The Western Front

Western Front Performance Art presents Waiting, Acting Waiting, a solo exhibition by Berlin-based artist Isabell Heimerdinger curated by Mark Soo.

Heimerdinger’s two-part 16mm film installation, featuring a single looped projection, depicts acclaimed Austrian actor Wolfram Berger. Instructed by the artist to play the role of himself waiting, the work opens with Berger in a plain studio standing in anticipation of his cue, surreptitiously filmed without his knowledge. He is seen waiting, paused on screen as the crew prepares for his performance in the background. In the second half of the work, Berger is given his nod and beginning his role, the drama shifts from an actor in waiting, to an actor acting a character “waiting”. Gestures and facial expressions in the first half of the work—his own peculiar mannerisms—become part of the repertoire of the actor in the second half, paradoxically “brought to life” through Berger’s performance.

In Waiting, Acting Waiting, Heimerdinger examines the mediation of performance through the frame of the lens. Both sections of the film depict equivalent situations, yet the action and circumstances are different. Subtle shifts in context between Berger’s character point to slippery notions of the documentary and dramatic, while also examining representations of portraiture and conventions of the singular male performer/actor. By conflating “actual-waiting” with “acting-waiting”, Heimerdinger explores complex questions about the limits of performance and the psychology of behavior, and prompts philosophical considerations about the action of waiting.

A panel discussion moderated by Rachelle Sawatsky will take place on Saturday, June 30th. Please check back for further details.

Isabell Heimerdinger’s (b. 1963 Stuttgart, Germany) studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles and has exhibited internationally extensively, including shows at Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen; the Generali Foundation, Vienna; and the Malmö Konsthall. She is currently represented by Galerie Krobath Wimmer, Vienna; Galerie de multiples, Paris; Meyer-Riegger, Karlsruhe, Germany; and Mehdi Chouakri, Berlin.