KVETCHERS ANONYMOUS
Live stream performance, 20 mins
SeMA NANJI Residency, Seoul Museum of Art, South Korea, 2018
Collaboration with Dalia Khalife
Few facts about modern life seem more indisputable than how busy everyone seems to be.
In a contemporary matrix ruled by infinite streams of information and a zapping culture, we have now more reasons to complain than ever – or at least we think we do – However, complaining has a negative social connotation, and ways to deal with complaints are most frequently ruled by standards of efficiency and productivity “be more efficient”, “learn to accept things”, “meditate through the irritation”, “don’t waste time complaining”, “negative energy wastes your time and ours”.
A Kvetcher. A person who “kvetches” is a chronic complainer; originally from “quetschen” in German, meaning to squeeze or to squash.
Kvetchers Anonymous is an audiovisual installation with an ironic and dystopian twist that builds an extensive exploration on live stream as an act of self-expression. It also explores its relation with spatial and digital presence, and the divergence between its technological and existential dimension. It sets a virtual Anonymous Meeting for three anonymous chronic complainers. These complainers want to adapt in a world that is aspiring for a maximum of efficiency, free of logistic problems. The work is fundamentally built around participation with local performers/participants. The performers are live streamed from different locations in Seoul.