Artists: SIGNA (Signa & Arthur Köstler)
Exhibition title: The Market
Venue: Simian, Copenhagen, Denmark
Date: May 29 – July 3, 2021
Photography: Brian Kure / GRAYSC / Kim Høltermand. All images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Simian, Copenhagen
I wish I could scream
but I’ve got so hollow
down the market I go
to buy more and swallow
While I’m gone at the market
Please feed the cocks
While I’m gone at the market
roll up my cot
If it’s fur you’re in search of
my father’s gone hunting
Down at the market
he’s sniffing and grunting
An arrangement of skin
a race that’s worth pacing
a hobby of sorts
of people erasing
Who needs a face
when no one recalls
where you came from last night
they don’t care at all
They gave me a mask
and I gave them my word
from this melted off mouth
that nobody heard
The market’s not safe
it sure is still pretty
The market’s not safe
and so ain’t the city.
It’s safer inside
my ribs though they burn
Come to market
and wait for your turn
The lights are all on
but nobody’s home
They’re all at the market
to seethe and to moan.
Put them in cages
the brides who are stealing
their little white dresses
burst at the seaming
out to the dumpster
to take it or leave it
the treasure we’ve lost
you just won’t believe it.
An arrangement of skin
peel back the muscle
slow cook the heart
lungs rattle and rustle
Come to the market
who wants to stay home
Come to the market
where skin bags are sewn.
-Hannah Grady
SIGNA, comprised of Signa & Arthur Köstler, are internationally known for their immersive projects, where audiences engage in close proximity with a multitude of performers for lengthy durations of time in large, extremely detailed scenographies. In The Market, the scenography and solitary spectator play the lead roles. The many living characters that usually populate SIGNA´s universe are replaced by numerous human-sized dolls.
