“A little Less Conversation”
de Appel arts centre / Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Location:
Auditorium, Temporary Stedelijk 2, Amsterdam
Reservations:
Required through reservations [at] stedelijk.nl
Language:
English
Ephemeral and immaterial in its nature, performance becomes tangible the moment it is exhibited, whether experienced live or through documents. Although it is first and foremost an art of the here and now, the widest access we have to a performance, paradoxically enough, is still based on objects and residual elements such as text, photography, audio or video. But how can contemporary performance be exhibited without these kinds of relics? What role can performativity play in the presentation of performances? What kind of relationship is there between the audience and the performers?
“A Little Less Conversation”, the same title as one of Elvis Presley’s most famous songs, offers ‘a little more action’. Guest curator Marie Frampier tries to change the relationship between theory and practice in making a conference. Often, this relationship is successive, with a concept preceding the exhibition or an analysis emerging from it. In “A Little Less Conversation”, performance—as exhibition—and theory will be more intertwined, occurring in the same place and at the same time. The conference’s topics and issues will be questioned, performed and made performative rather than just discursive and theoretical. The speakers will share their professional experiences as curator (Mathieu Copeland and Bojana Mladenovic) or theoretician/artist (Lilo Nein). Contemporaneously, the invited artists and performers will explore theoretical and narrative frameworks (Dominique Gilliot), question conference codes (Marie Reinert) and respond to some expectations of the audience (Richard Dedomenici). You could say that the performances are part of the conference and the conference is part of the performances.
Improvisation, infiltration and collaboration with the audience, as well as questioning curatorial conventions, constitute the body of “A Little Less Conversation”. It is based on an instantaneous dialogue between art practice and theory. There are no stages, tables, or scores, but rather a large amount of trouble and curiosity.
Speakers:
Mathieu Copeland (FR), curator
Bojana Mladenovic (SRB), curator and performer
Lilo Nein (AT), theoretician and performer
Moderator:
Dominique Gilliot (FR), performer
Performers:
Richard Dedomenici (UK), performer
Marie Reinert (FR), performer
Curator:
Marie Frampier (FR)
“A Little Less Conversation” was set up with the support of Maison Descartes, Amsterdam.
Coming up at de Appel arts centre:
Solo exhibition Sven Augustijnen
“Spectres”
15 October 2011–12 February 2012
Opening Friday 14 October, 6–9 p.m.
De Appel Boys’ School, Amsterdam
The Belgian artist Sven Augustijnen (Belgium, born 1970) made his name with films in which he analyses cultural and historical places and events from a personal perspective, in a way that is at the same time very precise and ambiguous. This autumn, Augustijnen is presenting his latest film, “Spectres”, as part of a solo exhibition in de Appel. Read more
de Appel arts centre
Exhibition Venue:
de Appel Boys’ School
Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 59, Amsterdam
Correspondence address:
de Appel Office
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1001 ET Amsterdam
the Netherlands
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For press inquiries and further information please contact Jimme de Jong via marketing@deappel.nl or +31(0)20 6255651
