Anna Frijstein’s hybrid art practice playfully questions what it nowadays means to be socialised human beings- why do we yearn for authenticity but work so hard towards automatised robotic 'high-performance' succeeding selves? This contradictory introspection results in comical live performances...
Read MoreAnna Frijstein’s hybrid art practice playfully questions what it nowadays means to be socialised human beings- why do we yearn for authenticity but work so hard towards automatised robotic 'high-performance' succeeding selves? This contradictory introspection results in comical live performances and videos where Frijstein's motivations and instructions are at risk on becoming clear-cut indoctrination. Frijstein analyses the roles we assume in various social settings, such as at the kitchen table, in the political arena, at the gym or on YouTube. Fascinated by behaviour in relation to social mimicry -the tendency to copy behavior as a way to learn and make social contact- Frijstein mimics these contexts’ characteristics and methods in order to expose them in sharp-witted performances. Frijstein is convinced that all living creatures on this planet are capable of such a mimetic exchange. No wonder that Frijstein often works collaboratively with many non-human guests like animals and plants. Frijstein copies honey bee dance moves (Telling the B's, 2016), learns ethics from donkeys (Work your ass off_Hee-ha! Hee-ha!, 2018), or mimics the tempting manipulation skills of sexy orchids (To want to be what you are, 2018). Please don’t expect lighthearted results; Frijstein’s twisted pedagogy, her didactic intonation and dubious persona, leave you in the dark -who or what does she think you are?
Anna Frijstein (1991) lives and works between Amsterdam and London. Frijstein studied Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (NL) and currently lives in London, where she is a final-year postgraduate Performance student in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art.
