COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) COMMON THREAD A project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) Liesje van den Berk Vessna Perunovich sabine oosterlynck Artists, sabine oosterlynck (Belgium), vessna perunovich (Canada /Serbia) and liesje van den berk (The Netherlands) met each other in Berlin, Germany during the Performance art studies PAS #20 “in context”. From the very beginning of their relationship they found a strong connection to each other both personally as well as through their respective art practices. They began the intense exchange of thoughts and ideas and from the onset, several strong connections become apparent in their work: the use of line and its trajectory, the notion of mobility, the use of space and the performative / process based approach to art making. Using materials such as elastic string, labels, tape and graphite to develop and create their artworks and performances, all three artists refer to the body and its connection to the site-specific character of the exhibiting space as well as to the context of larger social, cultural and political networks and relationships. Their proposed collaborative project ‘Common Thread’ intends to explore avenues of connectivity and participation as a way of making sense of the increasingly confusing, tenuous and divided world we live in. In their performance based research they are tracing and mapping a memory of displacements, presence, cultural interference and human interfaces. These interactions are reduced to simple materials as labels, thread, dust, void, bodies and lines. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) “Through continuous lines of ink, thread and graphite, and the use of elastic materials, Vessna Perunovich reinterprets barriers such as walls and fences and represent them as soft configurations and woven, ephemeral structures suggesting passage, mobility and communication thus exploring the possibility of moving beyond barriers and borders.” “sabine oosterlynck examines how existing material, such as tape and labels, can be placed in an unconventional way in relationship with the viewer to investigate the human condition.” “Liesje van den Berk merges drawing and action in different cultural environments to create diversity and social interaction in place and time; by reflecting on the architectural space and its tactility and sound she examines the relationship between her body and the traces it leaves on a surface, such as paper or a wall.” Common Thread refers to the various relations that all three artists will explore through this joint project: the connection to space and time, their intersecting artistic practices, based in repetition, the exploration of movement, and the notion of flexibility and transition. As a constant intheir work, artists use performance and their bodies as a way of responding to the exhibiting space, the urgency of the moment, and to create evocative correlations with their audiences. Working very closely with each other and each given exhibiting venue as a site-specific space, they will enact a performative aspect in their work and create actions in a present moment with the elements provided. With this project artists will explore their similarities as well as differences, using their specific materials, bodies & lines to come up with unique and surprising outcomes and exchanges. Like connecting the dots by navigating between one another with their own language and their own luggage, the artists will create new art works, performances and installations as a way of communicating with each other and making sense of the world around them. As they live and work in different countries the idea is to look for a venue in each respective country that can offer a short residency, exhibiting space and performance events in order to do research, make meaningful connections and present their work. Their ultimate goal is to create a conceptual framework where everything comes together as one: the space, the audience, the artists and the experience they create with their bodies and their artworks. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) It all started here, 2011 ‘in context’ - Berlin performance - performance - performance among others Vessna - Liesje - sabine lines - dust - tape a suitcase - a brick - blindfolded white - black - blue long - long - short space - space - space rhythm - rhythm - rhythm patience - ritual - concept COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) Liesje van den Berk, Zeelicht, 2016 Drawing performance with musician Felicity Provan (Cornet/voice) and light designer Ellen Knops, Pencil on a freestanding wall covered with paper, 500 x 300 x 250 cm Duration: 23 minutes, Festival 2 Turven Hoog (performing arts festival 0 t/m 6 years and adults), KAF Almere, video photo by Leo van Emden Through live interaction between drawing, sound, light I drew a monumental ‘Sea’ drawing, a physical and sensory experience of drawing and encounters. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) Vessna Perunovich, Tying Up Lose Ends, 2016 -ongoing- work in progress, dimensions variable, black electrical ties, light, sound. This work will grow to incorporate more then 10 thousand zip-ties connected together to form a maze of ‘soft’ barbed wire structure which allows passage and viewer interaction. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) sabine oosterlynck, ‘Copie-coupé-cousu’, 2017 Floating installation on water with Tyvek labels sewn together (30m x 3,5m), Linea Hortus : Braine-le –comte Belgium In the series water lines the labels are connected to long cables: white labels, fragile lines, composed of identical bodies. They reflect about connectedness and sharing and identity. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) Liesje van den Berk, I give you a line, 2017 Performance, 15 performers, 15 graphite pencils, a long wooden table, approximately 1,5 x 10 meter, covered with white paper, a camera and beamer. Duration: 30 minutes, Buitenkunst Randmeer, photo by Keke Keukelaar, video by Nicole van den Kroonenburg I invited 15 participants to connect and draw an on-going straight line, a history, a trace of sounds and movements, of individuals and the collective. The pencil passed from hand to hand without being lifted off the line. A camera captured their interactions and broadcasted this live on a screen behind them, a mirrored image between real time interaction and its representation. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) Liesje van den Berk, Drawing your attention,2013 Drawing performance with musican Jeen Rabs (guitar/sound), pencil drawing on mylar (semi transparent plastic) on a glass wall, ±1200 cm x 225 cm Duration: three days, one hour per day, SEAPA BU World Symposium(South East Asia Global Encountering in Performing Art Symposium, Bangkok University) (TH) I draw the outlines of the shadows of the audience on mylar on a glass wall, shadows and lines are visible both inside and outside. This interactive drawing performance connects the performers and the audience to the surrounding space, people, sound and passing time, the drawing as a memory of these acts. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) sabine oosterlynck, Erase 2014, 2014 window performance with adhesive price labels, picture after video performance Pop-Up Gallery, Leuven (BE), photo by Leopold Oosterlynck This work refers to censorship and manipulation. By the ‘ erasing ‘, here her own portrait, new contexts turn in for new interpretations. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) sabine oosterlynck & Liesje van den Berk, Throw a line, 2017 collaborative performance with graphite and labels, P/ROPS, Ghent (BE), photo by Nicole Halsberghe The drawing graphite lines of Liesje van den Berk and tagging blank labels of sabine oosterlynck create horizontal and vertical graphic architectural structures with rhythmic elements in the space, through movements and remains they build up an installation. The traces make the invisible visible, a connection between the performers, space and audiences. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) Vessna Perunovich, Open Ended, 2010-2015 video still part of video projection and the sculptural installation; 7:00 min. video loop, sound, metal structure, rubber bands, zip-ties, dimensions variable. The work refers to the notion of inclusion / exclusion by construction of an open flexible fence which hides / reviles endless walking in circles. COMMON THREAD a project proposal by liesje van den berk (NL) & vessna perunovich (CA /SR) & sabine oosterlynck (BE) sabine oosterlynck, Collage gratuit, 2017 performance / installation , In-situ growing collage - installation in NEST GENT (BE), photo by Nicole Halsberghe ‘Collage gratuit’ has two stages that alternate.