Unfinishing / Costume & Set Design, September 2015

Michiel Keuper - Drum Kit Sculpture on optical illusion plinth for Unfinishing by Martin Nachbar, September 2016

In September I designed costumes and set for Unfinishing, a piece by Martin Nachbar in collaboration with drummer Steve Heather. It premiered in Sophiensaele (more info on the piece click here). The starting point for the costume was a contemporary form of shamanism. For the set I investigated in doubling and used the two pillars in the space as a center point. I replicated the drum kit Claes Oldenburg style in canvas. Also I made four optical illusion carpets/ plinths.

Dance: Martin Nachbar/ Drums: Steve Heather/ Dramaturgy: Jeroen Peeters/ Lights: Bruno Pocheron/ Costume, Set: Michiel Keuper/ Coaching: Zoe Knights/ Management: Susanne Beyer.

(All photos, video: Michiel Keuper)

You're The One That I Want / Slow version

Summer song. Me and Hana Lee Erdman doing an acoustic version of the Grease classic. With Tom O'Doherty on guitar.

SCRAPBOOK / after 'Album' by Hannah Höch

Video of a scrapbook I did in 2009/2010. Inspired by 'Album', a collage book by DaDa artist Hannah Höch from the 1930s, posthumously published by Hatje Cantz Verlag in 2004.

For iPhone version click here.

Some folk head banging / First Aid Kit

Great song. I love when they shake their hair...

The Head and the Heart / Winter Song

For the time of year. A mildly ironic video with a beautiful acoustic version of 'Winter Song' from their self-titled debut album 'The Head and the Heart', re-released in april 2011. Check em out, they're a great indie folk band.

Trailer / The State of Things @ AADKunexpected, friday july 15th 2011

AADKunexpected 14 -17.07.2011 Day 15th July from aadkchannel on Vimeo.

On friday july 15th, I will be performing as invited guest together with Dania Burger, in a follow up of The State of Things with Maria F. Scaroni and Vania Rovisco, a durational installation/performance at Neurotitan Galerie in Berlin Mitte, starting at 7pm till 8.30pm. The performance is part of  the 4-day event AADKunexpected.

From the AADK-website: On the 14th of July 2011 the artistic platform AADK (AADK Berlin Gbr) is launching AADKunexpected, a 4-day event presenting various projects (performance, music, live- sound- and visual-installations, exhibition, literature) in various locations in Berlin. 25 artists will show their most recent work in Galerie Neurotitan/Eschschloraque, Podewil, Galerie Torstrasse 161, Uferstudios and Leap. 
Check www.aadk.org for more details.

Live at KEXP Seattle / The Tallest Man On Earth

Ok, I'm tempted to copy all of the 6 videos from this live concert in this post, but you better look for them online. Instead a selection of my favorites. Listen to the complete audio of this 30 minute concert here: http://feeds.kexp.org/~r/kexp/liveperformances/~5/yvJ75dadj7E/3b6663d6-a1d8-411f-9bcc-3a1d35bd994e.mp3 Also you can download this as a podcast from the KEXP website, here (look in the right 'on demand'-column). The KEXP youtube channel, with a lot more other interesting studio live tracks, you find here.

Back to The Tallest Man... aka Kristian Matsson, the singer/songwriter from Sweden... indeed he is an amazing guitar player and certainly has a Greatest voice... And gosh, do I now wish I'd learned to play the guitar as a teenager, instead of the saxophone... dammit!

Kinetics / Cory Arcangel's dancing shelves at Hamburger Bahnhof

In january I saw this kinetic installation of 2 pairs of dancing shelves by Cory Arcangel in Hamburger Bahnhof. The 'soundtrack' in the clip is coming from his video installations, one of them featuring Jimi Hendrix playing his guitar. In the clip you see a glimpse of that on a monitor on the wall.
The heart of the exhibition (still up till 28 august 2011) is the two-screen installation 'a couple thousand short films about Glenn Gould' from 2007. Arcangel's video version of the 1st Variation from Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations, entirely constructed from downloaded youtube material.

Cory Arcangel - a couple thousand short films about Glenn Gould, 2007
© Courtesy the artist and Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg

"Compiled from over 1100 individual snippets that the artist downloaded off the Internet and edited using software that he himself devised, we are treated to a video version of the 1st variation from Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations. At a bewildering speed, the images alternate from person to person as each individual plays a completely different instrument, each time performing a single note from Bach's composition. The pianist Glenn Gould used the technique of piecing together various recordings to produce his commercial records, something which Archangel takes here to its humorous extreme." (via website Hamburger Bahnhof)

Cory Arcangel - a couple thousand short films about Glenn Gould, 2007
© Courtesy the artist and Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg

Kinetics / Ilona Kálnoky - 'aROUNDme'

Intriguing installation consisting of 5 rotating mirrors. In a way deceptively simple and at the same time compelling. The kind of installation so ingenuous and therefore the more surprising in its effect that it makes you wonder why nobody came up with this idea before. Or even: 'I could have thought of this...'. But then... I didn't.

In that regard it reminded me of some of the installations of Olafur Eliasson, who by the way was also a participant in this group show at Galerie Niels Borg Jensen.  

The exhibition 'Space Invasion' showed works of artists who work around the concept of 'space' as well as 'body in space'. As the gallery is exclusively dedicated to print making and sets out for contemporary artists "to work with print media", most of the works exhibited were prints. As such, the Kálnoky installation 'aROUNDme' was an exception to the rule. A beautiful exception.

Other participating artists were Olafur Eliasson as mentioned, William Anastasi, Elmgreen & Dragset, Thomas Demand, Kirsten Everberg, Clay Ketter, Eva Löfdahl and Al Taylor.

The State of Things / video

12 Hours State Vania Rovisco / Maria F. Scaroni from vaniarovisco on Vimeo.

In november 2010 I was invited to participate in 'The State of Things', a 12 hour ongoing performance by Maria Francesca Scaroni and Vania Rovisco. As they were continuously on stage from 10am to 10pm, 18 guests, amongst them dancers, actors, musicians, writers, photographers and artists, joined and interacted with them and the other performers. Audience was able to watch from 3 sides and could come and stay (or go and come back) during the whole performance for as long as they wanted.
During my first entrance, early afternoon, I painted 14 banners using liquid acrylic paint and ink (3.30).
In the second slot, early evening, I made a collage on the back wall, using the drawings as well as magazine cut outs (6.33). For photos of this and more look at my previous post on The State of Things > by clicking here and scroll down.


>> More information, photo's and video's to be found at: www.thestateofthingsprocess.wordpress.com.

>> Or visit the website of Aktuelle Architektur Der Kultur (AADK), the Berlin-based artistic network, focusing on performance, live installation, video work, soundscapes and literature, that counts Maria and Vania amongst its members: www.aadk.org.