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Tell me about BASE:


Earlier this year, we, 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.

Our dream when we made the application was to turn the studio into a public-facing art space with a feminist ethos where we could platform workshops, exhibitions, talks and performances that centre creative use of technology and creative tech education. This is hugely inspired by the Science Gallery and the hole that has been left since it closed in 2022.

One of our favourite organisations, Dublin Modular, established themselves as the force they are today from this space. They gave us at Synthesize_Her a free place to host our first workshops when we had no money to invest and no idea if people would buy tickets. This is the attitude we want to take with us into our time here. At its core, BASE is a place to try things out, make mistakes, get feedback, try again. 


Details about the space:
- 70m2
- 1 disabled toilet
- 100 person capacity (absolute maximum as there is just one bathroom)
- Closing time is 12 midnight
- Kitchenette with sink and microwave


Our fundraiser is ongoing but we aim to provide:
- PA System
- Mixing Desk
- Projector
- Lighting


Recurring weekly BASE Members events:
  • Monday Morning Coffee 7.30-10am - Come start the week with us, have a chat & get a free coffee (sponsored by Roasted Brown). 
  • 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 at BASE, we will facilitate a deep listening session. These will be lying down and black-out (no lighting), to encourage total focus and immersion in the sounds. There will be 10 sessions starting 16th October.
    *We are accepting applications from artists who wish to play live for these sessions. We are open to all styles that are suited to this kind of environment. Apply here: BASE: Live Sets for Deep Listening

Members can also apply to run their own events.
Apply here:  BASE: Members Events Form


Membership: We’ve been given the space for free, but we have no funding. To make the most of our time here, we need you! We’re fundraising to buy things to make the space fit for events like a good soundsystem, lights and some furniture. We’re asking 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!).
Link to GoFundMe here. 


Timeline:
  • 7th 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.

Our time to manage the space we are offering as volunteers.

All our accounts will be publicly available.

BASE is a non-commercial space.


Future Impact: After our lease concludes, we want the assets to be absorbed back into the community and so we propose to donate to organisations who we 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.