36

Room-sized multimedia performance, 2021
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9:16 colour screen / 2 speakers / Dutch & English spoken, English subtitled / a sitting stool / a mirror / a sculpture / 2 frames / 24:29 minutes, in a loop
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What can a portrait mean or make possible?
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Over the period of one year, Karel put his body at the service of various 2D and 3D visual artists. He asked all of them the same question: Would you like to make a portrait that you believe is a truly embodied portrait of me, seen through your eyes? Afterwards, he makes 36 encounters between him and portrait artists shareable in an installation: 36.
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Karel researched portrait-making as part of his two-year research project at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp; The transparent body (2020-2022). With his background in the performative arts, he wants to gain insights into the way visual artists look at bodies today.