FOREVER & TODAY, INC. presents A Soldierʼs Lust, a newly commissioned performance by Swiss artist Katia Bassanini as part of the Performa 09 Biennialʼs The Lust Weekend.  In addition to ongoing performances by the artist during the weekend, a reception will be held on Saturday, November 7 from 6-8pm with two performances.

Bassanini performs as the lusty “Madame D” in A Soldierʼs Lust.  Inspired by the Latin myth of the goddess Diana, A Soldierʼs Lust pays homage to the historic Futurist artist and performer, Valentine de Saint-Point, to whose infamous “Manifesto of Lust” the performance is dedicated.  De Saint-Point, like Diana – goddess of hunting, protector of women, and custodian over all sources of water and rivers – was enigmatic and acted in ways that served to dispense sovereignty and reinforce free will.

A Soldierʼs Lust, like much of Bassaniniʼs video and performance work, explores contemporary life through absurdist role-playing and slapstick comedy.  Formulating a “recipe,” the artist creates performance parameters with ingredients including a clawfoot bathtub filled with candy, a mist machine, a color wheel, artificial plants, and rumbling engine sounds.  In movements inspired by abstract dance, “Madame D” – literally a lady of leisure – enjoys various domestic tasks in a slow and relaxed manner.  She bathes, sings in the shower, organizes the room, and waters plants among the mist and colors that surround her in a therapeutic ambience.

Meanwhile, she entertains her guests with tales of her heroic adventures, encouraging them to indulge in their lustful desire for “taking their time” and “going along at their own pace,” something quite rare in New York City.  The resulting situation makes for circumstances that are both familiar and ambiguous, as the audience is invited to become involved, thus more conscious of themselves and their surroundings.

A Soldierʼs Lust is generously supported by Stiftung Erna und Curt Burgauer, Zürich.

KATIA BASSANINI (b. 1969, Lugano, Switzerland) lives and works in New York and Lugano, Switzerland. Bassanini received her diploma in Visual Art from the Superior School of Visual Art (ESAV), Geneva, Switzerland, in 1996. Recent solo exhibitions include Centro d'arte la Rada, Locarno, Switzerland (2009); Aktuelle Kunst, Luzern, Switzerland (2006); Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York (2005); Centro d'Arte Contemporanea Ticino, Ticino, Switzerland (2004); and Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy (2003). Bassanini’s group presentations, performances, and special projects include Kunsthalle Vienna, Vienna, Austria (2009); Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland (2008); SculptureCenter, Long Island City, New York (2007); and Swiss Institute, New York, New York (2006) among others, and she has received awards including Fair Play '07, Berlin, Germany (2007) and Swiss Awards, Fri-Art Centre d'Art Contemporain, Fribourg, Switzerland (2000).

FOREVER & TODAY, INC. is a year-old non-profit that is a sponsored organization of the New York Foundation for the Arts. Currently inhabiting a 100 square foot storefront on the cusp between New York's Lower East Side and Chinatown, Forever & Today is a mere thumbprint on the ever-expanding demographic of contemporary art, offering a unique set of circumstances for artists to create new work and engage the public.