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• Sa., 04.07.2015, 21:15

FESTIVAALI! - TALKS: Meet the Finns! - THE ALPHABETS OF PERFORMANCE ART

Do we find the Finns strange? Then it's high time to get to know them better! With the FESTIVAALI!, Theaterdiscounter has invited some of the most interesting Finnish artists to Berlin – with a number of post-performance discussions.

• 1If A is an apple, What do you think P could be? Paint, paper, piss?
• 2 Michael Müller, Leitungsmitglied, Theaterdiscounters

Performance artist Leena Kela has based her show on 15 years of research within the art form – and performs using the materials and objects that are typical for performance art. Do you agree with her vision of what is typical for performance art? You are invited to discuss the matter with the artist herself after the performance. Please also note that open discussions with Finnish artists will also be possible after the performances Executed Stories on July 8 and 9 and The Wanderer on July 11 and 12.

About the Venue:

Theaterdiscounter

Theaterdiscounter was founded in 2003 as the Freies Theater. The ensemble moved into its current venue in the former telephone exchange near Alexanderplatz in 2009. In-house productions are just as much a fixed part of the theatre’s programming as organizing festivals and experimenting with progressive theatre formats. Theaterdiscounter also offers space for guest ensembles and works with other German speaking theaters both in Germany and abroad. Along with contemporary drama and experimental projects, its repertoire also increasingly includes “classical” material. One of the trademarks of the house is the open and flexible space concept of the 370 sq.m auditorium. The stage situation here is continuously redefined and redesigned – thus, for example, a walk-in stage came into being for the 2nd Long Night of Operas and Theaters that could be explored by members of the audience on roller skates. (Quote: visitberlin.de)

www.theaterdiscounter.de  

About the piece:

THE ALPHABETS OF PERFORMANCE ART

A woman takes a bag of D = dirt and pours the content on the floor. She breaks a boiled E = egg on her forehead, peels the egg, puts it in her mouth and eats it. She picks up a bucket of F = flowers and swings them in her hand. She plants the flowers in the dirt, kneels down, picks one of the flowers with her mouth and eats the flower. She gets up, takes G = glitter powder, mixes it with cream and rubs the glitter on her face until her whole face turns golden. In her performance The Alphabets of Performance Art Leena Kela performs with the materials and objects that are typical for performance art. The performance is based on 15 years of research within the art form. Leena Kela has selected 26 different materials and objects that form the language of performance art and she will perform them from A to Z. If A is an apple, What do you think P could be? Paint, paper, piss?

About the artist:

Leena Kela

Leena Kela (1979, Finland) is a performance artist whose work evolves from observing the everyday life and phenomena. She has presented over 100 performances in a number of contexts in Finland, and internationally in performance art festivals across Europe as well as in Northern America, Southern America and Russia. She has a MA in Performance Art and Theory (Theatre Academy, Helsinki 2010) and a BA in performance art (Turku Arts Academy, Turku 2003). Currently, she works as an artistic director of the annual New Performance Turku Festival for performance and Live Art and in the executive board at the Mad House production house for performance in Helsinki. She is starting her practice based PhD studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki researching the language of performance art.

www.leenakela.com