The Alpina Huus project at Geneva’s Le Commun and Lausanne’s Arsenic begins December 16 and is running to January 14, 2018.
The “thinking performance and domestic space” will host two festivals; an opening one at Le Commun running December 16 and 17, and a closing one at Arsenic on January 13, an exhibition at Le Commun running December 16 to January 12, and a scientific symposium at Le Commun on January 12.
Using the distinctive DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) architecture of Berlin’s Schinkel Pavillon as a setting, ALPINA HUUS. House of Deep Transformation in 11 Acts, whichhappened on March 28 2015, was described by its press release “as a subtle act of utopian resistance”.
It was a series of performances “articulated around communal practice within domestic environments” and curated by Elise Lammer and Denis Pernet, a one day event that included a number of artists – including Pauline Beaudemont, Donatella Bernardi, Maud Constantin; Dawn Mok, Gilles Furtwängler, John Monteith and more – invited to intervene in the venue on Museum Island.
Originally built in 1969, the Schinkel’s floor-to-ceiling windows were covered with origami-like paper cutouts, by artists, in the octagon-shaped hall obscuring the panoramic view of the historic centre. The building’s unique characteristics, ideal for interventional performance and installation, accentuated the event, making the large rock-like interactive sculptural landscape occupying the centre more dynamic.
The performances were continuous experiments, the subjects of the experiments were the audience. Ranging from music to storytelling, the nature of the performances blurred the lines between theater and life, inviting audience members to participate while creating an undetectable spectacle. At ALPINA HUUS the guest is never really quite sure what is and isn’t part of the program.**
