Ataraxia

In her multi-media work, the Japanese-born French-German artist explores questions of bodily intimacy, digital relationality, and the fragility of societal structures. Build Me a House brings together a new body of sculpture, sound, performance, drawing, and video. The focal point of the exhibition is a durational performance and sound work that unfolds around two, large metal sculptures: dome-like constructions that resemble rudimentary dwellings. With their cage-like structures, these forms emphasize a fluidity between interior and exterior space, permeability and interiority, shelter and confinement. Entitled Ataraxia, the performance takes its name from a Greek philosophical term that means a “state of serene calmness” or “an untroubled and tranquil state of the soul.” The performers Nikolas Brummer and Marlene Kollender activate the sculptures with actions that imply moments of inhabitation, formation, and deconstruction.

Entitled Ataraxia, the performance takes its name from a Greek philosophical term that means a “state of serene calmness” or “an untroubled and tranquil state of the soul.” The performers Nikolas Brummer and Marlene Kollender activate the sculptures—which are sheathed in thin layers of fabric and projected upon—with actions that imply moments of inhabitation, formation, and deconstruction. Construction stones encircle the sculptures, which the performers slowly move around them. Their constant movements in and around the sculptures, as well as the essentially nomadic nature of these objects, gesture toward the impermanence, transience, and variability of all things—towards finding freedom in flux. A sound scape designed by Anchoress and Tobias Textor, who will additionally compose live music for the performance during the opening, adds a sonic dimension to this immersive, multi-medial experience.

- Text by Jesi Khadivi