re.riddle and Minnesota Street Project Foundation are proud to present the U.S. premiere of "Self-Brainwashing," an immersive performance piece by acclaimed artist Michail Michailov. Originally programmed for the Bulgarian Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2022, this captivating work will be performed during SF Art Week in January 2025.
In this groundbreaking performance, participants are invited to wear white protective suits as they become gradually enveloped in ethereal, white foam. The experience creates a compelling duality of sensation--simultaneously delightful and disorienting--as participants find their senses both awakened and challenged by the surrounding foam environment. Further thickening the experience, Michailov will collaborate with sound artists to create and play original compositions during the performance.
"Self-Brainwashing" emerges at a crucial moment in our cultural dialogue about reality and perception. In an era where multiple realities--augmented, virtual, and artificial--increasingly intersect with and sometimes overshadow our physical world, Michailov's work purposefully employs obscurity as a powerful artistic tool. Through the metaphoric and literal application of encompassing foam, the piece prompts audiences to question: What freedoms might be gained when sight becomes obscured and the familiar becomes unfamiliar?
The performance artfully disrupts visual and physical delineations of space, body, and structure, inviting participants to reconsider their relationship with reality, artifice, illusion and truth in contemporary culture. Audience members will be invited to experience the work as either observer or participants.
Michail Michailov was born in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and currently lives and works in Vienna and Paris. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Veliko Tarnovo (1999-2004) and Art History at the University of Vienna (2002-2007). From 2006-2009 Michailov worked in cooperation with the artist group Gelitin. In 2007, he took part in the summer academy "Situation and Spectacle" at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (lecturer: Cerith Wyn Evans). In addition to several residencies and awards, Michailov received the Drawing Now Paris Art Award (2018). In 2022 Michailov represented Bulgaria at the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. He is currently an artist in residence at ISCP, NY. Michailov has had solo exhibitions at Belvedere Museum in Vienna (2024); re.riddle gallery in San Francisco (2024); Kunstraum Lakeside in Klagenfurt (2023); Galerie Viktor Bucher in Vienna (2023); +359 Gallery in Sofia (2021); Drawing Lab Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Exnergasse (2019); Sotheby's Vienna (2016). Michailov's works are in the various permanent collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria.
Image Credit: Michail Michailov, Self-Brainwashing #2, Università Ca' Foscari, THERE YOU ARE BULGARIAN PAVILION 59th, La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. Photo credit: Milena Kaneva.
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In this groundbreaking performance, participants are invited to wear white protective suits as they become gradually enveloped in ethereal, white foam. The experience creates a compelling duality of sensation--simultaneously delightful and disorienting--as participants find their senses both awakened and challenged by the surrounding foam environment. Further thickening the experience, Michailov will collaborate with sound artists to create and play original compositions during the performance.
"Self-Brainwashing" emerges at a crucial moment in our cultural dialogue about reality and perception. In an era where multiple realities--augmented, virtual, and artificial--increasingly intersect with and sometimes overshadow our physical world, Michailov's work purposefully employs obscurity as a powerful artistic tool. Through the metaphoric and literal application of encompassing foam, the piece prompts audiences to question: What freedoms might be gained when sight becomes obscured and the familiar becomes unfamiliar?
The performance artfully disrupts visual and physical delineations of space, body, and structure, inviting participants to reconsider their relationship with reality, artifice, illusion and truth in contemporary culture. Audience members will be invited to experience the work as either observer or participants.
Michail Michailov was born in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and currently lives and works in Vienna and Paris. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Veliko Tarnovo (1999-2004) and Art History at the University of Vienna (2002-2007). From 2006-2009 Michailov worked in cooperation with the artist group Gelitin. In 2007, he took part in the summer academy "Situation and Spectacle" at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (lecturer: Cerith Wyn Evans). In addition to several residencies and awards, Michailov received the Drawing Now Paris Art Award (2018). In 2022 Michailov represented Bulgaria at the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. He is currently an artist in residence at ISCP, NY. Michailov has had solo exhibitions at Belvedere Museum in Vienna (2024); re.riddle gallery in San Francisco (2024); Kunstraum Lakeside in Klagenfurt (2023); Galerie Viktor Bucher in Vienna (2023); +359 Gallery in Sofia (2021); Drawing Lab Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Exnergasse (2019); Sotheby's Vienna (2016). Michailov's works are in the various permanent collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria.
Image Credit: Michail Michailov, Self-Brainwashing #2, Università Ca' Foscari, THERE YOU ARE BULGARIAN PAVILION 59th, La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. Photo credit: Milena Kaneva.
re.riddle and Minnesota Street Project Foundation are proud to present the U.S. premiere of "Self-Brainwashing," an immersive performance piece by acclaimed artist Michail Michailov. Originally programmed for the Bulgarian Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2022, this captivating work will be performed during SF Art Week in January 2025.
In this groundbreaking performance, participants are invited to wear white protective suits as they become gradually enveloped in ethereal, white foam. The experience creates a compelling duality of sensation--simultaneously delightful and disorienting--as participants find their senses both awakened and challenged by the surrounding foam environment. Further thickening the experience, Michailov will collaborate with sound artists to create and play original compositions during the performance.
"Self-Brainwashing" emerges at a crucial moment in our cultural dialogue about reality and perception. In an era where multiple realities--augmented, virtual, and artificial--increasingly intersect with and sometimes overshadow our physical world, Michailov's work purposefully employs obscurity as a powerful artistic tool. Through the metaphoric and literal application of encompassing foam, the piece prompts audiences to question: What freedoms might be gained when sight becomes obscured and the familiar becomes unfamiliar?
The performance artfully disrupts visual and physical delineations of space, body, and structure, inviting participants to reconsider their relationship with reality, artifice, illusion and truth in contemporary culture. Audience members will be invited to experience the work as either observer or participants.
Michail Michailov was born in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and currently lives and works in Vienna and Paris. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Veliko Tarnovo (1999-2004) and Art History at the University of Vienna (2002-2007). From 2006-2009 Michailov worked in cooperation with the artist group Gelitin. In 2007, he took part in the summer academy "Situation and Spectacle" at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (lecturer: Cerith Wyn Evans). In addition to several residencies and awards, Michailov received the Drawing Now Paris Art Award (2018). In 2022 Michailov represented Bulgaria at the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. He is currently an artist in residence at ISCP, NY. Michailov has had solo exhibitions at Belvedere Museum in Vienna (2024); re.riddle gallery in San Francisco (2024); Kunstraum Lakeside in Klagenfurt (2023); Galerie Viktor Bucher in Vienna (2023); +359 Gallery in Sofia (2021); Drawing Lab Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Exnergasse (2019); Sotheby's Vienna (2016). Michailov's works are in the various permanent collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria.
Image Credit: Michail Michailov, Self-Brainwashing #2, Università Ca' Foscari, THERE YOU ARE BULGARIAN PAVILION 59th, La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. Photo credit: Milena Kaneva.
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In this groundbreaking performance, participants are invited to wear white protective suits as they become gradually enveloped in ethereal, white foam. The experience creates a compelling duality of sensation--simultaneously delightful and disorienting--as participants find their senses both awakened and challenged by the surrounding foam environment. Further thickening the experience, Michailov will collaborate with sound artists to create and play original compositions during the performance.
"Self-Brainwashing" emerges at a crucial moment in our cultural dialogue about reality and perception. In an era where multiple realities--augmented, virtual, and artificial--increasingly intersect with and sometimes overshadow our physical world, Michailov's work purposefully employs obscurity as a powerful artistic tool. Through the metaphoric and literal application of encompassing foam, the piece prompts audiences to question: What freedoms might be gained when sight becomes obscured and the familiar becomes unfamiliar?
The performance artfully disrupts visual and physical delineations of space, body, and structure, inviting participants to reconsider their relationship with reality, artifice, illusion and truth in contemporary culture. Audience members will be invited to experience the work as either observer or participants.
Michail Michailov was born in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and currently lives and works in Vienna and Paris. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Veliko Tarnovo (1999-2004) and Art History at the University of Vienna (2002-2007). From 2006-2009 Michailov worked in cooperation with the artist group Gelitin. In 2007, he took part in the summer academy "Situation and Spectacle" at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (lecturer: Cerith Wyn Evans). In addition to several residencies and awards, Michailov received the Drawing Now Paris Art Award (2018). In 2022 Michailov represented Bulgaria at the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. He is currently an artist in residence at ISCP, NY. Michailov has had solo exhibitions at Belvedere Museum in Vienna (2024); re.riddle gallery in San Francisco (2024); Kunstraum Lakeside in Klagenfurt (2023); Galerie Viktor Bucher in Vienna (2023); +359 Gallery in Sofia (2021); Drawing Lab Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Exnergasse (2019); Sotheby's Vienna (2016). Michailov's works are in the various permanent collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria.
Image Credit: Michail Michailov, Self-Brainwashing #2, Università Ca' Foscari, THERE YOU ARE BULGARIAN PAVILION 59th, La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. Photo credit: Milena Kaneva.
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