Outset Estonia proudly supported the production of Kris Lemsalu's commissioned performance 'Going, Going' for the Estonian Pavilion Without Walls at Performa 17 in New York.
Lemsalu's artistic practice is a mixture of sculpture and performance, she creates visually attractive and surreal fantasy worlds, in which she often plays one of the characters. Lemsalu uses traditional techniques and natural materials, as well as porcelain, to create delicate sculptures and clothing. For Performa, she collaborated with the musician and artist Kyp Malone, in order to create a unique meditative atmosphere. Together with Malone, she presented a live performance that featured sculpture, video, songs and spoken word. The performance was centred around a moving bed on which Kyp Malone produced sounds. The bed seemed to be put in motion by giant waving hands and the "motor" behind them was Kris Lemsalu, who has become part of the installation herself. Becoming part of the installation, through costumes and sculptures, is a characteristic of Kris Lemsalu's versatile artistic practice. Her performance 'Going, Going' allowed the participants to ponder over where we are going in life in general. The location of the performance was the old St. Thomas the Apostle church in Harlem, New York.
Kris Lemsalu (b. 1985) lives and works in Tallinn, Estonia and Berlin, Germany. She studied ceramics at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She often experiments with ceramics and creates sculpture-installations that act as self-sufficient installations or as a stage for her performances. Her recent and upcoming exhibitions include solo shows at Secession, Vienna and Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London; shows at Kiasma, Helsinki; Koppe Astner, Glasgow and a performance at DRAF, London. In 2019, Kris Lemsalu will represent Estonia at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
