present/presence (body)

performed:
– May 2019, at ZABIH International Performance Festival, Lviv, UKR
– April 2019, at Ninos Consentidos No 6, Künstlerhaus Wien 1050, Brauchen und Haben in Wien, Vienna AT
– March 2019, La Cueva Sessions, Semperdepot Cellar, Vienna AT

“present/presence” is an ongoing project visualizing the natural, transformative and ephemeral characteristics of a resource after an intervention by the artist. The title refers to Henri Lefebvre’s hypothesis (in Rhythmanalysis, 1992) about the common confusion of “presence” (not being able to be represented, and only able to be experienced in the very moment) and “present” (sometimes seeming to be “presence”, but actually representing the presence through, e.g. media).

The artist initiates an intimate dialogue, inviting one person to revisit a positive memory of the past. While the visitor is provided a suitable setting for reliving this memory in their own mind, the artist gently presses a piece of wood on the person’s forearm, leaving a trace of the word “NOW”.