Herrmutt Lobby and Stéphane Mercier – MUCUS | Eric Grondin – Mouthman
I call you. Each time I do, I put on another face. I strike a pose. I try to make use of my many attires. I do it to highlight my pale and polished parts or particular patterns. My legs are then fully extended and shaken, my arms spread, detached and bent. No change in speed, just a signal to soothe any blemish. For the time being, none of us sing. I often lean my head down. Sometimes I raise it high. I have fleshy lumps on my head. Their function is clear when I strut. Sometimes I also show you my gullet. I inflate it as best as I can while I ripple. Sounds often attend these displays. My calls serve to attract you, but also to warn rivals of my dominion over you. With time, these sounds will grow softer. All this takes place on the floor or upstairs, but always inside our territory. I trace a circle to delineate an arena. You look on from the edges. I offer you prey. To prove that I am willing and able. Sometimes I build you a vault. I only use objects of the same color as you. These articles vary from time to time and are generally related to how I feel. When you join me, we lie next to each other and clutch. You turn around and drag yourself across the floor. I follow suit. When I am under you, I take a part of you. Sometimes I take it all. Sometimes we let ourselves fall, then surface apart, to rush towards each other and start over again. Sometimes it’s simpler. We circle around, then run away with a wail. During these ruptures, I rise in a spiral, then dive down from a height with a shout. Each face I put on takes up space. Each space is enacted. Progressively, each face is shed, till none is left, and I am secreted, uneven and sore.
Music: https://thinconsolation.bandcamp.com/…
Video: https://vimeo.com/antonindebemels
Antonin De Bemels
Antonin De Bemels is a mainly audio-visual artist from Brussels. He indulges in different means of expression: video, drawing, music, sculpture, writing… practically everything really, except maybe photography. He likes to adopt a craftsman’s approach, in a similar fashion to making bread with his wee little hands. He has a long-standing habit of working with dancers, namely Bud Blumenthal, Ugo Dehaes, Melanie Munt and Shantala Pèpe. He has also collaborated with musicians, such as aMute, Half Asleep, Rawakari, Rob(u)rang, Acid Kirk and Michael Fakesch. Since early 2000, he has exhibited and performed globally, including La Casa Encendida (Madrid), Monkey Town (New York), Able gallery (Berlin), International Film Festival Rotterdam (Rotterdam), Cinéma Nova (Brussels), European Media Art Festival (Osnabrueck), Stuttgarter Filmwinter (Stuttgart), The Invisible Dog (New York), L’Hybride (Lille), Le Tri Postal (Lille), De Garage (Mechelen), The Anatomy Theatre at King’s College (London), AtelierFrankfurt (Frankfurt Am Main), Temps d’Image (Montreal), WRO Art Center (Wrocław), Netherlands Media Arts Institute (Amsterdam), Beursschouwburg (Brussels) and Exit Festival (Paris).
https://vimeo.com/antonindebemels