PHILEMON & BAUCIS

social art design

From Ovid's Metamorphoses:

The story of Philemon and Baucis is about an old couple in Tyrana

that offers hospitality to Zeus and Hermes, pretending to be strangers,

and in gratitude for their reception, they are turned by the gods into an oak and a linden.

This mythical story about PHILEMON & BAUCIS is the starting point. The story with themes such as constant love, hospitality and transformation still appeals to the imagination and reminds us of the lasting power of kindness and love in a complex world.

As part of her research to the Art of Asking Questions, this social-artistic design, Sigrid Keunen reduces these topics of giving, taking and being to thorough thinking with your heart. From there she asks visual questions such as: “How high can you jump with your eyes?”, “If hospitality were like a bowl of soup, how hot would you like it?” to 18 participants from the city. And whether they are young or retired or gender fluid or of any origin, they participate in a course as individuals. They are 3 consecutive conversations about perception, catharsis and affect, which culminate in an exhibition around their stories, contained in a literary text and photos of their hands (both created by Sigrid).

The exhibition space also contains the abstracted model of the city center of Brussels (creation by Filip Keunen) from which the voices of the participants from the 1st conversation can be heard. The vernissage is in collaboration with DJ, musician & performer Rodolphe Coster on February 20.

PHILEMON & BAUCIS also gives way to the SUDDER moment or a public, artistic argument. In addition to the improvisation concert, there will be a debate with 4 guests, each with their own link with the city, about asking questions in a world that attaches more importance to answers. So, the question arises: Are we puppets in or of this society? How much of a mannequin are we to ourselves? What if a mannequin moves away from the neutral facial expression?

And then there are the white flags, from the outside in, for the passer-by's answer to the question: Where does the sky begin for you?

This is how PHILEMON & BAUCIS live on now. Without judgement. In a contemporary temple. Love and humanity intertwined.

PHILEMON & BAUCIS will take place in GC De Markten (Brussels) from February 10 till March 10 2025

Creative Artists: Sigrid & Filip Keunen

Production: Company HeyHey, GC De Markten

Dramaturgy: Guy Bindels

Blacksmith: Jordi Dolinckx

DJ: Rodolphe Coster

Performer: Merzedes Šturm-Lie

RHAPSODY the chronicle of a swimming pool tiler

Installation-Performance 

for voice, viola, sounds, wallpaper film & umpire chair

SYNOPSIS 

The tiler crafts tiles:

A mosaic of being, notion, oscillation,

With a touch of genuineness, zephyr, reciprocity,

Dimensions to set in motion and unfold.

The quest for essence. 

An epic for the heartbeat.

In “RHAPSODY:

The Chronicle of a Swimming Pool Tiler,” the tiler undergoes a profound transformation that alters his perception and understanding of the world. Through the crafting of tiles, he creates a mosaic that reflects his own being and comprehension, symbolizing a quest for self-discovery and identity. The installation-performance focuses on perception and structure, where the tiler uncovers new dimensions of authenticity and reciprocity. The blend of kaleidoscope video, voice, music, sounds, and movements offers a rich, multisensory experience that expresses his inner world and emotions. The search for essence implies a deep reflection on what truly matters, as the tiler strives to grasp the core of his existence and the meaning of his work. An “epic for the heartbeat” suggests a rhythmic and harmonious approach to life and work, where he seeks to balance his inner world with the external structures he creates. This project explores the human experience, using the tiler’s metamorphoses to reveal new insights and meanings.

Summary of the Installation-Performance:

This installation-performance delves into perception, metamorphosis, and structure:

Perception: Visible elements invite us into a fantasy world, connecting us with an invisible, inner reality. The solo performance, akin to a musical appendix, features viola harmonies and melodies. The prologue, voiced by AI, embodies the universal voice of the tiler, while the thin-voiced song of a scarecrow breathes in air and exhales thoughts (1st metamorphosis).

Metamorphosis: Each of the 10 metamorphoses reveals the boundaries of the tiler’s being. With each transformation, he encounters facets of himself, growing into who he is or aspires to be. The performance includes English songs for each character: Scarecrow, Pirate, Mermaid, Scapegoat, Orion, Anaconda, Griffin, Selkie, Sphinx, and the Tiler.

Structure: It examines societal structures and behavior patterns, questioning who influences whom. It reflects on whether we are puppets within or of society, and where we find our own strength. The concept of power is one-directional, unlike self-worth. It questions what society needs to understand this and, more importantly, how we view ourselves—through the lens imposed by society or with our own eyes.

The performance explores the interplay and reciprocity of being, symbolized by the noble act of tiling a swimming pool for enjoyment, personal effort, and growth. Each swim stroke represents a step in this ongoing metamorphosis. The perpetual motion speaks.

Presentation:

... Premiere during my Residency in GC De Markten Brussels: on 21/02/25 @5pm 

More details to follow ...

... First Etappe of Rhapsody after my summer residency in the Open House Of Tristero (Brussels)

Trailer of GalaGallait #3 - September 29+30/2023 :

https://youtu.be/pbTFY3yzR04

IntiTheatre ...

This French spoken play is based on several poems

Created and performed by Inti Theatre, a Brussels based Children Theatre Company

3 songs of 1' ...

Recorded at Acoustic Recording Service (Beigem, Belgium) in 2010

Musicians:

Nicolas Kummert (sax)

Yannick Willox (piano & recording)

Sigrid Keunen (viola & klockenspiel)

Company IntiTheater (percussion)

POWERNAPSONGS

… are to empower a moment

A moment at will

A moment in one’s head

A moment that cuts off one from the previous

A moment that goes straight to the heart

A moment to stop half-hearted thoughts, idea’s, understandings

A moment to end concepts, conceptions, convictions, considerations

A moment to fade away a mental picture

A moment to fade away the mental picture

A moment to fade away that

Words are taking a little time off

Words that speak in the head, are starting to dance

Words can dance!!

They shake

They quake

They wave from side to side

They shuffle

They swing

They roll… & they rock

Jiggle / Joggle / wiggle / waggle / Jiggle / Joggle / wiggle / waggle / Jiggle / Joggle / wiggle / waggle / Jiggle / Joggle / wiggle / waggle … wobble

The PowerNap Songs

… are a little smile

They wink

They blink

They glitter

They flicker

They flash

They smile, smile, smile…

They instant

Yes, and from today on an instant becomes a verb. An invisible active verb.

The songs instant the speed of the heart

The PowerNap Songs…

They point in time

They take time

They express time

They catch time

They vibrate time

They touch time

Voila:

17 video's you can find on:

SIGRID KEUNEN on VIMEO

CIRCLE-S or my cycle of words-mix

SIGRID KEUNEN on MEDIUM

Here I share with you contemplations and musings about my reflections on the notion of a circle.

Yeah!

Let it start somewhere.

Let it reveal itself like a cutaway diagram of my perceptions where perspectives appear.

Let it reveal an arranged sequence of points where they form — to your own liking — an imperfect or perfect circumference.

Can one cut through a vicious circle by just cutting corners?

Oh dear, just cut it …

I’m writing at a somewhat circular table, they have cut off 1/8 of the table to match two tables together so it looks like a big 8.

You name it: it’s two to tango, it’s at least three to circle dance, four places in the cabin of a Ferris wheel and eventually hey five!

SIGI'S BOAT / SIGI'S BOOT

... is a thematic anchor for the imagination as well as an art educational course for children between 4 and 12 years old.

SIGI'S BOAT is a Meccano-style wooden boat with a size of 140cm x 350cm with which we can express an idiosyncratic story by improvising, rhythmic instruments, movement and different characters.

All the pillars of musical education are discussed. And once we are away from the shores, in the wide waters of the imaginary, SIGI'S BOAT becomes the floating nutshell where trust, togetherness and fantasy move freely. SIGI'S BOAT invites the children to move towards and explore to the scaffolding of the familiar, the narrative imagination.

Travel Theme:

New program:

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... in het Nederlands klinkt het zo:

SIGI’S BOOT is een inspirerende creatieve muzikale en plastische tool. Een eenvoudig gestileerde houten boot is het spelmateriaal dat aanzet tot brede associaties. Aan boord wordt verbeelding gecreëerd, fantasie geëxploreerd en wordt er via improvisatie verteld, gespeeld en gemusiceerd.

Het stimuleren van de creativiteit opent de ogen en SIGI'S BOOT ondersteunt hiermee het 'zijn' in het dagdagelijks leven van kinderen van 4 t.e.m. 12 jaar.

SIGI’S BOOT is een verhalenboot. Een heel speciale. Een muzikale. Waar Noach dieren meenam op zijn ark, zijn het aan boord van SIGI’S BOOT klanken, ritmes en gezang waarmee de grote exploratietocht wordt aangegaan. Onderweg en vanuit de fantasie, scheppen wij een eigen muzikale en emotionele wereld. Wie instapt, vertrekt op creatieve zelfontdekking.

Thema Reizen:

Nieuw programma:

... is gebaseerd op de artistieke filosofie van SIGI'S BOOT en stimuleert zelfexpressie met taal, klank, spel en muziek, vanuit de eigen verbeeldingswereld van het kind. Dit educatief aanbod ligt geheel in het verlengde van mijn artistieke lijn en methodiek als transdisciplinair kunstenaar.

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voor de Brusselse scholen ontvangt SIGI'S BOOT steun van VGC Onderwijs: 

A STORYTELLING CONCERT

concept & storytelling: Sigrid Keunen

of 3 stories by H.C. Andersen:

The flowers of little Ida, The ugly duckling & The princess and the pea

Those stories are alternated by

A gesture poem of a clown

Prelude from the First Cello Suites of J.S. Bach

A public conversation about a special journey to a skyscraper

Trailer:

Video by a Belgium Local TV channel on 16/12/2016

AND IT SOUNDS AS / Dutch performance ..

The Princess & the Pea:

As part of the film: SchaerbeeKWA (directed & written by Nejm Halla)

IN THIS CASE

CONCEPT

A little red box with white performers in a white box and a white decor

The idea of the music box is used as the starting point for a wordless performance for two musicians. The sheer fact of opening a music box brings about certain thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Likewise, the two musicians in the box try to bring about certain emotions and feelings, with music and movement.

This performance is a 'junction' between classical music and performance, a 'junction' between life and fantasy.

How does a little girl feel, opening such a box for the first time? What about a woman who spots a box in an antique shop? What's going through one's mind on the eve of a marriage? And what about the melancholy of a grandmother reminiscing about the past?

PERFORMANCE

Junction Art Festival Toronto 09/2008

Performance Mix Festival, Joyce Theatre Soho, New York 03/2009 

Julie Haas: concept & violin

Sigrid Keunen: concept, décor, viola & music composition

The Dutch written words in the title: ZEEMEERMIN means literal

SEA MORE LESS and is a Dutch translation for MERMAID.

But we simply tell a love story:

A BALLAD FOR YOU

Fragments out of an 8' performance: A BALLAD ...

Dirk Hendrikx: concept, choreography & costumes

Sigrid Keunen: movement, music composition & viola

DUPLEX GAME

The starting point for our composition is a quote from On Grief And Reason: Essays by Joseph Brodsky: “Life is a game with many rules but no referee. One learns how to play it more by watching it than by consulting any book, including the Holy Book. Small wonder, then, that so many play dirty, that so few win, that so many lose.”

Then we build.

DUPLEX GAME is about everything you observe and the meaning attached to it, the perception. And thus what happens when one looks the same but experience a different side. One sees something, but it also has another side: a hand is a hand but someone sees the top and the other palm.

DUPLEX GAME explains why different definitions of "his" side by side and examine the pros and cons of all observations.

In DUPLEX GAME we analyze the word 'GAME', the possible elements, the rules and it’s PLAY- time. We look at how a ‘GAME’ has an influence on the course of events.

Can the 'GAME' ultimately influence our perception, forms and / or enrichment? DUPLEX GAME wants to juxtapose and investigate the different ways of perceiving

A quote that recapitulates it properly:

“What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. ... In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the coloring, sportsmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.” from John Lubbock -The Beauties of Nature and the Wonders of the World We Live in-

Cilla Berg graduated in 2013 at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, London.

Sigrid is a musician (viola), composer and performer. Her compositions and education programs are a crossover and a synergy of music, dance and theatre. As a freelance viola player, she works in Belgium and as a freelance guide in the Opera house of Brussels, de Munt/ La Monnaie.

Cilla and Sigrid come from different artistic backgrounds, but they have a tangent point in which they want to investigate and to explore.

As we share the same vision: art is a trigger and serves as a stimulus to the imagination of the public. Our compositions and performances have not the goal to lead them to that answer or tell them exactly what to think / feel / experience.

We offer elements to make one’s own story.

From here we recognize and acknowledge each other's aesthetics and this in relation to our own work and thus to each particular collaboration.

And then just step aside:

As Alice Liu (organizer Listhus Artspace, Iceland) during a creation session nicely summarized: "Cilla works with a rather static backdrop, Sigrid’s work content liveliness with lots of movement. This cooperation seems quite obvious and has a very dynamic outcome."

The sky, the sea, the earth, a swimming pool and the storm

In a creation with Jaime Martinez (Spain) 

Inspired by the 4 elements combined with the element of ether, this performance of live viola music and Butoh dance presents a laboratory of experimentation.

Through junction and improvisation in an elaborated structure our objective seeks to accomplish a tangible essence by awareness.

The audience enters a white space with the sound of running water in the background. They can see a musician lying on the ground, rotating axially while playing pizzicato.

After, the dancer comes by passing the audience. He drops stones, one by one, as if he reduces his memories and leaves knowledge behind. Totally liberated, he enters the scene and bodily expresses all elements, one by one. His dance exists of fiction & non-fiction.

The climax is expressed by the natural connection of an innocent child, (or someone else from the public) who will offer on a pre-prepared but unexpected moment the symbol of life and love: an apple.

Within this move, everything shifts: the light, the movements and the music.

While the dancer eats the apple, we enter different atmosphere. In other words: while we are merged with the challenge of his action, this gesture calls the hidden place in the heart of our being. This performance invites you to experience, to undergo that moment in which an inner voice can express its right heartbeat.

Biography:

Coming from different artistic backgrounds and countries, Sigrid and Jaime share their notions about honesty, strength, and beauty. Improvisation and serendipity were their motto in making this performance in July 2015 (Madrid).

THE FIREBIRD

THE FIREBIRD ...

OUVERTURE

This concept is inspired by my Art Education Project Sigi’s Boat, where children are invited to playfully create music and stories. Within a competent frame of a boat we set off from improvisation. By completion of several offered musical, theatrical and visual elements during the workshops, those self-created musical stories introduce a performance in a synergy with Total Art.

The FIREBIRD was executed on June 26 2016 during the Blue North Music Festival in Olafsjördür in the North of Iceland.

Preparatory workshops have been organized in May during school time in the 3 different schools of the 3 corresponding neighboring towns: Dalvik, Olafsjördür and Siglufjördür.

There I have spent 3 weeks with one hour a week in several classes. The sum of 100 students was between 4 and 13 years old. Those workshops, explanation of the storyboard and its global working process were to challenge the children so they could decide themselves during their holidays to take part in the Swimming Pool Play workshop week at the end of June.

Unfortunately, by the half of June only 9 kids signed up.

Those 9 children acted individually as well in group with lively embodiment and keen enthusiasm throughout the costume-making, dancing their choreography, exclaiming their text, creating music, designing and drawing the setup wall alternated -to relax- by running around their self- made edge of the imagined swimming pool in the sports hall.

I was mainly in charge with all the production issues therefore -when I look back now- I was triggered by how flexible one can be, how to stay solution focused during meetings, how to act compliant onwards the organization and just centre on being open-minded in relation to the children.

In conclusion and due to unforeseen, difficult and last-minute circumstances the kids brought it to a wonderful end: The FIREBIRD became free and all together they sang!

6 MAIN CHARACTERS:

The STORYTELLER / The KING / The ARCHER /The HORSE / The FIREBIRD / The PRINCESS

OTHER CHARACTERS:

Dancers in the swimming pool / Musicians near and on the edge of the swimming pool

LIBRETTO DESIGN

The kids are getting Key Phrases those idioms will help to express the personality and nature of their character. The rest of the sentence they have to adjust themselves in line with the storyboard,

e.g. the KING: I claim, I want to … the PRINCESS: I would like to…

The STORYTELLER has no Key Phrases but localizations; he or she can complete paragraphs with a concrete content besides the global line of Act 1: sky / horizon / castle of the king -Act 2: castle of the King / horizon / sky -Act 3: horizon / castle of the King / sky.

The following story is the starting point for the Swimming Pool Play, participating kids and artists can modify the libretto any convenient time.

And this story is based on Irina Zheleytova’s version of The Firebird and Princess Vassilissa.

ASSUMED OBJECTIVES:

Currently, content and material are appropriate, adequate and suitable to pursue a continuation and implementation of this community project into other places worldwide.

The concept on itself scopes a substantial motive to continue its realization and execution. Consequently I take into account the frame of my initiated concept, wherein a focus on the elaboration of several tasks is requested by the search of dividing the assignments along the collaborating artists and potential production partners.

This way of creating ensures the working process and by its presentation it will engender an equal, beautiful and meaningful outcome where its lively performance or a synergy within the Total Art will shine fully. 

HOCUS POCUS, ONCE UPON A TIME…

I'm Maggie, the market vendor.

During the performance, Maggie literally walks through the orchestra and figuratively through the music of Le Carnival des Animaux by Camille Saint-Saëns and L’Apprenti sorcier by Paul Dukas.

And she tells the story of the lovely little witch who wants to fly.

Hey!

But what do you think about flying with us?

To the air castle. To the universe.

To where you can conjure something?

Hocus Pocus ... Off we go!

And yeah, finally, we land in seventh heaven.     

DENTRO POR FUERA, FUERA POR DENTRO

How to (re)write through the eyes, body and spirit of the other.

Dentro por Fuera, Fuera por Dentro confronts the two dancer choreographers with in their different ways of working, thinking, constructing, moving, feeling, perceiving.

Gradually, they bring their expertise and their personal methods, they complement each other, they discover one another.

Or rather they help each other discover who they really are, using their own language, their culture, their own body.

Sigrid Keunen violinist accompanies their movements by his live performance and acoustics.

A common denominator, dance and even desire to encounter improbable.

A duo who kindly pulls us from the palm of our habits.

CHOREOGRAPHY AND INTERPRETATION

Bud Blumenthal et Manuela Nogales

MUSIC

Lehonidas Boskovec / Sigrid Keunen

LIGHTS

Florencio Ortiz

TECHNICAL DIRECTION

Fred Nicaise

COSTUMES

Heidi Ehrhart

CHOREOGRAPHY'S ASSISTANT

Inma Marin

PRODUCTION

El Mandaito Producciones & Cie Bud Blumenthal/Hybrid asbl

HEREBY

or just a scattering of the moment at the sea side

music, film & editing (2012)

VIA MUSICA

a moving opera

-on a journey with Orfeo today

VIA MUSICA embraces the essence of strength and wonder, fostering creativity and perception, and allowing all dimensions to shine.

The story, written by Sigrid Keunen, is about Orfeo. He takes on the persona of a modern young man wearing sunglasses, a transformation demanded by his life story.

Orfeo invites five opera characters to answer the intriguing question: “What if beauty is in a box?”

Discover the magic of opera in all its dimensions, both visible and invisible.

VIA MUSICA presents a contemporary experience where singing, music, and theater are innovatively combined.

Dive into the deeper meaning of Orfeo’s story, which travels through the building and history with music and sound.

VIA MUSICA takes you on a sensory and immersive journey, where power and wonder are central.

Let your creativity and perception be stimulated and experience how all dimensions come to life in this moving opera.

Conduct of 1 hour: story of the contemporary Orfeo with wallpaper film / musical tour / sequel story of Orfeo

and the journey to his inner sunshine, in front of different seized red boxes and a yellow balloon.

concept, storyline & performance: Sigrid Keunen

sound design: Geert de Deken

layout & feedback: Muriel Waerenburgh

supporting & advisory partner: De Munt / La Monnaie

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Youtube link available half October

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“The VIA MUSICA guided tour is a challenging project, one that tries to connect different layers: music, history, architecture and our own experiences and knowledge. The question with every guided tour should be how to rediscover the realities we are trying to unearth in a new way. In that sense the project is a beautiful step into a direction that is important for us: less didactic and more empowering, less obvious and more creative. 

Music becomes the guide in this tour, and we, as its protagonists, have the possibility to engage with it in many different ways; we are invited to make connections between realities we were not aware of. That should be the goal of every artistic project: inviting audiences to become the real designers of their experience.”

            from José Luis Villalobos (Previous Coordinator Cultural Empowerment De Munt, Brussels)

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Nomination for the Social Art Award in Berlin (05/2017)

By the Institute for Art and Innovation www.art-innovation.org

Vernissage & Book Launch on 5/09/2017 @Whiteconcepts Gallery (Berlin)

SKIN RESISTANCE

Once upon a time, there was a marionette who moved between reality and the world.
Its acts - to move, shape, fold, bend, dodge, shove, sprint, spurt, slide, flog, turn, whip and confuse - are trapped to the crossbar hovering above.
And upon that time there was another figure, a visual and spatial antagonist. The marionette, carefully balanced with its counterpart, has a life of its own, but can’t undo its cords

Enjoy this performance & sentence in recorded Morse Signs:
I SPEAK SPANISH WITH GOD, ITALIAN TO WOMEN, FRENCH TO MEN & GERMAN WITH MY HORSE -Charles V-

CONCEPT

The skin is the outer or visible layer between inside and outside.

The skin is also a communicator, it tells the story of a marionette, or the puppet we are in the world and in our own being.
The other figure, dressed in white behind a white mask, represents a tangible relationship, emphasizing their mutual and reciprocal connection.

This performance serves as a magnifying glass, showing the interpretation of an existing resilience. It questions the available resilience of who we are deep inside and how we move in the world. How haughty can we be without fooling ourselves?

The sentence of Charles V is a wink to the human condition, imagining the world we understand. 

And what about freedom
Free is a sober state of uninhibitedness from a presented, fixed frame. That frame is made by one's culture, habits or work; because we are part of a specific set, we have a choice how we behave and decide on and find our own way.
In the urge to determine one’s own autonomy: is the other a puppeteer? Or is it a dressed- up reflection? Who is the antagonist? And if there is no hierarchy, are they ambivalent in their interactions?
To become FREE is to confront surface and space.
This performance is a poetic search for freedom based on the following question:
How do we swing into the world like a marionette and how do we deal with ourselves without being a marionette?