An evening of performances at Le Générateur

Two days after its exhibition opening at Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Biennale Nova_XX will be presenting the performance artists selected at Le Générateur, a hub for “trans, hybrid and connected” forms, in the words of biennial director Stéphanie Pécourt. The jury has selected a colourful group of artists who all share a humorous streak and a very heterogeneous approach.

The artists selected:

Julie Vachet, Banquet des activités humaines exigeant un effort soutenu (banquet of human activities requiring a sustained effort)

Five women: a manager, a therapist, a translator, a cryptologist and a television broadcaster. These five characters serves as the input for an “artificial intelligence” system. Representatives of our contemporary society (business, healthcare, technology and media) selected for their professional vocabulary, the invitees’ discussions provide material for their immaterial employer. The beginnings of a new emancipatory, poetic language, composed of neologisms and new rhythms, gradually take shape and interfere with the process…

Geneviève Favre Petroff, Vocalize Me 

This performance looks back at the freedoms gained over the centuries, retracing the history of women’s silhouettes with humour and irony, and presents a mechanical version of the sack-back gowns worn at court. Stretching from the French Revolution to the digital revolution, the performance employs voice as a tool of artistic and political expression. Like a Marie-Antoinette of the Internet, the artist reveals intimate thoughts, her sense of urgency, and her futuristic aspirations. Her technological gown changes form along with her mood swings.

Jenny Abouav, Enveloppe ‑sculpture vivante

This performance questions the hybridisation of a body both present and absent that mutates in form. Details of the surrounding environment pass through the epidermis and plunge the audience into changes in scale and perception, making one wonder whether the sculpture’s slow, continuous movement is propelled by a mechanism, a program, or a human body. 

Magali Desbazeille, Your Opinion Matters #2

Why is EVERYTHING evaluated, ALL the time, by EVERYONE? Your opinion is everywhere, all the time, and we’re interested in it! This performance tackles that question from an autobiographical angle. The visual elements of online evaluations take physical form on the stage.

Morgane Baffier, Conférences

Using one of the most cutting-edge technologies available, the video projector, Morgane Baffier teaches us insightful lessons about art, love, living in a harmonious world, and how to “move forward”.

Image: Vocalize Me © Geneviève Favre Petroff. Photo Antoine Petroff

Biennale NOVA_XX 
French partners:
Némo – International Biennial of Digital Arts of the Île-de-France Region, with CENTQUATRE-PARIS.
Le Générateur (Gentilly)
Lafayette Anticipations (Paris)
Biennale Chroniques (Marseille)
Belgian partners:
LIME – Law firm (Brussels)
BOZAR LAB (Brussels)
Fondation Gluon (Brussels)
KIKK Festival (Namur)
iMal (Brussels)