niv Acosta
Clapback

 

 

3 March 16

 

 

Performance program accompanying the exhibition Secret Surface. Where Meaning Materializes

7.4.16, 19 h: Litmus Shuffle by Patrick Staff and Cara Tolmie
30.4.16, 10–22 h: Sunrise Sunset with Anna Barham, Auto Italia, Lawrence Lek, Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, Emily Roysdon, and others

Clapback
Trained in contemporary dance, New-York based niv Acosta pursues dance performance, sculpture, and educational forums as ways to consider political issues of race and gender. His new performance is conceived for the institution as a white, blank surface, which he aims to mark by means of his choreographic action, moving across – and against – his audience.

"The rate of police killings of black folks in America in 2015 has brought us to a shocking number of 1,134 deaths by the close of the year. Clapback is one part homage, the other part future-telling; One twerk for every death that occurs at the hands of police. Clapback is about the power of black asses to shed our post-colonial oppressions, transcend the expectation of dying young, shift the earth’s gravitational field and jettison evil trolls."
niv Acosta

The exhibition Secret Surface is accomanied by two new productions of the series Performative Minute as well as a 12-hour performance program for Gallery Weekend on 30.4. The rythm of performances within the exhibition space and throughout the house and courtyard complements the exhibition’s main questions: where does meaning materialize? What if live art was likewise superficial, in the best sense of the word? The program animates the artworks in the exhibition with their makers’ live interpretation, but treats the artist’s “presence” as yet another surface for reflection and refraction. It aims to literalize the moment of exchange between observer and observed and thus make the exhibition’s questions accessible also through participation. The program stages clashes between seductive, virtual spaces and the physical one, each of which is an interface, or system, for making sense of our surroundings. Over the course of a day, works from the exhibition are periodically animated with the artist’s live mediation, in addition to further performance and discursive events. Participating artists: niv Acosta, Auto Italia, Anna Barham, Lawrence Lek, Emily Roysdon, Patrick Staff and Cara Tolmie, and others.

Curated by Catherine Wood and Adela Yawitz