For A… explores the construction of gender and how it is represented in society. The popular culture of the post-industrial age has revealed female subjects presenting themselves in different kinds of manners between self-staging and staging the other. Femininity can be used as a reflective screen for male fantasies. On the other hand, femininity can also serve as a social mechanism for subordination to a pre-existing order or as a mechanism of self-exploitation. Women as subjects often represent themselves using male imagery: as nymphets, sluts, queens or divas.

In a close-up, the human face is smoothed. A “face” has neither depth nor shallowness. It is simply smooth. It lacks inwardness. “Face” means “façade” (from the Latin “facies”). (Byung-Chul Han: Die Errettung des Schönen (“Saving the Beautiful”). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2015.)

Silke Grabinger’s solo scrutinises the phantasma of the woman in the information society. It analyses concepts of being a woman and the way these concepts affect the female identity. The performance thus becomes a reflective screen for the faces this woman chooses to have, those she adopts unquestioned and those that are read into her. Aptly, For A… is always intended for the other, for someone or something, just not for itself.

Silke Grabinger is a dancer, choreographer and artist. In her works and concepts, she combines urban contemporary dance with performance and visual art. She puts a special focus on the critical analysis of social phenomena, artistic paradigms and the function or position of the audience. For A... marks Silke Grabinger’s first visit to the brut stage.