Image 1a.
I give you a line
15 performers, 15 graphite pencils, a long wooden table, approximately 1,5 x 10 meter, covered with white paper, a camera and beamer
Buitenkunst Randmeer, 2017, photo by Keke Keukelaar
Image 2a.
I give you a line
12 participants, 12 graphite pencils, a long wooden table, approximately 100 x 550 cm, covered with white paper, a camera and beamer
Drawing Centre Diepenheim, 2019, photo by Tom Janssen
Image 3a.
I give you a line,
Drawing Centre Diepenheim, 2019, photo by Tom Janssen
Image 4a.
I give you a line (result),
Drawing Centre Diepenheim, 2019, photo by Tom Janssen
Image 5a.
Line- off- line
paper phones, mobile phones, graphite pencils, sandglass, suitcase, socks, participants and large map
Over het IJ Festival / Nieuw Dakota (Amsterdam Noord), 2019,
photo by Tom Janssen
Image 6a
Line- off- line
Over het IJ Festival / Nieuw Dakota (Amsterdam Noord), 2019, photo by Tom Janssen
Image 7.
Line- off- line
Zone2Source, Amstelpark, Amsterdam(NL), 2020, photo by Tom Janssen
Image 8.
Line- off- line
Zone2Source, Amstelpark, Amsterdam(NL), 2020, photo by Tom Janssen
Image 9.
Line- off- line
Image 11.
Line- off- line
Two graphite drawings of participants of a walk and two colored pencil drawings of elements of a phone and a graphite floor drawing37PK, Haarlem 2021, photo by Tom Janssen
Sharing experience through
drawing
Individuality and connectedness at the same time
In the
performance “I give you a line” participants are invited to make a
connection with each other without using any words, by drawing a continuous
line together. The pencils pass from hand to hand without being lifted off the
line. The mutual relationships between the lines, the hands and the
interactions of the participants constitute a unique process, which shows both
the individuality of drawing and the solidarity of a collective that moves as
one body during drawing. The interrelationship between the lines, the hands and
interactions of the participants is broadcasted live on a big screen behind the
performers. This creates a simultaneous reflexive situation, a mirrored image
between real time interaction and its representation.
In the performative drawing walk “Line – off – line” Liesje
van den Berk asks the participants to temporarily replace their telephone for a
blank paper telephone and graphite pencil to walk and draw in silence and
concentration. Anything is possible on white paper. Exit your comfort digital
bubble and leave your phone behind. During the walk Liesje gives specific
sensory drawing instructions. Drawing becomes a way to actively experience the
richness of one’s environment, and to truly connect. By sharing drawings,
Liesje creates a dialogue between the participants about their environment.
Slowly the individuals become a group. At the end, the participants share one
of their drawings on a map. These drawings are left behind to show a part of
the walk, a memory of a moment, to the other visitors. This performance is a
counter-reaction to telephone use in our current society. We hold our phone
like a precious object. Our phones enable us to inhabit multiple worlds and
realities at the same time… but are we still really HERE?
Her drawings and performances
are actions and interventions in different cultural environments to create
social dialogue between the individual, the communal and the surroundings. She
investigates the relationship between body and environment. Utilizing the
sensory experience of both material and body, she reacts to the environment
through drawing, by means of her individual physical presence, but more often
in relation to the other. With a subtle pencil line, a gesture or a look, she
invites the audience to react. This creates dialogues, not only with other
people, but also with the environment.
The dust of
found objects and graphite pencils mark memories of a temporary presence, an
expression of identity in a site-specific place. Traces and memories gradually
emerge as reflections of the act.
Bio
Liesje van den Berk studied at
the HKU, Utrecht school of arts (2000-2004). After her studies she deepened her
knowledge about drawing and performance art through various master classes at
renowned institutes: Drawing center Diepenheim and Performance Art study PAS in
Berlin. She regularly works on location as artist-in-residencies in the
Netherlands and abroad: such as Draw International in Caylus(FR), Nordiska
Akvarellmuseet in Skärhamn(SE) and Cill Rialaig Project in Ballinskelligs (IR).
She showed her work in exhibitions and performances at in- and outside the
Netherlands: Drawing Center Diepenheim (Diepenheim), Getekend gallery
(Heerenveen), Cacaofabriek (Helmond), Kunstliefde (Utrecht), Nieuw Dakota
(Amsterdam), Junta #2 (Teresina, BR ), Oerol (Terschelling), SEAPA BU World
Symposium (Bangkok, TH), Over 't IJ festival (Amsterdam). She lives and works
in Amsterdam.
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