Vagabond Stories Görlitz-Zgorzelec 2013

TEXTILES leben in der stadt

Vagabond Stories | Christine Comeau in Görlitz-Zgorzelec 2013 

Die kanadische Textil-Künstlerin Christine Comeau hat im Juli und August 2013 als Artist in Residence auf Einladung des Wildwuchs eV. zwei Monate in Görlitz verbracht. Gemeinsam mit Freiwilligen aus Deutschland und Polen wurde eine grenzübergreifende Performance erarbeitet. Dabei sollte nicht nur auf das moderne Nomadentum in Zeiten wirtschaftlicher Krise, sondern auch auf den ganz speziellen geschichtlichen Hintergrund der Europastadt eingegangen werden. Ziel war es, auf die historischen Gemeinsamkeiten beider Teile der Stadt aufmerksam zu machen, und den Grundstein dafür zu legen der Textilkunst in Görlitz den ehemals hohen Stellenwert wiederzugeben.

English Information

„Vagabond Stories“ is an art project by Canadian artist Christine Comeau. In 2013 Wildwuchs e.V. invited her as artist in residence in Görlitz-Zgorzelec. From July to August she created the next part of her long-term project „Vagabond stories in motion“. Together with volunteers a workshop was held and together with partners an exhibition took place in an empty appartment in Görlitz. The Highlight of her stay in the European City has been a performance. With this publication we are proud to present you an overview of this outstanding art project.

 

Vagabond Stories Dokumentation 2013 on Issue

Foto: Pierre Hoffmann
Foto: Pierre Hoffmann

 

 

Hintergrundinformationen

Christine Comeau, http://www.christinecomeau.com/

Downloads

Ausschreibung Workshop

Pressemitteilung Vagabond Stories 30.7.2013

Pressemitteilung Vagabond Stories 7.7.2013

Pressemitteilung Vagabond Stories 26.6.2013

Christine Comeau (Engl.)

Foto: Christine Comeau
Foto: Christine Comeau

 

2013

In my recent artistic production I question myself about social identity and network concepts between forms and human beings. I elaborate plans of establishing contact between people through performances that require the participants to wear clothing/sculptures, which I have created. All the suits I make are destined to be worn by more than one person at a time. The clothes connect literally between themselves or are simply sewn together. I am thus interested in various fabrics, various colours and systems of preparation to create interactive clothes.

My over-garments take on a life when worn by the participants who want to enter into the spirit of the game. The participants are found among friends or colleagues, artists or volunteers during multidisciplinary residences of creation or art events. In fact, interaction is very important in my approach; the clothes are only the materiality of my corpus of work; the principle meaning develops in the social and interactive activity between participants, themselves and my creations. It is through the realization of networking on a human scale that my art becomes alive, that our perception of the other people is changed. It is a peculiar territory where identities take on another sense, and are transformed little by little.

My work tends to take place in public spaces, so it can be integrated into an installation, a fashion show or a photo shooting. Humour and game spirit are very important elements in my art; it is my perception of the world that I intend to communicate. With these performances, I try to re-invent the world through the eyes of others, a society that seems to me often comic and unusual.

Artistic residencies

Artistic residencies combine art, travels and passages. They form an integral part of my artistic practice. I propose to the art associations this concept of nomadic stopping place. To be somewhere else, to reinvent my daily life elsewhere, to stroll, to lose myself in cities’ labyrinths, to wait, to meet people, to invite them to take part in my parades or my interventions, all these movements and these gestures are majorly important in my existence, as well as in my artistic approach. Furthermore, the extensive searches which I undertake in order to discover artistic residencies for the production of my projects (and for myself) are essential in my practice and my daily life. Through these journeys and these meetings, I redefine and reinvent my work and my existence. Travels allow me to move forward, to see more clearly, to adapt to new circles. “The semionaute artist puts the shapes in motion, inventing, with them and through them, journeys during which the self is elaborated while a body of work is being created.” (Nicolas Bourriaud in “The Radicant”). In this spirit, the movement, and the journeys I set out for myself through these movements make me a sémionaute who can settle down anywhere without ever feeling at home.

 

http://christinecomeau.com/