N/Or

 

 

Neither Installation. Nor Performance.

The performers Bettina NampĂ© and Philine Herrlein, together with the light artist Julius Schmiedel, create a situation in which the presence and absence of light and bodies are interwoven in such a way that they question each other’s essence.

Their central interest lies in the projections of our perception that accompany the presence of human bodies and in the means by which these projections can be unsettled, subverted, or reinforced. They confront the associated complexity with the approach of simplifying bodies—allowing them to become objects. To what extent and in what ways can the self-perception of the performers be transformed into structure and material, and how does this affect the experience of the viewers? What quality of contact arises when bodies encounter each other as objects?

The essence that is withdrawn from the bodies translates into reactions of light, which are opaque yet intricately woven into the situation. Understood as being in permanent transformation, the light pursues a life of its own, absorbing the movements of all present and thus becoming an observing element itself. N/OR is a situation that adapts and stimulates.