Autumn at Grazer Kunstverein
23 Sep - 17 Nov 2017
AUTUMN AT GRAZER KUNSTVEREIN
23 September – 17 November 2017
New Commission: Emily Mast
On Display: Ruth E Lyons; Fiston Mwanza Mujila; Edward Clydesdale Thomson; Céline Condorelli; Chris Evans with Morten Norbye Halvorsen; Fiona Hallinan; Isabella Kohlhuber; Isabel Nolan; Adam Zagajewski
On Reflection: Ernst Fischer
This season Emily Mast transforms the Grazer Kunstverein with The Seed Eaters – a play and exhibition co-produced with steirischer herbst.
Thirty-five mini scenes, eighteen sculptural sets, three new performers each night, and continually shifting roles – The Seed Eaters is presented as a deconstructed play, where language, objects, and participants’ personalities have equal value. Under the guiding leitmotif inspired by Ernst Fischer, the theme of this exhibition year is the necessity of art and its inherent magic. Emily Mast is particularly interested in the experience of endings, empathy and the abolition of hierarchies in this context.
On the first five days of the exhibition, players will activate the collection of sets to perform the entire work, developed by the artist in collaboration with playwright Rachel Kauder Nalebuff. Throughout the five evening performances, The Seed Eaters presents five unique readings to the varied rhythms of percussionist Manuel Alcaraz Clemente. The players, all residents of Graz, have been chosen for their differences and how little they seem to have in common.
For the remaining duration of the exhibition, the Kunstverein audience is invited to move around the set at their own pace, guided by prompts to embody the play themselves. Here the visitors’ own empathic capacity is what fills the installation with life and turns the space into a stage.
This new production finds its space and voice amidst Grazer Kunstverein’s seasonally accumulative programme of artworks, including works by Fiona Hallinan, Céline Condorelli, Isabella Kohlhuber, Isabel Nolan, Chris Evans with Morten Norbye Halvorsen, Adam Zagajewski, Edward Clydesdale Thomson, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, and Ruth E Lyons.
Emily Mast was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1976. Her performances have been presented at venues including: the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto (2016); La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel (2015); China Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles (2015); Mona Bismarck American Center, Paris (2015); Silencio, Paris (2015); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2014); The Hammer Museum LA (2014); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2014); Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Project Space, New York (2013); Public Fiction, Los Angeles (2012); REDCAT, Los Angeles (2012); MUHKA, Antwerp (2011); Human Resources, Los Angeles (2010) and Performa, New York (2009).
23 September – 17 November 2017
New Commission: Emily Mast
On Display: Ruth E Lyons; Fiston Mwanza Mujila; Edward Clydesdale Thomson; Céline Condorelli; Chris Evans with Morten Norbye Halvorsen; Fiona Hallinan; Isabella Kohlhuber; Isabel Nolan; Adam Zagajewski
On Reflection: Ernst Fischer
This season Emily Mast transforms the Grazer Kunstverein with The Seed Eaters – a play and exhibition co-produced with steirischer herbst.
Thirty-five mini scenes, eighteen sculptural sets, three new performers each night, and continually shifting roles – The Seed Eaters is presented as a deconstructed play, where language, objects, and participants’ personalities have equal value. Under the guiding leitmotif inspired by Ernst Fischer, the theme of this exhibition year is the necessity of art and its inherent magic. Emily Mast is particularly interested in the experience of endings, empathy and the abolition of hierarchies in this context.
On the first five days of the exhibition, players will activate the collection of sets to perform the entire work, developed by the artist in collaboration with playwright Rachel Kauder Nalebuff. Throughout the five evening performances, The Seed Eaters presents five unique readings to the varied rhythms of percussionist Manuel Alcaraz Clemente. The players, all residents of Graz, have been chosen for their differences and how little they seem to have in common.
For the remaining duration of the exhibition, the Kunstverein audience is invited to move around the set at their own pace, guided by prompts to embody the play themselves. Here the visitors’ own empathic capacity is what fills the installation with life and turns the space into a stage.
This new production finds its space and voice amidst Grazer Kunstverein’s seasonally accumulative programme of artworks, including works by Fiona Hallinan, Céline Condorelli, Isabella Kohlhuber, Isabel Nolan, Chris Evans with Morten Norbye Halvorsen, Adam Zagajewski, Edward Clydesdale Thomson, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, and Ruth E Lyons.
Emily Mast was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1976. Her performances have been presented at venues including: the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto (2016); La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel (2015); China Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles (2015); Mona Bismarck American Center, Paris (2015); Silencio, Paris (2015); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2014); The Hammer Museum LA (2014); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2014); Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Project Space, New York (2013); Public Fiction, Los Angeles (2012); REDCAT, Los Angeles (2012); MUHKA, Antwerp (2011); Human Resources, Los Angeles (2010) and Performa, New York (2009).