buren

buren is a collective founded by Oshin Albrecht and Melissa Mabesoone in 2012. Their name derives from a term found in Heidegger’s ‘Building, Dwelling, Thinking’ in which ‘büren’ coincides with ‘building’ and ‘inhabiting’. For Melissa and Oshin it functions as a noun and as a verb; as an umbrella term for their practice and as a modus operandi. With their work they channel humorous, imaginative and critical realities related to the environments in which they operate, whether it is a specific location, black-box or white cube.

Through performance, video, text, objects, photography and installation they navigate ideas of community, domesticity, gender, (art) history and neoliberal fantasies. They approach the scene as a critical playground, a surface on which they continuously re-play, de-and reconstruct image and language. The work has a strong visual character with specific attention to the musicality of text and to the way in which sound and music function as a means of communication.

After the performances buren by buren (2013) and Have you rearranged the flowers? (2014) buren made their first film Parkways during the BijlmAir residence in Amsterdam. They did a postgraduate at HISK (2016-2017) and published the book Confusion of Tongues with Posture Editions (2017). The stage performance Blue Skies Forever premiered in Theater Aan Zee (2018). In May 2019, Elaboratory, a three-day program in Vooruit (Ghent), highlighted the various aspects of their work, linked to that of others. They also created the sharp, funny and ever-evolving performance T-shirt Conversations (2019). buren has just premièred their stage performance SPARE TIME WORK at Playground Festival (STUK/Museum M), are working on a record, and have shown several derivatives of STW such as installation and a music video.

The crossover practice of buren is shown in visual art and theater-related contexts such as Playground (STUK / Museum M), Vooruit, Pukkelpop, de Brakke Grond, Netwerk Aalst, Galerie Am Polylog, Z33, Buda, Bâtard, Kaaitheater, Casco, Tatjana Pieters. In 2020-2024 buren is part of the European Network Apap - Feminist Futures via Buda.

Can you spend spare time? When is one a big spender? How do you spend spare time? How do you spend your spare time? Do you like to play? Sports? Do you work? Out? Do you go to the gym? I’m pretty sure I saw you there...     
           
 In SPARE TIME WORK buren musically approaches thoughts and ideas on (reproductive) labour and leisure. They explore class and growth with the help of characters like Adult Hood and Young, Cleaner, Grown Woman and Office Worker. Drenched in different colour spheres they investigate a variety of (power)relations, economical desires and social realities. All while being surrounded by the inner and outer voices of (personal) histories and radio, internet and television. In what way is our ‘day and age’ telling us what to be, where to stand and what to do? Who is carrying the dogma, codes, laws and what systems are at work? 

www.burencollective.com

www.facebook.com/burencollective