Suzanne Bernhardt

Some places and non places.

In my work I look at how people are living and working together and the different social roles we play.

For my residence at Nieuw en Meer I research how a gathering can serve as a starting point to explore the potential of belonging. Belonging as an object in a space, as a person in a group or as a word in a sentence. A gathering is an extension of the individual. To see another is to position your self. Who is I? And what role does the other play in defining I? My aim was to focus on these different elements and to look at how they how they take place or be given place.

At Nieuw en Meer I find myself between isolation and community feeling. For example, I looked after the community garden but always find myself choosing a moment no one else is there. As a longing for being apart together.

This actuality of living and working on location shaped my daily live. The surroundings are specifically un-urban and I feel invited to work and live outside. I made use of these localities by adapting parts of my daily routine into a staged situation.

‘You Are Here’ is the name of a performance I have been working on during my two month residence. Its name comes from orientation maps, where you find your location in relation to the environment. It differs from ‘normal’ maps where you have to locate yourself. It is meant to establish a quick overview.

‘You Are Here’ tries to stretch this moment of becoming aware of one’s presence amongst others. Together we will not only become an observer but also act as a participant of a consciousness process. Being able to dissect it, analyze it and question it. Whatever we choose to see is something we make.

Bernhardt werkte gedurende 2 maanden in AIR aan haar afstudeerproject als eindexamenstudent van de Rietveld Academie. 

Kan het lichaam een niet-denkend lichaam zijn? enkel een doorgeef punt tussen input en output. Het antwoord is niet zwart wit te geven, maar dit is wel de vraag die in veel van mijn werken schuilgaat. Ik maak gebruik van momenten uit mijn dagelijkse routines en omgeving. De structuren die ik daarin ontdek, probeer ik in een nieuwe situatie te plaatsen. Met structuur bedoel ik zowel sociale structuren tussen mensen of dingen maar ook visuele structuren als kleuren en vormen. Ik werk aan een beeldtaal met woorden beelden mensen en dingen en zoek de grenzen op van herhaling en herkenning.