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This past summer 2023, my work was chosen for a commission at Casino Luxembourg. I created a new version of my ongoing work "Even if it's not true, it's well found". The work consist of abstract sculptures made of different materials – silver, laminated hardwood, polished epoxy clay – allowing for different tactile experiences. Their forms are inspired by ancestral ritual instruments, the human body and post-modern design objects. The commission asked for a work that can leave the art center to reach communities who don’t have access. In response, I created workshops with the mediators of Casino Luxembourg, where we travel to present the work to different groups like: a refugee center, a community of deaf and blind people, and a prison. The participants are then invited to share associations and imagine fictional truths for the sculptures. Based on their reactions, I write stories which are then shared at the next session as a kind of estafette.

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Passage
Group exhibition



11 Apr - 1 Sep 2024
Jewish Museum of Belgium

Rue des Minimes 21
1000 Brussels, Belgium

Performance Program:

- Misafirperver – Hilal Aydoğdu – 11.04.2024
- La Chapelle des peines – Barbara Salomé Felgenhauer – 22.05.2024
- Even if it’s not true, it’s well found – David Bernstein – 6.06.2024
- To your arrival and our welcome – Zinaïda Tchelidze – 1.09.2024

As part of the exhibition Passage - Textiles & Rituals, the Jewish Museum of Belgium has created the performance program entitled Laboratory of Rituals. This cycle invites us to explore the contemporary resurgence of beliefs and rites, through unique intercultural creations. Along with performances, each artist is also presenting artworks that stay during the course of the exhibition.

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Leaps of Faith

Group exhibition
31 Mar - 25 Aug
 2024

Z33

Bonnefantenstraat 1

3500 Hasselt, Belgium



What is the relationship between faith and art today? For many artists, faith extends beyond mere religious belief. It's about our relationship to the unknown and the incomprehensible; about doubt and conviction; about what you cannot know but perhaps can feel. The exhibition Leaps of Faith features works by: Igshaan Adams, Francis Alÿs, David Bernstein, Peter Buggenhout, Justin Caguiat, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Edith Dekyndt, Kira Freije, Theaster Gates, Daan Gielis, Peter Hujar, Kris Martin, Sophie Nys, Antonio Obá, Namsal Siedlecki, Paul Thek, Danh Vo, Cathy Wilkes. Curated by Tim Roerig.

Photo by: Selma Gurbuz

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New Lovin
Performance Exhibition
26 Jan - 12 May 2024
Extra City
112 Provinciestraat 2018
Antwerpen, Belgium

Performances
(duration 40 min)
10 guests at a time
***Subscribe Now HERE!***

New Lovin is a performance exhibition bringing together three narratives with the common thread of human desires for dominance and submission. The power relations are explored through a queer reading of a medieval antisemitic symbol, a collection of displaced watermelons, and a plan for a new utopian city in Belgium called New Lovin. Over more than 30 planned performances, I will activate and reveal the exhibited objects, thus emphasizing the importance of physical presence, ritual and storytelling.

New Lovin is made possible with additional support from Mondriaan Fonds.
Photo by: wedocumentart

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Sukkot

Event
6 Oct
 2023
Morpho
Ploegstraat 25
Antwerp, Belgium



Sukkot is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the end of the harvest by building a temporary hut outside where meals can take place. On Oct 6, we welcome you to this special evening created in collaboration with Justine Jaz Okolodkoff, Lara Bongard, and Michelle Woods.

At the event, there will be a conceptual dinner, a queer film screening programme, collective decorations, and a Lulav and etrog inspired cocktail. In the garden of Morpho, a sukkah pavilion has been designed for this occasion in collaboration with architect Oleg Asoiev. There we will gather and relax under the stars.

Photo by: Lara Bongard

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Publiek Park

Group exhibition
15 Sep - 1 Oct
 2023
Albertpark, Harmoniepark, Provincietuin
Antwerp, Belgium



The second edition of Publiek Park aims to highlight the various layers of stories public green spaces contain by bringing together visual art, performance, music, film, word and more. Participating artists: 019, David Bernstein, Christiane Blattmann, Alessio Ragno Capone, Jonas Dehnen, Nico Dockx, Lise Duclaux, Jakub Jansa, Monika Emmanuelle Kazi, Jiyoung Kim, Metahaven, Mathias Mu, Yemo Park, Paola Siri Renard, Leander Schönweger, Hussein Shikha, Pei-Hsuan Wang & Guy Woueté

Photo by: Michiel De Cleene

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Liefdevol & Kritisch
Performance
28 Sep, 7:45pm
Collectie De Groen
Weverstraat 40
Arnhem, Netherlands

I will be performing a fragment from the performance 'To Half Sell A Duck'. If you are around, I'm sure it will be a fun and interesting night, there will be another performance by Karin van Pinxteren and a talk between Julius Thissen and Hadassah Emmerich.

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Judeo-Futurism
Online Presentation/Performance
Yiddishland Pavilion

21 Sep, 2pm (NY time), 8pm (Brussels time)
***RSVP with the link here***

I will give an artist talk about my recent work looking at queer religious futurism. I will show some video clips of a recent performance as well as some background research for upcoming works. I come from a Reconstructionist Jewish background and am influenced by “The Crash”, a concept from progressive Rabbi, Bennay Lappe. She argues that religious “master narratives” will eventually crash and we should choose a path of radical re-imagination. This is embodied in my exploration of "Judeo-Futurism", reclaiming historical symbols (including oppressive ones) and placing them into joyful and sometimes perverted fantasies.

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To Half Sell A Duck
Performance exhibition by David Bernstein
Fortune Teller
Hosted by Keiv & The Breeder Gallery
Kalimnou 38
Athens, Greece

10 Sep - 1 October 2022
With performances on 10/9, 11/9 & 1/10
4pm, 5:30pm, 7pm (duration 1 hour)
18 guests at a time
***Subscribe Now HERE!***

To Half Sell A Duck is an exhibition and performance that brings together a constellation of works around the theme of queer religious futures. Bernstein comes from a Reconstructionist Jewish background and is influenced by “The Crash”, a concept from progressive Rabbi, Bennay Lappe. She argues that religious “master narratives” will eventually crash and we should choose a path of radical re-imagination. This is embodied in the artist's exploration of "Judeo-Futurism", reclaiming historical symbols of oppression by placing them into queer fantasies. Guests will be guided through the exhibition with a performance that tells a story about a radical priest who makes kinky paintings, the creation of a Golem who fights canards, and an encounter with the artist Danh Võ who asks Bernstein to cut up a 500 year old wooden Jesus into pieces.

This is the inaugural exhibition of Fortune Teller, a new project space in Athens created by Denis Maksimov-Gupta and Inga Bergen. For this first project, Fortune teller is presenting within the artist-run non-profit Keiv, and the commercial gallery The Breeder.
To Half Sell a Duck is made possible with additional support from Mondriaan Fonds.

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Ornamenta
Group exhibition
Stadtmuseum
Westliche Karl-Friedrich-Straße 243
75172 Pforzheim, Germany

13 May - 2 Oct 2022
(My work will only be available until 30 May)

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To Half Sell A Duck
Performance exhibition by David Bernstein
8 Track
Rue de la Petite Île 1A
1070 Brussels, Belgium

7 - 14 April
5pm, 6:30pm, 8pm (duration 1 hour)
6 guests at a time
***Subscribe Now HERE!***

To Half Sell A Duck is an exhibition and performance that brings together a constellation of works around the theme of queer religious futures. David explores "Judeo-Futurism", reclaiming historical symbols of oppression by rethinking them and placing them into joyful and perverted fantasies. Guests will be guided through the exhibition with a performance that tells a story about a radical priest who makes kinky paintings, the creation of a Golem who fights canards, and an encounter with the artist Danh Võ who asks David to cut up a medieval wooden Jesus into pieces.

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The I & I video is finally available thanks to the incredible work of Armand Morin and Jokūbas Čižikas, I hope you enjoy:

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Rrubeli
Performance
16 May 2021 - 1, 3, 5 pm
AAIR
Ploegstraat 27
Antwerpen, Belgium

Rrubeli is an itinerant public programme organised by Zinaïda Tchelidze, which builds on the Georgian tradition of the meal as a moment of exchange and performance. Led by guest toastmasters, Rrubeli stages intersections between visual art and culinary culture

I will be presenting "The Chair On It's Side", which tells the autobiographical story of my obsession with chairs and their positions. The performance combines thoughts on abstraction, animism, and mysticism, prompting a re-imagination of what a chair position can mean.

Photo by: Alexandra Bertels

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LE FOU SAUVAGE
Group Exhibition
14 May – 29 May 2021
Opening 14 May
SB34 - The Pool
34 rue Saint-Bernard
Brussels, Belgium

The Fool is a hybrid figure alluding to the idea of diversity who does not act according to human rationality, but understands “the language of Nature”. It's an entity that plants its roots in ancient Panic cults, assuming unpredictable forms over the centuries. This exhibition reveals some clues to the unconscious cultural heritage of a psychological character that looks beyond time to a desperate path towards cosmic re-appeasement.

With works by: Angelique Aubrit, Antonia Phoebe Brown, Mirko, Canesi, Tom Hallet, Kamilė Krasauskaitė, Giulia Messina, touche-touche, Self Luminous Society and Manon Wertenbroek.
curated by Jacopo Pagin

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The Salon Sale Show
Group Exhibition
22 March – 11 April 2021
Opening 21 March 2-7pm
Level 5
Rue Paul Devaux 3
Brussels, Belgium

To arrange a visit please email: l5salonsale@gmail.com

We are excited to finally present an in-person exhibition of art works, editions, books, and poems — which you can buy, supporting not only the artists, but also the non-profit collective of Level Five which will receive half of the income. With your purchase, you enable us to pay a small compensation to those who work continuously to maintain our collective infrastructure. Our studio cooperative provides a place for more than 80 artists/initiatives to work and build community in Brussels.

With works by: Kevin Gallagher / Sandra Lakicevic / Bianca Baldi / Dries Segers / Sophia Holst / Jannis Marwitz / Emma van der Put / Ištvan Išt Huzjan / Hadrien Gerenton / Bas van den Hout / Pieter Geenen / Abby Banks / David Bernstein / Sirah Foighel Brutmann and Eitan Efrat / Timmy van Zoelen / Maud Gourdon / Christiane Blattmann / Perri Mackenzie / Stefanie Salzmann / Helen Dowling / Marlie Mul / Batheva Ross / Izabela Czarna / Marco Lampis / Dirk Reimes / Lola Daels / Ingo Bosch / Natasja Mabesoone / Felix Rapp / Veerle Melis / Joelle Laederach | Wang Consulting / D-E-A-L / Milena Desse / Markus von Platen / Anouchka Oler / Laura Muyldermans / Olaf Winkler / Aleksandra Chaushova / Philip Janssens / Rob Ritzen

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I & I
Performance exhibition by David Bernstein
29 Jan – 14 Mar 2021
Artist Club Coffre Fort
Hopstraat 63
Brussels, Belgium

Featuring collaborations with: Amber Vanluffelen, Ana Maria Gomez, Styrmir Örn Gudmundsson, and Zhou Junsheng

I & I is an exhibition as a performance, using different works of art as subjects to tell a multilayered story. The performance speaks about: I and ‘the other’, exoticism, afterlife, postcolonial melancholy via a fictional history of ice cream colonists, the idea of ‘overstanding’, and a strange meeting of eyes on the New York City subway system. Tea will be served and the Huis Museum collection will be on view.

Duration: 30 min (approx.)
Every Fri & Sat --- 4pm, 5:30pm, 7pm
Every Sun -------- 3pm, 4:30pm, 6pm

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Head with Many Thoughts
Group Exhibition
14 Feb – 3 June 2020
CAC
Vokiečių 2
Vilnius, Lithuania

Self Luminous Society has been invited to present their new installation, 'Booth HQ' and 4 performances on the opening weekend. 'Head with Many Thoughts' brings together a large group of artists spread across all the spaces of the Contemporary Art Center. The exhibition is a polyvocal reflection on time, endings, beginnings, transition and change. It offers no single vision for the future – neither hopeful nor threatening – nor one direction of movement: the present time is marked by a range of simultaneous trajectories and multiple choices.

Our Performances:
14 Feb 7pm – Ballyhoo, Introduction to Self Luminous Society
14 Feb 8pm – Nappezoid
15 Feb 3pm – Ballyhoo, Introduction to Self Luminous Society
15 Feb 6pm – It's in the Air

Photo by: Dainius Putinas

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Conspatulation
Performance
29 Jan 2020, 6:30pm
Stroom
Hogewal 1-9
The Hague, Netherlands

As part of an ongoing project organized by Kim David Bots, I am invited to present the performance 'Conspatulation'. Conspatulation is about spatulating together. After introducing the embodied concept, visitors are invited to ingest tacos and quesadillas, while I spin some tex-mex-booty-tech music. So come flip, extend, and allow cheesy tortilla matter to filter through you.

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Name Blessing Game
Performance by Self Luminous Society
21 Nov 2019, 7pm
1646
Boekhorststraat 125
The Hague, Netherlands

During this background evening of Bernice Nauta's exhibition, she will give a brief talk on ‘the copy'. After this, Self Luminous Society has been invited to perform the Name Blessing Game, wherein they invite the public to change identities, to lose their names and assume new alter egos.

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ECII Conference
Performance by Self Luminous Society
26 – 27 Oct 2019
Gallery Grölle
Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 143e
Wuppertal, Germany

ECII brings together practices that appropriate institutional identities, processes and languages as tools for artistic research, performance and production. Action happens over two days of performances, lectures, screenings and concerts.

Featuring: Department of Ultimology, ENCORE, Gesellschaft zur Emanzipation des Samples G.E.S, Vanja Smiljanić- Minister of Cosmic People for the countries of Ex-Yugoslavia, Portugal and Former Portuguese Colonies, Office for Joint Administrative Intelligence, T.A.L.O.S., That Might Be Right, Self Luminous Society, Joseph Noonan-Ganley , Pádraic E. Moore, Julia Zinnbauer.

Photo by: Julia Zinnbauer

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The Water Party
Solo Exhibition
7 Sep – 3 Nov 2019
A Tale Of A Tub
Justus van Effenstraat 44
Rotterdam, Netherlands

With guest works by: Ineke van der Burg, Liu Chao-tze, Rosa Sijben, Marco Lampis, Self Luminous Society, and 900 Stig featuring Indridi.

Sometimes I wonder what I would do if I started a political party. Of course there are many important issues to talk about these days, but my party would focus on the social and spiritual potential of water. Many former bath houses have been turned into cultural venues, and with this shift we have lost the opportunity to take a public bath and melt together. The Water Party would like to flip this by reintroducing communal liquid love into the art center. We will activate our fluid agenda by offering visitors the opportunity to soak in a wooden hot tub, returning to the warmth of the womb. Along with this embodied practice of intimacy, artworks are presented which promote the various ideals of the party such as: matriarchy, collaboration, divine holding, sharing pain as a form of resilience, and soul-flooding for (instead of brainstorming) an alternative sex education.

Every other Sunday, a listening session is organized with an invited host.
22 September 4pm – Myriam Lefkowitz
06 October 6pm – Liu Chao-tze
20 October 4pm – Viktorija Rybakova
3 November 4pm – Paoletta Holst

Photo by: LNDWstudio

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The Water Party
Artist's Book
Paperback, 48pp, A5, Design: Sabo Day,
Texts by: Julia Geerlings and David Bernstein
10€

The Water Party (my first artist's book!) brings together drawings from the last 9 years with selected research images and a few accompanying texts related to the exhibition. The images were chosen as a response to the artworks and themes in the exhibition: Water, wood, spirituality, sexuality, and sharing pain as a form of resilience. If you are interested to buy a copy, you can contact me or visit one of these locations:
Amsterdam - San Seriffe
Den Haag - Billytown
Den Haag - Page not found
Den Haag - Stroom
Rotterdam - A Tale of a Tub
Brussels - Rile

Photo by: LNDWstudio

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Vrijplaats Bij Mij
Group Exhibition
8 June - 13 October 2019
Museum Ijsselstein
Walkade 2-4
Ijsselstein, Netherlands

Vrijplaats Bij Mij (free place near me) is an exhibition in public space with works spread around the town by: Atelier Van Lieshout, Frank Koolen & Kasper Jacobs, Johan Grimonprez, Hito Steyerl, Rob Voerman, Leonard van Munster, David Bernstein, Manon van Hoeckel, Ursula Jernberg, Merapi Obermayer, Su Tomesen, Rogeria Burgers, Henk Wijnen, sven signe den hartogh, Jonas Wijtenburg en Fedor van Rossem.

Photo by: Rebecca Camphens, courtesy of Vice NL

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De Reconstructie
Group Exhibition
31 May - 21 June 2019
Opening with Performances 6-10PM
ABC Klubhuis
Sint-Jacobsmarkt 59
Antwerp, Belgium

ABC Klubhuis has invited Billytown - The Kitchen to make an exhibition in their space.
De Reconstructie imagines a reconstruction of a person (Gisela 'Marc' Brüne, b.1896).

With works by: David Bernstein, Kim David Bots, Afra Eisma, Kolja Gollub, Gerard Herman, Paul de Jong, Maja Klaassens, Pia Louwerens, Marius Lut, Bernice Nauta, Nishiko, Robbert Pauwels.

On the opening I will perform the work 'Real Fake Real Estate' at 7:30pm

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Conspatulation
Solo project
6 - 30 April 2019
Opening with drinks, tacos, and quesadillas 6-9PM
Conspatulation Demonstration at 8:00 P.M.
@ 76,4
24 Rue de Bosnie
Brussels, Belgium

Conspatulation is about spatulating together. During the opening I will show you my ongoing spatula series and demonstrate conspatulation while you ingest tacos and quesadillas. So come flip, extend, and allow cheesy tortilla matter to filter through you.

76,4 is a window vitrine permanently visible from the street. It is hosted by Michel François, Ekaterina Kaplunova, Juan Pablo Plazas and Richard Venlet.

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The Self Luminous Society Represents
Art fair presentation
25 - 28 April 2019
Poppositions Art Fair
20–26 Rue de l’Abattoir
Brussels, Belgium

The Self Luminous Society is proud to introduce you to the ways of self luminosity. We will be walking throughout the fair inviting visitors for conversations while showing some curious objects. We have invited the artist Benny Snouta to join us from her parallel world to offer you a gift. But is free really free? Perhaps you are skeptical, especially after social media has made profits out of your ‘good will’? Well, we are here to put forth an alternative ‘Econosmic’ model (Cosmic Economics). We will not sell you things, but give you ideas. We want you to believe. Isn’t that what gives art value anyway?

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The Community Live in Nottingham
Group exhibition
4 - 30 March 2019
Bonington Gallery
Trent University, Dryden Street
Nottingham, England

The Community (Paris based art/fashion center) has been invited to turn the gallery into a site for learning, experimentation and production. There will be a program of weekly workshops and activities delivered by invited artists and creatives. I have contributed an installation called the 'Ego Altar', a space to explore projective psychology and self-guided, intuitive healing. The 'Ego Altar' takes the shape of a large yellow carpeted platform in the shape of a sun. On the platform sits 5 sets of cards placed on abstract associative holders. These cards range from actual therapeutic tools to games for conversation. They can be used to provoke creativity, to engage in lateral thinking, and to reveal other ways of understanding your self and others.

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Waastricht
Performance collaboration with Juan Pablo Plazas
3-5 March
Public space, Maastricht
Tub-thumping Ballyhoo at Op de Thermen - 4pm, Sun. 3 March
Duelo at Het Vrijthof - 8am, Tue. 5 March

Marres has invited Slim Denken and Hayne E. Day of the Self Luminous Society to come to Maastricht and spread their message of self luminousity during the Carnival. Throughout the 3 days, Slim and Hayne will wander the streets with their cart of tools and instruments turning the town upside-down. They will enter the teleportal dimensions of KarneVal, the cosmic resultant of drinking rotten karnemelk, causing people to become what they are not.

Join them for a Tub-thumping Ballyhoo on Sunday, where they will present and demonstrate ideas of the Self Luminous Society, together in joyful song.

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Post Modern Collection:
Postcard sized artworks

Post Modern Collection invites artists and designers to create works based around the format of a postcard. I have made a series of sculptures in wire on top of doll house carpets; little sculptures, for little worlds. They are an outgrowth of my ongoing work, 'Between the Soup and the Potatoes', small experiments made in between other works.

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In Practice: Other Objects
Group exhibition
14 Jan - 25 Mar 2019
SculptureCenter
44–19 Purves Street
Long Island City, NYC

Rosa Sijben and I have been selected for the emerging artists exhibition, "In Practice", guest curated by Gee Wesley. We are collaborating on a new work called "Something to hold on to" where visitors will be invited to hold on to one our sculptures as they walk around the exhibition.

*Made possible with the support of the Mondriaan Fonds*

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Between the Soup and the Potatoes
Duo exhibition with Rosa Sijben
Opening 30 november 7-11 pm
30 Nov - 12 Jan 2019
Billytown The Kitchen
Helena van Doeverenplantsoen 3
The Hague, Netherlands

During a performance, while you are waiting for something to happen, it happens. While you are making art, you make other art. Sometimes there is nothing between some things, but that's something too! 'Between the Soup and the Potatoes' is a Flemish expression which means 'to do something quickly in between other things'. We want to recognize the curious moments in between, to bring our attention to this void and its joyful potential.

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Gerrit turns 50, Willem only 28
Anniversary exhibition
3 - 25 Nov 2018
Opening 2 Nov 2018 from 4 - 9pm
Gerrit Rietveld Academie
Fred. Roeskestraat 96
Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Rietveld Academie is celebrating 50 years (and the Sandberg Institute 28) with a huge exhibition of students, teachers, and alumni. I was invited to show the Saunra, my sauna in a Fiat Multipla with the music of Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The sauna will be on every Friday afternoon as well as the night of 3 Nov for Museumnacht.

Photo by Jean-Pierre Stoop for HART Magazine
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De Dingen De Baas #1
An evening about things in words, images, and sounds
Sat 06 Oct, 8:30PM
Extrapool
Tweede walstraat 5
Nijmegen, Netherlands

The Thing The Boss. An evening with 4 presenters: Anna-Rosja Haveman & Vanessa van ‘t Hoogt, David Bernstein, and Domas van Wijk. I will be presenting the work "Obsessys" throughout the evening while serving "Tea for Touching and Talking" blended by the tea master Ece Erel.

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Real Fake Real Estate
Performance
Wed 26 Sep, 7 PM - 11 PM
OPEN
Grandagarður 27
Reykjavík, Iceland

You are invited to come to OPEN for a Miðvikutaco (A night of art and tacos) with some home made tortillas and tasty fillings. Before the food there will be an opening ritual cleansing by Logi Leó Gunnarsson and then the performance "Real Fake Real Estate" will debut by Bernstein's alter ego "Slim Denken". Denken is a cosmic cowboy consultant - one part linguistic mediation counselor, one part trickster salesman. Through the use of wood painting technology, Slim will blend real fake art history with real estate consulting for artistic housing solutions.

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