[Nettime-ro] INVITATION TO "ARE YOU CRAZY?"

[BüroFriedrich <office@buerofriedrich.org>]

Title: INVITATION TO "ARE YOU CRAZY?"

INVITATION TO THE ARTIST TALK

ARE YOU CRAZY?

 

WITH ELENA KOVYLINA

AT BÜROFRIEDRICH

THURSDAY, JUNE 26th 2003 

7:00 P.M.

 

ARE YOU CRAZY? is the title of a series of artist talks which raise the issue of "irrationality" and open this important element in the works of young artists for discussion. Everyday situations are normally judged according to logical criteria. In contrast, artistic actions create the possibility of pushing the limits of the given social standards or even going beyond the established narrow confines of rational behaviour; for an artistic act does not require the legitimisation of a predetermined goal.

Is it the main purpose and intent of the artist to question the accustomed strategies of daily routine by incorporating breaks and disruptions into ordinary logical structures?

What role does the artist play within the framework of "rational" social constructs, when his or her actions cannot be measured by such criteria?
Is it the artist's purpose to play the fool - much like court jesters or children - by inverting and thus reflecting habitual patterns of behaviour?

These are just a few of the questions that will be discussed with the invited artists in conjunction with their individual artistic positions.

The performance artist Elena Kovylina often puts herself in dangerous situations in relation to the audience. Viewers are often faced with the challenge of having to choose how to intervene in potentially life-threatening situations, which underscore the question of who is really in control. In one performance the artist rowed far out into waters of the Black Sea in a small wooden boat. Members of the audience eventually came to the decision to rescue her in a motor boat and she was safely brought back to shore. In "Make it yourself" the audience was given the option of kicking away the chair on which she was

standing with a noose around her neck. In "Schießstand" the audience was asked to shoot at the artist as a living target; Elena Kovylina was hit by a bullet. A work with a particularly Russian flair was "Walzer" in which she danced with different men chosen from the audience. The dance was interrupted by short breaks, in which she drank a shot of Vodka and pinned a medal onto her jacket. The performance ended in the hospital, where she was admitted for alcohol poisoning.

Elena Kovylina (born 1971 in Moscow) lives and works in Berlin and
Stuttgart. She studied at the Academy of Arts in Moscow, the Kunst und Medien Schule in
Zurich and the HdK Berlin with Rebbeka Horn. 
She has performed in the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Wien), in

Postfuhramt (Berlin) and Artforum Berlin (Galerie Paula Böttcher), among other locations. She currently has a fellowship at Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart).

ARE YOU CRAZY? will take place on various Thursdays in June and July at 7 p.m.

The dates of the following talks are to be announced.

--

our program:

Ross Birrell - Envoy

Exhibition dates: 20.5.2003- 28.6.2003
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 12.00pm-6.00pm

*********************
BüroFriedrich
Holzmarktstrasse 15 - 18
S-Bahnbögen 53-54
10179 Berlin
Germany

tel: +49 (0)30 201 65115
fax: +49 (0)30 201 65114
office@buerofriedrich.org

www.buerofriedrich.org
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