Dimanche Rouge, Paris

The audience was transfixed, heads craned forward in anticipation: what was she going to do with the bowl of flour? This was no cooking demonstration but the seventh in a series of “experimental art” performances taking place as part of a night of absurdity and occasional mild obscenity at the monthly Dimanche Rouge experimental art festival, in Paris.

Italian Manuela Centrone, stood motionless, illuminated by a single spotlight. She held a bowl of white, red and black powder, her steadfast gaze cutting through the space in so stern and direct a manner as to dissuade any lapse in the audience’s concentration. Spectators’ expressions varied from entranced, to expectant, to mildly disturbed.

The tension engendered by the silence and the stillness was almost unbearable when, with a flick of the wrist, the bowl tipped and its contents dully thudded to the ground, a soft powdery cloud dispersing outwards and upwards, clearly visible in the shaft of light. There was a faint whiff of paprika.

It was a nippy Sunday evening, and the edgiest of Paris’ performance art scene had congregated for the 9th Edition of the event. The festival welcomes local and international performers to perform short, original pieces at Le Petit Bain, the new floating art space on the Seine.

The raison d’être of Dimanche Rouge is to bring performance art to the public. The project is the brainchild of Opie Imwinkelried, a performer and self-described IT “geek.”

Opie grew up in Buffalo, New York, a hotbed for experimental video art, somewhat explaining the festival’s emphasis on the smart use of technology and social media. The use of Kinect 3D scanner technology and streaming in performance art was a key focus throughout the main event, including its preceding workshops.

Critical of the insularity of existing performance art communities, Opie wanted to create an inclusive popular space encouraging dialogue between all participants. The intimate design of the Petit Bain is conducive to this atmosphere of participation and collaboration, drawing the spectator in deeper into the world of each artist.

At the close of Manuela’s performance, as some blinked in response to the dusting of flour covering her eyelashes, it seemed strangely appropriate that the French word for experiment and experience is one and the same.

The Dimanche Rouge festival is une expérience for artists and spectators alike. From her laboratory, which evidently contains a wealth of experiences, a dose of enthusiasm and boundless determination, Opie has concocted a winning formula for bringing experimental performance art to Paris.

The 10th edition of Dimanche Rouge will take place on the 20th November at Le Petit Bain, 7 Port de la Gare, Paris.

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By Emma Lee
Gloobbi Contributor
Based in Paris

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