What is BASE?
Earlier this year, Viva Dean and Aisling Phelan, made an application to Dublin City Council and have been awarded a 10-week lease on a big studio space on James Joyce Street, right beside Connolly Station.
Their dream when they made the application was to turn the studio into a public facing art space with a feminist ethos where they could platform workshops, exhibitions, talks, performances that centre creative use of technology and creative tech education.
This is hugely inspired by the Science Gallery and the hole that is left since it closed in 2022.
One of their favourite organisations, Dublin Modular, established themselves as the force they are today from this space. They gave them at Synthesize Her a free place to host their first workshops when they had no money to invest and no idea if people would buy tickets. This is the attitude they want to take with them into their time there.
BASE is a place to try things out, make mistakes, get feedback, try again. Here’s how you can share in that:
Membership:
They’ve been given the space for free, but they have no funding. To make the most of their time there, your support is needed!
They’ve been fundraising to buy things to make the space fit for events like a good sound system, lights and some furniture. The ask is for a one-time payment of €30 which will make you a member of BASE for all 10 weeks (that’s 3 euro a week!).
Every week BASE will be open to members:
- Monday Morning Coffee 7.30-10am – Come start the week with us, get a free coffee and have a chat
- Tuesday Lunchtime Library 12-2.30pm – We have (what we think) are some really great books relevant to our artistic practice that we’d love to share. Every Tuesday you’re welcome to come, sit somewhere comfy and read.
- Wednesday Deep Listening 6-7.30pm – Every Wednesday evening we will pick an extended audio work e.g. album, soundscape to listen to, front to back, from a horizontal position.
Members can also apply to run their own events.
Larger Donations:
If you like what they’re about and have the means to support them with more, here is how you’d be thanked you for any donations above the membership fee:
€50+ You are a Legend
- Included in Thank You list of donors in their Zine
€150+ You are a BASE Silver Sponsor
- Included in Thank You list of donors in their Zine
- One-on-One skill mentoring session with Viva or Ais
€500+ You are a BASE Gold Sponsor
- Included in Thank You list of donors in their Zine
- One-on-One mentoring session with Viva or Ais
- Free access to all our events
€1000+ You are a BASE Platinum Sponsor
- Included in Thank You list of donors in their Zine
- One-on-One mentoring session with Viva or Ais
- Free access to all their events
- Custom 3D scan of you! By Ais
Funding Needs:
Your support is needed to cover the following expenses:
- Technical Equipment: Projector, Speakers/PA system, lights
- Space Fitting: Couch, shelves, desk, heater, mats/cushions
- Kitchen Setup to support catering for large groups
- Kitty for unforeseen expenses
Their time to manage the space they are offering as volunteers.
All their accounts will be publicly available.
BASE is a non-commercial space.
Future Impact:
After the lease concludes, they want the assets to be absorbed back into the community and so they propose to donate to organisations who they know and love who are doing trojan work:
- ThinkPunk a member-run rehearsal, recording and performance space.
- Tallaght Community Arts an organisation that champions participation in the arts for those who are often underrepresented and marginalised.
- Dublin Digital Radio a community radio station that has been volunteer-run since 2016.
Timeline:
- 7th October – Fundraiser concludes.
- 8th October – Get the keys to space, buy gear and move in that week.
- 14th October – Open the space to members for our first coffee morning.
- 14th – 21st December – Space Open.
- 21st December – Lease Ends.
As a minimum, BASE will provide, or facilitate others to provide, one event every other week. This could be a workshop, performance, screening, dinner, and critique session.
This is in addition to midweek member access (Mon, Tue & Wed) and three anchor events, one in Oct, Nov and Dec.
Follow them on instagram @base_dublin
