RUINS
a durational/ multi- part performance/ installation by
Liz Rosenfeld and an*dre neely
Performance/ installation stills from RUINS: PART I
June 22/23, 2023 Sophiensaele, Berlin
*Performance photos by Mayra Wallraff
Film stills from Super 8 and HD footage/ projections for RUINS: part I
PHOTOS BY RICHARD HANCOCK
RUINS: PART I
TRT: 3 hoursRUINS (PART I) is an immersive live-work built in direct conversation with the space it occupies. The artists use the architecture of the institution, and the detritus of its common functions, to create fragmented and ephemeral landscapes, transforming it in a space of encounter and desire.
Referencing the work of Peter Hujar, an artist who dedicated his early practice to documenting the early days of cruising culture on the West Side Piers of 1970s New York City, Liz Rosenfeld and an*dre neely have captured footage of historical cruising areas of their respective natal and current homes, to build and unbuild personal images of cruising and intimate encounters.
Inspired by the defiance of communal gatherings, public sex and specifically the politics of taking up space, an*dre and Liz consider their own differently-gendered, differently-aged, differently-transitioning bodies and relationships - speculating on how to carry and tell each other’s stories, bound by notions of chosen family, and resonating with desires of how to care for and be cared by one another.
Over the duration of three hours, the audience is invited to move through, cruise and lounge together.
Core to this first part of a planned out series of works, is sound artist Nicol Parkinson’s re-reading of the eponymous Velvet Underground third studio-album, inspired by Lou Reed’s relationship with trans actress Candy Darling.RUINS is a multi part immersive/ durational performance work that is currently in progress. PART II will be in development in 2024.
Ruins (part 1)
Referencing the work of Peter Hujar, an artist who dedicated his early practice to documenting the early days of cruising culture on the West Side Piers of 1970s New York City, Liz Rosenfeld and an*dre neely have captured footage of historical cruising areas of their respective natal and current homes, to create personal images of cruising and intimate encounters.
Inspired by the defiance of communal gatherings, public sex and specifically the politics of taking up space, an*dre and Liz consider their own differently-gendered, differently-aged, differently-transitioning bodies and relationships. Working with the architecture and detritus of each space, they speculate on how to carry and tell each other’s stories, bound by notions of chosen family, and resonating with desires of how to care for and be cared by one another.
In the immersive live work "RUINS (PART I)", in a direct conversation with the space they are occupying, the artists use the architecture of the institution to create fragmented landscapes that are built and unbuilt; transforming the Festsaal of Sophiensæle into a space of encounter and desire. Over the duration of three hours, the audience is invited to move through, cruise and lounge together.
Core to this first part of a planned out series of works, is sound artist Nicol Parkinson’s re-reading of the eponymous Velvet Underground third studio-album, inspired by Lou Reed’s relationship with trans actress Candy Darling.