ONCE I WAS DANCING IN THE DARK AND WHAT WAS LEFT IS A DRAWING

To escape the digital sensory overload of modern day life’s digital behaviour, artist and composer Shayu has been keeping a visual diary based on analogue drawings for over 12 years. For the work of art “Once I was dancing in the dark and what was left is a drawing” the visual diary has now been translated into the digital realm by video artist Joerg Hurschler and is accompanied by an auditive composition by Shayu.

The drawings suggest a reference to the Écriture automatique process, in which images and feelings are reproduced purely and without the intervention of the critical self. The origin of the mentioned method goes back to experimental trials in 19th century psychology. As part of these experiments, patients half asleep or under "hypnosis" wrote texts that reflected the unconscious. This enabled psychologists to create psychograms and to elicit personality splits of patients.

The keeping of a visual diary consisting of over 1’000 of drawings, allows Shayu to process daily impressions and store them in mechanical memory. The artist associates places that have shaped her, people she met, visual and auditory stimuli as well as the pertinent feelings.
The result will be shown as a 2.1 installation in the Aktionshalle of Rote Fabrik. The accompanying piece will be released on Verein Vakuum and will be available on Bandcamp as well as all known streaming platforms. To launch the release, Shayu has invited friends from Switzerland and England to perform their own musical interpretation of the installation.

Aktionshalle - Rote Fabrik

Opening Hours:
 05.10.22: 18.00 - 22.00 - Installation only 
06.10.22: 19.00 - 23.00 - Installation and Showcase

Shayu & Friends Showcase:  xanax06 *live , Chemist , Orror  & Shayu 

Imprint
Composition, Drawings & Art Direction: Lea Maria Meier (Shayu)
Video Artist: Joerg Hurschler 
Mixing & Mastering: David Webb 
Grafik Design: Jahn Koutrios 
Typeface: Plasmaa by Davide Rossetto 
Commissioned by Verein Vakuum
 Funded by Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich & Cassinelli Vogel Stiftung

Once I was dancing in the dark and what was left is a drawing

Shayu - Once I was dancing in the dark and what was left is a drawing

Alban Schelbert (CH) is a composer and musician in the fields of film, performance and visual art often engaging in collaborative practices. He studied at Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and is currently doing a master's degree in Composition & Theory – Sound Design at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.  Hanne Lippard (NO/DE), born in 1984 in Mil- ton Keynes, GB, lives and works in Berlin. Lippard’s practise explores the voice as a medium.

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