PERFORMANCE NIGHT 2013

MR. MIDWE$T

Solo-Performance von BEVERLY FRE$H, Chicago

Samstag, 22. Juni 2013, 20.00 Uhr

Location: KVN PROJEKTRAUM, Rupert-Mayer-Kapelle, Rupert-Mayer-Str. 68, 73765 Neuhausen/Fildern

„Ich nutze Performance zur Untersuchung wie kollektive Übereinkunft  produziert wird“.

BEVERLY FRE$H

Der in Chicago lebende Performancekünstler Beverly Fresh verarbeitet in seiner One Man Show MR.MIDWE$T eingeübte kulturelle Praktiken und Phänomene aus dem mittleren Westen der USA, die er mit unterschiedlichen Medien und künstlerischen Darstellungsformen verknüpft. Bevorzugt verwendet er bereits etablierte kulturelle Formen wie beispielsweise Gesang, Tanz, Geschichten und Lebensweisheiten erzählen sowie alltägliche und genderbezogene Rituale. In seinen Sprechgesängen greift Beverly Fresh beispielsweise auf  Traditionen des Hardcore Rap und Hip Hop zurück, die er in seinen Auftritten mit dem Habitus und Gesten von Hollywood Showstars verbindet. Mit alltäglichen Praktiken und Ritualen wie z.B. dem Zerschlagen von hunderten Eiern mit dem Kopf oder dem Stapeln von CDs´ zum höchsten Turm, huldigt er nicht nur männlicher Leistungsbereitschaft, die u.a. mit dem Ziel verbunden ist, ins Guinessbuch der Rekorde aufgenommen zu werden, sondern er spielt zugleich auch mit dem Anarchischen, Clownesken und dem Scheitern.

Beverly Fresh verwendet  „nachhaltige kulturelle Praktiken“, die seit Jahrhunderten ganze Gesellschaften und Subkulturen prägen. Er benutzt sie, um das Publikum zu unterhalten, um es herauszufordern und an seine Grenzen zu führen.

„Ich teste, was passiert, wenn diese Handlungen erfolgreich ausgeführt werden, absichtlich scheitern, und oder auseinander genommen und neu konfiguriert werden“. (Beverly Fresh)

MR. MIDWE$T

Solo-Performance at Kunstverein Neuhausen

Beverly Fre$h, entertains the audience with songs connecting folk music and hip-hop, telling jokes and leading the audience in nonsensical chants in a live performance, drawing from the field of oral tradition and exploring devices that allow cultural material to be transmitted such as songs, sayings and stories. Using documentation and field notes taken during an exploration of cultural rituals of the rural Midwestern United States, the performance will free the performer of a traditional fixed point of view and use everything from bathroom graffiti to hog calling as source materiel. Building on the tradition of the “one man show,” Beverly Fre$h will both entertain and challenge the audience through live performance.

Statement:

„I am interested in established forms of performance such as song, dance and storytelling that have been used for ages to entertain as well as
define and sustain the identity of societies and subcultures. I am also interested in testing what happens when these formal devices are successfully executed, when they deliberately fail and when they are taken apart and reconfigured. Through this performance, I will explore what happens when these modes of performance and their inherent structure are mocked, exposed and remixed“. (Beverly Fresh)

BIOGRAFIE /CV
BEVERLY FRE$H aka Zack Ostrowski
is a contemporary artist and musician based in Detroit and Chicago.

He has broken several Guinness Book World Records; including breaking the most eggs on his head and compiling the tallest stack of rap tapes.

As an Assistant Professor of Art, Media and Design at DePaul University’s college of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in Chicago Illinois, his approach to teaching emphasizes participatory art, social engagement and research methodologies.

His diverse background spans graphic design, interactive design, music, installation and performance art. His recent research efforts include the publication of Performer and Place: a Social Exchange, an essay accompanied by documentation of his Landmarks performance series, in Dichotomy Volume 17, a journal published by the University of Detroit Mercy.

Ostrowski was the recipient of the 2009 Daimler AG Emerging Artist Award and has exhibited within the U.S. and abroad including shows and performances in China, Japan, Peru, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Germany.

Notable exhibitions and performances include, Boondoggle Fat Waddle II at the Cranbrook Museum of Art (2011) and the two-person exhibition entitle Moletal (2011), supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
He is the co-founder of sUPERIORbelly, a multi-media art and design collective and record label based in Detroit, Michigan.

Zack has a BFA in Graphic and Interactive Design from the College for Creative Studies and an MFA in 2D Design from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan.