Pages

Friday, December 16, 2016

Dapper Dan #14/ Opinions & Inspirations contribution

Dapper Dan  #14, 2016/2017, cover

In the summer I was invited to contribute to Dapper Dan's Opinions & Inspirations section for their upcoming issue. I immediately thought of my first series of over-paintings I made when I transitioned from working in the fashion industry towards an autonomous way of working.

The issue just came out. Very happy to see my story and image in print. 
Thank you Dapper Dan!


Michiel Keuper - From the Past Present (Past Presence) series, 2010, ink and acrylic on magazine


My story to the image: 


BALANCE

In October 1989, during my first months in college, I read an interview with neurobiologist and Nobel prize winner Rita Levi-Montalcini, then 80. What resonated with me most was her interpretation of ‘The Choice’ by William Butler Yeats, a poem she quotes in her autobiography;

The intellect of man is forced to choose/ 
Perfection of the life, or of the work,/ 
And if it take the second must refuse/ 
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark./ 
When all that story's finished, what's the news?/ 
In luck or out the toil has left its mark:/ 
That old perplexity an empty purse,/ 
Or the day's vanity, the night's remorse.

Levi-Montalcini: “Yeats gives you two options. Either you choose perfection in your work, with as a reward recognition but at night remorse. Or you lead a calm and serene life, without success and at the end an empty purse. I’ve always refused to make that choice, with as a result deficiency in my work ánd in my life.” 

In 2009, after studying and working in fashion for 20 years, the meaning of Yeats’ poem became evident to me once again. Being absorbed by working in the industry, I guess I suddenly realized I didn’t want to end up having remorse at night for all the things I’d always wanted to do but never allowed myself time for. Painting was one of those things. 

That first year away from my designer life in overdrive, I started a series of works on paper, initially as research for later paintings, using fashion magazines I had amassed over the years. In the Black Series – Past Present (Past Presence) I erased fashion references from magazine pages. An attempt to re-view my past and to find new access to known sources, to create new images from the old.



- Michiel Keuper, visual composer 




Dapper Dan #14 - Opinions and Inspirations Section, spread Glenn Martens (left), Michiel Keuper (right)

Dapper Dan #14 - Michiel Keuper
contribution Opinions and Inspirations Section

Dapper Dan #14, 2016/2017, cover

Friday, April 15, 2016

I SEE RED Interventions / Transitional Sculptures, March 2016

I SEE RED/ Interventions - Transitional Sculpture, Michiel Keuper, March 2016

In March I participated in an improvisational performance series I SEE RED/ Interventionstogether with Peter Pleyer, dancer/choreographer and Andrea Keiz, video artist. Over the course of one week we brought together our individual practices and ideas/projects that we were currently working on. 
Partly inspired by the artist Barbara Kasten, who's known for creating studio settings and subsequently photographing them, I proposed transitional balancing sculptures from different materials, small objects and props. During the performance I would start building and balancing from scratch. Hence the installations were not fixed and the outcome would be different each night. 

From the program:
Inspired by the history of interventions by artists and designers in the field of choreography and vice versa, dancer/choreographer Peter Pleyer and visual composer/designer Michiel Keuper use this series of performances to improvise new space and dance compositions based on their long-term collaboration. On Friday and Saturday they will be joined by video artist Andrea Keiz. With a focus on process, the audience is invited to witness the creation of a landscape of objects, costumes, dances, books, stories and images.


[all photos: Michiel Keuper]






Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Sophiensaele Image Campaign / Art Work Poster, January 2016

Sophiensaele Image Campaign, spring 2016. Graphic Design: Jan Grygoriew


In January Peter Pleyer and I were commissioned to propose an image for Sophiensaele's Image Campain. Amongst our proposals, the photo with the mask made it onto the poster, and even on the cover of the program leporello. See the ones that didn't make it to the final round here.


Sophiensaele Image Campaign - Program February/ March/ April 2016. Graphic Design: Jan Grygoriew


Visible Undercurrent poster and the Sophiensaele Image Campaign side by side, street view, Berlin, April 2016 

Sophiensaele entrance gate, street view, April 2016

The original image. Photo / Art Direction: Keuper Pleyer, 2016

Thursday, March 03, 2016

I SEE RED/ Interventions / Invitation

I SEE RED/ Interventions - Invitation postcard. Photo/Art Direction: KeuperPleyer

I SEE RED/ Interventions. 
An improvisation event by PETER PLEYER and MICHIEL KEUPER with ANDREA KEIZ and other Guests
DOCK11 - Fri 11 / Sat 12 / Sun 13 at 19h.
Peter Pleyer will be ranting (hence I SEE RED) about the state of performing art in general and the Berlin status quo in particular with his mix of improvised movement, readings and monologues. Michiel Keuper will come up with visual interventions of the spacial and bodily kind. Andrea Keiz will contribute with video and moving images. Susanne Martin, Zen Jefferson and other guests will join on one or some of the evenings.
We'd love to see you on one or more of these nights!
Open structure. Each night a different line up. Come pass by. Watch. Engage. Hang out.


Thursday, February 25, 2016

Work in progress/ Proposals Sophiensaele Poster, January 2016

Proposal Sophiensaele Poster, January 2016 - Photo/ Art Direction: Keuper Pleyer

Art work proposals for a poster commissioned by Sophiensaele Berlin. In collaboration with Peter Pleyer. A selection of images that didn't make it to the final round, but I find interesting nevertheless. We ended up using an image from this series for the invitation for our performance I SEE RED/ Interventions in March 2016.

Proposal Sophiensaele Poster, January 2016 - Photo/ Art Direction: Keuper Pleyer


Proposal Sophiensaele Poster, January 2016 -
Photo/ Art Direction: Keuper Pleyer


Proposal Sophiensaele Poster, January 2016 - Photo/ Art Direction: Keuper Pleyer


Proposal Sophiensaele Poster, January 2016 -
Photo/ Art Direction: Keuper Pleyer

Proposal Sophiensaele Poster, January 2016 -
Photo/ Art Direction: Keuper Pleyer

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Project HZT BA Students / Costumes, February 2016

Costumes for HZT/ UdK student piece, Biennale Tanzausbildung, Cologne, February 2016. Photo Paul Leclaire

In January and February I coached and worked on costumes for a group piece of BA students from HZT/ Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz of the University of Fine Arts/ UdK. The students created an improvisation piece for the Biennale Tanzausbildung in Cologne.