HARDCORE FREEDOM
ESBEN WEILE KJÆR
Curated by
The Performance Agency
SEPT 3 — OCT 2, 2021
Zeller van Almsick is pleased to present, as part of the 13th edition of Curated by and thus in collaboration with The Performance Agency, the piece HARDCORE FREEDOM by Danish artist Esben Weile Kjaer. The scenery of HARDCORE FREEDOM will be activated twice a day in the gallery space during the opening weekend: seven performers shift, erect and dismantle elements in the course of an immersive score carried by a frenzied soundscape oscillating between rebellion and depression. The audience becomes part of this hybrid space at the crossroads of nightclub, art institution, stage and fashion boutique. Esben Weile Kjær unravels popular culture‘s commercial narratives of youth and freedom, which have become identity markers for an entire generation of Millenials. Using strategies borrowed from the experience economy, HARDCORE FREEDOM takes a curious and critical look at their ideals: anxiety, nostalgia, the sampling of symbols, digital self-invention, and cultural consumption. The project is the first presentation of Esben Weile Kjær‘s work in Austria and also the first performance shown at Zeller van Almsick.
The Performance Agency, 2021