Elevator Pitch...SO WHAT?

Elevator button at studio Papenbroeksteeg Amsterdam

Artists are storytellers... SO WHAT? Whatever your creative endeavor, you have to be able to tell the story of your personal brand, and describe your artistic vision, if you want to make a difference. SO WHAT? Today the DOGtime 5th year will give their elevator pitch. What do I want to talk about? What can I do for others? What is it that I hope to do? Questions that will be featured in my pitch: what is it about me, what matters most and what do I bring to the 'art' table? These questions are followed by a SO WHAT...just to pinpoint the exact energy that should be received. I will go and try to build a relationship with the audience, I have nothing written down from A to B. I will go with the flow. Just a few words that grasp who I am and what I like to do. It starts with a 'did you know...' spoken in a rather soft tone of voice and then alters quickly by me screaming to the audience.

'Ambition is not what a man would do,

 but what a man does,  for ambition without action is fantasy' 

Bryant H. McGill

YES, I really am going to scream to the government committed jury, the teachers and students! For it reflects my energy, my need for more and my struggles. I hope I'll keep my nerves under control. Because a loud mouth should be backed up by actions, composure, body language and shift back to a more comfortable way of telling my story. Diversification is key to express what I want to show in this 5 minute opportunity with a CEO. But most of all I would like to transfer a sense of energy instead of a rational train of thoughts.

Curiosity - Experiment - Experience

The three words above this post are a driving force to keep making new work. People have asked me 'but why do you collect a Pony Performance?' or 'why do you want to bury your head in the earth?' I answer; why do we have the Olympic Games, why do we listen to music, why do we enjoy a walk through a landscape or do we lay on our backs looking at the clouds? Why do these things make us feel alive? They give us an experience that seems very important but it doesn't nourish our physical needs.

I've read 'The Naked Man' by Desmond Morris and although I found it pretty outdated at times, it also approached human kind as another species of animal on the planet earth. For me that was the most interesting element of the book and it was beneficial for my thesis. His chapter about the human need for beauty, art and expression was very insightful. And lingers in the corners of my mind. For there are many things we can't explain in this world. Expression is one of those things people everywhere on earth use by sound, clothing and decorations. Not only to be more attractive, or to tell a story nor even to show their power. Objects wether they are given magical powers or not, are also used for the cheer joy they bring to the mind. The experience of 'wonder' one gets or 'anxiety', even the reaction of 'rejection' when a person is experiencing a piece of art is just as valuable and justified as all others. But art does more, it wants some effort from the viewer. It has its own rules and regulations and can often be dismissed as to rational.

Yes, contemporary art does seem to involve the mind for a great deal. But never forget that we perceive our surroundings with all our senses! Sight, sound, smell and taste are indicators that send little pieces of information to our brains. Where we can translate emotions and thoughts and are able to talk about our experiences. Art being the territory where the 'All Is Possible' does not have to comply with the value of aesthetics.  As example you see three pictures that I shot this weekend. The most important aspect for me is that they are seen as a residue from a performance. That starting point given, I value the photo on the left much more as a sculpture. The one in the middle is more 2 dimensional with only my mouth and the earth as information carriers. And the first one above the page deals much more with motion, movement and time. It is more unsettling than the other two due to the fact it is much more 'in your face'. Once I've deciphered this series I can take a look at them and separate the ones I like from the ones I don't like. And a whole new process of looking, choosing and remaking can begin.

28 GB LOST

Making a performance with more people demands different rules and regulations. In this case my concept was about time, it's unpredictable but recurring state of beginning and end. And whatever happens in the meantime? A continuous force of elements that bounce off one another and creates new interactions. This performance was inspired by the loss of my entire digital music library! About 28 GB was wiped from my laptop at the time and was projected into the void! Now, a few years later my itunes uses 65 GB musical power for my pleasure. And this time it has been copied onto various external hard disks, together with pictures, videos and other documents. This performance ventilated my frustration at the time and with the use of the group materialized that I wasn't the only one to lose those digits...

Expectations

Working on a drawing for the Green Light Assessment

Preparations for the Green Light Assessment are on its way. The Green Light Assessment (GLA) is the run-up for the final exam in July. It consists of three elements:

(1) Thesis. 

(2) Visual Development.

(3) Artist Statement.

This add's up to a Red, Yellow or Green light. The first one means a No Go the last one is the Thumbs Up! With only three more days to go my focus lies with number two. A very dense time this is, I make - look - change - make new one's - and change the composition again. Its not like producing a series of paintings or sculptures. Some pieces are specially created of this installation. Others are from my sketchbook and find their place here. I've realized that my personal emotions are the base of many works. I have to admit that  life and things that happen -on a personal level- are so complex that I use art to reshape, reconnect or address them. 

Try-out composition on the floor before putting it up on the wall

And if I do make a piece that seems to question the environment or a certain social class system, and look at them in retrospective I can pinpoint right down to the source. So there you have it! One of the reasons why I use myself a lot in my work. My physical presence, or to go through a specific sort of motion that might look awkward is essential for me to experience!  To grasp what the best possible visible language is for a certain train of thoughts is most of the time an instant hit. That in other attempts get some texture or becomes more refined.

Press Release

The Talent Show:

Guido van der Werve - Nederlands Dans Theater 2 - Uta Eisenreich - Sina Khani - Ieke Trinks - Dennis Verbeke - Renee van Trier - Jeroen Offerman - Isabelle Schiltz - Nina Yuen

The new edition of Palais Paradiso will take place on 16 February 2012.

The theme of this year is 'The Talent Show'. It's a nod to the enormous amount of

talent these days with a program full of show and spectacle. Palais Paradiso is a series of performances, video art, installations and music.

Date: Thursday, february 16, 2012

Start: 20:30

Admission: 9.50 | Students 6.50

more information:

www.palaisparadiso.nl

www.ticketmaster.nl