PolakVanBekkum

Year
2017–2019

Medium / Material / Technic
Video

The artist duo PolakVanBekkum researched the theme of »The City as a Performative Object« from 2017 to 2019. The resulting investigations are based on the hypothesis that the city is created by the movement of the individual.

Inspired by Judith Butler’s concepts of gender, performativity, and the speech act, PolakVanBekkum approach mobility as a performative force that continuously writes, paraphrases, and overwrites the architecture, identity, planning, and intention of the city. Their essayistic video work takes the audience on a vital walk through Google Earth, exploring the city’s unstable existence and its ongoing presence as a performative object.