Artist Statement

Single Channel HD Video (2015)

Vancouver is crumbling. Or perhaps it‘s being methodically taken apart brick by brick. Whether for reasons of density, seismic upgrade or escalating value, old houses, schools, and movie theatres are being demolished to make way for the new. Referencing Derrida’s semiotic text, deConstruction is an ongoing series of choreographed short films that capture the dismantling of the historic city. What might have been inhabited for half a century can be demolished in a day. By introducing dance to demolition, Siebens points out that ageism applies to architecture as it does to the bodies of dancers.

• Evann Siebens (Vancouver, Canada) makes media with movement. She has exhibited her short films at Eyebeam and Centre Pompidou, and her documentaries at MoMA and on PBS. Now based in Vancouver, Evann is a former dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and graduated from NYU. She has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre and ACME/UK with Keith Doyle. Recent exhibitions include MediaArtLab, Russia; dc3 Art Projects, Edmonton; WAAP, Gallery 295, and BAF, Vancouver. Evann is a recent winner of the ID/Identities Istanbul Best Video Prize and is working on a commission from Paul Wong Projects entitled MIMMIC.

Text with images (PDF)  p.  89