The interactive dance installation as part of the photo exhibition “tinder. meet dates and friends in Ukraine” by Volker Kreidler at CLB Berlin is a sub-project of the movement research by Company STEVE with the theme “The Impact of Social Media”. It deals with the issue of social media consumption and the effects that the increasing flood of information has on people and their interpersonal relationships. Another part of the research is to take contemporary dance art out of the usual theatre context and bring it close to the people, for example in the context of the photo exhibition at CLB Berlin.
Image above: clb tinder 008, Volker Kreidler
“Take one step mindfully”, “Dance free”, “How does silence feel?”
….HERE! is a counter-proposal to our existence in the middle of the media world. In an interactive dance installation, the audience is invited to pause in the here and now and, with time and all their senses, to immerse themselves in looking, experiencing and reflecting alongside the performers.
Embedded in the atmosphere of Volker Kreidler’s photography exhibition, 3 dancers of the company perform a fixed choreography between different “experience stations”. At a certain point, the spectators themselves become part of the dance installation and are allowed to enter the performance space and test out the stations alongside the dancers. In the process, they experience, for example, the collective movement in a “movement snake”, and they are allowed to have a close-up photograph taken of a detail of their own body/posture/expression, which is projected live into the space. They can also observe the artistic creative process of a visual artist or simply immerse themselves in a moment of silence under the protection of silent headphones, trace a thought or let the choreography of the space take its effect on them.
In their installation, Company STEVE removes the boundaries between
performance and audience space and integrates the individual decisions of their audience into their choreographic work.
Company STEVE is a contemporary dance company founded in 2020 by choreographer Verena Steffen in Berlin. The artistic work focuses on dance and choreography as an art form. Her works are intended to stimulate (self-)reflection and exchange. Intuition is Verena Steffen’s most important tool in the choreographic process to explore and create new artistic approaches. She leads the choreography into abstraction and leaves room for the spectators for their own thoughts and interpretations.
The exhibition “tinder. meet dates and friends in Ukraine”.
With an open, calm gaze, Olga looks into the lens of Berlin-based photographer Volker Kreidler. She is wearing a plain sweater. Behind her is a clothes rack with colorful glittering wardrobe. Olga is a protagonist in Kreidler’s latest photographic research project called “Tinder.” Kreidler approached Olga through the dating app and arranged to meet her. His photographs look behind the appearance of self-presentation on the social platform. They can be seen as part of the European Month Of Photography (EMOP) at Galerie CLB Berlin.
Already since 2019, Kreidler regularly travels to Ukraine to meet women via Tinder. This start from real life is important to him. Because Kreidler is not simply looking for models with whom he can book dates. “I want to look behind the styled facade that many Ukrainian women put on Tinder,” he explains. Even during the pandemic and even after the outbreak of war, he does not stop the project, because now it is even more important to depict the reality of life behind the media images.
Both the photography and the dance project are supported by NEUSTART KULTUR.
Participants:
Artistic Head/ Concept: Verena Steffen with Sinja J. Völl
Performance: Sinja J. Völl, Verena Steffen, Bianca Dakli
Live Painting: Bianca Dakli Home | Bianca Dakli Abstract Art
Photoartist: Katia Cutropia Katia Cutropia
Sound: Company STEVE
WHERE?
CLB Berlin
Aufbau Haus am Moritzplatz
10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg
WHEN?
Opening hours: 17.03.- 02.04.23
Wednesday to Saturday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Artist Talk with journalist Sascha Britsko: 01.04.2023, 3.45 p.m.
Interactive dance installation: 01.04.2023, in 2 rounds,
duration 1 round approx. 20-30 min, 3.00 p.m. and 4.30 p.m.