Angst (White)
Anne Imhof
Born in 1978 at Giessen (Germany), lives and works in Frankfurt & Paris (Germany & France).
Date:
2016
Medium:
Leather, resin, wood
Dimensions:
471.4 x 107 x 34 cm
Collection:
Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin - Acquisition 2016
© Henry Trumble
Angst is an exhibition-as-opera made up of a multipart performance, a musical composition, paintings, and sculptural elements (leather padded sports mattresses, punching bags, pool) that are alternately activated or still.
The Latin word "opera" means "work", both in the sense of the labor involved and the result produced. Angst stages the labor implications, using poses of extended duration to physical exhaustion. But it is more in reference to a monumental cultural tradition that Anne Imhof has conceived of the present undertaking. Angst does not, however, reference any known or historical opera. Also unlike most classical operas, there is no tale being told through language or words, and no stage separating the action and actors from the audience.
Instead, Anne Imhof turns the space into a strange sort of sports training facility, where different "characters" play and finally disappear one after the other in front of the public. Once the last of them has departed, their actions and inhabitation of the space persist via the continued presence of sculptural elements and paintings.
Production specifications
The Fondation preserves and documents traces of the works at various stages of their creation (sketches, models, prototypes, etc.).
Indication de nouvelles mesures
27 July 2017
Conception des punching-ball
Envoi du dossier "Punching Bag Concept Papers" à Lafayette Anticipations
30 May 2017
Acquisition d'un des punching-ball (White) par le Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin
10 November 2016
Présentation de la performance "Angst" à la Kunsthalle de Bâle
10 June 2016
Croquis préliminaires à l'oeuvre "Angst"
23 October 2015
Anne Imhof