it is interesting what is said, how it is said, and what is not said when listening to artists talk of their work. because five artists talked (two groups of two) one after the other, the differences and similarities between their respective approaches to performance, and to performance presentation was striking.

for instance, christian stood in front of us the whole time and did not have any visual presentation. he reminded me of gwendoline robin, the other artist who also worked in a very direct way with the element of risk. as gwendoline worked with the colours white and black, christian worked with the colours burgundy and white. both artists spoke of the pleasure of knowing and mastering a skill, or rather, their material. both artists vacated any kind of social, political, or personal meaning from their work, and rather spoke of their work through a visual language. the poetics of the image, of the confrontation between this violent gesture and the beauty of the image created.

christian presented his work in a thoughtful and searching manner. we could feel him trying to find the words to express something he could not put into words. this « why? » of the specifics of violence meeting with poetry. what was very clear though, was that he is in his work. he is deeply engaged with what it is he is creating. his work is highly crafted and controlled and he is very much in the performance.

there is a point of connect, as well, between the approach of monika and ruedi to christian. all three artists seem to come to their work from a very grounded, almost physical « it is this » approach. although monika and ruedi did not feel the need to find « justifications » for their work in the same way as christian, the manner of describing the work was very much, this happened, we did this.

monika started the presentation with describing their day-to-day life. the fact that they live in a small apartment, they have no studio, the kitchen table is where they work on things… and the most common question asked to them, « what is performance, » to which they reply, « come see. » the next question, can you survive on this? to which they reply, we have a very nice life (that is a paraphrase, i can’t remember the exact words.) they showed us photographs and spoke of some of their most recent performances. they spoke of liking performance festivals, of liking being asked to perform at a festival by another performer (the museum experience has not been so great for them.)

there was a strong feeling of self acceptance to be found in the presentation, which i found to be very comforting. the matter-of-fact and humble manner in which monika and ruedi spoke of their work and their life evoked an atmosphere that acted as a kind of « granting of permission » to those of us who are perhaps somewhat younger and perhaps struggling with the whys and the justifications we feel necessary to give to the world and to ourselves, in order to continue with our own practices.

and then as a gift at the end monika gave us a « performance » because, as she said, « i like to do it. »

paul couillard and ed johnson also obviously « like to do it, » however for them the work, the material used, the actions performed, are « holders » for significance that point beyond the source. the performances created are to lead the receiver of the « image » somewhere. both ed and paul speak of the performance as an image. they are creating images which are then imprinted into the receivers mind. their work is politically and socially engaged…and engaged with each other.

even in their presentation the collaborative, the working with each other, was « performed » with paul jumping up every once in a while and acting out a particular scene with his body that ed was trying to explain verbally. the sense of an equal partnership that worked in a back and forth style of negotiation, with strengths of each being used for the duo work, was strong.

the dynamics of the couple seemed to echo the dynamic that they themselves want to evoke in the reception of their images. the images they create are to be negotiated, worked through, and engaged with.

christian messier: http://www.pejucommunication.com/christianmessier.html

monika gunther and ruedi schill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfxS8H8NB7Q

ed johnson and paul couillard: http://www.artspace-arc.org/exhibits/duorama/couillard_johnson

gwendoline robin: http://www.gwendolinerobin.be