Sanguine / Bloedrood

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    During the cultural city festival Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens Inspires, the M HKA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, juxtaposes the spirit of the baroque masters with the vision of contemporary top artists. With the exhibition Sanguine/Bloedrood (Blood Red), curator Luc Tuymans aims to overwhelm the visitor by placing key works from the baroque of, among others, Francisco de Zurbarán and Caravaggio, in dialogue with works by classical contemporary masters, such as On Kawara and Edward Kienholz, as well as new works by contemporary stars such as Zhang Enli, Takashi Murakami, Michaël Borremans, Sigmar Polke and Tobias Rheberger. 

    antwerpenbarok2018.be

    Jan Fabre

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    (c)Angelos bvba
    Lancelot, 2004
    Jan Fabre
    Performance , 04:00:00

    28.2.2004
    Antwerp, Troubleyn/Laboratorium

    Like a knight of despair the artist combats himself. For five long hours Jan Fabre wages battle in a cold dark location in front of the camera. The investigation he does here serves as an example to his dancers and actors, his warriors of beauty.

     

    'Just back from my favourite hospital.
    The Stuivenberg Hospital, where since my youth I have let them patch me up
    and put fresh heart into me (that's the best medicine for me).
    'No, Mr Fabre, it won't kill you. It is not life-threatening.'
    And there we go, I'm bursting with life again.
    Had X-rays of my ribs and right thigh-bone.
    Result: I have two prizes.
    My smallest left rib is broken
    and I have a small fracture in the bone just below my right hip.
    It's now three hours since I stopped my performance.
    But I still feel ice cold.
    Today I have fought for four hours
    in armour and with a sword
    against an imaginary opponent (or was it against myself?)
    in a room painted entirely black
    at the Troubleyn/Laboratorium.
    By the end of the performance I could no longer bend my fingers
    from the cold and could no longer pick up my sword.
    Two steadycams and one camera on a crane followed
    and filmed me throughout the performance.
    I am more than curious to see the rushes.
    One thing that will definitely work well on film is my breath.
    My breath and my cries took material form
    because the temperature in the room was like a freezer.
    But for the next few days Lancelot (the title of the performance)
    will first lick his wounds and recuperate.
    The knight of despair has triumphed over himself.
    (As I write this my ego is floating around in the living room.
    I occasionally have to pull my ego back down
    like a balloon and put it back inside me.)
    It will be a long and fine night.'

    (Jan Fabre, Antwerp, 28 February 2004)

     

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