Dead Men Tell No Tales
Alvaro Urbano’s (*1983 in Madrid, lives in Berlin) works show a strong reference to architecture and fiction. In doing so, he makes use of the medium that suits him best, which can range from room-sized installations to film and performance. The performance Dead Men Tell No Tales (2016), premiered at the Kölnischer Kunstverein, is also in this context. In three acts, which are performed repeatedly and simultaneously, the artist analyses the relationship between artists’ biographies, iconic artworks and modes of presentation in exhibitions. An important moment is the perception of the objects: Surviving large pedestals, moving melancholy through the space – empty and without content. A carpet on which a child plays, but not with toys, but with replicas of famous art and cultural objects. A person dressed in black who buries an object in the garden of the Kunstverein with the help of a shovel.
Watch the recording of the performance here.
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