An explanation of the concept of: DIRECT RESEARCH.

During the residency in Kunsthuis Syb I made performances related to the notion of directing. How far can an artist go to realise good art projects? In a series of three video’s I dealt with this question.

‘The good director’ is an improvised video. I was holding the camera while giving the three performers directions. My voice is loud and the way I’m treating the actors is bossy. In the beginning the three actors are playing along and having fun. After a while fiction turns into reality. The three guys are starting to argue with me, I become angry and we all end up with showing our true faces. This psychological drama is about manipulation and about how far an artist can go to realise good art projects.

In ‘The generous director’ I wrapped three actors in paper you normally use for gifts. I was holding the camera while giving the three performers directions. We went for a walk through the shopping centre of Leeuwarden. Since the performers couldn’t see anything they were forced to follow my directions. They were called after the colour of the gift paper they were wrapped in. This performance attracted a lot of attention since there were a lot of people in the shopping area that day. It functioned also as a performance in public space

The third video called ‘An Open ending’ was about my grandfather who was then 95 years old. The conversation with my grandfather brings the idea of directing in another perspective. My grandfather is taking over the direction of this video with his great wisdom, talking about life and his coming death.

I presented these three videos together at the finissage of the performance festival: ‘The subjectivity of goodness’

DIRECT RESEARCH

3 video’s during performance residency

Date: 27.07.2005 – 14.08.2005

Place: Kunsthuis Syb, Beetsterzwaag, the Netherlands.

Context: Performancefestival: ‘The subjectivity of goodness’

Performers: Serge Lammerts, Wouter Sibum, Mathijs Lieshout

Thanks to: Wouter Osterholt, Jan Uitentuis, Erenst Uitentuis

Video: ‘The good director’, duration: 21:55 min, ‘The generous director’, duration: 5:47 min, ‘An open ending’, 8:30 min