Performance (Live/ Video)
Performer: Guillaume Lamour
Voice-over: Alissa Guillouet
“A Consolation for Melancholic Souls in Ten Re-enactments” is a study of melancholia, a cultural phenomenon of a feeling of a world weariness, in the form of a stripped down performance of this state. It seeks to understand it as an aesthetic posture, inherited from its many depictions in Western culture. In reaction to an overall “world pain”, this performance seeks to bring consolation and understanding to melancholic souls about a shared feeling of vulnerability.
The performance consists of a sequence of ten physical re-enactments of melancholic poses, ranging from Dürer’s woodcut Melancholia I (1514) to Kentridge’s Melancholia (2007-08), and is carried out by a performer under the instructions of a voice over. The setting consists of a room with a seated audience, a bare stage, a lighting system and a speaker.
Performed in Amstelkerk, opening of the exhibition “Lente Salon”, curated by Kunstruimte 411 /Hans Kuiper, 2024
Exhibited in Kazerne, 2024 alongside “The Work of Art That Saves You”