After almost two years of preparation, an event that was meant to bring together the worlds of art and charity for an evening finally took place on October 7^th. Dave had invited René Prêtre, Swiss person of the year 2009, to his hometown of Laufen. Mr Prêtre, who is chief physician for heart surgery at the Zürich children's hospital, owes his high profile to the charitable work he does with his foundation "Le petit coeur", which provides free heart operations for children in need in developing countries.

Around a hundred guests were invited to see the exhibition, which took place in a space of around 1000 m². The evening's highlights were Mr Prêtre's presentation, which offered fascinating insights into his charitable work, and the first showing of the performance "Tote Episode" ("Dead episode"), held in complete darkness with the aid of fluorescent paint.

The goals of the evening were to create a cultural experience that falls outside of the usual patterns, and to raise awareness for the problems in developing countries as well as encouraging personal initiative. In order to contribute to this personally as well, Dave will be donating 20% of the proceeds for any work of his that is sold until the end of November 2011 to "Le petit coeur".

Special thanks go out to Bank Valiant, who not only contributed significantly to the evening's success with their sponsorship, but also by taking on with great energy much of the organisational effort required to make it happen, as well as making a donation of their own to "Le petit coeur".

A few impressions of the event and performance can be found in the slideshow above. (Photography: Dani Altermatt, airwave.ch)

On January 28th, Dave's first ever performance in complete darkness took place. Before the eyes of an amazed audience, a large picture frame in a darkened room started filling with glowing visual fragments, which slowly came together to form complete images.

To achieve this astonishing effect, Dave worked with special phosphorus paints -- a technique he has previously used on a number of works, but never before as part of a performance.

This performance marked the opening of an exhibition of Dave's works at the Sprützehüsli in Oberwil, which will remain open until February 20th 2011.

The performance will take place twice more on Friday, February 4th (around 8 PM).

A few impressions of the first performance and of the vernissage can be found in the slideshow above. (Photography by Dani Altermatt.)


Exhibition
Sprützehüsli, Hauptstrasse 32, 4104 Oberwil, Switzerland
Friday 5 PM - 8 PM, Saturday 2 PM - 5 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 5 PM

Out of the dark man emerges, into the dark man escapes. In between is found the story of light: Modern man has banished the darkness from his life. Weak stars adorn our sky; between TV screens and reading lamps, between streetlights and and mobile phones we have forgotten what it means to be in the dark -- without control, without certainty, without sight.

Looking at the new series of works Dave has just completed, however, you find yourself thrown back into an almost forgotten time and into an almost forgotten condition.

The four works, titled "Light pollution", may seem atypical for Dave at first glance: They are painted on normal canvas rather than on reliefs. Has the fusion been forgotten? Not at all -- it merely takes place in another form than we are used to. Multiple images are hidden within this unseeming surface, but these works only show their true faces in the dark.

At first sight, they merely show four visual episodes from existing three-dimensional works by Dave. But when the lights go out, the lie dissolves: New images become apparent, painted directly into the darkness with glowing lines. What was visible by day turns out to have been nothing but visual misdirection.

We are proud to announce that a limited series of 10 lithographies depicting the first three DC perfomances is now available. All prints are numbered and hand-signed by Dave.

With these lithographies, Dave negates the volatile nature of these impressions. He wants to make it possible for people to let these impressions become part of their own world, to discover them for themselves within their own environment -- and thus maybe to become a part of this journey in thought.

For more information, please contact us directly.

E-Mail: info@fusionjourney.com
Telephone: +41 (0)61 765 96 08

The third performance in the "DC" series, bearing the title "Funeral", took place on June 10th, unannounced and in full view of the public. This time, the setting was not a historical location, but the art world itself -- in the shape of the Art Basel fair.

It is just past 7 PM. The exhibitions have been closed for a few minutes, but outside of the halls, art does not know closing times. The exhibition square, at one edge of which a gigantic black cross has been placed by artist Valentin Carron, is alive with the movement of hundreds of visitors and locals.

Suddenly, a few people in the crowd start coughing -- only a few at first and quietly, but then more, and finally dozens. They fall to the ground, twisting and turning. And suddenly, somehow, they are all wearing respirator masks and sunglasses. The people near them step back, unsure how to react.

Slowly, the performers shed their clothes, revealing images painted directly on their naked bodies. Now seemingly unaffected by their disease, they rise to their feet again and slowly start moving -- and the performance begins. Confused, the passers-by stand and stare. Some of them reach for their cameras.

After a few minutes, the performers line up, looking straight ahead. Their faces betraying no emotion, they stand there like some bizarre funeral procession, and the giant black cross behind them suddenly seems like a very fitting part of the image. Rothkoesque colour fields stretch across their bodies -- criscrossed by prison bars. Art, this scene seems to want to say, has died in captivity.

The group freezes for a few minutes, and then turns. A new image results. Rothko again, and over that, black lines forming the faces of two more captives whose noble ideas are often in danger of being crushed by harsh realities: That of Barack Obama, and that of Burmese freedom activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

This image stays in place for another few minutes. Then, the performers start moving again, collect their clothes and get dressed. And as suddenly as they have come, they have disappeared into the crowd again. The funeral for art is over. The audience applauds.

Only metres away from the Brandenburger Tor and the US embassy, we held our Berlin performance on Thursday. This is the second part of the "DC" project, continuing the story we began in Athens this February.

The performance bears the title "Hope or Hype". Here are some first impressions of the events. A video will follow in a few days.

Our most heartfelt thanks for helping to make this work go out to the good folks at Commerzbank who opened their door for us, Madelaine Teschner as well as Bernhard and Adelheid Siemianowski for their support and hospitality, Christine Meier for her painting assistance and of course to the performers, each and every one of whom did an absolutely amazing job. Of course, special thanks also go to Heike Stricker and Juliane Menzel for their brilliant photography.

The continued effort and enthusiasm you all invested into this performance prove that art will never lose its power to inspire, and to cause encounters between great people. It was a privilege and a great pleasure to meet you all!

Barack Obama: It seems like history will associate no other name with the years of 2008 and 2009 as much as this one. The new US president has managed to do something no other politician has done for a while: To capture the imagination of a nation in despair and inspire passion even far beyond US borders.

Many seem to view him almost as a sort of political messiah, others have their doubts -- some see a danger in this reverence. But whatever the case: Millions are projecting their hopes and fears onto him. Barack Obama is no longer just a person or a politician, but also a movement.

In every part of the world, the Obama phenomenon is combined with and clashes against local issues and history. Moving around these different places, what a traveller experiences seems almost like a snapshot of our time -- a picture of the world once again standing at the crossroads.

On our journey, we want to capture this moment and discover its lessons. From Athens, where our travels began, the road will lead us to Washington DC, and through cities around the world on the way. At each stop, a living fusion -- a form of performance -- will take place, showing another aspect of the Obama phenomenon against a local backdrop, and hopefully moving something.

Alongside with this, messages from people at every stop will be gathered and taken on to DC in the form of the world's largest book. More about that another time.

The first living fusion took place on Philopappou hill in Athens, Greece, on February 16th 2009. See for yourself, and remember: This was just the beginning.


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