BOUCHE À OREILLE
An exhibition which is constantly changing and developing
The French expression „bouche à oreille“ can be translated word-to-word as ‘mouth-to-ear’ but actually signifies an oral means of communication, transmission of information, which is the oldest, most economic and most intimate method of communication. The strength of the expression gets almost lost in its English translation “word of mouth” and gains a cloud of intimidation in its German translation “Mundpropaganda”. This diversity in perception gives an interesting inside of the conceptual and contextual background of this expression, which might reveal a lot about social and political structures or structural developments.
This project invites Yingmei Duan and Verena Kyselka to deliberate on semantic fields and contemporary foundations as well as structures of intimacy, alienation, propaganda and related subjects under the umbrella of the French expression „bouche à oreille“. Whereby, the expression „bouche à oreille“ serves as a stepping stone for an artistic discourse on some social and anthropological topics. By projecting perspectives of a Chinese artist and a German artist, who have both lived under the realms and constraints of a socialist system but have widely travelled, lived and worked on several continents, the project aims at researching on this thematic without geographical limits.
While Mrs. Duan’s impulsive and perennial performance-pieces explore her environment, human instincts and societal norms, Mrs. Kyselka’s multi-media art pieces scrutinize the effects of heteronomy, dictatorship and self-isolation on interpersonal relations from a socio-political point of view.
In the course of the exhibition Yingmei Duan and Verena Kyselka will do several performances and hold lectures on the topic of communication, especially with a reference to the multifaceted Neukölln-society, as a case study.
The Vernissage will be opened 17th of April at 8.30 p.m. with a performance of the artists.
Kurator: Dr. Bonaventure S. B. Ndikung
Vernissage: 17.4.2010, 20.30 Uhr
Exposition: 18.4. – 15.5.2010
Opening hours: thursday – sunday, 4 – 8 p.m.
Performances during the opening hours at 6 - 8 p.m.
Concept in detail here:
Catalogue of the exhibition
Yingmei Duan
At the centre of Yingmei Duan’s performance art is her exploration of human instincts, longings, and dark desires. She examines the processes of society and questions its conventions and behaviours.
Born in 1969 in China, Yingmei Duan is part of the Chinese avant-garde, and worked as a painter for many years, living in the legendary art district of Beijing’s East Village. In 1995 she participated in the performance “To add one meter to an anonymous mountain”, which is considered to be one of the classics of Chinese modern art. She became a pure performance artist under the influence of Marina Abramovic, with whom she studied at the HBK Braunschweig in Germany from 2000 to 2004. There, she also worked for one year with the film-maker and action artist Christoph Schlingensief. In the last fifteen years Yingmei Duan has made her name in numerous national and international exhibitions, festivals and workshops through her performance art.
Yingmei is an inquisitive observer who asks questions of all facets of life in order to continuously learn and develop. She often impulsively and spontaneously develops performances as situational experiments. On the other hand she can also plan her performances with intense attention being paid to the last detail.
She loves to interact with the public and likes to work with artists and people from all areas of life. Her artworks are works in progress, and are often stretched over long periods of time. She often performs sleeping in a melancholic dream world, or as someone sick or dead.
Verena Kyselka
Her artistic work was developed in the underground art scene of East Germany at the end of the 1980’s after her education as a restorer of paintings at the Church-Studio Workshop in Erfurt. During this time painting, music and performance, in her opinion, intrinsically belonged together. The figurative works at that time focused on a strong female view that had developed while working within the female artist group Exterra XX. Together with this group she founded the Kunsthaus (Arthouse) Erfurt in 1990 where she curated and worked on intercultural performance, studio exchange and exhibition projects. From 1997 to 2003 she studied art at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. Since that time her work has been space orientated for video and installation art. She has created numerous international projects with intercultural exchange in eastern European countries such as Albania and Armenia as well as Taiwan and Australia. It has been her intention to take up experiences of contemporary history and to put them into an artistic context. Verena Kyselka lives and works in Berlin.
Impressions of the Vernissage:
PROGRAM OF THE EXHIBITION:
22.4. – 25.4.2010
YINGMEI DUAN – VERENA KYSELKA
SAVVY CONTEMPORARY, Richardstr. 43/44, Berlin-Neukölln
Opening hours: thurdays – sundays, 4 – 8 p.m.
Performances during the opening hours at 6 – 8 p.m.
“Communication with objects“: In line with this subject the two artists Yingmei Duan and Verena Kyselka explore the question of aborded communication and the language of different objects. A consecutive questioning of the visitors is part of the performance.
29.4. – 02.5.2010
YINGMEI DUAN – VERENA KYSELKA
SAVVY CONTEMPORARY, Richardstr. 43/44, Berlin-Neukölln
Opening hours: thurdays – sundays, 4 – 8 p.m.
Performances during the opening hours at 6 – 8 p.m.
„alienation and aspiration“: the subject of this working week contents technic, intimacy and communication gaps. The results will be shown in a serie of fotographies and in a performance.
06.5. – 09.5.2010
YINGMEI DUAN – VERENA KYSELKA
SAVVY CONTEMPORARY, Richardstr. 43/44, Berlin-Neukölln
Opening hours: thurdays – sundays, 4 – 8 p.m.
Performances during the opening hours at 6 – 8 p.m.
„Misunderstandings“: In this language-project the artists analyse misunderstandings based on cultural differences. The artists develop a communicaion training for people that are limiteted in their language skills.
13.5. – 15.5.2010
YINGMEI DUAN – VERENA KYSELKA
SAVVY CONTEMPORARY, Richardstr. 43/44, Berlin-Neukölln
Opening hours: thurdays – sundays, 4 – 8 p.m.
Performances during the opening hours at 6 – 8 p.m.
„Communication of the future“: The artists show the results of their eight week´s working process in a performative and instalative way which is also accompanied by a lecture.
Finissage at 15th of Mai 2010, 8.30 p.m.:
