Class, 2019. Freestyle wrestlers, mat. Perfume: Opium, Lynx, Davidoff, Miss Dior, etc. 15 Min
Turbine Hall
Nina Beier’s work tests how value is constructed and undone, serving as a meditation on the multitude of power structures that make up our society. Disregarding usual martial arts categorisations of age, gender and weight classes, Beier’s performance Class in incorporated freestyle wrestlers from the world-renowned Luckenwalder Sportclub e.V. and RSV Hansa 90 Frankfurt (Oder) e.V., wearing perfumes generally marketed to each their specific demographic. Relying on select rules of the game and the skill sets of the athletes, this charged work bricolages disparate tropes of both violence and identity. While the odours blend, the bodies on display produce a fluctuating image of authority and dominance. The staged nature of Class continues Beier’s recurring interest in the possibility of cohabitation of the real and its own representation in the same object or action.
The 1. LSC of 1897 received international recognition in 1963 with its first European Championship medal. The club's wrestlers have participated in World and European Championships and the Olympic Games. The RSV Hansa 90 Frankfurt (Oder) collaborated with the 1. LSC in the Bundesliga and is a strongpoint for wrestling.
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