THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER: HISTO
by VestAndPage
a collaboration between
GERMAN artist VERENA STENKE and ITALIAN artist ANDREA PAGNES
09.14.13 @ 8PM
dfb performance photos of MAYDAY workshop participants and VestAndPage’s THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER: HISTO by ISABELLE MCGUIRE and NATALIA NICHOLSON
the evening also includes work by artists who participated in MAYDAY – a five day workshop by VestAndPage: MICHAL SAMAMA, JUSTUS HARRIS, AUTUMN HAYS, ALEX PAUL YOUNG, STEPHANIE ACOSTA, LINUS IP, SANAZ SOHRABI, RYAN NOBLE.
VestAndPage have been working together to create performance art, films, visual art, and creative writing since 2006. they are the curatorial force behind the acclaimed VENICE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART WEEK. their live performances have been presented across EUROPE, ASIA and the AMERICAS. mostly process-led and conceived psycho-geographically for architecture or in response to natural and historical sites, VestAndPage are interested in the fragility of the individual and its surroundings. they research private, social and contextual spheres through precariousness, transformation, liminality and authenticity.
THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER: HISTO investigates stasis and sleep as liminal spaces. inspired by twin figures from GREEK mythology, HYPNOS (SLEEP) and THANATOS (DEATH), the artists embrace the MOTH as an archetypical symbol of life and transformation as they rigorously navigate a fragile terrain.
THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER is a seven part performance cycle inspired by JS BACH’S cantata, “ICH WILL DEN KREUZSTAB GERNE TRAGEN” (1726) with the closing line, “COME O DEATH THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER.” the cycle began at the BOSTON CENTRE for the ARTS: (‘CATERPILLAR’), followed by the CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL: (‘COCOON’), GRACE EXHIBITION SPACE, new york: (‘CHRYSALIS’), IPA ISTANBUL: (‘PUPAE‘) and now they present the fifth work of the cycle, ‘HISTO’, at DEFIBRILLATOR GALLERY, CHICAGO. next, they go to the VANCOUVER BIENNALE of PERFORMANCE ART,: (‘HEMOLYMPH’), and will have their final 7 hour durational performance at the KUNSTHALLE HELSINKI (‘IMAGO’).
through the use of highly visceral actions, some that even appeared to defy physical reality, VestAndPage challenged ideas about what it means to be in a body and conjured romantic notions of what can be experienced beyond the physical realm.
SANDRINE SCHAEFER about ‘THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER I: CATERPILLAR’, BOSTON, 2012, on THE PRESENT TENSE
photo credits:
- ‘THOU TWIN of SLUMBER: CATERPILLAR’, NDPAE NEAR DEATH PERFORMANCE ART EXPERIENCE, CYCLORAMA – BOSTON CENTRE for the ARTS, BOSTON, APRIL 2013. photograph by DANIEL S DELUCA
- ‘THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER: CATERPILLAR’, NDPAE NEAR DEATH PERFORMANCE ART EXPERIENCE, CYCLORAMA – BOSTON CENTRE for the ARTS, BOSTON APRIL 2013. photograph by DANIEL S DELUCA
- ‘THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER: COCOON’, CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL, NICOSIA, JUNE 2013. photograph by MONIKA SOBCZAK
- ‘THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER: COCOON’, CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL, NICOSIA, JUNE 2013. photograph by MONIKA SOBCZAK
- ‘THOU TWIN OF SLUMBER: CHRYSALIS’, GRACE EXHIBITION SPACE, BROOKLYN, JULY 2013. PHOTOGRAPH BY ALLISON MEIER for HYPERALLERGIC
- VERENA STENKE & ANDREA PAGNES photograph by LORENA ALCARAZ M, MEXICO CITY, 2012
