Shift
Repetition with accumulation of gesture, material and content form the basis of the durational performance/installation Shift.
This work explores the varied connotations of a shift: a worker’s
timeframe, a change of perspective and an overturning of a paradigm.
Longva+Carpenter specialize in converting an awareness of political
trends into aesthetic and poetic, thereby personally accessible,
performance works.
In Shift, the artists explore the significance
of an individual entity apart from the heap. A single wood chip may
have little value on its own; it is the collective mulch that functions
as a commodity. The performance and resulting installation calls
attention to many small, supposedly worthless individual pieces,
highlighting them by inscribing a positive mark (a plus sign), and
arranging them, in perfect alignment. Yet, in revaluing some pieces, the
performers must still make judgements and choices. The personal is
certainly political: the microcosm of our personal aspirations and
agendas plays out as a metaphor for the larger political climate. Is
there any way to honor diversity and not create hierarchy?
Kunsthaus Essen Galerie | Essen, Germany | January 2018
Performed for a total of 15 hours: 5 hours each of 3 consecutive days
