In Infinite Play, the video work and the photographs introduce a kinetic garment that deviates from the body, reveals an inside and an outside, has an unfixed appearance, and focuses on the substance of material relations rather than the aesthetics of the surface. This work considers the inter-relatedness of body, culture, garment, movement, space and time itself as material.
1. Infinite Play #4, 2. Infinite Play #9, 3. Infinite Play #8, 4. Infinite Play #6, 5. Infinite Play #5, 6. Infinite Play #3
About Infinite Play
I am interested in process rather than form, the becoming of things rather than a designed surface or fixed form. I am interested in the movement and the changing itself that is marked neither by a beginning nor an end. I am interested in the dynamics of fashion and the capacity of a garment to create new relations the moment it is inserted into a new context, to reveal something, which was invisible and unknown. For example, when the garment is performed in front of a camera, the focus is on the conversation between body and garment. When the same act is inserted into a social context (such as an exhibition), spectators are invited to participate and create their own variations. This produces conversations and creates a dynamic between the audience and the performers.
This exploration creates a direct relationship between the maker and the matter through the intimate act of dressing. The new is not related to a product but it is related to movement. It functions as a framework to understand the complex dynamic relationship between body, dress and culture. This dialog, which pays attention to the body, the garment and mental space that reveals itself through the movement, can be presented either as a live performance or captured in a moving picture.
Movement is integral to both the performance Inserting presence, Inserting a Moment and the accompanying video Infinite Play. Performance and video feature a garment made from an unbleached type of cotton common among tailors for the purpose of making prototypes. It is a flat construction with holes that can be modeled on and around the body in many different ways. Garment and wearer are involved in a fluid conversation through the folding and unfolding of the garment, the exploration of space and volumes. Each movement is a proposal. There is nothing fixed, nothing right or wrong.
Testimonial by Emmanuelle Ornon
I had the pleasure to take part in Margret Wibmer’s project Infinite Play as one of the performers of the video. The title Infinite Play perfectly sums up the experience of interacting with the strange garment Margret has created. As I was trying one combination after the other offered by the inviting holes, strings, and unusual shape, the possibilities seemed endless. It was fun and surprising, open and inspiring.
More often than not (at least in Western countries I guess) trying on a garment means checking if it fits, or rather: if your body fits in it. And even if you find the right size, somehow the garment will shape you more than you will shape it, not only imposing its form, but also a whole set of references (style, gender, age, social group etc.). It struck me that Margret’s garment offers a totally opposite experience, where the garment doesn’t assert itself in a fixed way, but supports and inspires whatever you create on the moment. What I was looking at was the results of the interaction between my body and the garment, how unexpected volumes and forms took shape, and how varied and infinite these shapes were and could be. It might not be wearable as such, but the experience felt kind of liberating and definitely opened new perspectives.
Infinite Play, Margret Wibmer, video and series of video stills, 2017. Limited edition of 7 + 2 AP, pigment prints on Baryta photographic paper. 47 x 64 cm.
Research and video production were made possible by a rent-free loan of Fonds Kwadraat and generous support of the Austrian Embassy The Hague.
Performers video: Emmanuelle Ornon, Karime Salame Sainz, Malaya Wibmer, Rafael Kouto, Florian Krepcik. Performers live performance at Nieuw Dakota June 16-18 2017: Gregory von Boetticher, Emmanuelle Ornon, Barbara Philipp, Dorota Radzimirska, Edda Simon,Stephanie Schuitemaker, Martha Shardalow, Malaya Wibmer. Camera and editing video: Florian Krepcik