Full name: Aiste Janciute (Aistė Jančiūtė)
Currently lives and works in: Vilnius, Lithuania
Practice: Visual and performance artist
Trained as a textile artist, I am currently exploring the field of movement therapy and unconventional theatre. The human body and sense of touch are central to my practice. The aim of my work is to increase self-awareness, body consciousness and encourage participants to feel the joy of the present moment. My art practice fuses somatic experience, experimentation with tactile objects, interactive audiovisual installations and text. Currently I am working with Theatre of Senses, creating performances, exhibitions, workshops, leading contact improvisation dance sessions. I am also leading educational activities for children and adults including people with special needs and visual impairments.
Areas of interest: Visual art, unconventional theatre, dance improvisation, nature, movement therapy?
Why are you a part of MagiC Carpets: I was lucky to have an opportunity to be invited by Neringa Stoškutė from Kaunas Biennale. This project proposal was strongly related to my field of research. MagiC Carpets allowed me to engage deeply with the community of people in Folkestone, meet some great artists and broaden my artistic practice.
What inspires you as an artist? Body, gravity and the sky.
What do you think is the purpose of art? To relief, to express, to question, to discover different points of view, to listen, to open minds and connect them to bodies, to have fun.
Your favourite book(s): I like to read autobiography books.
Your favourite film(s): The Matrix, Fight Club, Groundhog Day, K-Pax, Untouchables and many more…
MagiC Carpets project: LABORATORY OF SENSES ‘WEIGHT’
In this laboratory/exploration/performance I experimented with the concept of gravity and bodily interactions. An installation was an important part of it, during which I held performances with visitors. The installation consisted of particular stops, where each participant could experience and explore the sense of weight through different forms of movement, touch, sound, smell, text and interpersonal interaction. It was important to explore and record the impact different objects and bodies have on each other as well as the memories, images, emotions and meanings that are created in the process. I was searching for a universal language, which could help open up new experiences for the viewer / participant and contribute towards their understanding of human physicality through the sense of touch and the feel of weight. How much does a heart or liver weigh? The soul? Can an unfulfilled dream be heavy? What about a bad dream? Can it be light? I am researching whether physical or psychological experience of weight can be heavy and oppressing or can it also help ground, root, release and relax?
The laboratory was brought to life through the collaboration with a sound artist Jon Law.
Other projects
Painting of the Senses
Type: Theatre of Senses educational programme.
Brief description: Paintings of the Senses is a sensorial tour in the National Gallery of Art in Lithuania. The goal of this ongoing project is to recreate the sensations and feelings that we get when we see an artwork. The atmosphere of visual art is created using sounds, smell, touch, movement, taste and various objects. Both sighted and visually impaired participants are encouraged to experience paintings by feeling them.
Creative Team: Karolina Žernytė, Aistė Jančiūtė, Artūras Lepiochinas, Jaunius Pisaravičius, Vaidotas Bačianskas, Raminta Šniaukštaitė
Guide and consultant: Eglė Nedzinskaitė.
Laboratory of senses: Bodily Landscape
In Laboratory of Senses: Bodily Landscape, I invite participants to explore the relationship between the human body and environment through movement, senses, composition, associations and intuition.
Various performative exercises encourage participants’ somatic experience. They are invited to bring their awareness inwards, awaken physical memory, imagination and open them for the experiment to come. I also enrich the atmosphere adding soundscapes, smells and poetry.
Contact information
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +37062457116