Edvard Munch. Angst

with Monica Bonvicini

August 10 – November 2, 2025

Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Chemnitz, Germany
https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de

Performance “Break It / Fix It”
September 13, 2025, 3pm
https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de

Internationally renowned artists Monica Bonvicini and Sam Durant present their performance “Break it / Fix it” live and in public for the first time as part of the exhibition “Edvard Munch. Angst.”

Fear is a feeling that can either unleash energy or leave us paralyzed. It knows no social boundaries and affects all layers of society. Bonvicini and Durant address this ambivalence: The performance is based on their 2003 video work “Break it, Fix it” that was shown the first time at their Vienna Secession’s solo show. The video is a choreographed documentation of the destruction of a sculpture made out of wooden letters spelling the word ANGST, that get reassembled in a new work, in a new word: FEAR.

The transformation from ANGST to FEAR can be understood as an ironic commentary, between the psychological once and the felt one. The playful, physical act of smashing, sawing, and rebuilding the “same same but different” accompanied by a slapstick acting, ponders about the subject of creativity and freedom in the production of art.

For the performance, the sculpture ANGST will be removed from the current exhibition and reinstalled in its new shape as FEAR in the gallery space, making the transformation visible there as well. The action will be carried out by performers in front of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz Theaterplatz.

The original video of the Performance by Bonvicini/Durant is on display in the museum as part of the sculptural work.