Norbert Lange: To Say A Poem

Norbert Lange writing to Mathias Traxler about ‘Haut-Parleurs’, a literary event which was conceived and presented by both Harald Muenz and Mathias Traxler in the Lettrétage on the 23th February 2017 as part of the ‘CONT_TEXT’ project.  (For further information about the event and its preparation, see here: video, photos, artists’ discussions during preparation.)

Translation: Alice Bibbings
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Harald Muenz and Mathias Traxler in conversation

An extract from Harald Muenz and Mathais Traxler’s mail correspondence during the preparation stages of the CON_TEXT event ‘Haut-Parleurs’ on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th of February 2017 in the Lettrétage. (For further information about the event and its preparation, see here: video, photos, Norbert Lange’s letter to Mathias Traxler about the event.)

Translation: Alice Bibbings.

Continue reading Harald Muenz and Mathias Traxler in conversation

Maria A. Ioannou – A festival organiser of Cyprus

This pair meets great: Maria Α. Ioannou and a festival. Starting out as an author Maria felt the need to bring literature to the people in Cyprus – in different ways than to write. That is why in 2013 she started a literary festival for hybrid artistic creations: SARDAM. Hear how she started it, how it developed and how her motherhood is influencing her. Continue reading Maria A. Ioannou – A festival organiser of Cyprus

CON_TEXT I: Cia Rinne and Gernot Wieland

Full house on Friday, 27.01.2017. The reason: the opening event of CON_TEXT, an event series which sets out to reimagine and thematise the format of readings.

The opening of our series was made up of the Swedish-Finnish author and sound artist Cia Rinne and the Austrian depicting and performing artist Gernot Wieland.

For all who’ve missed it, stills form their performance manifest hominis fabri und Ink in Milk:

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Harald Muenz

Why did you decide to take part in this project? What is your interest within the engagement with the „reading format“?

A reading doesn’t necessarily need to limit itself to a presentation of word semantics, but can become anything from an acoustic to a half-staged presentation. Through that on the one hand, the acoustic nature of the text can be experienced more clearly than it would be through the inner prosody of a silent reading. On the other hand the sound, rhythm, accentuation, intonation can support the word semantic of the text, as well as comment and counteract on it. The musical perspective must be tuned in to the template individually each time; to be able to access that, there is no passe-partout.

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Sabine Venaruzzo – “There are no words for it, it’s better put into poetry.”

How to adress the acuteness of migrants issues in poetry? Even though a literary entreprise that has many agents, according to Sabine Venaruzzo, she feels the need to work with words of migrants with a different approach than many others. She will perform a symbolic march – or a somatic performance – starting today, January 19th. The open-outcome project will be going on for over 2 years and aims to cross European borders in many different fashions.

Continue reading Sabine Venaruzzo – “There are no words for it, it’s better put into poetry.”

Mathias Traxler

Why did you decide to take part in this project? What is your interest within the engagement with the „reading format“?

The substantialities and formative relations of poetry, what we perceive as poetic processes, are always presented through performances and readings. Every effort and aspiration to wrap literary processes in terms like „hybrid“, „composite beings“ or other declarations, lowers this beauty.

Mathias Traxler, born 1973 in Basel, is a writer and translator, living in Berlin. His book “You’re welcome” was published in 2011, and in spring 2016 “Unterhaltungsessays” appeared (both kookbooks Publishing).

His texts regularly appear in literary reviews and anthologies, including “IDIOME. Hefte für Neue Prosa”, “randnummer” and “Moderne Poesie in der Schweiz” (Limmat, 2013).

He was awarded the “City of Münster Prize for International Poetry” in 2015, as translator of the works of Charles Bernstein (jointly with Tobias Amslinger, Norbert Lange, Léonce W. Lupette, VERSATORIUM).
In recent years he has explored numerous reading formats. Of particular importance are text-generating interpretative elements in his readings.

Gernot Wieland

Why did you decide to take part in this project? What is your interest within the engagement with the „reading format“?

In my works I intertwine different narratives with historical reports, personal reminiscences and scientific facts, to develop stories spanning in between tense sobriety and tragicomic occurrences. I also work with the format of lecture performance, where I recite a text and show images. On the one hand I’m interested in the format of lecture performance because it gives a direct chance for debate with the audience, as well as I like working collaboratively.

Gernot Wieland has recently participated in Body Luggage – Migration of Gestures, Kunsthaus Graz/Festival steirischer herbst; Histoires de l’Ile des Bienheureux, Musée du chateau des ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard ; „Hello, my name is…“…and…“Yes, I´m fine.“, Lumiar Cité, Lisbon; 33rd Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Kassel; _ _ f i n _ _ _ , Dobra Experimental Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro; Random Walks, Konsthall 44, Møn; the performance event Puppet Slam for the exhibition Objects Do Things, CCA – Center for Contemporary Art, Warszaw; a TED Talk about Depression in Animals for TEDxGhent, Ghent; Writing Performance, Kunstraum Kreuzlingen, Kreuzlingen; Therapy for Drones at Salon Nomade, Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (all in 2016); Liberty Taken, An international festival of arts in the city of Bombay, Bombay (2015); Midsummer Night Scream, De Appel arts centre, Amsterdam (2015); Grammatik, Nationalmuseum, Berlin (2015); No Bad Days, Konstmuseum Kalmar, Kalmar (2015); Wo der Ort beginnt, Neue Berliner Räume at Kunsthaus Dahlem, Berlin (2015); Vols et Chants, The Office, Paris (2015); The reluctant narrator, Museo Berardo, Lisbon (2015); Figures of Conjunction, Kunstverein Nürnberg, Nürnberg (2014); A lecture on a lecture, CentrePasqArt, Biel/Bienne (2014); Pecha Kucha: The Bet, Kunst-Werke – Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2013); Videonale.14 – Festival for Contemporary Video Art, Kunstmuseum Bonn (2013); HOTAVANTGARDEHOTHOT, Oslo10, Basel (2012); Nach Bonn – Eine Montage, Kunstverein Bonn (2012); An exhibition of a Study on Knowledge, Forum Stadtpark, Graz (2012); Hard for the money, European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück (2011); Touched, Liverpool Biennale, Liverpool (2010); Eclats, CEAAC, Strasbourg (2010) and is currently preparing new works for the Norwegian Sculpture Biennial, Vigeland Museum, Oslo (2017).

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