“An object, doubled by a speaker to talk about it: built around a supposedly basic apparatus, Constructionisme by the duo Marius Schaffter and Jérôme Stünzi, is an uproarious performance, lining up a whole palette of tics and clichés fresh from the academic conference circuit. (…)
A man in a shirt with rolled-up sleeves and sweat stains under the arms, reveals a work of art. This gives an idea of the shape of things to come in the course of a speech that juggles between descriptive, intuitive and analytical, testing the sociological theory of constructivism along the way. Improvised to a large extent, the subject is given emphasis with learned pauses, studied gestures and other knowing smiles or confidential interactions with the audience who is both intrigued and in stitches.
As was the custom with the public dissections of yesteryear, the speaker (Marius Schaffter) lets the inert object do the talking, in this case, a unique work of art created during a workshop open to the public, all the while dismembering it with a hammer and saw. A normal attitude in the context of an anatomical study, but absolutely unimaginable – and therefore perfectly transgressive and joyous – in the art world, where any blunt object is banished: if one were to touch canvases or installations, it would be with gloves. Bonjour iconoclasm.”
Samuel Schellenberg, journalist, in charge of the culture section of Courrier newspaper, performanceprocess, 2015.
Tour
Usine Sonore, La Neuveville (CH)
Envar, Nyon (CH)
Iran International University Theater Festival, Teheran (IR)
Festival Antigel, Lancy Genève (CH)
Festival de la Cité, Lausanne (CH)
Pasquart Kunsthaus Centre d’Art, Biel/Bienne (CH)
performanceprocess, Musée Tinguely, Basel (CH)
Verbo, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo (BR)
Landesmuseum, Zürich (CH)
Indiana, Collectif Rats, Vevey (CH)
Musée national d’art, Vilnius (LT)
Landesmuseum, Zürich (CH)
Théâtre du Loup, Genève (CH)
Monumenta, TU – Théâtre de l’usine, Genève (CH)
Un art pauvre, Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR)
Plein tube, Arsenic, Lausanne (CH)
Le Bourg, Lausanne (CH)
ThiK, Baden (CH)
Les Urbaines, Mudac, Lausanne (CH)
Heitere Fahne, Berne (CH)
Maison Roederer, Lancy (CH)
Extra Ball, performanceprocess, Centre culturel suisse, Paris (FR)
Südpol, Lucerne (CH)
Baz’art, Genève (CH)
Premio (finale), Arsenic, Lausanne (CH)
Premio (demi-finale), HKB, Berne (CH)
Run to the ruin – la ruine et l’art, Le cabanon, UNIL, Lausanne (CH)
Inauguration de la Faculté des sciences de la société, Unige, Genève (CH)
The performance Constructionisme has already been presented en français, in English, auf Deutsch.
Press
No Verbo, performances mais discretas vencem a queda de braços com o choque, Silas Marti, Folha de S.Paulo, 18 juil 2017
Les Métamorphoses du cercle, Clotilde Parlos, I/O Gazette, 30 juin 2016
Marius Schaffter et Jérôme Stünzi , comédien et plasticien suisses, Aude Lavigne, Les carnets de la création, France Culture, 24 juin 2016
Interpretationen mit alten Meistern, Marc Wermelinger, 041 Kulturteil, 12 sept 2015
L’art à l’heure de sa dissection, Samuel Schellenberg, le phare, Centre culturel suisse, sept-déc 2015
Old Masters déconstruisent des œuvres d’art avec perspicacité analytique et humour, Daniel Imboden, Migros pour-cent culturel, 27 mai 2015
Credits
Conception: Marius Schaffter et Jérôme Stünzi
Construction: Jérôme Stünzi
Interpretation: Marius Schaffter
Administration: Laure Chapel – Pâquis Production
Production: Old Masters
Grants
2015 Award winner of Premio, swiss prize for emerging dance and theater
Support
Soutenu par la Fondation Ernst Göhner et le Pour-cent culturel Migros, Ville de Genève, République et État de Genève.