MEMBRANAS I - Peel it Off

F_ll in the bl_nk

Winner: 2013 NARS Emerging Curator Program Open Call

Curated by Shlomit Dror

‍With works by  Benbenisty, Liene Bosquê, Paul Clay, Ellie Krakow, Ann Oren and Lindsay Packer

June 21 - July 19, 2013

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The New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation is delighted to announce the opening of F_ll in the bl_nk, a group exhibition curated by Shlomit Dror, winner of the 2013 NARS Emerging Curator Program Open Call.

Membranas I – Peel It Off is a performance by Coletivo Elástica that investigates the interactions between the body, visual arts and architecture. The material used in this performance, vinyl adhesive, is a choice inspired by its characteristics of skin. The performer interacts with the vinyl through body movements, and explores the material's elasticity through actions of ungluing and overlaying. The thin layer of the vinyl, which resembles membranes, is removed gradually from the body and the local architecture. As the performance develops, tension between the body, material and space increases, while the body's movements convey a sense of confinement. Both the body and the vinyl behave in a similar way, representing notions of strength and flexibility.

In connection with the exhibition F_ll in the bl_nk, this performance explores the physical attachment (and detachment) we experience in places we inhabit. At first, the performer is attached (or "glued") to the wall with an adhesive material that covers not only her body, but also the wall she is leaning against. Consequently, the human body and the wall are inseparable, while the form of the body is almost invisible. This state of contact is followed by a slow detachment as the performer "peels" herself off the wall, leaving behind traces of vinyl. Like the Chameleon that changes its colors and adapts time and time again to a new environment, we too often experience displacement and dislocation, and consequently adapt to a new place. This camouflage and inseparability between our natural habitat and us is not always sustainable; we might be removed or remove ourselves from the place we initially came to inhabit.