Yvette Brackman

Constellation

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:14:13 +0000

Consists of a large tent-like structure and three scaled room dividers. As a symbol itself the tent generates a meditative space for reflection and sanctuary that touches on themes such as escape and adaptation, vulnerability and protection. The room dividers invite the viewer to contemplate the process of concealment, movement and transformation. The tent offers an opportunity to inspect one’s own close relationships and personal challenges. This invitation is further facilitated through programmed Family Constellation sessions with a trained facilitator and open to interested visitors. The tent and room dividers hereby provide a sheltered and permeable space concerned with the notions of orientation, reflection and a room for confrontation and clarification.

AGIT MEM series

Sun, 06 Mar 2016 19:09:43 +0000

Unfolds in a variety of works including a printed libretto in the form of a newspaper, a 34-minute video projection, sculptures, costumes, a stage curtain, photographs and collages. Based on the artist’s own family history and their background as Jews in the Soviet Union, AGIT MEM series charts the complex story of war, Anti-Semitism, persecution and exile – but likewise flexibility, adaptability, transformation and mobility. The art works in the AGIT MEM series take shape as a form of staged memory spaces, gradually moving from the factually historical to the performatively therapeutic – from the documentary account of personal materials like photographs, archival documents and memoirs to sculptural works inspired by the aesthetics of Agitprop. As aesthetic objects linked to performative actions, they function both as images of and potential means to achieve the release the reconstruction of traumatic events can provide.

Cast

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:03:41 +0000

Is a series of commemorative sculptures. The style of the work is inspired by Russian nesting dolls – the matryoshka dolls – and lingam figures from India. The sculptures appear as abstract and primordial and are hand-painted with text and photo prints. Each sculpture represents one of the roles in the play The Catalyst, by the artist. The Catalyst portrays the meeting and negotiations between local artisans from Lovozero in Russia and the global design company, Camper.

Service

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:13:33 +0000

Consists of a series of porcelain tea sets. The work is inspired by the Russian tradition of commemorative porcelain as well as the practice amongst reindeer herders of the Russian north, who carry a tea service with them in a suitcase. Service hereby plays with the potential of social exchange, negotiations, trading and conversations within the traditional function of the tea set.

Passing Fidelity series

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 12:56:34 +0000

Portrays aspects of trans-generational memory with the pivotal point in the artist’s family history and their experience with exile and escape. The project unfolds in a series of collages and photographed objects, belongings and reminiscences from and about close family members. The project examines the creation of collective memory through the transference of belongings within families. How stories and experiences are passed on between generations within the objects and how the existence of family members and their struggles is kept alive through heirlooms.

Company

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:36:20 +0000

Is a silent film inspired by Russian newsreel techniques from the 1920s called Kino Pravda. The film documents the first meetings between local artisans from Lovozero in North Western Russia and the design company, Camper. Eventually the narrative evolves into the creation of the establishment of LUJA – a collective enterprise and collaboration between the artisans from Lovozero, the Norwegian curator Hilde Methi and the artist herself. Company hereby continues the exploration of community and what it means to use people and their cultural experience as artistic material.

Fertility, Gravity, and Juliette

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 10:15:34 +0000

Consists of two parts: a large wall painting referring to J.F. Willumsen’s eponymous etching Fertility from 1891 which included a short French poem. Translated as “Old art has its old language that the world little by little has learned to understand. New art has a newly formed language that the world must learn in order to understand it.” Brackman reinterpreted the poem as “The old associations have their own situations which I little by little learn to imitate. The modern association has its own construction that I must learn to represent before I can come to the same conclusion.“ The rewriting of Willumsen’s poem turns the idea of biological reproduction toward representation as a ‘closed circle’ rather than a creation of the new. Gravity, 2014 a textile garment, is inspired by J.F. Willumsen’s representation of his very pregnant first wife, Juliette Meyer, a sculptor in her own right in the Fertility etching from 1891. Gravity is a performance from 2014 and Gravity attire is used in the 10;30 minute looped video, Juliette from 2018.

Of Living and The Dead

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:45:03 +0000

Is a two-channel video and mobile made up of seven performative objects created in collaboration with the artist’s mother. The work explores how memory is deposited in the body and how the body can be transformed through retelling and interpreting memories. Of Living and The Dead shows the artist and her mother reenacting the mother’s childhood memories through engaging the performative objects. The work is made in an open and extemporaneous form touching on themes such as family history, relationships and the confrontation of difficult memories.

Canandaigua

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 10:55:54 +0000

is a series of modular sculptures and textile pieces installed alongside archival documents such as a copy of the original Canandaigua Treaty of 1794. The treaty marks the agreement between the Five Nations of Haudensausenee Confederacy and the US Government where native lands in New York State were exchanged for various goods such as textiles. Through modular constructions that relate to the understanding of space and delimitation as well as textile pieces made of calico fabrics, the Canandaigua-project mimics the aesthetics of a ‘closeout sale’ and minimalism. It references the devastating agreement of trade of goods for land that took place between the Native Americans and the US Government.

The Catalyst

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:23:55 +0000

Consists of 13 variations of a performance re-enacting meetings, negotiations and discussions between indigenous artisans from Lovozero in North Western Russia and a global design company. The Catalyst on the one hand explores the complexities and challenges of globalization and commerce as experienced by indigenous people – and on the other hand illuminates the challenges of remoteness, economy and legislation with which the local inhabitants are confronted. In the final version of the performance the audience read lines aloud from the play – each line being numbered and projected during the performance. The format creates an collective engagement and responsibility for the execution of the performance, which mirrors core themes of the work such as experience and the interrelationship between self and other.