SHRINK 01995
Lawrence Malstaf
Performance
Two large, transparent plastic sheets and a device that gradually sucks the air out from between them leave the body (in this case the artist himself) vacuum-packed and vertically suspended.
The transparent tube inserted between the two surfaces allows the person inside the installation to regulate the flow of air. As a result of the increasing pressure between the plastic sheets, the surface of the packed body gradually freezes into multiple micro-folds. For the duration of the performance the person inside moves slowly and changes positions, which vary from an almost embryonic position to one resembling a crucified body.
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Artist
Lawrence Malstaf (BEL)
The work of Lawrence Malstaf (1972 Belgium) is situated on the borderline between the visual and the theatrical. He develops installation and performance art with a strong focus on motion and coincidence. He creates immersive sensorial rooms for individual visitors and also larger mobile structures dealing with space and orientation. Living objects, kinetic architecture and physical interaction are characteristic for the installations by Lawrence Malstaf. His responsive environments generate theatrical situations involving the visitor as an essential presence and co- actor in their dramaturgy. In a complex play with unstable order, chance and change his machines display emotion, doubt and other human qualities.
Lawrence Malstaf has received several international awards in the field of art and new technology. He is also well known as an innovative scenographer in the dance and theater world. In 2008 he receives the Witteveen + Bos – prize for Art + Technology (NL), in 2009 the Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica (A) and in 2010 the Excellence Prize at The 13th Japan Media Arts Festival in Tokyo (JP). In 2013 he wins the Norwegian Hedda Prize for best scenography with his design for The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. He currently lives and works in Tromsø (Norway) & Oudenaarde (Belgium) and exhibits internationally.
Credits & mentions
Tallieu Art Office – Brussels
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