Beste Ivo Dimchev

Door Wouter Hillaert, op Sat Mar 09 2013 20:30:50 GMT+0000

Beste Ivo Dimchev, ik snap het niet. Ik begrijp niet precies waar je op uit bent, als artiest. En als ik het wel snap, als het je gaat om wat ik meen te zien, dan zou dat pas echt veelzeggend zijn voor de staat van de kunst, en de staat van al die programmatoren en critici in Europa die jou tot hun nieuwe chouchou lijken te bombarderen.

De jongste jaren kreeg je nominaties en prijzen voor ‘beste voorstelling van het jaar’ in Frankrijk, Nederland en de VS, en ook in België werd je performance Som Faves een paar jaar geleden geselecteerd voor Het Theaterfestival. Hoogst intelligente mensen kunnen beginnen te stralen wanneer ze jouw naam noemen. Zo herken je ons, het kunstvolkje: aan de weerschijn op ons gezicht van een groot nieuw talent dat we hebben gezocht en gevonden. Zelf zie ik het niet. En dus dacht ik: ik schrijf een brief. Uit je voorstelling we.art.dog.com van 2010 meen ik me te herinneren dat je aan het slot zei dat je openstond voor reacties. Misschien was ook dat ironie. Maar welaan. Al leest dit wellicht als een arrogant epistel, je hebt mijn eerlijke interesse voor wat je zelf zou zeggen over wat je met je werk beoogt …

HOGE LILI, LAGE LILI

Soms probeert een mens zich het einde van het Westen voor te stellen. Ik zag het zelden zo scherp als in Lili Händel, in januari in Campo: een bezwerend spektakel dat een spektakel maakt van zichzelf, een reeks straffe poses waarvan enkel de uiterlijkheid wordt uitvergroot, een kokette viering van wat er allemaal kan, omdat het kan, zonder limiet. En een zaal die kraait van plezier. ‘Whatever … ’, lispelde je ergens halfweg de voorstelling. Dat leek al een zin op zich. Misschien zelfs de eigenlijke titel boven dat spektakel. Er ontbrak enkel bladgoud om de letters ervan te vergulden, als een stralend embleem. ‘Whatever!’

Ik heb het niet zozeer over je alter ego Lili Händel op het toneel: jijzelf, naakt op een schaamlapje na, helemaal wit bepoederd, met bloedrode lippen, op hoge hakken, een veel te lange collier als hoofdtooi, het getrippel van je blote kont, en vooral je handjes: flirtend en wiegend tussen de icoon en de performer, wie is wie? Nee, hoe je op de bühne staat, is ronduit fascinerend, telkens weer. Als dat de verklaring is voor de prijzen die je won, dan kan ik dat wel volgen. Maar is kunst niet meer dan een excellent meesterschap over het lichaam?

Het gaat me om wat die even innemende als bizarre diva uitvoert, de willekeur ervan: een losse opeenvolging van actjes, circus voor intellectuelen. Lili in haar zetel, pronkend met haar dijbeen als op het staatsieportret van een hoer. Lili die het uitschalt als een castraat – ‘een doorsnee nachtegaal buigt nederig het hoofd als hij Dimchev hoort zingen’, weet de site van Campo. Lili die live haar bloed aftapt en het per opbod verkoopt aan de zaal. Lili die zittend schaatst, die vervaarlijk gromt, die toetert op een hoorn waar water uit gulpt. Lili die ‘poetry’ uitspreekt als ‘party’ en ‘concept’ als ‘concert’. Hoge Lili, lage Lili. Die elegante pirouettes maakt met een showlint en een geniepige oogopslag naar de zaal, als in een samenzwering waarbij performer en publiek heel goed weten dat het allemaal niet serieus bedoeld kan zijn. Wat zoekt ze, en jij met haar? Steeds weer breekt die Lili haar eigen lege virtuositeit plots af, wuif jij haar ineens weg als een dwaze podiumgril voor ons genot. Als een ‘whatever’.

KIJK, KUNST!

Op dat moment in de voorstelling werd dat ene woord uitgerekt, bleek het dan toch het begin van een zin: ‘Whatever you see tonight, ladies and gentlemen, just remember that you are lucky people, very lucky people.’ Daar begon me iets te dagen. Niet Lili was onderwerp van Lili Händel, wel de manier waarop er naar haar gekeken werd. Alleen kneep je die inhoud onder ‘lucky people’ meteen weer af, door die twee woorden te gaan herhalen en herhalen, ze op toon te zetten. ‘Lucky people – lucky people – lucky people.’ Steeds lager ging je stem, tot alleen nog de materie van een grom, terwijl je naakte lijf de kromming aannam van een niet te identificeren dier, met headbangende kop, bezwerend, als een beat van louter lijf. En het woord werd vlees.

Niet Lili was onderwerp van Lili Händel, wel de manier waarop er naar haar gekeken werd

Is het dat wat je zoekt? De heruitvinding van materie als de core van de kunst? De overwinning van vorm op inhoud? Van aanwezigheid op betekenis? ‘Muzikaliteit’, liet je een week later in Vooruit vallen in X-On, je eerste productie voor de grote zaal. Daarin voeren Lili Händel en drie performers vol vanzelfsprekendheid weinigzeggende kunstjes uit met gipsen objecten van kunstenaar Franz West. ‘Intensiteit’ en ‘intimiteit’, zei je ook nog. Gaat het je daarom? Vandaar al die opzichtige muziek boven je beelden? Je fenomenale stemmenkunst? De superbe plasticiteit van je lichaam, waar je voortdurend mee speelt, als een vaardige muzikant op je eigen pezen? Dat zou een oud verhaal zijn, die zintuiglijke profilering.

Nee, er lijkt me meer aan de hand dan de opbouw- en afbraakwerken van pure esthetiek in een tijd waarin naïeve artistieke schoonheid finaal verbrand is. Het eigenlijke onderwerp van je werk lijkt de hedendaagse theaterkijker, dat passieve wezen in het duister, constant smachtend naar snoepgoed-voor-het-oog dat hem zijn eigen grijze bestaan helpt verteren. In I-On speelde je ook al met die schijnbaar banale objecten van West, als spiegel van elke interactie waarin kunst zin krijgt door hoe een publiek ermee omgaat. In X-On stolt die interactie tot een klein museum op het toneel, en zijn je coperformers toeristen, onwennige museumbezoekers. Het is het ‘kunstkijken’ waar je voorstellingen over gaan, veeleer dan over wat er bekeken wordt. Kan dat?

Zo stapte je in Lili Händel de zaal in, om een van ons te vragen naar onze ‘motivatie’ om jou te komen bekijken – logisch was het antwoord een bleek gemummel. Ook op het toneel duid je telkens het gezichtspunt van je kijkers aan. ‘This is fantastic’, meesmuil je dan over actjes die Lili net heeft uitgevoerd. Zijzelf meet haar waarde af tegen de prijs die ze vangt voor haar bloed dat ze veilt: vroeger was dat 5 euro, nu al 15. De hoererij van de kunsthandel: ook dat is publieksinteractie. Soms lijkt die transactie zelfs het basismodel geworden. Het gaat om de uitwisseling van financieel en symbolisch kapitaal, meer dan om de vertaling van een idee.

KEIZER ZONDER KLEREN

Je werk geeft me sterk de indruk dat je het hier eigenlijk helemaal mee eens bent: dat veel eigentijdse kunst haar essentiële functie als bemiddelaar van een verhaal, een inhoud, een geloof, een wereldvisie … heeft opgegeven. Dat het ‘whatever’ is geworden. Dat het ‘wat’ van een artistieke creatie simpelweg gewisseld is voor het ‘hoe’. Wat me dan ontstelt, is dat je simpelweg kiest voor het ironiseren van dat ‘whatever’, die ijdele luxe om niets meer te hoeven communiceren, omdat er nergens meer voor te strijden valt. Spreek me tegen, maar uiterst bewust speel je de keizer zonder kleren, voor toeschouwers die in het beste geval zijn naaktheid zien, en die in het slechtste geval opgaan in pure bewondering omdat hij de keizer is. In beide gevallen brengen we de handjes op elkaar, omdat we in deze tijden van voorbij-avant-garde even hard applaudisseren voor een goeie grap als voor fonkelend bedrog.

In deze kunst is de verpakking, het uitpakken, het ‘artistiek bezig zijn voor een publiek’ de boodschap zelf geworden. Jij creëert zo’n kunst niet alleen (bewust?), je bespiegelt ook hoe ze functioneert. De ivoren toren die kunstenaars steeds verweten krijgen, blijkt van spiegelglas. Maar hoeveel zelfspiegels kan de kunst verdragen voor ze alleen nog leegte reflecteert?

Ik verklaar me nader. Er zijn jonge kunstenaars die kunst maken over (kijken naar) kunst, omdat ze hun medium nog aan het verkennen zijn, of nog niet weten wat ze ermee te vertellen hebben. Het is een jeugdzonde, een aanloop. Jouw werk komt me veeleer voor als een uitloop. In al zijn vezels spreekt het van een besef dat er niets meer te vertellen valt. Dat een publiek – zelfs het geoefende, intelligente en ‘progressieve’ publiek waar jij voor speelt – zich alleen maar wil vergapen aan iets bijzonders. Dat het, diep vanbinnen, enkel brood en spelen wil, zij het van het soort van de avant-garde: zichzelf tot in den treure problematiserend, zichzelf ginnegappend aanwijzend in de spiegel, om daarover dan de schouders op te halen. Wat jouw werk doet, voor mij, is niets meer dan dat ironiseren. Ik voel er geen geloof meer bij, tenzij in wat jouw lijf kan, als zijn eigen doel. Het is een zo rijkelijk en straf mogelijk ‘whatever’.

GEVIERDE VANITAS

Voor mij is het dat wat decadentie is: de gapende kloof tussen een grote esthetische show-off en het bewustzijn dat die niets meer dient. De meeste makers die dat beseffen, maken doorgaans werk van kritiek op die decadentie. Jij viert ze, of zo lijkt het toch. En wij lachen erom, noemen je ‘radicaal’ en ‘excentriek’, en applaudisseren voor onze eigen vanitas, voor de fascinerende virtuositeit waarmee jij aanduidt dat het ons nergens meer om gaat. Nu ben ik jou de reacties van je publiek aan het verwijten, maar ik sta stomweg perplex over het feit dat een hele festivalmachinerie – of onze culturele elite – jouw werk vol enthousiasme verkoopt als ‘extreem’, wanneer dat extremisme overeenkomt met ‘holler en holler’. Het ontzet me dat critici niet enkel jouw voortreffelijkheid sterren geven, maar vooral hun eigen koestering van heel goed gemaakte koketterie met wat kunst is kwijtgespeeld. Dat is de ondergang van het Avondland, voor mij: de final curtain van een eeuwenlange (artistieke) traditie van geloof in Bildung, intellectuele dialoog, grote ideeën over vooruitgang in een samenleving. Zo veel lof voor ‘zelfabsurditeit’ maskeert een diepe onmin van de kunsten met zichzelf. Jij, Ivo Dimchev, riskeert er de clown van te worden, zoals Eddy Wally dat was van de showbizz.

Nou moe, heel waarschijnlijk vertelt deze open brief meer over mij dan over jou, terwijl ik je bij aanvang alleen maar een paar vragen wilde stellen, uit ‘curieuziteit’ naar hoe je er zelf naar kijkt. Waar gaat het je om? Wat is je motivatie? Wat wil je bereiken met wat je creëert? Ergens voel ik in je werk een grotere intelligentie dan die van ons, het publiek, en mis ik mogelijk de kern. Wil je wel alleen de volgende twee standaardreacties vermijden?

‘Als jij dat erin ziet, dan is het dat waard; de toeschouwer heeft altijd gelijk.’
‘Blijkbaar heeft mijn werk je boos weten te maken: dan is het geslaagd.’

Ter afsluiting nog één quote, een stukje uit een monoloog van Jason in de Medea-bewerking van Peter Verhelst:

‘Waarom hebben kunstenaars de grote verhalen kapot gegooid? Ze beweren dat alles van waarde waardeloos is. Zinloos. Betekenisloos. (…) Het doel van kunst is de kunstenaar geworden. Achterhoedegevechten. (…) Wij hebben het volk in de steek gelaten. Wij hebben alleen nog leegte gecreëerd. Een prachtig, flonkerend, betekenisloos vacuüm waarin iedereen alleen zit.’

Groet, benieuwd naar je reactie,

Wouter Hillaert

Woulter, Woulter ...

I don’t think you need my answers, cos as I see, you have a lot already and you obviously enjoy them much. I will leave you enjoy them and publish your beautiful letter. For me a dialogue is not possible between us, because your inability to read performance art or anything which is not text based is pathological, specially combined with your ‘moral’ values, which I don’t share neither.

My advice is … go back to school. But find a different one, with less books and more physicality

I’m not going ever to try to convince you that in what you see a pure form only, the missing content is missing only in your eyes. Separating form from content is the stupidest trap u can fall or put yourself. There is no form without content, neither content without form and it’s by default. Only you can decide not to accept or read one or the other. So your almost conscious act of skipping the ‘content’ of my work is your decision, it’s not mine. I’m sorry that you have difficulty of reading my shows and find satisfying meaning there. I suppose you have the same difficulties with many other works which are not book based or politically correct. And I don’t know what looks older nowadays, praising virtuosity or denouncing it, I think both are quite old fashion.

My advice is … go back to school. But find a different one, with less books, less great stories, less newspapers and more colors, music, creativity and … physicality. After that maybe you won’t feel so alone after my shows. And if some day you need a dick to suck or get fucked, to experience some decadence or just for the sake of it, mine will be always ready for you. And if I’m not available at this same moment, just fuck yourself off … alone. In between don’t forget to vote for me at the Theatertreffen website. With your theatrical competence in the field of ‘the great stories’, you must know the importance of this platform. ;)

Kind regards,

Ivo

Enkele dagen later volgde nog deze mail van Ivo Dimchev. Ook te volgen op Ivo Dimchevs Facebookpagina.

Hey sexy, posted your letter on my FB wall. Got some reactions. Not actually so interesting, but anyway.... may be food for your article.

good luck

ivo

Coco Jambo Douche bag. Thursday at 2:45am · Unlike ·

Jack Udashkin give me this guy's e-mail address Thursday at 3:08am · Edited · Unlike ·

Ivo Dimchev haha, of course:)) wouter.hillaert@rektoverso.be Thursday at 3:10am · Like

Ash Bulayev hmmm. thought you would find some irony in that. ps: remind me not to write you a personal email.Thursday at 3:19am · Like

Гугъл Панасоник Whatever, I am so clever...Thursday at 3:35am via mobile · Like

Ivo Dimchev I think he has experienced the typical for some macho intellectuals "ANAL DANGER" while watching Lili Handel. Such gender blending work is so much out of his macho world order , that he has nothing left but keep it as distant as possible from himself by defining it as meaningless:) ....but he doesn't know that there's no escape from Lili, and she will get him sooner or later.....:)) Thursday at 4:45am · Like · 13

Jack Udashkin I'll fix his clockThursday at 5:04am · Like · 1

LeyLo Bajramovic ...hmmm, yeah, sounds like hes looking for something! -somebody fucked him over a long time ago -flattened out his vision! So interesting though, we can only see what were able to SEE -the rest is Dorian Gray.. and you can tell exactly where he falls short..he, right? (... and sounds like he wants to fuck you- and maybe re-discover the purpose of art*)Thursday at 5:30am · Edited · Like · 1

елочка матеевна толкова ми звучи академично, та чак се отказах да го чета, чистата критика е анална история, някои я предпочитат, други не:))) Thursday at 5:53am · Like

Nikola Borisov ........ събуждайки се, с чувал на главата, и ......... в спокойствието си той прогледна. ....... :))) Thursday at 8:31am · Like

Мария Силвестър Любовно писмо не би било толкова дълго? Thursday at 8:36am · Like · 1

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui I don't care about the future of art (it'll take care of itself), I do care about you Ivo xThursday at 9:00am via mobile · Like · 8

Kalpa Zanka This letter is such a compliment to you my dear friend seriously ,it sounds great ! Thursday at 9:20am via mobile · Like · 3

Gertjan Franciscus Van Gennip bloody serious, yes it is... Thursday at 9:22am · Like

Rossitza Petrova Jong Dikidjieva Събудил си жив и явно доста дълготраен интерес у Ваутър. Жалко, че не е на твоите честоти, за да може и да те разбира (освен че се вълнува от теб), но няма как за всички да си достъпен, приятелю... Радвай се на вниманието му (поне)!

П.С. Интересно, какъв ще е отговора ти до него?

Thursday at 10:16am · Edited · Like

Daniela Lehmann Wouter seems extremly touched by your work....great Thursday at 10:36am · Like · 3

Stef Meul " ‘Intensity’ en ‘intimacy’ " that sweet flemish morale keeps shining through no matter the surface it touched upon... great publicity for those middle class subventioneers though... Thursday at 10:43am · Unlike · 2

Mehdi Farajpour No doubt about it: your performance & presence on the stage was excellent Thursday at 10:51am · Like

Sebas Gec notice: to much hate in all of the comments Thursday at 10:51am · Like · 1

Caroline Bouwens help, I think I'll have to take the time to read it all & come to see your performance. Thursday at 10:52am · Like

Marco de Meo Now the critics show their frustrations!!! Your shows put in a position to go beyond the action or sound of the voice and access to deep realms, those who fail to do so are not worthy of attention. Natural Selection. Thursday at 10:54am · Like

Ivo Dimchev Sidi Larbi , I don't care about the future of "western" art neither, and why should I when anyway de Staandard is taking care of if :))) Thursday at 11:35am · Like · 1

Michele Gatta he may think he is clever, he may think he knows what he is speaking about; he was just LOOKING for a story, sometime you dont need to look, just relax you may FIND all you need°° (feel time and space, all the rest you can find on books ) Thursday at 11:51am · Like · 1

Julio Cesar Iglesias Ungo the guy who wrote this critique its just a blind butcher...... Thursday at 11:54am · Like · 1

Ivo Dimchev ok I answered him already yesterday:)))) Woulter, Woulter.......I dont think you need my answers, cos as I see you have a lot already and you obviously enjoy them much. I will leave you enjoy them and publish your beautiful letter. For me a dialog is not possible between us, because your inability to read performance art or anything which in not text based is pathological, specially combined with your "moral" values, which I don't share neither. Im not going ever to try convince you that in what you see a pure form only , the missing content is missing only in your eyes. Separating form from content is the stupidest trap u can fall/put yourself. There is no form without content, nether content without form and its by default. Only you can decide , not to accept or read one or the other. So your almost conscious act of skipping the "content" of my work, is your decision , its not mine. Im sorry that you have difficulty of reading my shows and find satisfying meaning there. I suppose you have the same difficulties with many other works which are not book based or politically correct . And I don't know which looks older nowadays , praising virtuosity or denouncing it, I think both are quite old fashion.My advice is... go back to school. But find a different one, with less books, less great stories, less newspapers and more colours, music, creativity and..... physicality. After that may be you wont feel so alone after my shows. And if someday you need a dick to suck or get fucked, to experience some decadence or just for the sake of it, mine will be always ready for you. And if Im not available at this same moment, just fuck yourself off...alone.

In between don't forget to vote for me at the Theatertreffen website.

With your theatrical competence in the field of "the great stories" you must know the importance of this platform;)

kind regards

ivo :)))) Thursday at 12:18pm · Like · 11

Basten Zimmermann sucking cock rocks. you don't need sixteen academic degrees for that. epic, Ivo. you are just epic · Like

Marco de Meo thank you Sir for giving us Ivo Dimchev! Thursday at 12:30pm · Like

Tracee Marie Westmoreland oh my. FB is already trying to sensor you. Have you noticed? I feel that the ART world is missing true performers & has gotten lost in meaning (the bla, bla, they can talk all day and make nothing captivating). you, dear, are one of my heroes. Thursday at 12:46pm · Like

Ivo Dimchev actually Woulter is quite hot ....I think we can have beautiful babies....we can call them Corm and Fontent :)) Thursday at 1:13pm · Like · 6

Uiko Watanabe I found it's interesting. He wrote you such a long mail. so it was something important or touching for him. it's another subject if someone liked the show or hate... Thursday at 1:22pm · Like

João Negro good works always create a bipolarity of haters vs. lovers, mediocre work creates a 'oh, it was nice', and all the bourgeois are happily pleased... Thursday at 1:37pm · Like

Ivo Dimchev dear Uiko, this is not a personal email, this is a well prepared article for the newspaper. The letter is just a formal way of faking a dialog...as if he is open for it. But practically he imposes a value system which is incompatible with any free form of expression which does not praises Shakespeare, Guy Debord and so on. Thursday at 2:02pm · Edited · Like · 1

Line Callebaut Very good answer of you Ivo, exactly what I was thinking. Why the need to write this letter to you? Why ask you about why YOU won this prices and have so much success? It's not that you gave this awards to yourself! If he has questions about the meaning of your art, he should have the guts to publicly ask them, and not come to you in a private letter for answers. You are free to make your art like you feel it and people are free to like or dislike it and publicly ask questions about it. What was his attempt with this? Maybe try to make you feel bad (of course impossible and ridiculous :p) and tell you how you should make art, since you are already a success? Well I can say, if he looks for other forms of art in the society of today, he is free to try it and make his own interpretations. Anyway, the questions he asks are not to be asked to you, but to the public and the people that are giving you the awards and prices. Really. Thank you for publishing this. A very interesting thread. Thursday at 1:39pm · Unlike · 2

Ivo Dimchev Sorry, correction, the article is coming out not in de Standard but in his own magazine Rekto:Verso. Thursday at 2:10pm · Like

João Negro proper name... the writing is coming out of his verso, down bellow his rekto(um). and he has to own his magazine, where he can actually write. wonder if any other magazine commissions him to write articles as this pretentious crap Thursday at 2:29pm · Edited · Like

Yana Trifonova :):):), You made my day! This "open letter" is actually a poor attempt of a love letter. So sweet and little bit perverse, but too boring. Thursday at 4:01pm · Unlike · 1

Barbara Roland I understand the questions he asks, I also understand he really doesnt' know what performance is. I understand his fears for the art, but I also feel confusion about what he is speaking about: art, culture, performance, artists ... reduced to decadence and clowning

I understand he wants you more related to the world and his actuality more referential … except that the power of the significant culture against what he interprets as emptiness seems here used for the sake of dominant bourgeois ideology, giving illusion of meaning, illusion of sane community - its beautiful heritage and excellence of its representatives - on the back of the reality that suffers a sum of forgotten individuals. And that since the beginning of time despite the great stories… Thursday at 5:07pm · Unlike · 5

Bartosz Lercel How boring, i almost fell asleep around second paragraph. He was born somewhere in the middle ages... Thursday at 6:40pm · Like

Anita Cvetkova He`v got obsession of you ... very badly :))) Thursday at 9:41pm · Like

Michael Mega Watts wow! hilarious response Ivo. Did you attach a copy of Bambi for him? Thursday at 11:48pm · Like

Dmitry Paranyushkin Such a beautiful letter he wrote, so sincerely conflicted, genuinely interested to hear your response, and in return you call it a piece of shit, publish it on your wall, and accuse him of being a "macho intellectual" offering him to suck your dick? Great job demonstrating you are not the "whatever" kind of person he is accusing you of. The universal Big Fat Dick remedy seems to be very suitable in this case as well, just like in any case where someone does not understand performance art because they read too many books. Right? So then it's not the end of the West, it's the new beginning. While Mr Wouter is craving for the "Bildung, intellectual progress and big ideas about progress in society" he is missing one Big point: that it's all about the Dick. And if he doesn't get it, we should just laugh at him, right? I just hope that this is not what your work is really about, though. Friday at 2:52am · Like

Renae Shadler Good read. Thank you all. Food for thought Friday at 3:33am via mobile · Like

Ivo Dimchev Dmitry, there is a specific type of male heterosexual intellectual homophobes to whom ONLY the universal fat dick is pointed towards. And Wouter is just one of them. I don't think he is genuinely looking for a dialog. I dont think also that the letter is beautiful. but back to the dick....I believe his rejection starts much earlier before his critical mind starts to function. His rejection starts in the moment he recognises the unclear border between male and female energy in one performative body. And Walter is a person for whom this border is very thick , its actually a wall. He would never cross this border, cos he thinks that this is wrong for many reasons. At the moment he has found himself in the intensive presence of someone, who is constantly, loudly, excessively and successfully crossing this border, Wouter feels uncomfortable, so he experiences "the anal danger") Then the secondary rejection starts, and Wouter becomes so busy protecting himself , that it makes him totally incapable to recognise any codes, references, relations, languages, meanings except those who would send the "freak" as far as possible from anything Wouter can feel related to like "the great meanings" or "the purpose of art". And you can easily sense from his text that he has very dogmatic relation to "greatness" and "purpose", which I can not share even for a second....which makes ridiculous any idea for dialog between us on the base of "meanings" and "values". I post his article on my wall , cos he is attacking not only me, but practically probably 300 people from my FB friends list. So I thought its fare if he reads some of their opinions also. After we are done with the "discussion" I will send it to Wouter by email and I hope he will have enough reflections on his material, so he can elaborate and complete the article. In fact Im trying to help him become a better critic... Friday at 11:31am · Edited · Like · 1

Ivo Dimchev and yes, its proven that if you have tight/narrow ass....you have tight/narrow mind. The relaxation of one automatically leads to relaxation/opening of the other. The cosmic fat dick is present here more as an allegory of a potential healer of both:)) And regarding the fact that Wouter is a very hot man...I cant help myself not expressing how open I am for any interaction with him which would involve blood, sweat, sperm and saliva...a potentiality which is entertaining only me of course:))) Friday at 12:09pm · Like

Will Rawls well clearly you are not finished with Franz West. your next show should be called The end of the West. Friday at 3:45pm · Like

Dmitry Paranyushkin Ivo I see a lot of Freudian/Lacanian thinking in your analysis of Wouter's behavior, with all those borders, stages of rejections, and "anal fixations". Which is a bit surprising to me given that you don't seem to like books too much, at least when it comes to using them in order to interpret and evaluate someone's performance.

But, after all, I'm happy you have good intentions and that you want to help him become a better critic. Maybe you could also add to the materials you send him the other post from a few days ago, which I cannot find anymore, which had a bit more emphasis on the white heterosexual male masturbatory predicament as well as the big fat dick.

As for the relation between the tightness of the ass and the tightness of the mind, I'd love you to send me some references, which, as you say, prove the strong correlation between the two. I'm especially interested in the measuring process, which I'm sure would be quite an entertaining read in itself. Plus it somehow vaguely reminds me of some other research that was done by the white heterosexual males to justify slavery, which brings me to the reason why I'm in fact so interested in this whole discussion. And the reason is that I think you are just putting yourself (and your 300 FB friends) into a trap here by utilizing exactly the same thinking as those you so vehemently despise. That is, those who are not like us will never be able to understand us, so they should just fuck off, suck dick, or - later maybe - not given access to any resources, destroyed, ostracised and so on and so forth. This kind of reminds me of a typical story when a minority gets to the very symptomatic point of becoming fascistic towards the "other" (which they themselves have been fighting to be accepted as a concept, as a notion, and as a way of being), as soon as they feel some power (in this case produced by a highly concentrated congregation of like-minded individuals).... And I just hope you're not going into the same direction, because in fact I do like your work and I have a feeling it's much more than that. Friday at 4:01pm · Like

Ivo Dimchev My work is nothing more and nothing less than what you think of it in the moment you think of it. I don't have a static relation to it. One moment I think its nonsense, next moment I think its extremely conceptual, then I think is boring, then I think its politically correct, then I think its politically incorrect, then I think is commercial, then I think its old fashion, then I think its very contemporary, then I think its random, then I think its very focused, well thought and logical. Im quite wide open when it comes to self-interpretation....so I would not frame myself so easily and if someone does it for me than I can get little suspicious.... I don't believe in great stories, great meanings, great people, great ideas, great purpose and great values. Because all the glory of the universe I can project on the left over of my subway sandwich in front of me and I wont be wrong.....The sphincter/brain relation u can prove yourself easily, take your mobile phone and squeeze in your ass, then try to relax your mind while still squeezing your phone....you will notice thats its hard for the mind to really open... Friday at 4:50pm · Like · 2

Vice de Vice omj-shoker freakophonic¡¡¡ Friday at 5:35pm · Like

Ivo Dimchev Only a person who has never made one hour performance, or a piece which is not consisted by only one scene, can ask the question, what is the concept behind your work or what is the meaning of this performance. Even if I start a project with initial fascination of a concept, I know that I will try to betray this concept in all possible ways. If I work with a concept, I would never use it as a rule, but as a tool. A tool which has to be used but mostly misused. Cos a performance is not an academic book, which is suppose to prove one ultimate truth. Its more of an excessive multi-language poetry, an orgy of concepts kissing or raping each other. My artistic position does not lie in the choice of my material and conceptual elements, but in the relations I create between them and the way I develop those relations. Concepts are like people, the best way to understand them is to put them in relation with each other, as more different they are as better, because sooner or later any individual ultimacy will be eliminated. If a performance is not able to refute and contradict its own concepts in itself, it will never achieve to become an open gate...and if an art piece is not a open gate...than Im not interested to experience it. So when someone asks me whats the ultimate truth about my work, a possible answer is: Suck my dick. Because then the asking person can probably experience the differences between the way we both relate to the idea of sucking dick. And if he thinks seriously about the multiplicity of possible relations between the ways we both relate to dick sucking, he would probably have the chance to experience an opening of a gate, and understand better my work...

Macklin Kowal, Zen Jefferson, Kevin Wratten and 122 others like this.

елочка матеевна кво ти пука за такива необятни акъли:) 12 hours ago · Like

Roxana Wilson same applies for painting,even if the "tableau",in the end,stays as one static image,eventually hanged on a wall. xx 12 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1

Thibault Delferiere To get sucked to lteach art of performance, i sign  · Like

Ivo Ivanov Zhelev Железни думи. · Like

André Soares . · Like

Sophia Rodríguez YESSSSSSS MEN! 11 hours ago · Like

Sophia Rodríguez THNAKSS 11 hours ago · Like

Nico Monaco I Want to work with you mr Dimchev!!! 11 hours ago via mobile · Like · 3

Stef Meul “lessening the figure of the author in favour of that of the artist-cum operator”http://artintelligence.net/review/?p=845

artintelligence » On Nicolas Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics www.artintelligence.net Nicolas Bourriaud’s Relational Aesthetics (2002) was the most sophisticated theo...See More       11 hours ago · Unlike · 1 · Remove Preview

Sophia Rodríguez as you wrote, you are the most influence artist now days. This is the best confidence you can give to the artist environment 11 hours ago · Like

André Soares Thank you for your work 11 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1

Basten Zimmermann so every time one asks you what your shtick is all about, one gets to deepthroat you? that's such an efficient way to get if off, exploiting creativity to experience the ultimate moment of Creation itself, the Big Bang. thank you for being so transparent, Ivo. greetings from Honolulu,, 11 hours ago · Like

Iris Julian Gütler ...an academic inquiry can also lead you in all possible directions...the same goes for an academic study...a concept is a tool...exiting to compare the fields!! 11 hours ago · Unlike · 1

Amanda Piña what about audiences with very small mouth? 11 hours ago · Like · 1

Mo Ponjavić I just read the first sentence and I don't mean to disrespectful, especially because I saw you live and I enjoyed it very much...However, you are an artist. By choice. And with this act (of being an artist by profession) you agreed to have certain responsibility (or call it however you want)...towards your audience and the art world. Without them there would be no you. They are the ones who made you. By praising or critiquing Correct?

So if a member of your audience have never made a show, or they have made a show but the show is less than an hour then they don't get to say anything? They don't get to have their own opinion? I would never expect this attitude from you.

You, as the author of your work you infuse certain things into it. You and only you know what your work is about. True. However, me, as your audience, I also know what your work is about...it is what I take from it..it is what you give to me, how you give it to me...and that is absolutely out of your control. I can and I will form my own opinion. Is it the same as yours? Who gives u fuck? Does that really matter? What matters is that I took something from it...or nothing. This is what makes you successful or not. But should the audience take from it what you want them to take from it..well that is just wrong. Should we be silent if we don't have a two hour performance in the opus of our work? No. Why would we? If you are an artist just so you would perform in front of and for other artists then I don't know what to tell you.

I personally think you are not. And I took a lot from your work, which in my mind means you are good at what you do...but I strongly object the first sentence in your status because it really makes no sense..

I am not a filmmaker..is that mean that I cannot form an opinion on a film I see in cinema?! You are not an architect, so how can you say anything about any space you perform in, is it good, bad, adequate, does it enhance your performance or annuls it...You are not an architect...you never designed anything so what do you know...You see my point?

Anyways, like I said I love your work...and I am not gonna tell you what I took from it...because then you will maybe attack me and tell me how wrong I am....and the fact that I actually love it will not even matter.

And at the end...what I really wanted to say. No one should ask you what your work is about. It is what it is. It is what it is for you, as the audience. And you, as the audience, are the only one who is right. Because there is no one ultimate truth... 6 hours ago · Edited · Like · 1

Miguel Angel Melgares bravo! 11 hours ago · Like

Mo Ponjavić And now I read it. And you did just that. After telling everyone that they don't have the right to ask you what your work is about you go and explain what your work is about...or how it came to be. Brilliant.

I see that guy has pissed you of..I can just tell you this...fuck him. 10 hours ago · Unlike · 1

Ivo Dimchev dear Mo, I was talking mostly against the effort of some people who have not experienced a creative process of a performance in a bigger format, to try to understand such kind of work by ONE unifying concept or to expect that the artist will provide them with such ONE concept, which would make those people understand it better, cos obviously they have missed the point while experiencing the work. For me such effort I find simply inadequate and naive regarding the complexity of such work by nature. I have never said that people have no right to form an opinion. But if someone insist that my work is meaningless and then asks the question whats the concept behind the work, which probably he have missed....then all I can do is make the conversation even more ridiculous, by proposing practical exercises ....as dick sucking:)) 10 hours ago · Like · 5

Mo Ponjavić I know what you meant. But it was written as a common place. And I, as your audience, felt attacked, even I already knew who you are talking to. Anyways, we understand each other.

Keep up the good work! 10 hours ago · Like

Roxana Wilson Is art a "matter of opinion" ? 10 hours ago via mobile · Like

Sara Baranzoni Very well said Ivo! I completely agree. "Relations" is the key. And most people should understand what they are talking about before asking for "concepts" which would convey meaning like some kind of external truth. Hope to see your work soon again! 10 hours ago · Like · 1

Roxana Wilson "kissing or raping each other" xx 10 hours ago via mobile · Like

Mo Ponjavić Roxana, yes and no. I mean the question: what is art? is far to complex to be discussed here and like this. What I tried to explain in my previous comment is that without the audience and critics and their opinion there would be no art. Or at least no good or bad art. It is a process of selection.There is so many things out there...How do we select? We select based on our opinion, what is good, what is bad..according to our taste, judgment, background, knowledge...and so on. Furthermore things are in flux. Art is an open system, an open concept. It is not like that of mathematics, which is completely closed. And it is up to institutional theory of art if a certain performance piece, an artifact and so on, will be accepted as a work of art. A 100 years ago a urinal was just urinal if you know what I mean... 9 hours ago · Like

Roxana Wilson ok ,but in that case they shouldn t exploit the author s ability to explain his art or not as a criteria 8 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1

Mo Ponjavić I agree absolutely. 8 hours ago · Like · 1

Fransien van der Putt i might use that little angry speech for my lessons at Artez next week, rrrr-concept is a word abused for and against people a bit too often, i feel, correctness spreading, justification before action, so forth 7 hours ago · Like

Fransien van der Putt didn't know actually that concept means "disambiguation", so all but open! 7 hours ago · Edited · Like · 1

Lize Pede I send you an e-mail about how much I enjoyed lili handel. Tiemen van Haver and I just told to each other about the mail of Wouter Hillaert : Wouter Hillaert heeft wa een kutmail geschreven precies. Da nen intellectuele zeiker. Verschrikkelijk, echt verschrikkelijk, de reden waarom ik echt een jaar geen theater meer ben gaan kijken. 4 hours ago · Like