Katherine Oggier Chanda (Sion, Switzerland)
Greenhouse effect (duration 15 min)
Watch: 13th May 2017 at 3pm UTC
DESCRIPTION: Greenhouse effect is a video performance that draws inspiration from the discourse that surounds the idea of ecology in today’s contemporary culture. The performance happens in a confined space of transparent inflatable plastic balloon that acts as a metaphor that mimics the much talked about depleting ozone layer. The space engages the performer into a claustrophobic environment in which air is very limited. The space contains small inflated balloons that the performer pops in the process with each movement made within the confined space. It is a space in which the gas carbon dioxide keeps increasing and determines how long the performer remains active in the balloon. It is a process in which the performer is aware of the limitations and is conscious of the physical and mental energy that remaining in this environment demands. The faster the performer moves in the balloon the more energy draining it becomes thus prompting an early exit. The whole performance happens on a lake, which makes mobility extremely difficult.
BIO: Katherine is a Swiss artist working mainly with performance, video and photography. Her work involves the use of gestures, and cultural clichés related to everyday life, nature and urban landscapes as potential ingredients loaded with connotations. With this approach, she has managed to create a working language in which deliberate absurdity, humour and action have become vocabulary she uses to compose her carefully crafted performances. « Privilégiant la performance, la vidéo, l’installation et la photographie, le travail de Katherine Oggier Chanda engendre des actions visant à questionner les clichés culturels. Pour prendre l’ascendant sur nos conditionnements, elle conçoit des interventions éphémères suivant un dispositif systématique composé d’objets du quotidien qu’elle détourne temporairement. Quittant le confinement de son atelier, elle choisit pour décors l’espace public ou la nature, fascinée par les possibilités plastiques qu’ils peuvent lui offrir. Sans modifier l’environnement qui lui sert de cadre scénique, elle installe puis actionne ses accessoires. Sa démarche mobilise avant tout son corps, ses sensations et son intuition pour expérimenter sa relation aux éléments. Privilégiant l’absurdité délibérée et l’humour, ses performances, telles des saynètes ou de courts interludes, dégagent un sentiment de légèreté et d’étonnement joyeux. » Julia Hountou, 2015. Artist Website