Interview with Naja Lee Jensen
Bergen, 1. Oktober 2015
Q: Why / when / how did you start to work with performance, what is your background, how did you arrive at doing performance?
I started working with performance art because of my education at the Norwegian Theatre Academy.
Q: What is your process like when you make a performance, from idea to actual work?
My process often starts with a wondering about something and a following curious research into this wondering.
Q: Can you tell about your latest project?
My latest work was a theatre performance that wanted to explore two traditions in theatre. The naturalistic theatre with its’ roots in Stanislavsky and the postdramatic theatre – a term coined by Hans-Thies Lehmann in 1999. By looking at today’s omni-presence (made possible by the digital revolution) we asked ourselves if the postdramatic theatre with its’ simultaneous dramaturgy was today’s naturalism. This starting point is very genre specific, but it exemplifies how I mostly work. A dry question pops up and then, hopefully, an unfolding to a fleshy artwork happens in the process of making.
Q: What role does performance art have in your life / artistic praxis? Do you also work within other fields, like installation, sculpture, drawing, other expressions? How do they influence / inform each other?
I work with theatre performance and sometimes in the field of fine arts (site-specific performative works and curating). I am not sure. I don't think they actually influence each other so much… I guess I have some strong interests that always become the center of the piece no matter in which field I work. These interests could be time, death, the body, perception.
Q: With what kind of form / material do you express yourself and use in your work and how did you arrive at using this material? (
I mostly use my body, the audience and of course time. Coming from a theatre performance and dancing background this decision came very naturally.
Q: How do you experience or consider the audience / surrounding. What space / surrounding do you find interesting to work in. How does your surrounding influence your work. Do you involve the public? If so how?
Space, situation and audience is important for my work because I often use them as the starting point for the artistic process. For me, it is not a specific situation/space that is needed- it is just a situation/space. The role of the audience is very different from piece to piece but it is always an active choice.
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Q: Why / when / how did you start to work with performance, what is your background, how did you arrive at doing performance?
I started working with performance art because of my education at the Norwegian Theatre Academy.
Q: What is your process like when you make a performance, from idea to actual work?
My process often starts with a wondering about something and a following curious research into this wondering.
Q: Can you tell about your latest project?
My latest work was a theatre performance that wanted to explore two traditions in theatre. The naturalistic theatre with its’ roots in Stanislavsky and the postdramatic theatre – a term coined by Hans-Thies Lehmann in 1999. By looking at today’s omni-presence (made possible by the digital revolution) we asked ourselves if the postdramatic theatre with its’ simultaneous dramaturgy was today’s naturalism. This starting point is very genre specific, but it exemplifies how I mostly work. A dry question pops up and then, hopefully, an unfolding to a fleshy artwork happens in the process of making.
Q: What role does performance art have in your life / artistic praxis? Do you also work within other fields, like installation, sculpture, drawing, other expressions? How do they influence / inform each other?
I work with theatre performance and sometimes in the field of fine arts (site-specific performative works and curating). I am not sure. I don't think they actually influence each other so much… I guess I have some strong interests that always become the center of the piece no matter in which field I work. These interests could be time, death, the body, perception.
Q: With what kind of form / material do you express yourself and use in your work and how did you arrive at using this material? (
I mostly use my body, the audience and of course time. Coming from a theatre performance and dancing background this decision came very naturally.
Q: How do you experience or consider the audience / surrounding. What space / surrounding do you find interesting to work in. How does your surrounding influence your work. Do you involve the public? If so how?
Space, situation and audience is important for my work because I often use them as the starting point for the artistic process. For me, it is not a specific situation/space that is needed- it is just a situation/space. The role of the audience is very different from piece to piece but it is always an active choice.
<< Back