Q&A with the curators behind this year's inspiring new world: Flow State
AESPIA: So, could you introduce yourselves to those who are excited to hear about your world?
JACK: Hi, I’m Jack...
MIKA: ...and I’m Mika
J: This year at Aespia, we are hosting Flow State, which is a new world this year and is very exciting…
A: Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
M: Ok, so my background is… I've been creating content for YouTube - I have my own channel - I've been doing that since I was 15 and in the last few years I've got attention from a lot of festivals, so I've been filming after-movies for festivals, as press. I've always loved festivals and I'm so excited to be involved in Aespia and for us to actually curate our own world based on all the things we love.
J: I’ve been involved in Aespia right from its birth, which has been an amazing journey. I’ve been involved in running and organising club nights that I set up in Glasgow when I was at Uni, so I've always had an interest in festivals, club nights and music, and generally helping in those areas.
A: So, what exactly is the thought process behind Flow State?
J: The concept of Flow State is the idea that someone is in complete energised focus in what they’re doing; a complete immersion in what one is doing. So, any given activity, whether it’s music, creating art, sport; it’s about…
M: …creating an environment that allows people to access that state of flow, where you’re not really thinking, you’re fully immersed in what you’re doing. Whether it’s interacting with art in the area or interacting with people in the area, we wanted to create an environment where you can do both.
J: It’s breaking down the barriers of thinking about doing the art and the activity of actually doing it. Flow State is about creating an environment that helps to ease people into just doing something rather than thinking about it; escaping that notion of, “Oh I'm not creative, I'm not an artist”.
M: I think overthinking and too much self-awareness just kills your festival and kills your inner child. The most fun I have at festivals is when I'm not thinking; it’s when I'm completely present in the moment, whether it’s dancing or really engaging with someone. When you’re not so self-aware and you’re not thinking about how you appear to others too much, you can be fully immersed in an activity or a conversation - we want to create a space where people can do that.
A: How will you attempt to achieve that?
J: We’ve got all sorts of things going on…
BOTH: We’ve got lots of workshops!
M: We’ve got DJs!
J: We’ll be providing all of these activities through the creative people that we’re booking and in the way we curate the space…
A: That leads us on to the atmosphere and aesthetic…
M: The kind of environment that people will be entering is almost like a lounge lost in the forest, so there’s going to be lots of cubby holes, sofas, lanterns, fabrics and old rugs.
J: It’s a chilled out area, so lots of nice seating…
M: It’s the kind of place where you can go and sit for an hour and just talk and engage with people. You can participate in one of the workshops or be immersed in one of the installations or…. have a boogie!
J: The space is set to naturally transform throughout the 24 hours, so we’ll have participants almost create the area themselves over time, so this will happen mainly during the day. At night, the atmosphere will change a little bit and the participants can marvel at their creations, dance to the DJs that are playing - this is when it’s more focussed towards the music.
A: Yes - the music… talk to us about what we can expect.
J: It’ll be jazzy! Lots of world music, afro-beat, hip-hop…and again, it’ll naturally transform later on into more electronic, dance-orientated music but staying within those sorts of genres.
M: It’s like the world is in a constant state of flow and change, so it progresses throughout the day. When you get there in the evening it could be a completely different atmosphere and environment to when you first visited.
A: Wow, we honestly can’t wait…
M: Yes! Come and find us at Aespia! We’re so excited to meet everyone and be a part of it.
J: It’s gonna be super fun…
M: Bring it on ;)