For her project SENSING THE NIGHT, Anne Glassner invited scientists, artists, architects and curators from Vienna and Brno to spend a night with her at Villa Tugendhat: shared meals, sleeping on mattresses, no mobile devices, no watches, but a notebook for each of them and everyone in white nightwear – these are not necessarily the ingredients for a trendy art event or scientific meeting, but rather for a pyjama party. But it is precisely in this contradiction that space opens up for those aspects that are characteristic of Anne Glassner's work: reduction, meditation, attention, apparent passivity and waste of time, doing nothing, rejecting the market of consumerism and art. And all this in Mies van der Rohe's monument to modern architecture. In a legendary building like Villa Tugendhat, one almost inevitably asks: Will the atmosphere, the architecture, the history, the iconicity of the building affect the perception, thought processes and sleep of the participants? Or their dreams? Is it even possible, or rather allowed, to "simply" sleep here, in this work of art?
Not only does sleeping in such a place in itself constitute an act of negation, it is likely to be appropriated by people in a state of repose, who find themselves in a state of "doing nothing", a kind of "non-functionality" in the midst of architecture that embodies functionality and elegance. In any case, there is a transfer of the private to the public space in a place which was, of course, originally private; in a way, it is a return to the intended purpose of the house.
Collective being and acting is a fundamental part of Anne Glassner's artistic practice. Her collaborative intervention SENSING THE NIGHT is the first ever night intervention in Villa Tugendhat; it will last for one night, documented with videos and photographs. In addition, participants will record their own thoughts; these notes will also be on display in the exhibition. The participants will thus become collaborators who actively co-create the process and the outcome.
Text: Anna Reisenbichler
The participants’ notes and photos created during "Sensing the night" will be shown in an exhibition at the Villa Tugendhat in August.
Anne Glasner (AT) is a visual artist and performer based in Vienna. Her performances, videos, installations and drawings deal with the intense observation of repetitive, often banal everyday activities. Her work has long explored the blurring of the boundaries between art and life and between fiction and reality. The theme of sleep and the meditative effect of the environment on the human body is a central motif in her artistic work, which she will also take up in Villa Tugendhat.
photo by: Christian Prinz
4. 8. 2021, 18:00 opening of the exhibition with presence of Anne Glassner
5. 8. – 29. 8. 2021 exhibition of the performative interpretation in the technical floor of the Tugendhat villa (accessible Tue–Sun 10:00–17:30, 50 CZK)
Authors of the concept and production of exhibitions: Barbora Benčíková, Ludmila Haasová, Neli Hejkalová, Lucie Valdhansová (Villa Tugendhat Study and Documentation Centre)
Curator: Neli Hejkalová
Graphic design: Atelier Zidlicky
Project photographer: Mizuki Nakeshu, Roman Franc
instagram.com/moznosti_interpretace
The project is realized with financial support of the Ministry of Culture, Czech Republic.
