Interview “The more crisis, the more performance”
“Galleries will not easily get along with a performance artist ‘
The crisis is for everyone and especially for the cultural sector because as well in Flanders as in the Netherlands the governments sharply cut the subsidies. Performance art seems a perfect solution, right?
PAE (Performance Art Event), a performance art organization that is coming the 12th of May to Flemish Cultural Centre de Brakke Grond with their show ‘The more crises, the more performance’ is a response to this trend.
“I feel that performance art is more present in the media at the moment. Many people talk about it and is now often displayed” says Ieke Trinks. Together with Nina Boas and Martijn Stellinga constitutes PAE (Performance Art Event), an in Rotterdam based organization that provides a platform for performance art to show its diversity. They organize the performance art event “The more crises, the more performance in Amsterdam as part of Art in Amsterdam.
Because PAE is coming to the Flemish Cultural Centre de Brakke Grond, this time also Belgian artists such as Pieterjan Ginckels and Pieter van den Bosch are cooperating. “We know the international circuit of performance arts, but Belgium was still unknown to us. It was a good time to get to know these artists, “says Ieke.
Performance art comes up.
Performance art has long been under the surface but according Ieke there is always a kind of wave motion in the cultural sector. “There was a time in the 70s-80 that body art and performance art were very popular. At one point it dropped completely gone, “says Ieke,” There were a few artists working with performance art, but it was not in the media. Now this is yet to come forward. ”
Performance art is then mainly discussed when there is crisis in the arts . PAE chose the title, “The more crises, the more performance ‘, provides some discussion. Can artists survive without money? Is performance art really a cheap solution? “That the title provoked questions here and there is exactly what we want,” said Ieke, “We do not state that performance art is or is not thriving, and that it would be cheap solution in times of crisis. We just want to highlight the rumor. ”
Difficult medium?
Performance art does seem a good solution because it is an inexpensive art form would be readily manufactured, but actually it is more difficult than visual art. The performance artist is difficult to place because he has no a clear artwork for sale. A painter can sell his work but that is possible for a performance artist. “Galleries will not easily get along with a performance artist because they literally do not have a product,” says Ieke. In this sense, performance art may be cheap to produce, but because it is not really tangible, it is difficult to sell them.
Despite the fact that the financial future is not as rosy for the arts PAE thinks about expanding. “Now we hold an annual performance arts event in Rotterdam, but we want to expand this and to organize the PAE in several cities. We would also like to organize a small monthly event” said Ieke, ” So we are busy totally opposite because we do not really consider any deficits. We are always looking for solutions.”