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Augenmusik. Figure [n°]

series of 24 objects -  artefacts from live performance Augenmusik (Paris, 2016); French police flash light, battery, various cables, dimensions variable

2016

 

unique

courtesy of Katya Ev & private collections

The live performance Augenmusik has expanded into a homologue body of works, sharing the same title (2016/2021) incl. re-performances, videos, photographs, installation, print editions etc.

 

image 1: exhibition view Tinto, without Tinto, group show, Brussels (Be), 2019, ph Azad Asifovich

image 2: studio view, 2018, ph Katya Ev

image 3: exhibition view Fiat Lux, Pilar, Brussels (Be), ph Silvia Cappellari

 

A strong signifier of state power and a signal of danger, in Ev’s performance the police emergency light is taken over by the performers, thereby shifting power metaphorically to the people. Entering through the strategic defence points of the city, the performers converged on the historical “Belly of Paris,” referring to the ancient Greek understanding of the market square as a space for practicing direct democracy. The polyphonic texture of Bach’s composition served as a metaphor for the political equality of voices, as opposed the contemporary understanding of democracy which reduces this polyphony to the single voice of the majority. The performance triggered a strong reaction that revealed the sense of panic, hostility and aggression between the police and the city inhabitants. During the performance twenty two of twenty-four performers were stopped by the police, and two of the participants were suspected of terrorism and detained for questioning. At the end of the performance armed police special forces were waiting for the performers at Les Halles. They intended to disperse the “gathering” prohibited during the State of Emergency. They failed because the assembly of sirens replaced the forbidden assembly of people. By subverting the local legal system, in Augenmusik Ev tested the borders of state power, through an alternative kind of public assembly as well as the use of state instruments as the objects of empowerment for civil disobedience". Katia Krupennikova, "On the performance Augenmusik", 2018 >> full text

Exhibitions 

2022   Carrozzone, Gallery This Is Arcade, Brussels (Be)​​

2021   Upside Down, DOC, Paris (Fr)

2021    Fiat Lux, Pilar, Brussels (Be)

Related artworks & performance documentation

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video based on live performance Augenmusik, 2018

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Final scene at Les Halles - video based on live performance Augenmusik, 2016

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The Art of Fugue 

orchestrated on 24 sirens, making-of video, 2016

TintoWithoutTinto_22a.jpg

series of 24 objects artefacts from live performance

Augenmusik, 2016

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installation based on live performance 

Augenmusik, 2018

KatyaEv_Augenmusik_installation_2(credit-Ayka Lux).jpg

silk print edition & photograph, 2020

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photographs based on live performance Augenmusik, Paris, 2016

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photographs based on live performance To Hear with Eyes, Palais de Tokyo (Fr), 2018

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photographs based on live performance Performative Walk, Aalst (Be), 2021

Performance activations

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Performative Walk, streets of Aalst (Be), 2021

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Augenmusik, streets of Ghent (Be), 2019

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To Hear With Eyes, streets of Turnhout (Be), 2020

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Last, MHKA Antwerp (Be), 2020

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To Hear With Eyes, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (Fr), 2018

Exhibitions of Augenmusik (selection)

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exhibition Statecraft, EMST - Athens (Gr), 2022

New_Songs_for_Old_Cities-NetwerkAalst-230121>280221_50 Katya_Ev_photo©Dani_Gherca.jpg

exhibition New Songs for the Old Cities, Netwerk Aalst (Be), 2021

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Do Disturb#4, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (Fr), 2018

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solo exhibition Etat d'Exception, Galerie Dix9, Paris (Fr), 2018

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