Tempus Fugit
A solo show by Sylvain Gelewski

The project Tempus Fugit is inspired by the imagery of the court jester, the mask and the party, social role-playing or seduction, sarcasm or masquerade. Tempus Fugit or the frantic race forward. An attempt to grasp the meaning of two colours through stories – The gold of light, the world and value and the blue of dreams, the royal family and work.

I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay.

Ain’t it sad?

And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me.

That’s too bad.

In my dreams I have a plan.

If I got me a wealthy man.

I wouldn’t have to work at all.

I’d fool around and have a ball.

Perhaps what all the songs about colour have in common is love? If love is a question of taste and colours, we are entitled to wonder whether it is bitter or made of sweetness. In the first case, I love you but I’m leaving you. In the second, you love me and I love you back. Tempus Fugit, or the outline of an answer to the crucial question: which of us ate the last sweet?

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The performance is created by Sylvain Gelewski, currently artist in residence at Kungen through the Optic Residency Program. Sylvain has lived in Sandviken (Sweden) for two months and during his stay he’s had a studio at Backbeatbolaget, Kungen. For the installation he has been collecting furniture from local people as well as second hand stores. He has visited local museums, from Länsmuseets collections in Gävle to Bruksmuseet Smedsgården and Valhalla in Sandviken for his researches. Finally he spent some isolated days in a cabin in Ulvtorp, Jädraås to finalise the dialogue to the performance. The dancers Ida Long and Anna Berglund will activate the installation with masks created by Valter Johansson.

The Optic Residency Program is run by Konstfrämjandet Gävleborg in collaboration with Kf. Backbeatbolaget, Gaffel Ateljeförening and Konst & Landskap, with the support of Region Gävleborg and IASPIS – international programme for visual and applied arts and Folkrörelsernas Konstfrämjandet. The project is coordinated by the artist Karin Bäckström and the project is managed by Jon Perman, director at Konstfrämjandet Gävleborg.