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Feiko Beckers

Feiko Beckers (1983, Witmarsum, the Netherlands), recounts and stages autobiographical stories. In these stories, Beckers relates personal failures, accidents or embarrassments he experienced. He labels behavioural patterns as sources of anxiety and has his own way of unfolding their dynamics as an objective to share with the audience. An important aspect in Feiko Beckers' performances is the notion of the unexpected which appears as a guiding line for his reflections. First of all, he surprises his public by demystifying his performance in his introduction. Moreover, he concludes his performances by doing a completely unexpected gesture. Then, the construction of the main text seems to be based on the rule which consists of giving trivial answers to existential questions and existential answers to trivial questions [1]. Beckers constructs an atmosphere of surprise in order to try to analyse in a renewed manner the difficulties humans have when interacting with one another. At the end of the performance, the audience is able to define the emotional charges of the events he described. They can also identify themselves in the embarrassing situation, or in the artist's analyses [2].  

 

Beckers’ performances are an unlikely combination of minimal sculptures, which he crafts himself, and stand-up comedy, placing the figure of the artist in a force field of grand notions, daily decisions and the ever present possibility of failure. Although minimal, the sculptures are still very present in his work [3]. These props, thanks to their colours and geometrical forms, seem to support and improve Becker's well structured reflection. The presence of his parents and friends in some performances, such as Three options (2011), reinforces the personal and comic aspects of his work.  

[1] Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten. (2010) 'Residents 2011 Feiko Beckers (NL)'.
Available at: http://www.rijksakademie.nl/NL/resident/feiko-beckers/about

[2] Tender Pixel. (2017) 'Feiko Beckers. You might actually learn something'.
Available at: http://www.tenderpixel.com/exhibitions/feiko-beckers

[3] Land Art Live. (2015) 'Feiko Beckers'.
Available at: http://landartlive.blogspot.nl/p/blog-page_28.html

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