The Second Event in the ‘Bodymerge’ Performative Lecture Series Introduces the Kris Lemsalu and Kyp Malone Duo

At 7pm on 20 December, the second event in the ‘Bodymerge’ performative lecture series will take place at SODAS 2123 (Vitebsko St 23, Vilnius), where the presentation of the Estonian artist Kris Lemsalu and the American artist and music creator Kyp Malone will attempt to test the boundaries of a lecture format once again.

 Kris Lemsalu and Kyp Malone work together in sculpture, ceramics, video, music and sound to create installations and performances. The artists began collaborating in 2017, when they created Going Going, a piece for the performance biennial ‘Performa’ (NY). Kris Lemsalu creates sculptures, installations and performances, in which animals merges with humans, nature with artificiality, and beauty with disgust. She uses natural materials in her work, such as fur, leather, shells, wool and paper, to join animal bodies to porcelain objects, while her theatrical installations take us to the world of our imagination. The artist also uses her installations as setts for performances in which sculptures become part of her costumes, to erase the line between herself and her objects. 

In his interdisciplinary practice, Kyp Malone experiments with painting, drawing, video and sound. He is also a vocalist and an instrumentalist with the Brooklyn-based band TV On the Radio.

 In the ‘Bodymerge’ performative lecture series, research by invited artists combines with discussions on their finished work, with collective meditation and musical as well as visual inserts. The first meeting in October was led by the French artist Paul Maheke and the Lithuanian artist Antanas Lučiūnas. The Portuguese artist Diana Policarpo and the Lithuanian artist and music creator Gediminas Žygus will invite the visitors to the final event in the series at the beginning of January 2023.

 Kris Lemsalu (b. 1985) lives and creates in Brooklyn, New York. She has held solo shows and performances in venues such as the 58th Venice Biennial (the Estonian pavilion, 2019), Tramway, Glasgow, UK (2019), Seccession, Vienna (2018), Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich (2016), Manifesta 11 Biennial (2016), Tallinn Exhibition Palace (2016), and the Bunshitu Gallery, Tokyo (2015). The artist has collaborated with Kyp Malone since 2019: they have presented their work at the Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Oesterbro, Copenhagen (2020), the Kai Art Centre, Tallinn (2020), and the KW Contemporary Art Institute, Berlin (2020).

The ‘Bodymerge’ performative lecture series is curated by Neringa Černiauskaitė.

The design of the series is by Domantė Nalivaikaitė.

Entrance is free of charge.

The performative lecture series is sponsored by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, Vilnius City Municipality, the Stabilisation Fund for Culture and Education 2022 of the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut.

Main information partner – 15 min.lt

Thanks to: The Vilnius Biennial for Performance Art

Organised by the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association and the SODAS 2123 cultural centre.