Arte Corporal in Caracas, Venezuela 2011

6th Encuentro Mondial de Arte Corporal, Caracas, Venezuela 2011

At the 6th world encounter of body art (sexto encouentro mundial de arte corporal) in Caracas, Venezuela, I was one of the 21 international artists invited by the culture ministry. I was asked to perform 2 Action-Paintings and one workshop on commercial bodypainting.

When I arrived in caracas I couldn't believe my eyes. The streets were full of posters, banners, flags, displays and billboards showcasing the work of some chosen artists.

Above: posters, banners, flags, displays and billboards showcasing the work of some chosen artists

Above: getting ready for the big gala at the Theatro Theresa Careno, latin america's biggest theatre (2.400 seats)

What was supposed to be a "regular" Action-Painting-Gig turned out to be the most energetic "Art Connects" - Project for me ever since the founding of the project by Ferenc Hottya in 2004.

The idea remains the same...connecting artists in order to potentiate the art.I personally love to connect by opening up my stage towards other artists.

The energy that starts flowing the moment you look into a fellow artists eyes and agree on a "deal" is simply overwhelming.

Multiply this with the number of artists you connect and you might get an idea of the strong power resulting out of an "Art connects"-project! :)

My second Action-Painting-Gig was planned as a 15 minute performance, music from the "box" and 3 models.

Pics above: Ouverture of the second gig...and splashing the interpretors Veronica, Claire, Paola and Daniela

Since at my first show at the theater i had communication problems with my local model i started to think about the several "proposals" i received from a couple of attachés. Some of them really wanted to be on stage and i liked the idea of having models "on board" whom i could communicate AND have fun with! :)Veronica, Claire, Paola and Daniela, the lovely helpers, translators and friends were the first jigsaw-piece in the game!

Some days before the gig I encountered Diana...a VERY communicative artist from Colombia. She is a MASTRESS of Origami, the Japanese Art of Paper folding.But Diana not only produces regular Origami....no...she makes dresses out of paper...UNBELIEVABLE dresses...OUTSTANDING dresses. While talking and getting to know each other and each other's work she suddenly asked me if i would like to "splash" one of those pure white paper-robes. I could not believe my ears. But the picture that showed up in my mind's eye was giving me goose bumps. So i agreed! :)

Pics above: Origami Dess by Diana Gamboa, Colombia

The first second Romulo, a Venezuelan drummer and part of the festival organization, came up to me after the first show and asked me if the abrupt ending of my performance was meant to be that way I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I didn't know him and was surprised he was so open.I explained, that we had some technical troubles and that it is always difficult for me to interact with music from the box because of simultaneous timing between the beat and the color.To make long story short...Romulo and his friends were in! We had that 20 minute meeting where i met all the musicians (Drums, Bass, Sax and Percussion)...definitely one of the above mentioned magic energy moments! :)At this point i need to espescially thank Ana and her organization-team for being so flexible and helpful to make all this possible!

No ice-cream without topping though!In the heat of the show my eyes met, Edgar, the festival producer. :)He was very near and obviously interested in the show and as I looked in his eyes I waved him on stage...and he came! He only spoke spanish but that did not matter...he understood what I was "asking" him...and the audience did too! :) Since i wanted this to be "official" I asked the audience to put their thumbs up if they wanted him to be splashed or thumbs down if not! Guess what the majority screamed and showed?? :) So here we were...4 newcomer models, 1 origami dressed model, 4 musicians, the festival director and me...the crowd was freaking out...and I loved EVERY second of it!