TMKM
textual repetition
textual repetition is a participatory performance concept by artist Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen, taking place in libraries and settings which on a daily basis host books. Madsen will in these spaces facilitate durational and processual readings anchored in the books present on the shelves around.
Visitors will be invited to read lines from each a chosen book and repeat them, in a loop, knowing that these will never be exactly the same, but have difference inscribed through their continuous enunciation as repetition. The lines are chosen randomly by slipping a custom-made cardboard page into the book of choice, isolating a section. The performance thus wants people to read together, with their voices overlapping, multiplying, coming together and creating new affective constellations and resonances. This is done with a nod to the philosopher Gilles Deleuze's Difference and Repetition, which was one of Madsen's chosen books from the first version of the piece. When there are no audience members reading, Madsen will read aloud alone.
textual repetition is part of Madsen's ongoing research in text as/in performance art. It was first performed at the Performance Art Bergen Open Festival in Norway in 2022 in a hotel reading room, then in 2023 at the Oodi Library's Book Heaven, and in 2024 at the Nordic Library at the Nordic Culture Point, the two latest both in Helsinki (FI). This is thus a concept which will continue to seek out places which host books.
Nordic Library, Nordic Culture Point, Helsinki (FI),
Night of Culture 14. August 2024
What was unique at the Nordic Culture Point Library is an opportunity for a reading composition consisting of different Nordic languages, inter-weaved and mixed with others during the event.
Photos from Nordic Culture Point by Anki Hellberg-Sågfors.
Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen
textual repetition performance instruction
choose a book
take one of the sheets with a line cut out
slide it randomly into the book
read aloud only the sentence / words which it isolates
repeat it / them as long as you wish to
afterwards, please note down the sentence that you just read, the book title, and page (or leave the book with the sheet inside on the table)
thank you for participating!
please note that the performance will be audio recorded and photographed and upon participation you consent to this. These materials will only be used as documentation of the performance.
Oodi Library, Helsinki (FI),
27. September 2023
Oodi is the main public library in Helsinki, Finland, and the iconic building facilitates a unique environment for this performance. It took place at the library's so-called Book Heaven on its top floor from 17-19h.
Photos from Oodi by Antti Ahonen.
Villa Terminus, Performance Art Bergen Open Festival (NO)
April, 2022
The first textual repetition performance took place in the library of Villa Terminus in Bergen (NO) as a part of the Performance Art Bergen Open Festival in 2022. Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen here facilitated a durational and processual reading anchored in the books already present in this room and connected to site-specific topics, where Madsen brought additional three books important for their research in affect and performance art. People visiting the room were invited to read lines from this mix of books and repeat them, which ended in a dynamic mix of tempi, laughter, and even singing.
Photos from Villa Terminus by Camilla Louadah Hermansen.
Highlighted is a link to the sound from the first of a row of cycles which took place during this 2,5 hours performance, to illustrate the dynamics of collective reading: Cycle1