"Hookup", 2019. Photo: Miriam Kongstad

Miriam Kongstad

«Hard Candy», «Hookup» & «Rapunzel»

Installation

Both energetic and politely aggressive, static but moving, eclectic though stylized, Miriam Kongstad’s work functions as a window into universes that spark the spectator’s imagination and fantasy. Expanding from a background in choreography and performance, Kongstad’s practice is anchored in an investigation of embodiment, whilst materialising as images, performance, poetry, sculpture and sound.

At Tanznacht Berlin 2020, the artist is presenting two separate series of works on the human body: The hanging sculptures «Hookup» (2019) and «Rapunzel» (2020) were created at a time when the artist was increasingly struggling with the effects of a chronic illness. The pain-filled body finds expression here in abstract and symbolic representations, while the choice of material refers to healing and soothing properties.

The «Hard Candy» (2017) series, on the other hand, whose sculptures were originally conceived as stage sets for Kongstad’s performance «Worker’s Choice» (2017), looks at the human body from a socio-anthropological perspective. While «Worker’s Choice» questions the historical and contemporary representation of women in jeans, «Hard Candy» goes a step further and deals with the culturally standardized sexualization of children and adolescents.

Miriam Kongstad (DK, 1991) is an artist and choreographer based in Amsterdam and Berlin. In 2016 she graduated from Hochschulüber-greifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin (HZT) and has recently completed her Master of Fine Arts at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam.

www.miriamkongstad.com