19/05/2025
CREATED DURING THE 10 DAYS OF BUNKER…
SECRETLY I AM ….
PERFORMANCE BY SANDRA BAYER, .h.bayer
2024
ON THE LAST DAY OF THE RESIDENCY, SANDRA BAYER ENDED HER CREATIVE PROCESS WITH A PERFORMANCE THAT CAPTURED THE COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE. DRESSED IN AN ENSEMBLE OF MATERIALS LEFT BEHIND BY HER FELLOW ARTISTS, SHE WORE THE RELICS OF THE PLACE’S CREATIVE PROCESSES AND STORIES ON HER BODY – AN EMBODIMENT OF THE SHARED CREATION.
SHE MOVED SLOWLY THROUGH THE ROOMS, SENSING THE ENERGY OF THE PLACE AND CONNECTING THE PAST AND THE PRESENT. HER MOVEMENTS CREATED A NEW REALITY THROUGH GESTURES AND PRESENCE. SHE BECAME THE INTERFACE BETWEEN SPACE, MEMORY AND ART.
IT WAS AS IF THE WALLS WERE RETURNING THE RECORDED EXPERIENCES – AN ECHO OF VOICES, COLORS AND SHAPES. THE PLACE, THE THINGS AND THE MEMORIES MERGED WITH HER AS SHE HERSELF BECAME THE EMBODIMENT OF THE SPACE. AT THAT MOMENT, THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN MAN, SPACE AND OBJECT DISAPPEARED.
467,000
ACRYLIC AND MASKING TAPE ON CANVAS
UNTITLED, 2024
SANDRA BAYER
SOFT PASTEL ON PAPER
UNTITLED, 2024
SANDRA BAYER
SOFT PASTEL ON PAPER
SANDRA BAYER (THE TOPSTER) IS A PERFORMANCE ARTIST, DRAG KING, AND PAINTER WHOSE WORK ENGAGES WITH HOW HUMANS ABSORB, EXPEL, AND ARCHIVE THE TURBO-CHARGED INFORMATION AGE’S ONSLAUGHT OF MEDIA. CRAFTING THEIR CREATIVE FORCE INTO A VESSEL FOR UNLEASHING OUR PERCEPTUAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORLD’S FUNDAMENTAL INSTABILITY, THEY HAVE DEVELOPED ARTISTIC STRATEGIES FOR CUTTING INTO IMAGES’ FLIMSY MEMBRANES OF FEIGNED FIXITY. WHETHER DISCOVERING THE FEED’S PHYSICAL FORM OR EMBODYING A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM (ENTER STAGE LEFT THE TOPSTER), THEY RIP APART DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL REALITIES AND SCULPT THEIR GUTS INTO FRESH NARRATIVES/FORMS, UNVEILING AND MANIPULATING THE FORCES WHICH FESTER BEHIND RIGID DEFENSE MECHANISMS, CELLPHONE SCREENS, AND FRAMEWORKS OF IDENTITY.
TEXT BY EVAN KARAS
Photo Credits: 3,4,6,7,8 by
