24/10/2009-14/11/2009: Christophe Chemin & Tennessee Claflin - When I Was A Child I Had A Fever
STYX Project Space is pleased to present the exhibition When I Was A Child I Had A Fever, an installation of photographs, drawings, sculptures and videos by Christophe Chemin in collaboration with Tennessee Claflin.
When I Was A Child I Had A Fever probes the nature of philosophical duality through an artistic collaboration based on both unity and opposition. It establishes similarities and differences on a variety of personal and public platforms: cultural backgrounds (Chemin was raised as a Catholic and Claflin as a Mormon), places (France and the United States, the artists' native countries), personal history (both experienced traumatic events in their childhood), beliefs and ideals.
The exhibition centers on two life-size rag dolls, effigies of the artists sewn by them collaboratively over a period of several months, in the artisan tradition. These dolls are suspended by a wide, multicolored, fragile web of cotton which the viewer must weave through in order to explore the piece. The resulting work establishes a conversation about »the production of objects with four hands and two arms« (Chemin) - and through its interactivity, allows the viewer to participate in the artists' discourse on friendship.
Christophe Chemin (*1977, Bordeaux, France) is a self-taught artist whose versatile and multitudinous creative output defies categorization. Chemin draws, paints, writes, photographs, directs, films, sews, acts, dances, sings and designs. He has published four novels and is the creator of numerous films. He currently lives and works in Berlin.
Tennessee Claflin (*1980 in Boise, Idaho) moved from his parent's home in Salt Lake City to Los Angeles at the age of seventeen. He has lived in New York, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Istanbul, Madrid and Portland before moving to Berlin, where he divides his time between writing, activism, and performance art.
Opening Reception: 24 October 2009, 7-10 pm
Closing Reception: 14 November 2009, 7-10 pm
Opening hours:
Fridays & Saturdays 3-4 pm or by appointment.
