in two minds

Aernout Mik's piece In Two Minds has its premiere in a rather unusual site: the Honour Gallery of the Stedelijk Museum. In Two Minds, a co-production of the Theatre Group Amsterdam and the Stedelijk made especially for this location, can be seen there two times a day over the period of one month.

Reservations are required. Performances are from Tuesday, January 7 through Saturday, February 8, 2003, at 4:00 and 9:00 p.m., except Sundays and Mondays.

In the 55 minute live exhibition In Two Minds, Aernout Mik creates two identical spaces. They mirror each other and are separated by a transparent wall on which images are projected at varying speed. The one is the domain of the viewer, the other that of the actor. We find ourselves in a supermarket. The shelves are full of bags of crisps, bottles of olive oil, packs of diapers, soap powder, boxes of tea, breezers, sacks of rice. The surroundings seem familiar, but lack the usual logic. Actors and public each find themselves in their own space among shelves. They are conscious of each other and of the filmed reality that separates and unites them. Two identical worlds slide over each other and infect the consciousness. Is it a dream, or is it the sensation of a dream that can overtake you in everyday life?
Aernout Mik (b. 1962) makes video installations that evoke an alien reality. The surroundings are recognisable from home or television, while as a viewer you do not experience them in that way, because of the occurrences which take place there. People or objects are manipulated from outside, like for instance the elderly men in Kitchen who in a spotless white kitchen are engaged in a mock battle that is very much like a fragile choreography, or the weary jobbers during a trade fair in Middlemen, who become a part of the frozen commotion. The silent images have their own languid dynamism. They dictate the sensation of the viewer, who is generally used to the fast montage of television and film images. In In Two Minds Mik carries this game with realities still further. He manipulates the viewer and investigates how consciousness works as real and filmed images constantly alternate with each other. Actors and viewers, acted and filmed scenes impinge upon the deeply-worn behaviour patterns of all present.
Aernout Mik represented The Netherlands in 1997 at the Venice Biënnale, and in 2000 had a solo exhibition at the Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven. In April, 2002, he received the Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for his consistent oeuvre of video installations. The Stedelijk Museum has various works by Mik in its collection, and his video installation Reversal Room was recently to be seen in the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam.

Crossovers by Theatre Group Amsterdam
In addition to classics from the world repertoire, Theatre Group Amsterdam brings out new pieces by contemporary authors, including presentations which investigate the borders and overlaps of theatre and other art disciplines. New theatre forms are explored through these crossovers. For instance, in Carmen pop music and theatre encounter one another. In Metamorphoses that is an encounter between theatre and dance, and in In Two Minds the visual arts and theatre come face to face.

In Two Minds:
Concept: Aernout Mik
Direction: Aernout Mik and Marjolein Boonstra.
Director of photography: Benito Strangio.
Played by Joop Admiraal, Janni Goslinga, Lineke Rijxman, Benjamin de Wit and 15 supernumaries.
Ticket sales:
Tickets for the performances are available at the Amsterdam Uitburo.
Info: www.toneelgroepamsterdam.nl