Workshop
SG - Claying Faces
What does a face tell us? And what is hidden behind our faces? Tonight, we are going to explore this through some hands-on experience: we are going to clay faces!
About Claying Faces
What do you see, when you pay careful attention to someone’s face? Is it possible to meet your own face in the way others meet yours? What is hidden behind our faces? Tonight, we are going to delve into these questions by means of some real hands-on experience. We are going to clay faces ourselves! By following our hands instead of our minds, we give way to the introvert side of human beings. Under the guidance of visual artist, theatre maker and singer Mirthe Dokter, you are invited to join in her on-going art installation The people of introverts (“Het volk der introverten”), a growing collection of clayed heads with eyes closed, accompanied by meditation, stories and poems. You are also welcomed to add your result to this installation, that already hits almost thousands heads, and that travels from museum to museum. Come, listen, watch and clay!
Instructions
Clay material will be provided on the spot. Please take along a kitchen towel that you can use to work on. Please also make sure that you wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty, or to bring along an apron.
Due to the character of this evening, there is only limited capacity to attend, so please register in time. If you are not able to join after all, please notify us so we can invite someone else
About Mirthe Dokter
Mirthe Dokter is an artist focusing on singing, theatre and the visual arts, fusing them smoothly in her work on stage. An important part of her work is formed by talking with our hands. She invites her audience to create for themselves while watching and listening to the performance, and to pay attention to their rich inner worlds. Using story-telling through clay, paint, singing and text, she endeavors to create an atmosphere, in cooperation with her audience, of being and creating together. Be it in a museum, or in a shelter for the homeless.
The connection to science also plays an important part in her artistic projects. Together with theatre maker Tim Hammer she created “De Balts” and “Strijd” in which they explore the relation between human and animal. Together with filmmaker Rian van de Boom and marine ecologist dr. M. Christianen (WUR), she investigated the living area of sea turtles in West Africa, resulting in the documentary “De gehard rug”. Since 2020, Mirthe works on her art installation “Het volk der introverten” (The people of introverts), supported by Museum Arnhem. It is a growing piece of art made up of heads of clay, eyes closed, modelled by the many participants engaging in the project. Her intention is to open up the space for the introvert side of human beings, and for the introvert within society.
Mirthe has cooperated with Museum Arnhem, KWATTA, Muziektheater de Plaats, Feikes Huis, KASKO, Werkplaats Diepenheim, D:DNA and the Nederlands Kamerkoor.
She works from her workshops in Arnhem and Brussels. You can visit her website at www.mirthedokter.nl.
About series ‘Communicating Faces’
Human beings are incredibly skilled at facial recognition and communication, empathizing with each other through the face. In fact, we are so attuned to faces, we see them everywhere - even in inanimate objects. But usually, we are not very aware of this body part of ourselves. Until COVID-19. More than ever, we had to focus on other people’s faces and interpret their facial expressions, mediated through our screens. More than ever, we were confronted with our own face, and the way it looks, moves, and feels. In this series we invite you to explore together the meaning and relevance of the face. How can we best understand our communicating faces? What is it that our faces tell us about who we are, what we do and how we relate to each other? And what role do (implicit) sociocultural norms and biases - think of race or gender - play in making up our face?