Albrecht Fersch (Germany)

It Remains the Way it Shall Be

Amber Lee (USA) ambertlee.wordpress.com "Our Father who art in nature, who has given the gift of survival to the coyote, the common brown rat, the English sparrow, the house fly and the moth, must have a great and overwhelming love for no-goods and blots-on-the-town and bums, and Mack and the boys. Virtues and graces and laziness and zest. Our Father who art in nature." - John Steinbeck

Amber Lee creates performances based on natural elements. Voice, touch, witchcraft, science, all of these take a part in performances designed to make the audience into performers and performers feel the collectivity of being human.

Camilla Gaugler (Denmark) camillagaugler.dk

The artist who inspires me the most is Marina Abramovic
Again and again she makes visible, what normaly only can be sensed. All the invisible stoff between people and between people and objects, is present in her work.
I use her in my teaching, and now she is almost physically present in my performance Rain, Gold and Worm.

Tupada Action and Media Art (Philippines) Mannet L.Villariba, Thom Daquioag, Sam Panaso, Rogger Basco, Martin de Mesa und Vim Nadera

CULTURAL ROOTEDNESS

TUPADA is a prohibited cockfight; a cultural Filipino pastime influenced by the Spaniards during colonial rule. As cockfights in 17th century Philippines were permitted only during Sundays and feast days, TUPADAs were held on the sly and on short notice, where competitors and audiences, even from neighboring towns, assembled in the middle of roads or public spaces to watch and bet on the cockfight, then quickly disperse right after the bloody bouts.

This Filipino passion for spontaneous spectacles is the concept behind TUPADA-ambush, live performances that attempt to artistically interpret, express and convey a broad spectrum of concepts and truths to the masses, with the artist's body, space, time, circumstances, audience, site-specific elements and more as both the medium and the subject.

Over the years, TUPADA has set venues for these instantaneous and independent performances, which has enticed and encouraged local artists from various disciplines-academe, research, design, social and community work, film, literature, dance, theatre, music and visual arts-to explore performance art as a less restrictive and more inclusive form of creative expression.

TUPADA ACTION AND MEDIA ART is constantly seeking ways to advocate the practice and execution of performance art in the Philippines, embodying the truly Filipino ideal of expression without boundaries, and educating the masses who witness and take part in international caliber live public art.

The Physical Poets (Japan) Mushimaru Fujieda Iori Kinki, Yuka Bouuchi, Miyakochocho chocho Takatani, Hide Yidaki, Himeko Narumi und Sakimi Mochiduki www.notus.dti.ne.jp/mushimal/E_alakan..htm

A composite art group of dancers, musicians and artists gathered together in 2000 around the dancer-choreographer-director Mushimaru Fujieda. The group, the Physical Poets is comprised by two subgroups within the ensemble; the male group "ALAKAN" and the female group "Sakiminohime". This group has its uniquity in that it has amalgamated all traditional dance forms in existence in Japan to this day together with the world famed contemporary "Butoh".

Considering that human spirit and body constitute an inseparable entity, the group has based its dance techniques upon control utilizing the breathing methods for the training of Yoga, Qigong and Zen of the traditional Asian cultures. Backed with live music performances incorporating ethnic instruments, the Physical Poets´theatrical expression-full of origionality, so beautiful and mystic that one may perhaps be reminded of surrealistic painting-contnues to receive acclaim and support from large audiences across borders.

Joakim Stampe (Sweden) joakimstampe.com

Joakim Stampe has over 25 years experience as an international and certified Cut Guide, and has made cuts in almost 20 countries where he, with various materials, created both beautiful and ugly cuts or for that matter, healed some cuts. Both of the works by Joakim Stampe will show where there are almost invisible cuts that surrounds us,
and with his performance actions, not only assembles or demonstrates their existence, but also, for a few ephemeral moments allow us to encounter these cuts or images.

Erik Hokanson (USA) Performance Artist and Director of Grace Exhibition Space   grace-exhibition-space.com

Photo: Non Grata Group

The most common, stable, and reliable states of the Universe are the qualities of darkness and cold. We live in a very unusual condition of relative warmth and light. We are living here (earth) Mhumans, spiders, grass, fish, carrots,
bacteria, mice, viruses. We are all related. We need to eat each other. It is the price of peace, beauty, security, humor, love, and hope. Our bodies, like those of all other organisms here, are communities of cells working together essentially for their own preservation. We will all become food for something someday. The sun will make our place food for itself someday. I do not know what will eat the sun. Then it will likely become cold and dark. I take comfort in this. I like natural states.

Jill McDermid (USA) Performance Artist and Director of Grace Exhibition Space   grace-exhibition-space.com

Photo: Alexis Bellavance

American identity, obsessed with freedom, democracy, religion and guns is rife with contradictions. Americans are fiercely independent, emphasizing individual responsibility, yet we happily live with the influences of advertising and large corporate entities, which take advantage of our complacency for their own advancement. I have a fascination with these contradictions and the warped, distorted and broken mirrors that America, as a she, uses to gaze at herself. I also believe that the personal is political, and I create fiercely personal works to strengthen our understanding of each other.

Three Rooms Press (USA) Peter Carlaftes und Kat Georges threeroomspress.com

Since 1993, Three Rooms Press has been a leading independent publisher of cut-the-edge, real-life poetry, fiction, drama and art. Inspired by Dada predecessor Arthur Cravan, TRP publishes and promotes work that inspires in unique, thrilling, fearless and intimate style. In addition, TRP produces and promotes a variety of events; since 1992 it has staged major cultural events in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London and more, including poetry readings, plays, writing workshops, seminars, musical events and one-of-a-kind madcap concoctions.

About Peter Carlaftes
Peter Carlaftes is a poet, actor, playwright and producer who's work has garnered critical praise throughout his career. During his tenure as Artistic Director of San Francisco's Marilyn Monroe Memorial Theater, Carlaftes saw nine of his plays staged to critical acclaim: among them Closure, Hunger, Inside Straight and Anity. In addition to writing for theater, he has also directed and acted in numerous theatrical productions. His plays were described as "Beckett meets Pinter, with a modern, insightful American sensibility," He currently resides in his native New York, where he has appeared in numerous off-Broadway productions including Barefoot in the Park, Arsenic and Old Lace, and his own one-man show, Lenny Bruce: Dead and Well, as well as Dueling Karaoke and Greenagers in Love. He also curates a monthly literary series, featuring leading intellectuals facing off with downtown poets, burlesque dancers and performance artists.

About Kat Georges
Kat Georges is a poet, playwright, performer, director and graphic designer. She founded San Francisco's Marilyn Monroe Memorial Theater in 1992, with Living Theater founding member Mel Clay and, during her nine-year tenure as artistic director with Peter Carlaftes, she wrote, directed and/or appeared in 22 plays, while simultaneously providing programming for other events, handling publicity, and garnering rave reviews for the work presented there. Her plays include: SCUM: The Valerie Solanas Story, PAGLIA in PERSONA (a deconstruction of Camille Paglia), and ART WAS HERE (a modern day look at Dada founder Arthur Cravan). Her poetry appears in The American Bible of Outlaw Poetry (Thunder's Mouth Press) and The Verdict is In, an anthology (co-edited by Georges) about the L.A. Rodney King Riots, including poems by Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsburg and William Burroughs (Manic D Press). She has published four books poetry collections, including Our Lady of the Hunger, Punk Rock Journal, Maiden Claiming and Slow Dance at 120 Beats a Minute (all Three Rooms Press). In New York since 2003, she has directed and performed in numerous Off-Broadway plays, including including Jack Kerouac: Catholic and Twitter Theater, both written by award-winning playwright Larry Myers, and Sarah's Choice, by Peter Carlaftes. She is founder of Three Rooms Press and serves as editor-in-chief and creative director.

Moran Sanderovich (Israel) moran.sanderovich.com

I am generally interested in the creation of alternative bodies - those unaware of the terms "disability" and "imperfection". I am looking for modern mythological creatures that tell their own story. To create these alternative beings, I elaborate my costumes, which constitute the core of my work. They affect the movement of my body, bring along physical changes, which have an impact on the choreography of my movements. For me, as the performer, the piece is something similar to a trance, in which I become the ugly, the deformed, crossing my own boundaries. Within my body a struggle begins between characters. This body is rather unsightly, maybe repulsive, but allows feelings to become visible without the filter of aesthetics. Each time the outcome is unknown.
I was inspired by dances of indigenous peoples, in which the performers dress like monsters to confront the audience with their fears, but also to make themselves familiar with them. I want to create a space, in which passions, fears and weaknesses do not have to be hidden.

Ninano Nanda (South Korea) Jang - Goon & Shin - Hang ninano.co

Ninano Nanda (Korean duo future pansori) traditional voice structure from South Korea with future retro soundscape of electronic dub control. Ninano Nanda is made up of the traditional pansori vocalist producer as singer-song writer 'Jang Goon' and sound art producer 'Shin Hang.' Ninano Nanda shows a new genre of 'Future Pansori'*Pansori is the Korean traditional performance that is formed by 'changja (Korean traditional singer' and 'Gosoo (Korean traditional percussion accompanist)'
ninano nanda translate and re-construct tradition of korean music pansori as structure of modern notion and feelings of world wide. The music of Ninado Nanda uniquely sounds the traditional performance art and old/modern/post sounds of mixture.

Jang - Goon The first fusion korean traditional pansori vocalist in the world. She is traditional and contemporary voice artist in korea. She trained pansori to her masters as over 15years and after 12years of various musical experiments in many genre of music and Art performances in korea and other lands.

Shin - Hang He is omnidirectional artist in music and art. He made a collaboration with modern dance,Butoh,art performance,Play music, media works,improvisation. He is also producer as Dub music, Electronic Dance music ,writer,commercial company naming artist.

Aurélie Pertusot (France) "En ligne/On-line"

During the "En ligne" (On-line) performance, the artist plants a nail in the wall in every entrance of visitors to the room. From the shadow of these nails forms a line seeming really drawn on the wall. More there is visitors and comings and goings, more the line becomes visible and lengthens, the flow of the public make it appear in a more or less rhythm way. Its shape and its intensity vary gradually according to the location of the light source.
This interactive performance questions the visibility of a work in every sense of the word and evoke among others PageRank of the network. By definition, a performance affect the reality, here it's the reality (the visitor) which influences and has some control over the performance.

Born in 1983 in France, Aurélie Pertusot is a visual artist who has been developing
her work focused on drawing and disappearance and is interested in art in the public space.
Through ephemeral interventions, site-specific installations and performances, she seeks to establish a dialogue with the space, as well as between the public and the work. Working with an economy of means, with the imperceptible and the invisible, she tries to give form to virtuality by privileging the use of "low technology".

Myk Henry (USA)

Myk Henry was born in Dublin, Ireland and moved to New York in 1984. From 1989-1992 he became a key figure in the organization of several large scale warehouse art events along the Brooklyn waterfront. In 1994 he moved to Geneva, Switzerland where he graduated in 2001 with both a BFA and MFA at Ecole Supérieure des Arts Visuels. Henry works with new media installation, sound sculpture, video and performance. As a performer he exploits the audience's sense of awareness and engages them in a transformative process. Investigating the thin divide between private and public space, his work is provocative, edgy and slams the viewer into the center of political issues, social conditioning and human taboos.

Culture Ireland awards Henry travel grants, which enables him to build sculptures and make performances around the world. He has shown work at ARCO in Madrid, UNHCR in Geneva, the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, the World Expo in Shanghai, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Vaasa (Finland), Fountain, Miami Basel and the Armory Show in New York. He won "La Bourse Federal", (Young Art Basel, Switzerland), Le prix Contonal Geneva (Switzerland) and was the first foreigner to win Le Prix Providencia, (Swizerland).

Tizo All (Brazil) foradecena.wix.com/dastizo

DAS, is a neutral name for "existing", examining the personal pronoun, we can define it as that which is in between "the weakness of gender or the overcoming of it." This is not a story, it is a sequence of events connected by the absurd -poetry- between a fissure of the senses in reality, moments of suspension. -imaginary figures -a cut in reality.

Nameless, one day walking down the street of any city, I saw a person, I know it was a person, she had arms, legs, neck, hands, chest, and she had a face, (she did not have a face), but she had a face, but it was nameless.

Pia Fernandez (Germany) piafernandez.com

Pia Fernandez wurde in Gijon (Spanien) im Mai 1981 geboren. Während ihres Studiums der Bildhauerei an der Kunsthochschule Oviedo war sie Teil der Performance-Gruppe LAI (mit Jose Francisco Caso und Begona Munoz). Mit LAI nahm sie an verschieden Festivals teil. Im Jahr 2002 begann sie Kunst und Audio-Visuelle Kommunikation an der Universität der Künste Bilbao zu studieren. Während dieser Zeit war sie Teil der Künstlergruppe des Espacio Abisal Bilbao. Im Jahr 2005 gewann sie den Preis für junge Kreative der Fundation BBK. Das damit verbundene Stipendium verwendete sie um ihr Studium an der Universität der Künste in Berlin zu beenden. Seitdem arbeitet Pia Fernandez in Berlin. Hier realisierte sie verschiedene Ausstellungen von Illustrationen, Installationen und Videokunst. Sie ist weiterhin aktiv in der Cell63 Artgallery und Blo-Ateliers. Das Kunstwerk von Pia Fernandez kombiniert klassische Illustration mit neuen digitalen Elementenllation und Video Installation. Ihre Referenzen sind Comics, Pop-Kultur, Mythologie.

Fausto Grossi (Italy/Spain) Grace Exhibition Space grace-exhibition-space.com

Photo :Galya Kovalyova

How to explain (to myself) what performance art is and don't die in the attempt

We don't have a single definitive answer to the question 'What is performance?' There is an answer for each performer and they are all provisional.
This is mine.

Painting, sculpture, photography, music, dance, video, cinema, theatre, sport, mime, cuisine… All this is not performance. Performance is the alchemy of all these mediums and more.
I consider the practice of performance as the act of breathing. By this I mean that performance is a vital necessity.
Performance is the drive to cause moments from our experiences and unresolved unachieved desires to come to the surface. Some of these events go back to our childhood, others are from the present. We couldn't exactly say what they are about. These experiences leave their traces, from which we just perceive emotion.
Every performance tells us of the performer, of her/his perception and interpretation of the world. In this sense performance is autobiographical.

- Performance is one of the activities that we, as humans, develop over the course of our lives
- - Performance is the organism (self)generating reality
- - Performance is action incarnate
- - Performance is knowledge
- - Performance is a critique of representation
- - Performance is interaction
- - Performance is to make evident the inevident
- - Performance is construction of meaning
- - Performance is the inability to communicate
- - Performance is the need to share
- - Performance is…

Kim Baek-Ki (South Korea) KoPAS (Korea Experimental Art Spirit)   KEAF2012.com

"Nature- Human- Nature", Busan Beach Art Festival (Haeundae Beach, 1994)
"5:50", Ritual and memorial performance for one year anniversary of Sampoong Department collapse (Sampoong Department store, 1995 and Seoul National University of Education)
"Chaos", Gyung-ju Cultural Expo Performance Art Festival (Bomoon Lake, 1998)
"Series of The moon and Sixpence", Japan MMAC Performance Festival (Tokyo, 1999)
"Dream in the dream", Japan AIZU Festival (Fukushima, 1999)
Established Korea Performance Art Spirit (KoPAS) (Seoul, 2000)
Planner and Performer of Performance Theater "Chuang-Tzu and a betterfly" (Theater Zero, 2001)
Director and Performer of Long Performance Theater "River" (Uijeongbu Art Center Grand hall, 2004)
Director of Performance for the closing ceremony of International Youth Yacht Competition (Busan Grand Hotel, 2005)
Planner and director of Flower bush Art Festival (Suwon Nahyeseok Street, 2005)
'Series of The moon and Sixpence", Korea Performance Now (Osaka, Japan 2005)
Director Performance for the opening ceremony of International Windsurfing (Gyungpodae, gangneung, 2006)
Director of "The Little Prince of Hoisan", Multimedia Performance for Mooan White lotus Festival (Mooan white lotus special stage, 2006)
Director and producer of "Illusion" for ChunCheon Mime Festival and Gwachun Festival (Wee Island, Chuncheon, Gwachun City hall, 2006)
Art director of 2006 Korea Experimental Arts Festival, "Lohas- Communication of nature and Arts" Haslla Art World, 2006)
Recipient of 'Arts of the Year', Interdisciplinary arts from Korea Art Council (2006)
Director of 9th-12th Wangsan Ritual Festival (Gangneung Wangsan Art Center, 2004-7)
Valladolid Street Festival (Spain, 2007)
Director of the opening performance for Daegu Colorful Festival (Daegu Shinchun Special stage)
England Thames Festival (London, 2007)
Director and performer of the Korean Thanksgiving special event performance in British museum (Indoor and outdoor of the British Museum, 2007)
Diverse UNIVERSE (Estonia- Tallinn, Parnu, Finland, Helsinki, 2007)
'99 tents, 99 dreams', Beijing Art Festival (Beijing, china)
2008-9 Australia Woodford Folk Festival (Australia, Queensland)
Recipient of Hongdaeap Culture and Arts Award (Organized by Theater Zero/ run by KT&G, 2008)
Diverse UNIVERSE (Estonia, Finland, 2010)

2002~2010 Organized and run House Art Party (Corehands, Pyungchang-Dong)
2002~2011 Organized and run Korea Experimental Arts Festival
Performed, planned and directed over 700 work piece

Now,
Experimental Artist (Performance Art), Performance director
President of Korea Experimental Art Spirit (KoPAS)
Art director of 2002~2011 Korea Experimental Arts Festival
Art director of 2007~2010 Seoul International Performance Festival
Art director of 2008~2010 Haslla Improvise Art Festival
Planning committee member of 2008 Hi-Seoul Festival
Committee member of 2009-2011 Chuncheon Mime Festival

Open Space Performunion (Germany)   performunion.de

"The Field of Freedom is Shrinking and Freedom Needs a Field" Paul Virillo

The Open Space Performunion was founded by Michael Steger in 2005 in response to an invitation to tour as a performance group at the Diverse Universe Festival, organized by NON GRATA in Estonia. A steadfast ensemble had already been creating diverse performance events together in different constellations within the circles of Open Space, which was founded in 1998 with the aim of collectively transforming any time and space; the public space, the museum, commercial space, and theatre space into real time live art happening. The process of becoming a performance art collective was a simple and organic response to that which was already existent in the Open Space artistic community, for the interest and feeling of necessity for expressing ourselves through the medium of Performance Art had united us.

The members of this nomadically changing group, (Philip Brehse, Lars Crosby, Amy J. Klement, Alfredo Sciuto, Luz Scherwinski, Andreas Stadler, Michael Steger, as well as short termed collaborators, Berlin based and also International Performance artists such as Kim Baek-ki, Franziska Bosse, Im Malys, Jessica Slote and Nicholas Vargelis, to name a few), are rather extreme in their differences, backgrounds and approaches to performance, and that is possibly the essence of what is unique about us, and that which keeps our works fresh and unexpected. The Performunion has performed at numerous locations in Berlin, (Theatres, Galleries, shopping malls, clubs, U and S-Bahn, parks, nomans land, beaches and in street intersections), and toured abroad extensively at International Festivals in Estonia, Finland, Denmark, France, Italy, South Korea, Toronto, Canada and N.Y.C.

Christoph N.Fuhrer (Switzerland)   fuhrerzeich.net

Geboren 30. Mai 1969 in Bern
lebt und arbeitet in Berlin
Zeichner, Illustrator, LiveZeichner, Performer

Diverse Einzellausstellungen, Performances und Livezeichnereien in Berlin, Zürich, Bern, NewYork.

Publikationen als Illustrator.

Realkunst (Firma für Realitäten und Umfelder)

Soziale Plastik

Ich verstehe meine künstlerischen Äußerungen im Sinne einer Demokratisierung des Kunstbegriffes. Kunst für jede und jeden! Kunst außerhalb des White Cubes.
Künstler haben einen (politischen) Bildungsauftrag.

GoGo Trash (Germany)

GoGo Trash Performance is :
Group Collective of Noise Musisians, Dancers from the Floor, Deco Makers, Garbage Fettishists, Costume Designers, GoGo Performers.
We meet up since a few years and do actions at festivals,teknivals,exhibitions,parades,demonstrations,parties, and on the street.
We interfear with the theme consumerism; transforming waste products into costumes and instuments. Like to do trashparades in shopping tempels and celebrate "buy nothing day" every day..
A performance could look like an interaction beetween trash sculptures and the inviroment their set in .Communicating through noiseobjetcs and movements-to-the-musik. Like to get pushed towards more CAOS-SENSIBILITY
something to see, look under: google video, clown art hotel

Sukjin Kim (South Korea) sukjinkim.blogspot.de roddyskeaping.blogspot.com

My central theme of "Creative Beauty of Life and Art" is that I am first and foremost an artist, and then a woman.
The Idea in the artist's mind mirrors the child in the womb: desiring to be nourished, to grow and finally be given a life of its own.
I consider the cutting of the umbilical chord between the newborn child and mother, to be a mirror of the cut between an artist and their finished work, in that it now has a life of its own in the minds of those who experience it.
Music: Roddy Skeaping

Lick me Happy (Germany) Michael Philips & Tobias Möhring

"Lick me Happy" has been creating performances since 2002 using a mixture of
bizarre and absurd theatre elements juxtaposed by statements as to political issues, mostly from a genderqueer perspective. Their performances target issues such as gentrification, and productivity pressures, (also in alternative structures), ....... mostly with the aim of challenging the audience into questioning how much they themselves are part of these problems .......
Their actual performance "Monster" addresses the difficult relationships between monsters and human beings.