EPISODE 1: EXHIBITION
- DE APPEL ARTS CENTRE
- BACK | NEXT
Episode 1 of Edition III - Masquerade: EXHIBITION
In 2006, de Appel formed a long-term partnership with If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution. De Appel arts centre is hosting If I Can't Dance... for the second time, presenting the project Edition III: 'Masquerade' - an exhibition and a performance programme.
Starting from an exploration of performance and performativity in the visual arts, Edition III will look at the concept of 'masquerade' as it guides an investigation of different forms of masking, mimicry, parody and assimilation. Areas for exploration include the construction of subjectivity, modes of formalized and ritualized behaviour, codes of contemporary transgressive and normative behaviour and the concept of authenticity.
If I Can't Dance...'s interest in masquerade originated from previous enquiries into the concept of theatricality and feminism in Edition I and II. Exploring the historical trajectory of masquerade within this lineage of research, If I Can't Dance... turns to the study of psychoanalysis, feminism and performativity to look at the question of how identity is constructed and performed and whether identity can in fact be considered a set of codes, costumes or performances. Another important element within their current research of masquerade is the notion of gesture and the way that the stylization of our daily life functions as an art of the everyday.
From different angles and with different media, artists Keren Cytter, Jon Mikel Euba, Suchan Kinoshita, Joachim Koester, Olivier Foulon, Sarah Pierce and Stefanie Seibold shed new light upon masquerade within the context of De Appel.
In 2006, de Appel formed a long-term partnership with If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution. De Appel arts centre is hosting If I Can't Dance... for the second time, presenting the project Edition III: 'Masquerade' - an exhibition and a performance programme.
Starting from an exploration of performance and performativity in the visual arts, Edition III will look at the concept of 'masquerade' as it guides an investigation of different forms of masking, mimicry, parody and assimilation. Areas for exploration include the construction of subjectivity, modes of formalized and ritualized behaviour, codes of contemporary transgressive and normative behaviour and the concept of authenticity.
If I Can't Dance...'s interest in masquerade originated from previous enquiries into the concept of theatricality and feminism in Edition I and II. Exploring the historical trajectory of masquerade within this lineage of research, If I Can't Dance... turns to the study of psychoanalysis, feminism and performativity to look at the question of how identity is constructed and performed and whether identity can in fact be considered a set of codes, costumes or performances. Another important element within their current research of masquerade is the notion of gesture and the way that the stylization of our daily life functions as an art of the everyday.
From different angles and with different media, artists Keren Cytter, Jon Mikel Euba, Suchan Kinoshita, Joachim Koester, Olivier Foulon, Sarah Pierce and Stefanie Seibold shed new light upon masquerade within the context of De Appel.
'Tarantism', Joachim Koester, 16mm black/white film installation (6.31 min), de Appel arts centre, 2008
Joachim Koester: 'Tarantism', 2007 - film, 6'40 and 'Morning of the Magicians', 2006, 'Numerous Incidents with Indefinite Outcome', 2007 - photographs. [Courtesy of Galerie Jan Mot, Brussels and Galerie Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen.]
Thinking about the unconscious gesture, Joachim Koester explores the terra incognita of the body and mind 'released' momentarily from all control and conforming mannerisms in his film 'Tarantism'. 'Tarantism' is a particular condition (observed in southern Italy) which results from a bite of the wolf spider, known as the tarantula. The bite causes numerous symptoms in the victims: nausea, difficulties in speech, delirium, heightened excitability and restlessness. The bodies of the bitten are seized by convulsions that previously could only be cured by a sort of frenzied dancing. Read more
Thinking about the unconscious gesture, Joachim Koester explores the terra incognita of the body and mind 'released' momentarily from all control and conforming mannerisms in his film 'Tarantism'. 'Tarantism' is a particular condition (observed in southern Italy) which results from a bite of the wolf spider, known as the tarantula. The bite causes numerous symptoms in the victims: nausea, difficulties in speech, delirium, heightened excitability and restlessness. The bodies of the bitten are seized by convulsions that previously could only be cured by a sort of frenzied dancing. Read more
Keren Cytter: 'History in the Making', 2008 - a film and two performances
Keren Cytter’s films unite different genres such as cinema, soap, homevideo and reality-tv. Everyday day life merges with absurdity, fiction merges with reality within dense stories usually situated in private spaces. Cytter portrays the relationships between people and thus shows the rift between the personality of her characters (often friends and acquaintances) and the part they have to play. Read more
Keren Cytter’s films unite different genres such as cinema, soap, homevideo and reality-tv. Everyday day life merges with absurdity, fiction merges with reality within dense stories usually situated in private spaces. Cytter portrays the relationships between people and thus shows the rift between the personality of her characters (often friends and acquaintances) and the part they have to play. Read more
Jon Mikel Euba: 'One minute of Silence', 2003-2005 - video consisting of: 'Neska', 22’, 'Neska la Noche', 20’, 'One per Minute, Five Minutes in Istanbul', 5’, 'One per minute, Seven Minutes in Istanbul', 7’, 'Busan', 27’
Like a musician who writes down a song on a sheet of paper to be played live, Euba's 'One Minute of Silence' departs from a score constituted, not by words, but by images. Images of people immersed in poses and gestures, of pop singers performing on a stage. One after another, the enacted images, create a sequence; the sequence plus the intervals between one image and the following create a structure; this abstract structure is translated to reality by actual people and on real sites. Read more
Like a musician who writes down a song on a sheet of paper to be played live, Euba's 'One Minute of Silence' departs from a score constituted, not by words, but by images. Images of people immersed in poses and gestures, of pop singers performing on a stage. One after another, the enacted images, create a sequence; the sequence plus the intervals between one image and the following create a structure; this abstract structure is translated to reality by actual people and on real sites. Read more
Olivier Foulon: 'The Soliloquy of the Broom', 2008 - 16 mm film, 9’ and 'Montpellier', 'New York', 'Kansas City' - computerprints
Olivier Foulon’s project 'The Soliloquy of the Broom' focuses on the concept of masquerade in relation to painting. Central to this work is the portrait of 'Jo, the Beautiful Irish Girl' painted by Gustave Courbet in 1865 in Trouville. It shows a lady named Jo, mistress and model of the artist James Whistler, looking at herself and her hair in a mirror. Due to great demand Gustave Courbet copied the painting several times. Read more
Olivier Foulon’s project 'The Soliloquy of the Broom' focuses on the concept of masquerade in relation to painting. Central to this work is the portrait of 'Jo, the Beautiful Irish Girl' painted by Gustave Courbet in 1865 in Trouville. It shows a lady named Jo, mistress and model of the artist James Whistler, looking at herself and her hair in a mirror. Due to great demand Gustave Courbet copied the painting several times. Read more
Suchan Kinoshita: 'Detour for an audience, two disco balls, two curtains, rear windows, a physiotherapist, a psychiatrist and a dressing table' - installation
'Performance' is a broadly defined concept, employed differently in various contexts. The term is related to acting and the stage, but also denotes a particular form of visual art in which body and space unite in a suitable space: a 'white cube', a public space, etc. Moreover, performance is connected to a capitalist vocabulary in the sense of functioning, as well as to a social and emancipatory terminology, in which it relates to 'agency' and 'empowerment'. In her practice, Suchan Kinoshita unites the syntax of performance in the visual arts to the language of performance in everyday life. Read more
'Performance' is a broadly defined concept, employed differently in various contexts. The term is related to acting and the stage, but also denotes a particular form of visual art in which body and space unite in a suitable space: a 'white cube', a public space, etc. Moreover, performance is connected to a capitalist vocabulary in the sense of functioning, as well as to a social and emancipatory terminology, in which it relates to 'agency' and 'empowerment'. In her practice, Suchan Kinoshita unites the syntax of performance in the visual arts to the language of performance in everyday life. Read more
Sarah Pierce: It's time man. It feels imminent, 2008 - installation with video, audio, diaprojections, colored sheets and presentation furniture. Several pieces from the archive of de Appel. [Courtesy de Appel and the artist]
In the ongoing project, 'It’s time man. It feels imminent', Sarah Pierce interrogates the emptying-out of the political gesture and the way in which we negotiate agency in public space. The installation at de Appel expands this research to think about how people organize (their political and social commitment) around and through institutions. Read more
In the ongoing project, 'It’s time man. It feels imminent', Sarah Pierce interrogates the emptying-out of the political gesture and the way in which we negotiate agency in public space. The installation at de Appel expands this research to think about how people organize (their political and social commitment) around and through institutions. Read more
Stefanie Seibold: Archival presentation, 2008 [Courtesy de Appel and the artist]
In the framework of Edition II (which focused on the legacy and potential of feminism) If I Can't Dance… invited artist Stefanie Seibold to set up a presentation with material out of the de Appel's archive. For Edition III Stefanie Seibold works in collaboration with de Appel's librarian Nell Donkers, to select and show the positions and projects from de Appel's archive that relate to the notion of the masquerade and related subjects, such as gender and gesture.
In the framework of Edition II (which focused on the legacy and potential of feminism) If I Can't Dance… invited artist Stefanie Seibold to set up a presentation with material out of the de Appel's archive. For Edition III Stefanie Seibold works in collaboration with de Appel's librarian Nell Donkers, to select and show the positions and projects from de Appel's archive that relate to the notion of the masquerade and related subjects, such as gender and gesture.
Above: 'The Soliloquy of the Broom', Olivier Foulon, de Appel arts centre, 2008
Below: Archival presentation, Stefanie Seibold, de Appel arts centre, 2008
Below: Archival presentation, Stefanie Seibold, de Appel arts centre, 2008
Above: 'One minute of Silence', Jon Mikel Euba, de Appel arts centre, 2008
Below: 'It’s time man. It feels imminent', Sarah Pierce, de Appel arts centre, 2008
Below: 'It’s time man. It feels imminent', Sarah Pierce, de Appel arts centre, 2008
