OPEN CALL: Performers Wanted for JULIA SCHER's "GUARDS" and “SECURITY BY JULIA XLVII”
WHAT:
The artist Julia Scher’s upcoming performances Guards and Security by Julia XLVII, will be presented during the inaugural weekend of the group exhibition My Oma,[link] December 8-10, 2023, We are on the lookout for 3-5 women aged 60+ to perform as museum guards in this performance, orchestrated by the artist, involving bespoke outfit. A fee according to CAO rates will be provided.
Guards pairs women aged 60+ dressed in Julia Scher’s iconic pink hybrid security guard uniforms, roaming and watching the gallery space. Security by Julia XLVII has two individuals from different generations, one man and one woman, working side by side. Through these pieces, Scher plays with the contrast of society's often unnoticed elder women and the pronounced presence of security personnel. Blending the cheerful tone of pink with the intimidating allure of a guard uniform, her work dives into societal control and feminist perspectives.
Emerging in the mid 1980s as a precise but playful analyst of social and technological changes, Scher’s work addresses surveillance both as a concrete phenomenon of control, including its apparatus and architecture, as well as its impact on the private and public sphere.
WHERE:
Kunstinstituut Melly
Witte de Withstraat 50
3012BR Rotterdam
WHEN:
Performances on 8, 9, 10 December 2023
8 Dec - 11 am - 1 pm and 5 - 9 pm
9 Dec - 2 - 6 pm
10 Dec - 2 - 6 pm
Note: Additional short meetings will be arranged for costume fittings and a preparatory session with Julia Scher. Rest periods will be ensured during performances.
WHO:
Three energetic women aged 60+ to embody the Guards, animating the presentations at Kunstinstituut Melly. Prior acting expertise is not mandatory, nor is interacting verbally with the audience—though if you're inclined to, it's encouraged.
More about the Artist:
Julia Scher is an American artist based in Cologne. Her work focuses on the subjects of surveillance and cyber-sphere. Aiming at the exposure of dangers and ideologies of monitoring systems, Scher creates temporary and transitory web/installation/performance works that explore issues of power, control and seduction. Scher’s work has been shown in several solo and group exhibitions including the Venice Biennale; the Whitney Biennial; Tapias Museum, Barcelona; Reina Sofia, Madrid; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Museé d’art Moderne, Paris; Künstlerhaus, Stuttgart; Kölnischer Kunstverein, Köln; the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; and MoMA PS1, New York among others. An extensive volume on her work, Julia Scher - R.S.I., was recently published by Distanz Verlag and Kunsthalle Giessen in collaboration with Kunsthalle Zürich, Museum Abteiberg, and MAMCO Geneva.
If you are interested in this opportunity please contact Pilar at office [at] kunstinstituutmelly.nl by November 6, 2023. Please include a clear photograph of yourself, and your head, chest, waist and hip measurements. Thank you in advance!