KroOt Juurak
KroOt
06 Jul - 03 Sep 2017
On the invitation of Kunstverein Langenhagen, Estonian artist KroOt Juurak (Tallinn, 1981) takes over the space and context of this very art institution. Instead of mediating through objects, she works with other ways of transmission: she communicates through movements, language(s), moods, misunderstandings, assumptions or physical sensations. Her work is ephemeral and often stimulates other senses than sight. Yet it is very communicative. It often interrogates and focuses on clichés and expectations within day-to-day communication. One of the questions that are at the root of her work is: what do you mediate (as an artist) and for whom?
During the exhibition KroOt Juurak changes her name into KroOt. With this act, her name becomes a venue to be rented out to other artists, several of whom will use KroOt as a platform to perform. When KroOt Juurak curated the V NU Performance Festival in 2014, she wrote that when she sees a work she really appreciates, part of her imagines it to be her own work. This is precisely what happens by changing her name and letting it inhabit by other ‘users’ – an act that questions at the same time who is producing and who is consuming. The exhibition presents performances that are not really performances, artists that may or may not really be artists, performers who may and may not be performing. There aren’t many occasions where you can “sit down and see” – because the performances also take the form of a workshop, a mood, a conversation or a movement. Each of the works could represent the whole exhibition. In other words: the exhibition is not made up of works, it is in each work.
In addition to a number of temporary events, discussed more in depth below, your visit during the exhibition is accompanied by an audio guide and an external mood, thus addressing the exhibition as an ongoing performance.
An audio guide is a well-known devise used in art institutions, where it provides the visitor with extra information about the works on view. In KroOt, the audio-guided visitor becomes the main protagonist in a non-visual ‘exhibition’. Bad Mood, also on view for the whole duration of the exhibition, will perform itself, by inhabiting the people who staff the Kunstverein, therewith affecting every visitor as well.
KroOt Juurak (b. 1981, Tallinn) is a choreographer and performer whose work, which comprises of performances, presentations, texts, workshops, mood shifts, challenges fixed definitions of choreography and performance. She graduated in dance and choreography from ArtEZ, Arnhem in 2003 and obtained an MA in Fine Arts from Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam. She has presented her work in a variety of forms at venues including Tallinn Art Hall (2017), International Figurentheater Festival Erlangen (2015), Stromereien Festival, Zürich (2014), Tanzquartier Wien (2013) Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam (2013), Venice Biennale “oO” Pavillion (2013), Mindaugas Triennial, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (2012), ImPulsTanz, Vienna (2012), de Appel Art Centre, Amsterdam (2012), Super deLuxe, Tokyo (2011), Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen, Innsbruck (2010) and deSingel, Antwerp (2008).
During the exhibition KroOt Juurak changes her name into KroOt. With this act, her name becomes a venue to be rented out to other artists, several of whom will use KroOt as a platform to perform. When KroOt Juurak curated the V NU Performance Festival in 2014, she wrote that when she sees a work she really appreciates, part of her imagines it to be her own work. This is precisely what happens by changing her name and letting it inhabit by other ‘users’ – an act that questions at the same time who is producing and who is consuming. The exhibition presents performances that are not really performances, artists that may or may not really be artists, performers who may and may not be performing. There aren’t many occasions where you can “sit down and see” – because the performances also take the form of a workshop, a mood, a conversation or a movement. Each of the works could represent the whole exhibition. In other words: the exhibition is not made up of works, it is in each work.
In addition to a number of temporary events, discussed more in depth below, your visit during the exhibition is accompanied by an audio guide and an external mood, thus addressing the exhibition as an ongoing performance.
An audio guide is a well-known devise used in art institutions, where it provides the visitor with extra information about the works on view. In KroOt, the audio-guided visitor becomes the main protagonist in a non-visual ‘exhibition’. Bad Mood, also on view for the whole duration of the exhibition, will perform itself, by inhabiting the people who staff the Kunstverein, therewith affecting every visitor as well.
KroOt Juurak (b. 1981, Tallinn) is a choreographer and performer whose work, which comprises of performances, presentations, texts, workshops, mood shifts, challenges fixed definitions of choreography and performance. She graduated in dance and choreography from ArtEZ, Arnhem in 2003 and obtained an MA in Fine Arts from Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam. She has presented her work in a variety of forms at venues including Tallinn Art Hall (2017), International Figurentheater Festival Erlangen (2015), Stromereien Festival, Zürich (2014), Tanzquartier Wien (2013) Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam (2013), Venice Biennale “oO” Pavillion (2013), Mindaugas Triennial, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (2012), ImPulsTanz, Vienna (2012), de Appel Art Centre, Amsterdam (2012), Super deLuxe, Tokyo (2011), Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen, Innsbruck (2010) and deSingel, Antwerp (2008).