notes?
Written context for contemporary studies — this mix of ancestral and intuitive documentation is curated in support of figuring it out together. Notes may include key takeaways from archival video footage, essays in response to academic papers, personal reflections, and more.
How many residents are there?
With a focus on bringing the right group of individuals together, we anticipate the cohort will be somewhere between 2 and 8 individuals sharing in study together.
Do I need an advanced degree or a particular experience?
There are absolutely no degree requirements, might actually have a slight preference for individuals who are self-taught or graduates from YouTube university. The only experience needed is comfortability with a DIY practice.
Is there a *right* time and motivation to do the Residency?
I would say the best time is when you’re releasing (or actively trying to) a sense of scarcity and remembering (or actively trying to) how abundant our community already is. Knowing that it’s not easy to maintain that state of focus and flow, this program is designed to support individuals in doing so.
What is the time commitment?
The 9-month residency is organized seasonally with a different time commitment for each 3-month period. For the first season, Abundance (Oct-Dec 2021), residents are asked to participate in shared study over 10 week window with a 2-3 hr commitment on Sundays or Wednesdays. For the next, Irrigation (Jan-Mar 2022), residents are to take free time to interdependently develop the final presentation. The final season, Residency (Apr-Jun 2022), will continue in the use of interdependent free time to produce and develop the public presentation for the collection. Ultimately, you’ll get out what you put in - the time invested by an individual is a personal decision, the more everyone shares the the more abundance will be cultivated for all.
How are Residents identified and selected?
SCOPE’s Archive Caretakers and select advisors (a couple trusted homies) will review submissions and select our residency cohort based on applicant’s intentions and the goal of curating a critical mix of skillsets and interest areas.
When will the next Residency program be offered?
Our ambition is to offer a Residency program annually but we make no promise of this program being made available again in fall 2022.
Why did you create the Abundance Irrigation Residency?
In continuation of ITS-IN-SCOPE’s contemporary archiving practice, we want to consistently hold space for others to join us and reinforce that the archive isn’t any single person or organizations to own. As we share in this history, we desire to share in the care of it and create conditions for cultivating the abundance it provides all of us. Our residency program is meant to support all of us in restoring shared memory of self to the Black/Indigenous communities we exist within.
What is Abundance Irrigation and how do I do that?
Abundance Irrigation stems from the understanding that Black/Indigenous people are overflowing with abundance and have been throughout history. When we remember that our body is an archive, by taking care of ourselves, our memories, and nurturing our intution we’re in service to this abundance. If we then give ourselves the freedom to share freely and curate the overflow for others to engage with we may remind ourselves and each other of our abundance despite the external scarcity projected upon our communities.
What’s the ecosystem behind this?
It takes a village. The residency is made possible by ITS-IN-SCOPE’s archive caretakers, elders in our community, and select partner organizations who are ten toes down in support of artists, cooperative economics, and local infrastructure development.
How can I ask more questions?
Send an email to itsinscope@gmail.com if you have any additional questions about the Abundance Irrigation Residency program.
