Margret Wibmer | TIME OUT – PALAIS DE TOKYO

TIME OUT was shown at Palais de Tokyo in Paris as part of the performance festival ‘Do Disturb’ curated by Vittoria Matarrese. Participation in the festival was proposed by Sandberg Institute and coordinated by Laure Jaffuel and Elise van Mourik.

Audrey Chazelle in Movement.net, April 21st 2016

………..Le spectateur est sollicité dans tous les sens et son cerveau hyper-stimulé finit par se fait essorer comme une salade. Margret Wibmer l’invite å faire une pause, a s’éclipser un instant en se cachant dans un grand manteau griffé “Time Out’, mis å disposition pour se recouvrir le corps de la téte au pied.

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The electrifying atmosphere during this international performance festival which attracted almost 13.000 people from all ages and back-grounds unfolded a rich and lively narrative.

Photography: Florian Krepcik

Time Out is a proposition to take time for yourself within a public context and disappear for a moment for any length of time. This is made possible by wearing a long black coat with an oversized hood, designed by the artist.

The garment changes the wearers spacial, auditory-visual and physical experience. The black woolen fabric with its mat and fluffy surface swallows the light and supports the act of disappearance. The design of the garment together with the weight of the fabric softens the tension in the shoulders.

At the same time the work heightens one’s awareness of being in public and produces questions around the notion of how to relate to others and how we are perceived. Some participants are taking the invitation of the artist as an opportunity to produce their own narrative, interacting with others and influencing group dynamics.

Photography: Florian Krepcik

The appearance from the outside could be described as quite the opposite from the experience of the wearer. The color black and the oversized hood hiding the wearers identity creates fear and hesitation in some as well as associations with death and danger. This ambiguity is specific to many of Wibmer’s works and invites reflection beyond the visible.

Project assistants: Karime Salame, Mona Steinhäuser and Timna Weber (Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam); Anna Baumgart (Central Saint Martins, London), Eva Couple (Beaux-Arts de Rouen), Elie Bisson ( Ecole des Arts Decoratifs de Strassbourg), Karina Hin (ESMOD, Paris), Cloe Coppola ( l’Atelier Chardon, Paris), Emmie Massias (Atelier de Sevres, Paris)

Video documentation: Florian Krepcik

(will be available soon)