Short review from "A Visit To This Planet" at Standard

The fragment of the review from Der Standard by Helmut Ploebst (21.11.2010):

Vom Faun bis zum Alien

21. November 2010, 18:04

Britische und kontinentale Choreografie in St. Pölten und im Tanzquartier Wien

(...) Mit "A Visit To This Planet. Part I" von Oleg Soulimenko, uraufgeführt in den Tanzquartier-Studios, schließt sich der Bogen dieses Tanzwochenendes zwischen St. Pölten und Wien, zwischen dem angloamerikanischen und dem kontinentalen Tanz. Soulimenko, der durchaus von Paxton beeinflusst ist, nimmt unser Medienspektakel um Klimawandel, Krieg und Kometen auf die Schaufel.
Zu Beginn ist die Auslöschung des Menschen schon passiert. Drei etwas verrückte Aliens - mit dabei: Thomas Kasebacher und Radek Hewelt - verwenden die Bühne wie einen archäologischen Detektor und entdecken Erstaunliches in den Trümmern der Zivilisation. Eine subversive Arbeit, bei der dem Publikum das Lachen im Hals steckenbleibt. Auch eine Augenweide. Aber, gemessen an Cherkaoui und Co, eben eine der anderen Art.

(Helmut Ploebst/ DER STANDARD, Printausgabe, 22.11.2010)

Link:
http://derstandard.at/1289608403112/Vom-Faun-bis-zum-Alien

Review from "Sättigungsbeilage" by Helmut Ploebst

Tanzquartier

Tanzgesättigte Twin Towers

von Helmut Ploebst | 15. November 2010, 10:22

"Andrea Bold zeigt im Tanzquartier ihre neue Arbeit "Sättigungsbeilage", die junge Choreografin Valerie Oberleithner präsentiert im WUK "Splendid Isolation"

"Ein Wochenende mit österreichischem Tanz in Wien: Andrea Bold zeigt im Tanzquartier ihre neue Arbeit "Sättigungsbeilage", die junge Choreografin Valerie Oberleithner präsentiert im WUK "Splendid Isolation".

Wien - Ein Huhn fragt: "Warum schauen die mich alle an?" Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage werden von dem Erzähler Radek Hewelt die großen Geister der Tanzgeschichte angerufen: Isadora, Merce, Pina. Und vor dem geistigen Auge des Zuschauers erscheinen sie dann auch, Duncan, Cunningham und Bausch. So beginnt Sättigungsbeilage der Choreografin Andrea Bold im Tanzquartier.

Drei Tänzer - neben Hewelt sind das Martin Tomann und Satu Herrala - loten mit Witz und Esprit die Formen jener Bewegungen aus, die im engeren Sinn unter die Kategorie "Tanzen" fallen. Doch die Sättigungsbeilage ist weniger eine Selbstvergewisserungsübung der Kunstform Tanz geworden als eine Kritik des Tanzens selbst. Kritik im positiven Sinn: Man macht sich nicht über das Tanzen lustig, sondern sucht nach Bedingungen, unter denen Tanz zu einer attraktiven Angelegenheit auf der Bühne wird.

Das wunderbare Trio bleibt dabei bemerkenswert cool. Es nimmt seinen Tanzstoff durch, bleibt aber distanziert zu dessen virtuosen Verlockungen. Wohl fühlt es sich in Gefahrenzonen, wie sie von Herrala einmal in einer gesprochenen Passage umrissen werden. Darin geht es um "Twin Towers in Arizona, die sich an der Schwerkraft erfreuen". Das ist keinesfalls zynisch, sondern ein poetischer Perspektivwechsel.

Die Antwort auf die Frage des Huhns kennt der Wind, der im Stück zarte Plastiksäckchen zum Tanzen bringt, wohl in Anspielung auf die berühmte Szene mit dem gleichen gespenstisch-zauberhaften Motiv in dem Film American Beauty. (...)"

derStandard, 15 November 2010

Link:

http://derstandard.at/1289607881700/Tanzquartier-Tanzgesaettigte-Twin-Towers

A Visit To This Planet. Part 1 - Premiere!

A Visit To This Planet. Part 1 - a new performance by Oleg Soulimenko in which I have a pleasure to participate will have it's premiere this week on Thursday 18 November in TanzQuartier in Vienna.





From the TQW online programme (english version):

OLEG SOULIMENKO ^(RUS/A) / VIENNA MAGIC
A Visit To This Planet. Part I
THUR 18 NOV. + FRI 19 NOV. 20.30 in TQW / Studios

CONCEPT: Oleg Soulimenko | PERFORMANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY: Thomas Kasebacher, Oleg Soulimenko, Radek Hewelt | STAGEDESIGN: Anke Philipp THEORY: Elke Krasny | LIGHTDESIGN: Roman Streuselberger | PRODUCTIONMANAGEMENT: Annette Pfefferkorn, Susanne Guggenberger | COPRODUCTION: Tanzquartier Wien and Vienna Magic | IN COLLABORATION WITH: PACT Zollverein Essen | WITH THE SUPPORT OF Stadt Wien and BMUKK

What happens after the end of the world? Taking up this complex point of departure Russian choreographer Oleg Soulimenko creates a possible post-apocalyptic scenario undertaking a search for the endings after the end. Three male performers appear as explorers of a 'strange' planet.
The time of their visit is an unlikely one. The visitors have reached the planet after a crisis and are now trying to appropriate what is left. Their exploration leads them to the most diverse areas of cultural production, like dance, film, opera, rock music, theatre and text. The references and quotations take on a strong life of their own in constant dialectical tension with the minds and bodies of the performing visitors. They let their findings get under their skin, they allow the human quotations to become part of their system and are consequently found in strange situations oscillating between bitter humour, cynical grotesqueness, self-analytical irony, overdosed entertainment and melancholy.

(German version):
Was geschieht nach dem Ende der Welt? Anknüpfend an diesen komplexen Ausgangspunkt, widmet sich der russische Choreograf Oleg Soulimenko in seiner neuen Performance einem möglichen postapokalyptischen Zustand und begibt sich auf die Suche nach dem ‚Danach‘ des Endes. Drei männliche Performer treten dabei als Entdecker eines fremdartigen Planeten in Erscheinung. Der Zeitpunkt ihres Besuches ist unwahrscheinlich. Sie erreichen den Planeten im Moment nach einer Krise und versuchen sich das zu Eigen zu machen, was übrig geblieben ist. Ihre Entdeckungsreise führt sie in die verschiedensten Bereiche der kulturellen Produktion des 20. Jahrhunderts wie Tanz, Film, Oper, Rockmusik, Theater und Text. Diese Referenzen und Zitate entwickeln ein starkes Eigenleben und stehen in einem ständigen dialektischen Spannungsfeld mit den Körpern und den Gedanken der Besucher. Diese lassen sich ihre Entdeckungen unter die Haut gehen, erlauben den menschlichen Zitaten ein Teil ihres Systems zu werden und finden sich dadurch in seltsamen Situationen wieder, die zwischen bitterem Humor, zynischer Groteske, selbstreflektierender Ironie, überdosierter Unterhaltung und drängender Melancholie schwanken.
–
KONZEPT: Oleg Soulimenko | PERFORMANCE, CHOREOGRAFIE: Thomas Kasebacher, Oleg Soulimenko, Radek Hewelt | BÜHNENBILD: Anke Philipp | THEORIE: Elke Krasny | LICHTDESIGN: Roman Streuselberger | PRODUKTIONSLEITUNG: Annette Pfefferkorn, Susanne Guggenberger | EINE KOPRODUKTION VON Tanzquartier Wien und Vienna Magic | IN KOLLABORATION MIT PACT Zollverein, Essen | MIT UNTERSTÜTZUNG der Stadt Wien und des BMUKK


Links:
www.tqw.at
http://tqw.at/en/program?date=18.11.2010
http://tqw.at/de/programm?date=18.11.2010

A premiere of SÄTTIGUNGSBEILAGE in TanzQuartier Wien

SÄTTIGUNGSBEILAGE - premiere!
A new piece by Andrea Bold.
TanzQuartier Wien, 12 ans 13 November 2010


Promotion text from TQW programme:

Dance as a threatened species. After deconstruction, hypertextualisation and the paradigm of constantly re-inventing itself, what remains for dance is the physical “constipation” and the sweet and-sour question of why few dance and many watch.
In Andrea Bold’s choreographic attempt moments of devotion and togetherness confront each other in the same way as the will to understand and the cases of arbitrariness of interpretation in view of a pressing mistrust of the kinaesthetic effect. In dialogue with the musically inventive wealth of the Symphonie Imaginaire by Jean-Philippe Rameau, the three musicians draft their movement material based on simplicity and concentration in movement, on the original and the familiar, which permits the reduction to elementary physical parts and outlines the practical utopia of a dance that might be sufficient in itself.
–
DANCE: Radek Hewelt, Satu Herrala, Martin Tomann CONCEPT: Andrea Bold MUSIC: Jean-Philippe Rameau: Une Symphonie imaginaire
–
A COPRODUCTION OF Tanzquartier Wien and TANZVEREIN ERDBERG



German Version

Der Tanz als bedrohte Spezies. Nach Dekonstruktion, Hypertextualisierung und dem Paradigma des Sich-immer-neu-Erfindens bleibt dem Tanz die physische "Verstopfung" und die süß-saure Frage, warum wenige tanzen und viele dabei zusehen.
In Andrea Bolds choreografischem Versuch stehen sich Momente der Hingabe und des Miteinanders ebenso gegenüber wie der Wille zum Verstehen und die Falle der Willkür von Interpretation in Anbetracht eines drängenden Misstrauens gegenüber dem kinästhetischen Effekt. Im Dialog mit dem musikalischen Erfindungsreichtum der Symphonie Imaginaire von Jean-Philippe Rameau entwerfen die drei TänzerInnen ausgehend von der Einfachheit und Konzentriertheit von Bewegung, von Originärem und Bekannten, ihr Bewegungsmaterial, das die Reduktion auf physische Elementarteile erlaubt und die praktische Utopie eines Tanz entwirft, der sich selbst genug sein könnte.
–
TANZ: Radek Hewelt, Satu Herrala, Martin Tomann IDEE: Andrea Bold MUSIK: Jean-Philippe Rameau: Une Symphonie imaginaire
–
EINE KOPRODUKTION VON Tanzquartier Wien und TANZVEREIN ERDBERG


Links:
http://tqw.at/en/program?date=12.11.2010

Czerwona Trawa at XXV Days of Contemporary Art

Teatr Dada von Bzdulow with Czerwona Trawa/Red Grass at XXV Days of Contemporary Art in Bialystok/Poland

Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre – founded by Leszek Bzdyl – a director and a choreographer, and by Katarzyna Chmielewska – a dancer and a choreographer; on stage since 1993; an independent group of professional dancers and actors, which produces performances in cooperation with Polish and foreign cultural institutions As of today, Dada have produced around 40 performances. Since 2008 the theatre is represented by Dada von Bzdülöw Artists Association with its seat in Gdańsk, Poland.

Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre works at the interface between acting and dance expression. It uses poetics of pure nonsense, the elements of trivial everyday life, high culture clashes with kitsch. It also builds the climate of its performances through handling light and colour.

Red Grass

A story about male-female relationships expressed by means of dance. It would seem that they are very complex; that there are subtle nuances between the sexes which hinder mutual understanding. Meanwhile, the game between lovers is always the same and determined by biologism.

After reading a book by Boris Vian reality is no longer the same. His surrealistic vision is so compelling and opening that one would like to stay there and last, despite the bitterness and unspecified sadness. Be like a Senator dog, who is missing only Łapiti to be completely happy, or as Lil, who has two specially trained beetles to give manicure, or to dance to Duke Ellington’s...

Katarzyna Chmielewska

1 - this is a book of my life (I’ve read it for the first time when I was 22 years old and somehow I identified with the Wolf, which probably influenced my attitude to the world for the next 22 years)
2 - if one loves something too much, one becomes blind and loses the distance
3 - we dance and do not talk, and yet the whole Vian’s charm is in the language, so we should find a similar charm in motion
4 - it results from what was mentioned above that we have to start with Vian and than flee from him and autonomically act in a self-fulfilling performance

Leszek Bzdyl

director: Katarzyna Chmielewska and Leszek Bzdyl
choreography and performance: Katarzyna Chmielewska, Tatiana Kamieniecka, Ula Zerek, Leszek Bzdyl, Radek Hewelt
music: Mikołaj Trzaska
stage design: Maciej Chojnacki
video: Kamila Chomicz / in video sequence: Cezary Rybiński
lights: Michał Kołodziej

production: Wybrzeże Theatre, Gdańsk; Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre
supported by the Government of the City of Gdansk.

Links:

http://www.dsw.bialystok.pl/program.html

Some photos from QUER: Symposium und Labor für Interkreativität

Between 11-13 March I participated in the interesting installation by numen/for use at Viennese Odeon. This installation was a part of QUER: Symposium und Labor für Interkreativität. Below I enclose some pictures from the event.








Links:
http://quer.departure.at
http://www.foruse.info/
http://radekhewelt.blogspot.com/2010/03/tape-installation-by-numenfor-use-and.html

At corpusweb.net: Radek Hewelt "WITH “HOW?” ON STAGE"

Lately published at corpusweb.net
http://www.corpusweb.net/radek-hewelt.html


RADEK HEWELT

WITH “HOW?” ON STAGE

In this text I’m going to concentrate on my group works. My solo projects usually have a different character and artistic output. I’d like to begin by announcing that I’m not a visionary. It’s a very rare situation that I see a clear picture of what the work will look like in the end. I have some ideas about the direction, frame, colors, shapes, background, etc., but it’s the process of development in the “laboratory” that makes a final image appear.

FOCUS ON PHYSICALITY AND THE STATE OF THE BODY

Most of my works are characterized by a strong focus on the body. Even if text and vocal expression are present they are always in strong relation with physicality. A body state derives from the theme of a particular work. For instance, in “CLOSE-UP” a dance came out of body response to a topic of intimacy. The physical language was constructed through observation, analysis, embodiment and deconstruction of the human body in a situation of affection. In this context I can’t imagine a process without creating an intimate and trustful situation in the studio that allows people I work with to openly interact, experiment and search. I try to create a specific universe in which the final picture is born out of our dialogs, sensitivities, qualities and capacities.

LANDSCAPE BETWEEN CONCRETENESS AND ABSTRACTION

I start each project with a more or less concrete interest or question. My latest works were circulating around topics like intimacy, public - personal distance, relation between physicality and voice, how to bring the effect of close-up on stage, etc. Those themes lead to the definition of the field that the dancers are going to operate in. It usually takes quite some time to draw the borders and inhabit this particular land. Then out of “living” in this place we create the material that ranges from everyday action to abstract forms. In the process of developing a homogeneous body language of a particular piece sooner or later we are confronted with two questions: how to abstract the narrative forms and how to give a meaning to abstract forms? I try to find the answers through the process of developing a particular stage presence.

STAGE PRESENCE

I’m usually not interested in action as a 100% narrative or abstract momentum but in its execution. For instance if a dancer touches the wall my focus wouldn’t lie on the act of touching as a narrative action or a detached abstract movement but in the way how one does it. Therefore the laboratory work during the creation is so important in my work. It generates the strategies how to “live” the forms and actions on stage. Those strategies derive from concentrating on different systems of stimuli coming from body, senses, emotions, imagination, musicality, interactions with partners, etc. They can be abstract or very concrete. During the performance a dancer is occupied with forms and tasks that are filled out with information coming from the activation of the whole sensing system. The meaning or fill-out of specific actions has to be clear for a performer but not necessarily for the spectator. At the end the audience is confronted with the dancers “living” their choreographies on stage.

ARTISTIC OUTPUT, STRUCTURE AND STAGE DESIGN

The universe that my collaborators and I inhabit for the time of the creation and the theme of the work are reflected by the performers' physical response to it and their specific stage presence which I described above. But also the performance's structuring and stage design play a significant role in the communication with the audience in my works. They create a context for the dance and determine the directions of reading it. For example in “ZOOM IN”, which explored the topic of affection by way of shifting between public and personal distance, the stage was situated in the corner of a rather small room. The squeezed-in public sat close to the dancers and had two more walls just behind their backs. During the piece the performers were consequently approaching the spectators and finally crossed the border between stage and audience. The people watching the performance were recorded by a hidden camera, and at the end they could see themselves reacting to the show on a video projection in the adjacent room. Though the structure and stage design are very important, they do not give any answers, and their main function is to emphasise the “HOW?”

Czerwona Trawa/Red Grass again at Teatr Wybrzeze in Gdansk

After succeesful performance in Olsztyn last weekend Teatr Dada von Bzdulow will perform Red Grass again at Teatr Wybrzeze in Gdansk on 31th March and 1st April. I have a pleasure to be a part of this performance. We'll perform in a city I come from so it's always an emotional experience for me.

Artistic Direction: Leszek Bzdyl, Katarzyna Chmielewska

Performing: Katarzyna Chmielewska, Tatiana Kamieniecka, Anna Steller (substituting Ula Zerek), Leszek Bzdyl, Radek Hewelt

Music: Mikolaj Trzaska

Scenography & Costumes: Maciej Chojnacki

Video: Kamila Chomicz



Boris Vian, one of the soul fathers of Teatr Dada von Bzdulow, comes back in this project of a group. In its 16-years long history Teatr Dada had already twice created the works inspired by this french writer.

In Czerwona trawa/Red Grass Teatr Dada von Bzdulow meets again a prose of Boris Vian. Multidimensional language of dance theatre is a good starting point for a creative tryout of interpretation of Vian's writings in which he vies with subjects like life, youth, senility, love and death.

More informations about the show in Teatr Wybrzeze:
http://www.teatrwybrzeze.pl/#/spektakle/czerwona-trawa/2010-03-31

Teatr Dada w Olsztynie/Theatre Dada in Olsztyn

Theatre Dada von Bzdulow will presents its creation "Red Grass" within XVIII Olsztyn's Theatre Meetings on Saturday 27th March. A performance will be shown at the Theatre of Stefan Jaracz.

CZERWONA TRAWA/RED GRASS
inspirowana powiescia/inspired by a novel by Boris Vian

reżyseria/artistic direction: Katarzyna Chmielewska, Leszek Bzdyl
scenografia/scenography: Maciej Chojnacki, muzyka/music: Mikołaj Trzaska, video: Kamila Chomicz /w sekwencji video/in video sequence: Cezary Rybiński/, reżyseria świateł/light design: Michał Kołodziej

choreografia i wykonanie/choreography and performance: Katarzyna Chmielewska, Tatiana Kamieniecka, Anna Steller, Leszek Bzdyl, Radek Hewelt

Fragmenty recenzji z teatralia.com.pl Alicji Olkowskiej/Fragments of the review from teatralia.com.pl by Alicja Olkowska (just in polish)

Katarzyna Chmielewska: Po przeczytaniu jakiejkolwiek książki Borisa Viana, rzeczywistość nie jest już taka sama. Jego surrealistyczna wizja jest tak pociągająca i otwierająca, że chciałoby się w niej przebywać i trwać, pomimo goryczy i bliżej nieokreślonego smutku.
— Najnowsze taneczne dziecko Teatru opowiada o relacjach damsko - męskich. Wydawać by się mogło, że są one mocno skomplikowane, że trudno zrozumieć kobiety i mężczyzn, że między płciami zachodzą subtelne niuanse, które utrudniają zrozumienie zaangażowanych stron. Okazuje się, że relacje te są niezwykle proste, a wręcz łatwo przewidywalne, gyż gra między kochankami jest zawsze taka sama zdeterminowana przez biologizm.
Zaczyna się niewinnie. Ot, zwykła dyskoteka /.../. Na podświet-lonym parkiecie prowadzą taneczny flirt dwie pary. Tańczą, uśmiechają się do siebie, patrzą na siebie tak, że wiadomo do czego każdy ich krok zmierza. Udało się! Mężczyźni rzucili urokliwą przynętę, a kobiety ją połknęły wraz z lubieżnie konsumowanymi w międzyczasie czereśniami /.../. Między parami ogarniętymi miłosną chemią, porusza się jeszcze jedna osoba - młoda dziewczyna, obrośnięty meszkiem podlotek. Jej ruch jest chaotyczny, koślawy, śmieszny. Nie pasuje do towarzystwa wzajemnej adoracji /.../. Między graczami zaiskrzyło /.../. Zaczyna się walka /.../.

Spektakl poruszył publiczność swoją żywiołowością, lekkim podejściem do spraw przykrych i oczywistych. Chwilami rozśmieszał, bo parodiował nas samych, czasem smucił, bo pokazywał jacy jesteśmy i w jaki sposób nasze pragnienia pękają jak bańki mydlane /.../.

Links:
web page of Theatre of Jaracz in Olsztyn: http://www.teatr.olsztyn.pl/index.php?action=news&id=209
a whole review: http://teatralia.com.pl/artykuly/sierpien_2009/050809_gcze.php

Helmut Ploebst in derStandard about Empathy Project vol 1

A review from the derStandard by Helmut Ploebst after our Empathy Project vol. 1 at imagetanz in brut/Vienna. For full text follow the link: http://derstandard.at/1268700946217/Imagetanz-Tanz-als-Einfuehlungsdroge
A text is in german.

Imagetanz

Tanz als Einfühlungsdroge

18. März 2010, 17:31

Die Choreografinnen Magdalena Chowaniec und Martina Ruhsam

Wien - Der Mund steht ihnen offen, als hätten sie den Leibhaftigen gesehen und dabei eine Maulsperre bekommen. Die drei Tänzer des "Empathy Project Vol. I" der jungen Choreografin Magdalena Chowaniec, das bei Imagetanz im Brut-Theater uraufgeführt wurde, sind Süchtige.

Besser gesagt: Diese Tänzer versetzen sich mit unheimlicher Konsequenz in die beschädigten Körper von Drogenabhängigen. Sie dröhnen sich nicht selbst zu, sondern bereiten ihre Aufführungen stundenlang vor. Durch Einfühlung, als Ergebnis einer langen künstlerischen Recherche. Seit 2008 beschäftigt sich Chowaniec mit den Wirkungen von Empathie im Tanz, deren politischen Aspekt die aus Polen stammende Künstlerin besonders unterstreicht.

Das Ergebnis ist kein Sozialrührstück, sondern eine choreografische Installation von beinahe Beckett'schen Ausmaßen. Die drei Figuren torkeln auf dem Tanzboden, versuchen in ihrem Weggetretensein so etwas wie ein Bühnenbild aufzubauen. Da sie kaum noch fähig sind, sich auf den Beinen zu halten oder einfachste Handlungen auszuführen, geraten sie in einen Teufelskreis vergeblicher Bemühungen.

Chowaniec, die mit Gabri M. Einsiedl und einem umwerfenden Radek Hewelt auch selbst auftrat, verunsicherte die sozial sensible Imagetanz-Zuschauerschaft durch ihre Gratwanderung zwischen künstlerischer Illusion und dokumentarischem Realismus. Geradezu perfekt wäre das "Empathy Project Vol. I" auch für ein junges Publikum - durch das Fehlen aller Belehrungsattitüde, durch Ironie trotz Drastik der Darstellung.

[...]

Diesem Erfolg schadet es natürlich keinesfalls, dass das Brut zurzeit gerade das "hottest theatre in town" ist und dass die Kuratorin des Festivals - Bettina Kogler - auch auf die einladenden Gesten künstlerischer Partyformate gesetzt hat.

(Helmut Ploebst, DER STANDARD/Printausgabe, 19.03.2010)

Tape installation by numen/for use and Nikolaus Suchentrunk

Last days I had a pleasure to participate in the installation by numen/for use (designer) and Nikolaus Suchentrunk (fine artist). This art project was a part of: Quer. Symposium und Labor für Interkreativität. Installation consisted of hanging tunels made out of transparent tapes that where extended and attached to monumental pillars at Odeon Theater in Vienna. It all looked like a huge spider web. Together with Valerie Oberleithner, Laia Fabre and Kerstin Olivia Schellander we've prepared a choreography designed specially for this space. I hope I will have the pictures so I can publish them.

numen/for use made already similar installation before. Some pictures are available at their web-site:
http://www.foruse.info/index_in.htm
under projects (tape installation/vienna 09)

QUER: Symposium und Labor für Interkreativität

QUER wird veranstaltet von departure - Eine Initiative der Stadt Wien. Ein Unternehmen des Wiener Wirtschaftsförderungsfonds.

QUER: Symposium und Labor für Interkreativität
Odeon, 1020 Wien, Taborstraße 10
11. bis 13. März 2010

Wir brauchen kreative Neugier, Offenheit und Verantwortung statt Altgier, Routine und Egoismus. Wenn die Künste von ihrem Publikum Offenheit und Out-of-the-box-Denken verlangen, müssen sie sich auch selbst an diesem Anspruch messen (lassen). Eine genauere Betrachtung zeigt jedoch, dass Schubladendenken durchaus verbreitet ist, man in der jeweiligen Sparte gerne unter sich ist und neuartige Begegnungen mit anderen Kreativsparten die Ausnahme sind.

Die Künste leben aber von Vielfalt, Gegensatz und Reibung. Sie brauchen mutige, unwägbare Begegnungen zwischen KünstlerInnen/Kreativen auf gleicher Augenhöhe. Interkreativität eröffnet neue Sichtweisen, Spannungsbögen und Erkenntnisse und ermöglicht sogar neuartige Kunstformen und unkonventionelle Annäherungen an das Thema Gesamtkunstwerk im digitalen Zeitalter. Zugleich kann Interkreativität als Vermittlungstool dienen, das durch frische, innovative, leicht verständliche Zugänge Schwellenangst vor kulturellen Leistungen abbaut.

Was ist Interkreativität?

Spartenübergreifende Ansätze, im Besonderen Projekte, zu denen sich zwei oder mehrere Kreative aus verschiedenen Kreativbereichen zusammenfinden.

QUER will erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit auf das kreative/künstlerische Potenzial von Interkreativität lenken und durch sorgfältige Analyse der Dimensionen und Risiken von Interkreativität die Voraussetzungen für das Gelingen solcher Projekte herausarbeiten. Ziel ist es, durch Herstellung von Querverbindungen und Multiplikatoreffekten in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft zusätzliche Nachfrage nach Kreativleistungen zu schaffen und die Wiener Kreativwirtschaft zu stärken.

Warum departure?

Als Einrichtung der Stadt Wien für die Kreativwirtschaft konnte departure seit 2003 eine Vielzahl spannender Projekte in den Bereichen Design, Mode, Musik, Multimedia, Architektur, Audiovision, Kunst, Literatur und anderen Sparten der Creative Industries fördern, interdisziplinären Kooperationen wird ein besonderer Stellenwert eingeräumt. Unter dem Begriff Interkreativität setzt departure nun neue Impulse für eine stärkere Verbindung von kreativen Leistungen aus verschiedenen Sparten und organisiert zu diesem Zweck QUER: Symposium und Labor für Interkreativität – ein Forum für Vorträge, Analysen und Diskussionen und zugleich Kreativlabor für die Visualisierung literarischer Texte.

Warum Wien?

Wien verfügt über ein dynamisches kulturelles Angebot, qualitätsbewusste Kreativszenen, erstklassige Institutionen und eine große kulturelle Vergangenheit, nicht zuletzt in der Zeit um 1900 mit bahnbrechenden Vorstößen in Richtung Gesamtkunstwerk und verstärkter Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Künsten. Wien ist daher für Interkreativität prädestiniert.

Links:

http://quer.departure.at

http://www.foruse.info/

Interview about Cooperativa Performativa in Corpus

Valerie Oberleithner made an interview with me about Cooperativa Performativa (with whom I worked in December'10) on the internet magazine Corpus dedicated to the art of dance and performance. It's a part of her and Agnieszka Ryszkiewicz's project at their residency in Corpus. Project is called "Map it!". More about this project under:
http://www.corpusweb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1538&Itemid=33

Below I publish a part of the interview. The whole interview you can view under:
http://www.corpusweb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1538&Itemid=33&limit=1&limitstart=2


Radek Hewelt about Cooperativa Performativa


Where do they meet?

Valerie Oberleithner asked me to talk about Cooperativa Performativa. (laughs) Cooperativa Performativa is a group based in Romania. It consists of five artists from the performance and dance fields. The artists are from Bucuresti.They work in a kind of dance centre. I think it is even called dance house. They have a studio. It does not belong only to them. It belongs to the community. Cooperativa Performativa is one of the founders of this dance centre. Therefore they have the privilege to use the studio.

The internet as a virtual space is not an issue. One of their goals is to share one space, one physical space.

Who is the leader, and does everyone share his/her vision?

There is no leader! This is maybe the most important point about their working strategies. They are “the anarchists”. They do not like leaders. Furthermore they work independently from each other. This means that Cooperativa consists of five artists who work on five different projects. Also economical reasons made them work in this way: “Why do we not work on these five projects by sharing one studio? Why do we not just use each other for our own purposes?” They formulated rules how this way of cooperation could function. One rule: there is no leader, you are independent, you can always say no. You do not even have to come for the rehearsals. It is basically free and totally independent. Cooperativa Performativa is not about working for a group. It is rather using the sources a group or a collective offers. They are “the anarchists”. They do not have the goal to create something together. Everyone works on his own project, for a specific time, in a specific place.

Cooperativa Performativa reflects on its own working strategies. Sure a lot of conflicts appear. For example some would like to work with very loud music and some would like to work with silence. The task is to find solutions without leadership. What drives them to be in a studio is working on their own projects. Money reasons, too, made them decide to work in this way. Five artists using one studio at the same time is very economical. Beyond this they work with this situation. They know each other pretty well. They are old friends, colleagues.

...

More on Corpus

Links:
Official web-site of Cooperativa Performativa:
http://cooperativaperformativa.blogspot.com/
Corpus magazine:
http://www.corpusweb.net/

Teaching at TanzQuartier

All level training: Radek Hewelt

06 – 27 March
Each Saturday 17.00 – 18.30

Place your skin, muscles, bones, liquids, desires, sensations, emotions, ideas, concepts, thoughts, fantasies on a very small fire. You can experiment with quantities of ingredients. Meanwhile softly "oil" your joints. Allow a body to melt gently. When it gets warmer observe it spreading up and getting a volume. It needs time. When the whole mass reaches a good colour, don’t worry if it grows. Season it with your favourite herbs but don’t be afraid to try also the new ones. Don’t rush. When it’s getting hot and ready let the kinetic hunger take it over. Smell it, smile and let your test buds enjoy the dish. In case you’re not fully satisfied, analyze and eventually change something next time.

Radek Hewelt (PL/A) is a choreographer, dancer and performer. He was born in Poland. After accomplishing his social studies he continued his education joining a dance school of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s P.A.R.T.S in Brussels. Since 2003 he is based in Vienna. In his teaching he focuses on release technique principles. He also likes to cook.

Link: http://tqw.at/en/trainings?date=6.03.2010&e=519

Soft Cowboy at his end...

Ladies and Gentelmen... my life as an art object is coming today to an end! 81 days ago I signed the contract with myself and today at midnight my body comes back officially to its owner - the real person whose legal existance is confirmed by Birth Certificat. If you are in Vienna you're very welcome to join the last night of Soft Cowboy and Things.

More details about the show:
http://www.brut-wien.at/start.php?navid=detail&id=381
http://radekhewelt.blogspot.com/2010/02/things-in-vienna.html
http://radekhewelt.blogspot.com/2010/02/radek-hewelts-soft-cowboy-in-things.html


My rental contract:


RENT-TO-OWN CONTRACT

I. PARTIES:
This contract is entered into on 8th December 2009, by and between RADEK HEWELT as the Owner of the property rented and RADEK as the Renter.
The Owner hereby agrees to rent-to-own the real property described as A BODY.
This rental shall be for a term of 81 days, beginning 8th December 2009 and anding 26th February 2010.

II. DEFINITION OF THE PARTIES:
THE OWNER in this contract is a real person whose legal existance is confirmed by Birth Certificate.
THE RENTER is a physical and artistic image generated for a purpose of an artistic creation.

III. OBJECT OF THE RENTAL:
THE OBJECT of this rental – A BODY – is understood as a real physical body as well as widely assumed identity and personality constituting and belonging to the owner.

IV. RENTAL AGREEMENT:
In the period of contract duration the owner disdains his rights to own his property described as his body and identity. The renter has unlimited rights to despose rented object in any way necessery to fulfil the aims deriving from artistic creation. It might include also modification, transformation, rejection and destruction of an object of the rental.

Radek Hewelt's 'Soft Cowboy' in 'THINGS'

Dear friends,
I was asked by Anat Steinberg to contribute in curated by her exhibition of performances in big second hand shopping paradise Carla mittersteig in Vienna.
For this occasion I've prepared a performances called 'Soft Cowboy'. I'd feel honoured and excited to see you there!
The premiere is on Wednesday 24th February. Details below.



Soft Cowboy / Radek Hewelt

At this point in his life, Radek Hewelt has very little material property and even less personal attachments towards it. As a danced his most important possession is his body. Especially for this event, Radek Hewelt decided to rent his body + soul for artistic purposes. He signed a legal rental contract, and for a period of 81 days he abandoned the ownership of his property (the body + soul mentioned above). He gave the renter (the artistic purpose) the full rights to dispose of the ‘body + soul’ in any way necessary, including its modification (to create a new image), destruction of ‘real self’ and experimenting with exterior guidelines for interiors. In the performance (i.e. the artistic purpose) he will present his new creation.



‘THINGS’

24,25,26 February at 19:00
performances take place at Carla mittersteig,
Mittersteig 10, 1050 Vienna

‘THINGS’ is an exhibition for performances. It reflects upon the relationship between constructing identity and owning property; who we think we are in relation to the things we have.. or should probably get some day.. the people we should be.. the possibilities .. we should have had .. by now..

The artists Otobong Nkanga, Hans Bryssinck and Radek Hewelt are invited to respond with new performance works; from Egyptian mummies (buried with their valuables) through obsessive restitution wars to brand fetishes or the economical / emotional process of buying a house.. The artists will explore the emotional link connecting property owned and/or desired, and identity presentation.

To accentuate the economical aspect of the theme, ‘THINGS’ is happening in a second-hand furniture shop (Carla mittersteig, Mittersteig 10, Wien), which will be open for shopping during the show.

Curated and orchestrated by Anat Stainberg. With contributions from the artists: Hans Bryssinck, Performance. Yasmina Haddad, styling. Radek Hewelt, Performance. Erwin Jans, dramaturgy. Jan Maertens, light. Otobong Nkanga, Performance. Martin Siewert, music. and Ina Ivanceanu, production.

‘THINGS’ is a co-production of Anat Stainberg / ‘Mediated Meetings’ and brut Wien, and is kindly supported by stadt Wien Kultur and the BMU:KK Austria.

THINGS in Vienna

Curated and orchestrated by Anat Steinberg.

With contributions from the artists:

Hans Bryssinck, Performance
Yasmina Haddad, styling
Radek Hewelt, Performance
Erwin Jans, dramaturgy
Jan Maertens, light
Otobong Nkanga, Performance
Martin Siewert, music

‘THINGS’ is a site specific performance. It reflects upon the relationship between identity construction and property. Focusing on the gap between ‘wanting’ and ‘getting’; who we think we are in relation to the things we have.. or should probably get some day.. the people we should be.. the possibilities .. we should have had by now..

'THINGS' is happening in the Carla mittersteig, a second-hand furniture warehouse in Vienna. The Carla Mittersteig is mainly (according to the people who run it) a social project for employment (by Caretas). But it is chosen for the performance because of its arbitrary and sustained collection of ‘things with history and possible future’, reviving many forgotten stories. Site-specific performances are created in relation to a specific location and exist only there. This specific medium offers the viewers ‘pre knowledge’ to start with, which adds layers of information to the reading of the performance. And since a site (in this case a second hand public shop) is real and has a daily function, the performance gets to play in the range between reality and fiction in a fascinating way. To accentuate the economical aspect of the theme the shop will be open for shopping during the show.



Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) an English philosopher and legal theorist developed legislation theory dealing with owned property in the early ninteenth century. He was the first to address property’s important emotional components in his theories, revealing that property represented not only the object or item possessed, but indicated a more intangible relationship between the owner and what was owned.
‘Property is nothing but a basis of expectation; the expectation of deriving certain advantages from a thing which we are said to possess [. . .]. It is not material, it is metaphysical; it is a mere conception of the mind.’

To continue this thought it is interesting to look at the way people (in western cultures) develop relationship with the things they have; the how people belong to their property, how property defines people, puts them in a specific social status, how people live in the promise of the things they potentially should get some day .. Further more Bentham reminds, that it is law alone that enables property to exist, and that from this law people draw a certain expectation also towards future profit or an anticipated inheritance.
The time it takes until the promise has been realized is a very fruitful one for the creation of fantasies, because all you can do is plan, construct an identity.

THINGS, is a research into the way our imaginary and real potentialities code the way of our reality construction. The way fantasy is processed in a brain and re-arranged to an identity with reference to our physical, social and cultural surroundings. The performance will explore the function of property in sparking both individual and collective strategies, and propose ways for these stored ideas to be ‘back-projected’ to the space that hosts them - a second-hand furniture warehouse.



Three artists are invited to participate in this performance; each is coming from different culture and artistic background. All were personally and artistically challenged by the suggestion to explore the link between property and identity; they are asked to look at the ways in which matter influences spirit and contribute their own input, their own ‘take’ on things.

The artists will be provided with research material collected by Anat Stainberg from which they could choose what to focus on. From Egyptian mummies (buried with their valuables) through obsessive restitution wars to brand fetish or the economical / emotional process of buying a house. The artists are asked to create scenes in varies media considering the aspect of their choice.

‘THINGS’ is a co-produced by brut Wien and is kindly supported by stadt Wien Kultur and the BMU:KK Austria.