Emma Waltraud Howes. Manageable Matter

About

Emma Waltraud Howes moves between movement and form, from time-based performance installations to soft sculptures and sound experiments. In her transdisciplinary practice, influenced by dance, martial arts, performance theory and visual art, she directs her attention to gestural observations and speculative scores. Her dance scripts – graphic systems for the performers of her pieces – have an exceptionally precise aesthetic. In doing so, she creates space for complex reconfigurations of body and space, a kind of “serious play” that leads to “hyper-glitch” operas like “Cadavre Exquis” that celebrate failure and promote alternative perspectives. The exhibition “Manageable Matter” presents new glass sculptures and graphic scores that explore gravity and grace through variations of glass artichoke hearts. Evolving from medieval clubs to drumsticks and finally to elongated driftwood sticks, they symbolize an “Optimistic Incrementalism” – a strategy of trying, failing and constantly improving that reflects the close connection to the past.

Opera singer and performer Kinga Ötvös will perform at the opening of Howes' solo exhibition . Ötvös has previously collaborated with Howes on the 3-channel film installation Bang Bang Baroque , which will premiere in Canada in early 2024. The performance is part of the itinerant interludes series   curated by Laurie Schwartz and made possible through the kind support of the initiative Neue Musik (INM) Berlin.