Calling From Work

Karel van Laere received a grant to develop new work. Calling From Work is the working title of the project he is currently developing as an artist in residence in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Phone conversations with his parents, friends, and family form the foundation of this work. In it, he explores the question: how important is it to know exactly where someone is? The project revolves around the stark contrast between the small, intimate, and familiar on one hand, and the vast distance within a metropolitan, global environment on the other.  

Karel is currently a resident artist at PAIR 2 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Over the years, his artistic practice has focused on what he calls the boundaries of surrender, subjecting his body to various processes. This experiment in relinquishing control is evident in his work Paralysis, which documents 24 hours in which his motionless body is tightly bound to a table. The motionless body is also a central theme in works such as Slow (Taiwan) and Largo, where it glides slowly and statically through different landscapes. In The Non Present Performer, he entrusts his body — placed in a deep state of hypnosis — to the hands of professional dancers and a choreographer.