"Break it / Fix it"

Location

The internationally renowned artists Monica Bonvicini and Sam Durant present their performance "Break it / Fix it" as part of the exhibition Edvard Munch. Angst live and in public for the first time. Fear is an emotion that can either release energy or paralyse us. It knows no social boundaries and affects all levels of society. Bonvicini and Durant thematise this ambivalence. The performance is based on their video work "Break it / Fix it" from 2003, which was shown for the first time in their joint solo exhibition at the Vienna Secession. The video is a choreographed documentation of the destruction of a sculpture made of wooden letters that form the word ANGST and its subsequent reassembly into a new work that forms a new word: FEAR. The transformation from ANGST to FEAR can be understood as an ironic commentary on the relationship between psychological and physical experience. The playful, physical act of smashing, sawing and rebuilding "the same and yet different", accompanied by slapstick-like gestures, reflects creativity and freedom in the production of art.

For the performance, the sculpture ANGST will be removed from the current exhibition and reinstalled in its new form as FEAR in the exhibition space, so that the transformation is also visible there. The action will be carried out by performers in front of the art collections, in the Theatron on Chemnitz Theatre Square.

The original video of Bonvicini and Durant's performance can also be seen as part of the sculpture in the museum.