PERFORMANCE: DISLOCATION
#1,2,3
The accumulation and moderation of residue from previous art projects; referring to herself from the outside-in through role playing; the gap between planned and spontaneous action; and memory used not only as source material, but as material in and of itself to be (re)shaped by the artist, are amongst the strategies found in Carina Gosselé’s work.
For NEXT Chicago, Gosselé will present a three-part performance, in which she will wander the corridors of the art fair, starting from, and returning to, the Dagmar De Pooter Gallery booth, where she will “stuff” and dismember “bodies” comprised of material from earlier performances, parts of which will be reused in this new piece.
Whilst all of the above is going on, each performance will be documented by video and photography, either by a separate photographer or by the artist herself. After each performance, Gosselé will create a report on what has occurred. The documentation will take the form of a journalistic or police report.
Such strategies continue a process of dislocation of personal identity and the exploration of different subjective viewpoints found in much of Gosselé’s work. Additionally, her drifting through the corridors of NEXT Chicago, speaking in a language that is bound to be unfamiliar to the vast majority of visitors and participants, is meant to confound the architectural and social logic implied by such an event.
The accumulation and moderation of residue from previous art projects; referring to herself from the outside-in through role playing; the gap between planned and spontaneous action; and memory used not only as source material, but as material in and of itself to be (re)shaped by the artist, are amongst the strategies found in Carina Gosselé’s work.
For NEXT Chicago, Gosselé will present a three-part performance, in which she will wander the corridors of the art fair, starting from, and returning to, the Dagmar De Pooter Gallery booth, where she will “stuff” and dismember “bodies” comprised of material from earlier performances, parts of which will be reused in this new piece.
- Wearing a black dress, blonde wig and white makeup, Gosselé will begin by laying down on the floor of the Dagmar De Pooter gallery booth, then get up and wander (drift) through the corridors of the art fair, proclaiming a text in her native Flemish in the form of a dialogue between memorized (from previous performances) and spontaneous phrases, at the same time asking (in Flemish) “Where am I? What am I doing here?” Returning to hergallery’s booth, she will stuff hooded coveralls with a large sheet of transparent plastic, covered with renderings of impossible architecture, a leftover from a version of a project called “Factoid” she performed in front of in Düsseldorf (wearing similar coveralls). An LCD screen will be placed in the hood (where the face should be), displaying a compilation video of several of her performances.
- Wearing a second set of coveralls, Gosselé will begin by dismembering the “body” left on the floor, removing the plastic Factoid sheet and stuffing it into the dress she was wearing the previous night, arranging the wig, etc. on the floor around the LCD screen. She will then wander the corridors, proclaiming text similar to that of the night before, and end by returning to the Dagmar De Pooter gallery booth and laying down next to the stuffed dress.
- Beginning from the Dagmar De Pooter gallery booth and again wearing white coveralls, Gosselé will un-stuff the second body and proceed to make a dress out of the Factoid architectural plans. She will then take off the coveralls she is wearing, revealing a white nightgown used in “Tourist,” a video based on a poem by Antonin Artaud, and put the architectural dress over it, leaving the coveralls on the floor. Once more, she will wander the corridors, proclaiming texts and spontaneous thoughts in Flemish. Finally, she will return to the booth and lay down next to the coveralls on the floor…
Whilst all of the above is going on, each performance will be documented by video and photography, either by a separate photographer or by the artist herself. After each performance, Gosselé will create a report on what has occurred. The documentation will take the form of a journalistic or police report.
Such strategies continue a process of dislocation of personal identity and the exploration of different subjective viewpoints found in much of Gosselé’s work. Additionally, her drifting through the corridors of NEXT Chicago, speaking in a language that is bound to be unfamiliar to the vast majority of visitors and participants, is meant to confound the architectural and social logic implied by such an event.
