Bernard uses a laptop and projector to create different spaces evoking the imagined and real experiences. With video footage of floor tiles, patterned fabrics and human silhouettes, Bernard creates a heightened film noir that is quickly fractured by the non-performative technical tasks of manipulating the lap top and projector. Loosely based on François Ozon movie Swimming Pool, Karen Bernard’s character parallels the story’s protagonist, an elderly English novelist who, becomes involved in a dangerous sexual fantasy that is part her fiction and part her desire.
Support for the development of Ouette has been received from the Experimental Television Center with funding from the New York State Arts Council; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and residencies at NDA’s Exchange and The Fields Artward Bound Residency at Earthdance, Plainfield, MA, Silo at Kirkland Farms, PA, and White Oak, Ulee, FL with support from the Howard Gilman Foundation; and international residencies at Wassard Elea, Acea, Italy and the Liguria Study Center, Bogliasco, Italy made possible through a Bogliasco Fellowship.
Listen to Evi-Dance Radio Interview: Karen Bernard’s Ouette at the Rhubarb Festival in Toronto
Karen Bernard – Ouette, Photo by Ella Veres
Maho Ogawa, photo by Elyse Mertz
“I am honored to have performed at the Performance Mix 37…PMF plays a very inspiring, influential, and unique role in redefining the role of theater and performance art in society. I hope we continue to think about how this festival means so much not only for dance fans/ students, but for art lovers and the general public.”
– Maho Ogawa
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