News

CAMPSITE was a festival that took place from 24 March to 10 April at TENT Rotterdam, where artists from TimeWindow were grouped together to create and present new works by using existing works as starting points.

To define the collaborations, Widdies Maria Sartzetaki as the dramaturge and Giovanna Di Giacomo as the curator, considered thematic and aesthetic possibilities, as well as artists’ availabilities, wishes and needs. On top of that, they had the intention of encouraging artists to experiment with new angles, disciplines and spaces, aiming to further contribute to their artistic development.

This is a recap after the residencies and performances from week 2.

MINDFUL BODIES

Collaboration between Teddy shouldn’t smoke (Marijke de Vos) & Show Pony (Laura Nygren) with I was old before I was young (Performance, 2023) and Terrorkittens (Annique Nahumury) & Ko de Kok with Thigmofiel (Costumes & Installations, 2021)

During CAMPSITE Festival, the works of Teddy shouldn’t smoke and Terrorkittens combined installation, costume and performance to reflect on how to treat our bodies with compassion and respect. I was old before I was young is part of a series of performances that explores the fragility of the human body. Thigmofiel focuses on how cats can inspire humans to be more mindful in the way their bodies interact with different spaces.

The four artists quickly found their way into this collaboration. The room was decorated with numerous costumes, paintings and objects. One notable object was a sewing machine, used on site by Terrorkittens to sew costumes for the performance. In addition, a dance floor was placed as the stage. During the presentation moments, all four artists performed, each of them with a distinct role. Show Pony performed melodic songs that guided the audience through the performance. Teddy shouldn’t smoke constantly struggled with the limitations of a body that didn’t seem to obey her wishes. Terrorkittens kept coming on stage, each time with a new costume accessory that she put on Show Pony. Finally, Ko de Kok arrived on stage with the face completely covered, a long wig as underwear, and bubble wrap around the hands. Together, these artists created a melancholic and at times humorous atmosphere in which they amazed the audience with possibilities and impossibilities of our ever-changing bodies.

Teddy Shouldn’t Smoke, Show Pony, Terrorkittens and Ko de Kok performing at CAMPSITE Festival. Picture by Cem Altinöz.

“We first discussed what elements we had and then we looked at them… Ko kind of reacted to what we did, and it became very obvious that at some point he could break in and I would continue with really harsh movements, while he would go into this really abstract poem, that would make sense that those are my thoughts while I am performing… And Anniq dressed up the whole space, dressed up Laura and Ko. She couldn’t really dress up me because I was performing, but in a way she showed that maybe I could be more soft, because Laura had this whole costume with pilows. Anniq and Laura ended up in the pillows, and I basically joined all of them on the pillows and finally relaxed.”

– Teddy shouldn’t smoke’s reflections about the collaboration with Show Pony, Terrorkittens and Ko de Kok

BRIDGES OF TIME

Collaboration between De Droominee (Rik Zutphen) with SpreekKuur (One on One Performance, 2021), Ewan Macbeth with Prison with Songbirds (Film, 2022) and Zalán Szakács with Lichtspiel (Experiment Nr. 1) (Kinetic Light Performance, 2023)

Alternating between past and present through film, spoken word and light installation, the works of De Droominee, Ewan Macbeth, and Zalán Szakács offered a space for dreams and nostalgia. SpreekKuur consists of a performance, where de Droominee transforms stories about mourning into poems. Prison with Songbirds is a documentary and fiction hybrid based on the story of Ewan Macbeth’s father, who was imprisoned without trial in an unnamed country. Lichtspiel consists of light experiments that materialize old speculative machine drawings through contemporary techniques.

This collaboration was perhaps one of the most challenging of the festival as due to technical needs, the works of Macbeth and Szakács couldn’t be placed in the same room. Nevertheless, the artists were able to take this challenge as an opportunity and created a touching ‘traveling experience’.

Outside of the performance times, visitors could watch Prison with Songbirds and see objects from SpreekKuur in one room, and observe Lichtspiel in motion in another. When de Droominee performed, these three works became a single experience. At the beginning of the performance, the audience watched Prison with Songbirds. After the film ended, the audience was asked to cover their faces with black cloth – as a reference to a meaningful scene in the film. The blindfolded visitors were then led into a different space. When visitors were allowed to remove the cloths from their faces, they found themselves in a dark room, iluminated only by candles and the serene shapes of Lichtspiel that fluctuated around. As a symbolic and technical bridge between the works, Lichtspiel was eventually also used to create distorted images of Prison with Songbirds. While the film was projected in this new perspective, de Droominee produced hypnotic soundscapes with the use of his loop station and recited a specially conceived poem, which connected the theme of grief with the three artworks. The highlight of this transformational ritual was when the audience was asked to write words related to individual experiences of grief on the black fabric and then tear it apart. Ultimately, this performance not only materialized the collaboration of De Droominee, Macbeth and Szakács, but most of all, guided the audience on a journey from darkness to light as a plea for resignifying painful experiences.

De Droominee performing during CAMPSITE Festival. Picture by Cem Altinöz.

“It’s very interesting to take the time aspect into account. Ewan’s movie was screened a second time with the caleidoscopic lenses from Lichtspiel, which created almost like a distorted memory or a nostalgia experience to deal with. The experience here is the movie in its full potential, but, at the same time, deconstructed. Also, my work is a silent work because it’s really about getting into this introspective journey toward yourself and to your senses, and through Rik’s experimental sounds and spoken words, the work got another layer, another narrative.”

– Zalán Szakác’s reflections about the collaboration with De Droominee and Ewan Macbeth

LOOKING GLASS

Collaboration between Giulia Fuel with /liminal (Video Installation, 2022) and R3LN4CHT with Beyond Consent (Performative Installation, 2023)

In this collaboration, Giulia Fuel and art collective R3LN4CHT (Didi Kreike, Lodewijk van Dijk and Helene Vrijdag) combined video installation and performance to explore their common interest in technology and the interaction between audience and screen. While /liminal utilizes consumer video technologies from the early 2000s to focus on liminal spaces, Beyond Consent combines queer, outspoken, and explicit content to invite the audience to a critical, disruptive and reflective space.

R3LN4CHT performing during CAMPSITE Festival. Picture by Cem Altinöz.

The elements of /liminal and Beyond Consent merged so well that they appeared as a single installation. The first thing that caught visitors attention when entering this space were real construction fences, as a rough contrast to the white cube. Within these fences, which were positioned in a set up that resembled a cage, were CRT and LED televisions, from Giulia Fuel and R3LN4CHT respectively. Some of these screens showed performers who appeared to be staring at the viewer, others contained a long sequence of text, and others displayed live footage taken by surveillance cameras in the room. In this way, visitors would eventually become part of the installation. During the 4 hour-long performances of R3LN4CHT, the performers in this ‘cage’ continuously interacted with the screens as if they were mirrors and in sudden moments stared at the audience, bringing some sense of discomfort. By creating this digital power play arena, Fuel and R3LN4CHT succeeded not only in creating a liminal space, but also in going beyond consent.

“I think both of our works are exactly the opposite, R3LN4CHT’s is super saturated and colorful and mine is totally desaturated and non-colorful… Their concept is specific, the audience is specific, while my concept is liminal, so basically nothing… So I think it was interesting how these two intrisically opposite concepts came together really well on an aesthetical level… Also the fact that they are using huge and super high quality screens, while mine are super low quality and small screens, but anyway we made it work.”

– Giulia Fuels reflections about the collaboration with R3LN4CHT