ONUCH, Jerzy

Between Us
Thursday October 26 7:30 pm
Art System, 327 Spadina Ave, 2nd floor

Presented by Fado Performance Inc. as part of Public Spaces/Private Places

For Between Us, the audience entered a room set up with six industrial fans. As the performance progressed, a repetitive soundtrack gradually increased in volume over 20 minutes from nearly inaudibly to uncomfortably loud, then slowly faded away over the next 20 minutes to silence. The performer, dressed anonymously, moved slowly around the room, whistling quietly into people’s ears and presenting a card with a poetic text. Between Us addresses the discomforts associated with intimacy, examining the double-edged sword of awkwardness, which can encourage solidarity and bonding or lead to alienation and isolation.

Jerzy Onuch was born and raised in Poland. He has been working as an artist since the late 1970s, presenting performance and installation works in Europe and North America. Since 1997 he has served as the director of the Soros Center for Contemporary Art in Kyiv, Ukraine, and has recently been appointed Commissioner/Curator of the first Ukrainian presentation at the next Venice Biennale.

FADO artist page for Between Us