Spider, Spit and Broken Bells invites you to an intense and in-depth course in performance art by the legendary Belgian performance and installation artist Danny Devos aka DDV. For six days in a row, from dusk till dawn, you can immerse yourself in the world of performance and body art in the domain of visual art. Participants with a dance or theatre background are strongly depreciated. The starting point is DDV’s own oeuvre of 170 performances up to date. You also get the chance to participate in the Haperende Mens festival, on January 12 and 13.

Expect an extended exploration of DDV’s work; by video, photography and lectures; and lots of complimentary examples and material from other performers and artists, such as: Vito Acconci, Chris Burden, Joseph Beuys, Gina Pane, Viennese Aktionismus and much more. Discussions will revolve about art, performance, and counterculture, in relation with society, our daily life and everyday environment. Time will be used to reflect on and discuss one’s own work, to develop new ideas, new works, prepare exercises, and reenact the work of others to get the feel and touch of Performance Art in practice. After this the participants are invited to participate at the Haperende Mens festival (no obligations on both sides!)

DDV has produced an enormous amount of work since the late 1970s: from installations, exhibitions and performances, through research, publications, and articles in the famous 80’s DIY art and multimedia magazine, Force Mental. DDV still performs with his noise band Club Moral. Both these projects are in cooperation with his partner, multi-media artist Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven. The thread in all his work is the investigation, exploration and transgression of the limitations of everyday life, manifesting itself through #pain, #crime, #consciousness, #death, etc..