As a prelude to her exhibition I fear / J’ai peur presented in Gallery 3 at the museum, opening on 20 September 2023, American artist Ser Serpas is proposing a musical soirée titled BASEMENT SCENE. For this event, she has invited performing artists who, on the basis of written instructions, will construct and assemble found and abandoned objects into sculptures, all to the beat of one of her DJ sets. The evening concludes with two musical performances by DJs from New York and Tokyo’s underground scenes, Lydo and ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U.
On the following day, the resulting installation, LOCKED CLUB, will be presented for two days as a snapshot of an afterparty. Performed and formed in the basement of the Bourse de Commerce, the sculptures will be moved into Gallery 3, where they will join Ser Serpas’ exhibition, thereby “cannibalising” the entire space.
A second version of BASEMENT SCENE will be presented during the de-installation of the exhibition in early February 2024.
Programme for BASEMENT SCENE
- 8:00 p.m.: Doors open to the public
- 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.: Performance + DJ set by Ser Serpas
- 9:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m: Lydo (DJ set)
- 11:00 p.m – 12:30 a.m.: ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U (DJ set)
- 12:30 a.m.: End
Light design : Matière Noire
Ser Serpas
Two years after the opening of the Bourse de Commerce and the presentation of a series of her intimate, fragment-like small-format paintings, Ser Serpas (born in Los Angeles in 1995) is taking over Gallery 3 to create a chaotic space brimming with tension, an unsettling scene for visitors who will find themselves immersed in a hybrid space that makes it seem as if they have stumbled into a space that is still being constructed, and which is inspired by the idea of the attic. She has created a series of paintings and sculptures (covered in fabric) that are profoundly inspired by Alejandro Amenábar’s fantasy film The Others, especially when the voices of ghosts echo throughout the house, as if they were coming to inhabit its abandoned furniture and objects.
Her practice, forged during her studies at Columbia University, is largely invested in critiquing and celebrating the value (or lack thereof) of material objects. Whether working with discarded detritus found on the street or hoarded fabric gifted to her by friends, Serpas manipulates these materials to produce art in a manner that complicates perceptions of value, imbuing what would otherwise be garbage with meaning.
Lydo
Interdisciplinary artist Lydo’s sets reach the outer fringes of techno to explore a range of unexpected sound sensations, from groove to the experimental. A trans, non-binary artist, Lydo directs the X-TRA.SERVICES underground evenings. He is also in residence in an underground club in Queens. Lydo has played at Bassiani, Säule, for Sustain-Release, and at many evenings in Mexico City, Berlin, Copenhagen, and New York.
