FENIA KOTSOPOULOU
Fenia Kotsopoulou & VestAndPage
2017-present (ph. Marcel Sparmann)
VestAndPage is an artist duo founded in 2006 by Verena Stenke (Germany) and Andrea Pagnes (Italy), working in contemporary performance art, visual art, and film. Their work is positioned within the social, political and environmental context of spherology, fragility, memory activation and communication, with a strong influence of the artists’ backgrounds in philosophy and theatre.[1] They present meditative and ritualistic performances that challenge impermanence, transformation and self-awareness. Over the past years they have presented their work extensively in Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia. They work in extensive collaborations in what they call "collective performance operas", and create "temporary artistic communities".
​
I had the fortune to met them in 2017 when I took part at the Venice International Performance Art Week | Workshop Series. Joint Performance Summer Class by La Pocha Nostra and VestAndPage. Since then I keep learning from/with them, co-creating, collaborating, posing questions and using art to seekfor more questions.
ph Fenia Kotsopoulou
ph Fenia Kotsopoulou
ph Fenia Kotsopoulou
Fenia Kotsopoulou & Nicola Hunter
performance art (video)/photography
2017-2018
​
Nicola Hunter is a UK based performance Artist and activist,performing and showing work nationally and internationally for over a decade. Hunter continues to develop a queer feminist arts and photographic practice, which is rooted in action based performance and spans live work, documentations of its products & traces and the re-presentation of these in other forms.
In 2017 I had the pleasure to document her performance: LOST BODIES (London/Leeds).
The first direct collaboration with Nicola happened within the context of her project: MOTHERFUCKER and took the form of a 40 minutes film as part of the live performance. The film was shot and edited by Fenia Kotsopoulou & Daz Disley. The performance premiered in Buzzcut Double Thrills festival in Glasgow.
Woodland (video)
φΚ/Δ2 - Fenia Kotsopoulou & Daz Disley
VIDEO ART // PHOTOGRAPHY
2013-present
This collaboration attempts to find a common language between the disciplines of performance and dance/instant composition, technology and programming in order to represent and transliterate emotional states present in and generated by situation, architecture and space. Through iterative dialogue Daz&Fenia try to build a production process to take account of the boundaries and dialogues between space and movement, pixels and code in order to realise a unified expressive output where performance is an enhancement of (rather than a reaction to) space, and where code becomes integral to the expression (and not just a ready-made video effect applied in post-production). Their combined toolkit comprises instant-composition, photo/videography, coding, patching, improvisation and algorithmic animation.
Fenia Kotsopoulou & Pavlos Kountouriotis
PERFORMANCE (ART) // DOCUMENTATION// VIDEODANCE
2011-PRESENT
Fenia and Pavlos's first encounter occured in 2002 during a modern dance class in Thessaloniki (GR). They danced in Dino Fanara's dance theatre company for two years before their pathways took different directions, as they diversified their artist practice out of Greece. After almost seven years of not having performed together, Fenia and Pavlos met again in Berlin (2011) in order to create their first quirky dance performance. Since then the nature of their collaboration manifested in different modalities and contexts. In 2013, Fenia moved to Lincoln (UK) to attend the MA/MFA in Choreographing Live Art, which Pavlos was program leader and coordinator. The same year, she worked as his assistant and documentation coordinator for his choreographic creation "PTOSIS". In 2014 they co-organized the festival GNARLfest. In 2015 Pavlos was be Fenia's mentor for her MFA dissertation and research project on performance & photography entitled "Vulvography".
© Stephan Roehl
©Alexander Breitenbach
© Chiara Mazzocchi
© Stephan Roehl
Fenia Kotsopoulou & Enrico Pietracci
DANCE PERFORMANCE // VISUAL ARTS
2011-2012
Fenia worked occasionally as model & performer for life drawing sessions conducted by Enrico, in his Atelier in Berlin (2010-2012). A combination between expression of the body, sound design and intuitive drawing within the context of a creative interdisciplinary performance event, their collaboration extended to become an open and intense, creative dialogue, leading to the creation of three interdisciplinary performances produced between 2011 and 2012. The cornerstone of their work is the process of exploration and creation of an emotional and material landscape in constant transformation.
Fenia Kotsopoulou in CELL63
SITE SPECIFIC / IMPROVISATION
2009-2013
In 2009, Fenia met the amazing Cell63 gallery’s founder, art director and manager, Luisa Catucci, who invited her to perform as part of the exhibition: "VENUS IN ECO FURS", in Berlin. Fenia performed at Cell 63 - alone or in collaboration with other artists - for the next 5 years with each performance/(dance) improvisation being inspired by works exhibited at the platform and the main focal points of the curation, such as:
- the connection with the world of bizarre, animated by fantastic characters at the borders of a dreamy waking and a realistic nightmare;
- the relations that bond human beings with the rest of nature and our inner fantastic worlds.
Fenia Kotsopoulou & Sol Rezza
video + sound art (2014- present)
Since 2014, inspired by her music and sound art, I started using her pieces to edit my experimental dance video such as: "CONFUSION inSOMNIA" (2016) || "LOFT" (2015) ||"Dust" (2014).
Sol Rezza (7/4/1982 Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a sound designer and radio producer specialized in radio art, recording, field recording, sound design for media, post-production and audio mixing. Her compositions are based on the transformation of field recordings and composition using virtual instruments, indigenous instruments, experimentation with voices and foley. Her artworks are characterized by the experimentation with microphones manipulation, sound modified objects, field recordings and audio editing using layers of sound.
Folklore and Artistic troupe of Dhalaristan
2009-2010
Concept: Meyrick Kaminski
Production: Meyrick Kaminski, Brina Stinehelfer / Per Aspera Productions
Performance: Meyrick Kaminski || Brina Stinehelfer || Nikolaus Schneider || Moss Beynon Juckes || Syrie Payne || Justin Beard || Francesca Romana Ciardi || Cavanna Hazelton || Fenia Kotsopoulou || Margarita Tsomou || Julia Hayes.
This project had a big impact in Fenia's artistic development, as it was the first time she was involved in the process of a cross-disciplinary project, exploring the notion of cultural identity. Within this context, she started being interested in investigating issues of identity (cultural, personal, collective) and since then, her practice has expanded beyond purely dance on stage. Also, during the project, she encountered amazing artists from different fields with whom she has collaborated on future interdisciplinary projects, such as Moss Beynon Juckes, Brina Stinehelfer, Sina Nikolaus and more.
About the project: What constitutes the common identity of a nation? How do individuals build their culture? How does that culture change and can it always change? Do we ever think about all the cultures that are incorporated in our personality? The Folklore and Artistic Troupe of Dhalaristan attempted to provide answers to these questions through art and performances. The Troupe focused on exploring the traditions and rituals of the Dhalarii people. Based in Berlin, they gathered a diverse group of participants to assist in the creation of folklore/traditions/customs that are the basis of the Dhalarii culture. This includes ritual, song, dance, artefacts, cuisine, costume, social traditions, and myth - anything that can define people and their culture. The interview process, and collaboration with the Troupe, was the only precondition for membership. Anyone could become Dhalarii. Dhalaristan was/is a state that we created through collaboration. The embassy wing of the Troupe toured their unique culture across Europe from May to July 2010.
Link: http://per-aspera.net/en/dhalaristan/