Archive: H13 2017: ANNA VASOF
Exhibition: 09 09 2017, 11 AM - 15 PM
Performance and award ceremony: 08 09 20017
6 PM Durational Performance
9 PM LIVE: Captain Knife
The New Live Collectiv
The New Live Collectiv
The winner of the H13 Lower Austria Prize for Performance is unanimous: Anna Vasof with her Performance „Anachronism – A Downgrade Action“ .
The term “upgrade” refers to the alteration of a product into a higher grade configuration or version, whereas a “downgrade” works in the opposite direction – the elimination of an already conducted improvement. “I am living in a time where tools are getting upgraded and minds downgraded,” comments Anna Vasof dryly. With her infinite rich cosmos of dysfunctional do-it-yourself machines, the artist evades any apparent sense of purpose, thus rendering futile the quest for happiness in the paradise of brand-new techno gadgets. The jury prizes the conciseness with which Anna Vasof contributes to an expanded notion of performance and her ability to utilise the media as actors. Central issues in society are addressed in the form of short visual video poems and humorously commented upon through casual interventions. Her elegant, anachronistic devices subvert the game rules of a digitalised commercial society.
Following her studies in architecture at the University of Thessaly in Volos, Greece (2010), she studied Transmedia Art at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (2014). Since 2004 her videos and short films have been presented at diverse festivals and won several awards. In the framework of the Artistic Research PhD Programme at the Angewandte, the artist is currently developing innovative mechanisms for the production of critical, narrative videos, actions, and installations.
