Jaime Ibanez

PARTICIPATING ARTIST OF THE EXHIBITION “THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME”,
PORT JOURNEY MEETING 2016

Jaime Ibanez designs his own systems which are related to cinema, theatre and music. These are “primitive” animations, installations, theatre and music. “Primitive” in this context refers to the technique that was used before the birth of digital animation. Think of kinetic installations, shadow play and utensils. These different resources and are translated to a theatre setting in which Ibanez pulls the strings as a director, as an actor, scenario writer, roadie, stage manager and more… At the same time he’s continuously on the lookout for mechanisms that facilitate this translation. These homemade theatre techniques are processed to parts of his installation. Visibility and eloquence of the material (and also of his own actions) is of great importance and related to the form, it uncovers a sometimes rather surprising function. Thus far it gives a playful, “primitive”, sketchy impression. Mechanical, analogue technology are made visible and are being transformed to a visual event turning these into the media of the story. In some ways this installation can be seen as a physical extension of the artist himself.

"The Primitive Animation", 2014,
“The Primitive Animation”, 2014,

Ibanez writes his own stories and often have a archetypal character. You will find a connection with legends, folk stories and of course the artist himself. By alternating the use of his voice he brings a difference in concentration and experience about and therefore vividly enhancing the story. The storylines are kept simple, creating an accessibility for the audience to experience the layers and different aspects of the whole entourage.

For more information:
www:jaimeibanez.com

 

ARTIST STATEMENT:
My name is Jaime Ibanez. Graduated as a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Minerva Academie (NL) in 2007, I currently work as an artist and performer in Groningen.

"The Primitive Animation", 2014,
“The Primitive Animation”, 2014,

My work can be described as experiments in storytelling, showing the different layers of a story, the emotions of characters, objects, the scenery, the soundscape.When narrating stories during my performances, my voice is intentionally theatrical, usually without the ambition to express ”real emotion”. This challenges the audience to reflect on and look what is behind the narrative.

My work is intuitive and playful, combining theatrical performance, installations, and short movies. The characters that I perform are entangled in world of miscommunication. On stage, I use transparent installations to illustrate the narrative visually. Through the combination of these stylistic means, I offer the audience various possibilities for interpretation, playing with different expectations of how a story can be told. My work is simultaneously ‘tangible’ for the audience, as well as vulnerable and otherworldly. In my opinion, art should seek confrontation. By this I mean a form of expression that intentionally risks being fragile on stage, in the sense of allowing to conduct a realtime experiment in front of an audience, with the possibility to get a direct response.
In the short movies I have created I have sought to zoom in story lines/installations. These pieces also feature an additional layer of sound, thus allowing me to highlight certain details that an audience would not notice the same way during a live performance. These short movies are experiments at the intersection of motion picture/performance/animation.

 

 

The Primitive animation(part A) by Jaime Ibanez, Douwe Dijkstra, Jornt Duyx from Jaime Ibanez on Vimeo.