STAGING: solo is an excerpt of Maria Hassabi’s live installation STAGING (2017) previously exhibited at the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis) and documenta 14 (Kassel). STAGING unfolds as a progression of encounters, installed in multiple sites throughout a building. Apprehended in parts, the accumulation of bodies, colors, sound, light, and architecture, serve as reminders of a fractured event that is continually in progress – always staging, and which only finds completion in its STAGED? theatrical form. In STAGING: solo, the iteration presented at Kunstnernes Hus, a single performer installed in the gallery space moves at a measured pace, morphing the body at slow, sometimes imperceptible velocities, enacting a two-hour choreographic cycle that loops throughout the institution’s opening hours. The sole figure, depicted away from the larger scale work, occupies a seemingly unbroken time while subtly negotiating a detailed choreographic script.
- Norwegian premiere
- In collaboration with Kunstnernes Hus
Maria Hassabi (b. Cyprus) is a New York based artist and choreographer. Her performances and installations are presented worldwide in theaters, museums, galleries, and public spaces including K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Düsseldorf), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), The 55th Venice Biennale (Venice), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels) amongst others. Hassabi has received a 2016 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for her work PLASTIC (2015–16) as an Outstanding Production. She holds a BFA from California Institute of the Arts.