Van Aerde Clio

Formation

• Artistic Statement - My background in scenography studies and my scenographical practice have an important impact on my way of approaching each project – I intuitively start by examining the spatial dimension and its socio-cultural context. While in my scenographical practice I create spaces (playgrounds) for others (actors, the public) to play with, my performance/art practice consists in playing alone or with others in existing spaces through the means of alienation and of questioning norms and orders. I challenge the trivial relations between body, time and space through works, mostly performances, that imply and explore qualities of repetition, perseverance, endurance, concentration, meditation and patience. In 2014, I first experimented with performative expressions before considering performance more and more as a main medium for my artistic work. My projects evolve from the counterpoint of my working style as well as my personal and professional interests: fascinated with the research and theory in science, technology, sociology, gender studies, architecture and movement, I use a practical (experimenting with installations and models, different handcrafts, geometrical forms) and a physical approach (exploring a space through one’s own body) to develop my performances. The ethical questions which arise due to the evolution of technology and its use and misuse seem essential to me. One of my main goals is to create space for deceleration. Instead of following the Pied Piper of technology, I aim to form an (analogue) antipode to a society of consumption, consumerism and seemingly endless acceleration so as to debunk the fact that this lifestyle – in fact – creates stagnation, dependency and paralysis. In order to achieve this, I intend to invent new visions and build new fictional realities for them to become alternate realities. I am very conscious about the fact that I work in multiple artistic fields (performance/walking art, art research, theatre, film, education, dance…) and clearly want to challenge the tendency and necessity of the different areas to put everything and everyone in a box. My ambition is to get theatre and art in general out of its dusty conventions and to push it to the boundaries of reality.

Expositions

• ‘Noitibihoc’ Nov-Dec 2021 au CAW Walferdange