The name Unsuffering (Performance) Artists is both a commentary towards our approach to artmaking, the position of the viewer within our pieces and our critical view on the indoctrinated idea of the “suffering artist”. With our pieces we approach problems close to our own lives as upcoming artists. As a group we are interested in our generation’s need for productivity and how it affects artists well-being.
We work site-specific with the goal of inhabiting spaces rather than invading them. Our goal is to make art that is unique to the space which we inhabit and that will change if the piece is moved. Because of this our pieces always focus on the audience, trying to always speak their language. With a wide range of disciplines to be inspired by, we aren’t bound by a specific media and tailor our performances to the context of which they are placed.
In 2022 Cecilie Kappel, Konrad Holmqvist and Per Holmqvist bonded over their fascination of spaces that makes them feel safe and decided to make a piece on that theme. During the course of the project we found that working together was very different from how we worked outside of the group. Working alone or with others, we felt the weight and expectations of the “suffering artist”, but working with spaces that made us feel safe in a conceptual and site-specific way meant embracing a sustainable work ethic. We later realized that the piece actually was more or less a defiance against the “suffering artist” and during our evaluation of the piece we concluded our method and name moving forward.
We want to explore art’s quality and value in relation to a holistic and sustainable working method. One example of this is the following guideline: “The amount of time we work is not defined by the ambitions of the piece, the ambitions of the piece is defined by the time we’ve set”. This is our way of combating the feeling of a piece “never being quite finished” and to stay true to our method.
What happens to the perception of art when we, as artists, refuse to suffer?
Meet the artistic directors of the Unsuffering (Performance) Artists
Cecilie Kappel
I am a transdisciplinary artist. My work differs in many ways, but they often contain a performative element. I am interested in the performance of everyday life and the parts of us that we do not get to perform because of the expectations towards us. I enjoy playing with the line, and if there is a line, between when I am performing as myself and performing parts of myself. Working with the artist I impersonate, sometimes forgetting to impersonate her and just being her. When I’m not working with U(P)A, I’m doing my Master’s in fine arts at Malmö Art Academy.
Konrad Holmqvist
I have a background in acting and directing, and in my performing arts I draw heavily from tabletop role-playing games. I’m always exploring ways to translate the immersive experience of role-playing into my stage work and am deeply curious about the inner workings of the human mind. My creative process is guided by the philosophy that art should be a collective endeavor driven by joy. Outside of U(P)A I’m currently working as an artistic director for the free theater group Grenverket and as a theatre teacher for kids, youths and young adults.
Per Holmqvist
I am a conceptual performance artist with an acting background and I focus on technological implementation in stage art. What interests me as an artist is the context of human relationships. How we perceive each other and ourselves, the nonverbal knowledge we all have and that we need space to explore. Inside jokes and funny misunderstandings are great inspirations in my work. A part from working with U(P)A I’m also working as a sound and light designer and technician for various projects in the south of Sweden.
THE UNSUFFERING (PERFORMANCE) ARTISTS 