Maria Hassabi
On Stage
November 24, 2023–November 25, 2023Tanzquartier, Vienna
Maria Hassabi has created performances and live installations for over two decades, carving a distinct artistic practice defined by stillness, deceleration, and aesthetic precision. Hassabi’s works reflect on concepts of time and the human figure while she employs a variety of media to emphasise the intricacies of formal organisation.
Expectations are at the forefront of On Stage. A solo figure casually installed at the front of the stage morphs seamlessly from one iconic image to the next. The enacted poses, all infiltrated in a mode of a grand presentation, are held in long frames of stillness, giving time to the viewer to see each embodied position. The sound score moves in and out of recognisable references building an emotional world of a spectacle meant to take place. The lighting design enhances the performer’s spatial choice by revealing them as the central figure, performing here and now for their audience. Performative archetypes are in play while duration takes over. The performer’s intensity becomes visible and almost tangible, and an intimate exchange with the audience is at stake.
Artist Talk following the show on Sat 25.11. Moderation: Pieternel Vermoortel (Senior Curator, steirischer herbst). In English.
Maria Hassabi is an artist and choreographer working with live performance, installation, sculpture, photography, and video. Her works have been presented at Secession, Vienna; Centre Pompidou, Paris; K20, Düsseldorf; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; MoMA, NY; Hammer Museum, LA; Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; The Kitchen, NY; documeta14, Kassel; Performa, NY; 55th Venice Biennale, amongst others.
mariahassabi.com
CREDITS
Performed by: Maria Hassabi
Sound design: Stavros Gasparatos, Maria Hassabi
Lighting design: Aliki Danezi Knutsen
Clothing: Victoria Bartlett, Maria Hassabi
Co-produced by Tanzquartier Wien, Vienna; Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels; Festival d’Automne, Paris; Julidans, Amsterdam; Taipei Arts Festival / TPAC Taipei Performing Arts Centre, Taipeh Management, distribution Something Great
Performance Dates:
Friday 24.11./ Saturday 25.11. 19.30
Tanzquartier Wien GmbH
Museumsplatz 1, A-1070 Wien
+43-1-581 35 91
tanzquartier@tqw.at
