Kontakthope: Installation slideshow, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart

KONTAKTHOPE
Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, 2011

Kontakthope

Kontakthope
KONTAKTHOPE

2 channel video installation
22 mins
2010

A group of 22 dancers comprising of artists and curators in Berlin took part in a 2-day documented ‘Tanztheater’ workshop, where they practiced dance routines from Pina Bausch’s Kontakthof, in which simple everyday gestures are choreographed to explore the relationships between men and women, individuals and groups, thereby mirroring the various dynamics amongst artists and curators who work together. In the resulting video work, the choreography extends across two distinct ‘windows’ of ‘practice’ and ‘performance’.

‘Casting’ plays a pivotal role in Kontakthof, first created by Pina Bausch in 1978 for Tanztheater Wuppertal, then recast with a group of senior citizens in 2000 and with teenagers in 2008.
Extending this strategy of casting for his project Kontakthope – Ming drew the cast from all the artists and curators based in Berlin that he has worked with since moving there 3 years ago. The final cast reveals the nature of his involvement with and his positioning within the contemporary art scene in Berlin, as influenced by his own artistic and personal identity.