A Possibility of an Abstraction
Film without film
Dutch artist Germaine Kruip is a scenographer by training and has spent fifteen years developing an oeuvre that moves between sculpture, performance, and architecture. During Performatik 2015, she presented A Possibility of an Abstraction: Square Dance, in which dervishes perform their ritual, circular dance on a square pattern. This time, she has transformed the theatre into a space for cinematographic experience.
In A Possibility of an Abstraction, Kruip evokes the shadow game, a pre-cinematic discipline, and the ‘paracinema’ of American filmmaker Ken Jacobs. Just by manipulating the lights, she creates a meditative space at the edge of observation, which combines film, theatre, and sculpture. The music accompanying the production is by Hahn Rowe, who is well known for his work with Meg Stuart, among others.
• Germaine Kruip worked as a stage designer for the theatre group Mugmetdegoudentand. After winning the Prix de Rome in 2000, she went on to focus entirely on the visual arts. Instalments of A Possibility of An Abstraction have been shown in the US and Europe (including at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Approach, London and Art Basel. Kruip lives and works in Amsterdam and Brussels.
#toughtheatre #tableauvivant #technology #matinee
concept & creation Germaine Kruip | composer Hahn Rowe | dramaturgy Bart Van Den Eynde | lighting design Germaine Kruip, Marc Dewit | technical direction Marc Dewit | assistant lighting designer, stage Chris Vanneste, Pierre Willems | stage construction Simon Callens | Germaine Kruip studio assistant Maxime Fauconnier | producer Ash Bulayev | production Stichting Rehearsal / Germaine Kruip | co-production Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Kaaitheater | this project is made possible through generous support of Ammodo, Mondriaan Fund
The premiere of the work was commissioned and presented at EMPAC / Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Curator: Victoria Brooks. Original Lighting Designer: Laura Mroczkowski. The presentation at EMPAC was made possible through generous support by the Mondriaan Fund and Fonds Kwadraat.
