About the Agency
HnC is a live art/-ists agency that offers organizations, institutions and individuals the opportunity to commission and experience performance art outside recognized and institutionalized channels. Thanks to hNC, anyone can order a performance!
Countering the current trend of casting performance art as entertainment, HNC returns creative control to the artists, experimenting with the formation of new production chains and expanding the operational field for (critical) performance art.
How does HnC work?
Go online and order a semi-customized, critical performance for your gala or dinner, in-home salon or one-on-one private session. We will contact you to schedule a meeting to start the commissioning process. We will consider your preferences, try to understand the event and context and we will suggest an artist that we think would be the best match for your event. hNC will follow up, helping with the communication between you and the artist, right up until the performance time. We will also propose extras that you might want to include such as documentation or catering. For more info or if you would like to receive the project concept, contact us: info@hnc.agency
Team
The ‘Salon’ format (Live Art in living rooms) was introduced by Marisa König Beatty during Kulturtage Thalwil. Martin Schick was invited as an artist and presented the performance Incorporation, claiming critical art as the new form of bourgeois entertainment. Agustina Strüngmann, already formerly working with Martin Schick, accompanied the work, as she was writing her master thesis about “Performance art and the fundraising gala: a look at this segment of the art world’s experience economy”. Discussions around the topic lead us to the present collaboration.
Martin Schick
Martin Schick is a freelancing performance artist from Switzerland, living between Berlin and the swiss alps. After a career as a dancer, he was educated in theatre/ performance at the High School of Arts in Berne. Since 2007 he creates his own scenic works mainly in the independent dance and theatre environment, gaining international attention and showing numerous works at significant venues all over the world. Versatile in crossing different subjects and mediums, which includes exhibitions, text and open formats, theatrical elements are intrinsic in his practice and turn his work into experimental, playful and humorous. Since 2015, he is realizing 10 residencies (RADICAL LIVING I-X) challenging his own practice of working and living thanks to the european network WEB and a grant of the canton of Fribourg (CH), 2016 on tour with LOW BUDGET SERIES, a collection of low budget based solo performances, shown at PSA Shanghai and Hongkong Art Center in the context of ART BASEL Hongkong a.o. www.martinschick.com
Agustina Strüngmann
Agustina Strüngmann is a curator from Buenos Aires, Argentina that lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. She studied art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art (2012-2013) and finished her MAS in Curating Contemporary Art at ZHdK (2015). Throughout her studies she has developed a special interest in researching in performance art and completed her thesis on performance art and the fundraising gala. Strüngmann is also in the process of creating a foundation to support Argentine artists in collaborations with residency spaces in Europe. Other projects include: A Performative Piece by Nicole Bachmann, Museum Bärengasse, Zurich, (Feb. 2015), Reflections on artistic services, performance and the institution, a short documentary in which performance artists talk about their role in the context of institutional commissions (Jun. 2015). She has also contributed articles, reviews and interviews to Barzón in Buenos Aires, The Journal of Curatorial Studies, UK, Movement Research Journal, New York, Art Nexus magazine, Miami, and online journal On-Curating.org.
Marisa König Beatty
Texas-born Marisa König Beatty began her career in NYC as a dancer and choreographer. Shortly after co-founding a multidisciplinary performance space in Brooklyn, she found her calling behind the scenes: as a curator, arts administrator, program manager, and all around performance advocate. In 2007 she moved to Brussels where she expanded her international network through her work with Dame de Pic / Cie. Karine Ponties and ZOO / Thomas Hauert. There, she also became a mother. Twice. Since moving to Switzerland in 2012 she has launched several programs through her company, könig beatty projects. These include (among others) the in-home performance series, Salon, the land-art workshop, NaturSkulptur, and the formulation of a Cultural Integration Group, an initiative developed in tandem with the Gemeinde Thalwil. Reflecting on over 20 years experience in the cultural sector, she calls into question the economics of and traditional channels for artmaking, investigations which are supported through her work with the Impact Hub Zürich and Hnc. www.konigbeattyprojects.com
Upcoming Events
No upcoming events!
Our Joint Ventures
Design
Marlon Ilg
Web programming
Severin Fischer
Photographers/Video
Anna Dettwiler
Caroline Minjolle
Simon Schwarz
Paulo Wirz
Jonathan Ospina
Filmerei
Joerg Hurschler
Catering
Ana J Haugwitz
Ana J Haugwitz is a Colombian artist based in Zürich. She has collaborated with film festivals like Porny days and Silent film marathons organized by the Institut for incoherent cinematography, developing gastronomic solutions that intensified the festival contents on a symbolic level. This part of her work overlaps the social aspect of eating and the artistic expression itself. For money she currently manages Canzoniere.
Milena Schneider
Milena Schneider is a Swiss-Italian cook from Zurich city who flirts with the art scene. She studied Dance Pedagogy at GDS in Basel, while never loosing her passion for gastronomy. With her catering “Mimi’s Kitchen” she often works in collaboration with art projects, vernissages or festivals such as: Stromereien, Zürich Tanzt, Zürich moves!, Tanzhaus Zürich, ZHdK or Galerie Freymond-Guth. She is amazed by the possibilities of interlinking cooking and art. She is inspired by her Italian roots, a Mexican family background and the diversity of life. Her motivation is the fact that food can overcome borders and bring people together from allover the world and interests.
@itsmimiskitchen
Maya Minder FOOD-ART
Maya Minder is a Swiss/Korean artist based in Zurich. Her vision is embedded in enabling dialogues between people. The best way to do so is through food. Kimchi Hot Dogs, Kefir-fermentations and Korean Barbecue are some of her specialities. In simple words; probiotic, spicy and good!
Maya cooked several times for Kunst+Brot, a cooking project Initiated by Marlen Groaner that enabled artists to present their cooking skills and serve a five course dinner at their studios as the best host.
Printing
FAQ
What is hNC’s aim?
hnc aims to promote critical culture over decorative or service-based art whose sole purpose is to provide entertainment for the commissioning body. There is an inherent tension in acting as the interface between art and the private sector, one that HNC intends to explicitly evoke to question this relationship and to reflect upon the agency of the performance artist in general.
What are the event types?
Gala event: We offer performances for galas or larger dinner events of institutions, companies and organizations. Imaginary number of participants would be around 100 people.
Salon: We offer performances for small events in people’s homes for individuals, families and groups of interest. The host has the opportunity to invite a selected audience and to include – or not – access for a general public, customizing in this way the event’s privacy. Ideally you invite 6 friends and we sell out 6 tickets to a public audience.
Private Session: We offer performances for a single individual encounter. Time and location has to be defined by the artist, according to the commissioners’ choice or preferences.
Phone call: As a very low budget option within the category ‘Private Session’, we offer a simple performative phone call by an artist.
SMS: A very very low budget option…a performative text message, without guarantee of uniqueness!
What are the performance categories?
Intellectual: Text or research based, conceptual, or meta.
Community forming: socially engaged, participatory or “kind of repairing the social bond”.
Queer: gender bending, unconventional, against mainstream, provocative or strange.
Body centred: physical, almost traditional performance art or body as canvas.
Do-good: experiential, organic, suitable, sympathetic, musical, rather entertaining or soft.
Political: leftish, context driven, current or addressing actual issues.
How do I order a performance?
Just follow the process from the beginning, choosing the event, the type of performance and the budget options. Of course you can also just write us a mail: info@hnc.agency
Why ordering a performance?
Because it’s just more fun with a performance. Or, maybe “fun” isn’t the right word. It might make your event significant.
If I order a performance, do I have to make the event public?
No, you don’t. For a SALON you can just choose how many tickets you want to sell out to the MANIFESTA audience, for a SALON we suggest to sell 6 tickets out to a public audience, while you can invite 6 people from your circle of friends and family.
What is hNC commission/fee?
We take between 10 and 20%, depending on the case. We are a non-profit agency, if we would ever be able to pay our work on a low budget level, that would be already quite something..
Does Low Budget mean that the artists are underpaid?
Yes and No. We ask the artists beforehand for how much they would start to act (minimum fee) and then the artist just adapts to the fee, doing less for a low budget fee. Underpaid for sure is the HNc team, due to 8 refusals of 11 enquires for financial support by foundations and a kind but insufficient support by MANIFESTA (8000 CHF).
Am I going to like the performance?
There is no guarantee for such things, but for sure we try to find a good match for every situation. We do not want to “please” but we try to make the situation interesting and significant.
How can I support HNc?
Order a performance or donate to the following bank account:
hnc
GENERAL PERFORMANCES
KONTO: 61-594060-2
IBAN: CH56 0900 00006159 4060 2
BIC: POFICHBEXXX
bSHOP
Performance Cone/ 100 CHF
(very limited edition)
Content : DIY performance designed by hNC.
Packaging: print ( hors serie ) by Vreni Spieser, Series CAPRI JO, 80 x 108 cm, lithography, printing house Thomi Wolfensberger, 2015. Cover: ART BASEL HONGKONG bag, cut into 2 parts during a performance at Hong Kong Arts Center by Martin Schick. Additional applications from various costumes of I JUST WANNA FUCKING DANCE, initiated by Kiriakos Hadjiioannou at Réunion ZH, 2016.
* The purchase of materialized immaterial items in bSHOP supports the activities and existence of HNC .
hNC agency for the new contemporary
Martin Schick
Agustina Strüngmann
Marisa König-Beatty
info@hnc.agency
Represented by:
Verein General Performances
PROGR Bern – Atelier 262
Waisenhausplatz 30
3011 Bern
Switzerland
Design:
Marlon Ilg, Zurich
www.marlonilg.ch
Coding:
Die Grafischen, Bern
www.die-grafischen.ch
Collaborating artists
Tamara Alegre
Ali Al-Fatlawi & Wathiq Al-Ameri
Nicole Bachmann
Nino Baumgartner
Søren Berner
Ivan Blagajcevic
Anja Braun
Bucci-Moro Entertainment
Catia Costa
Beatrice Fleischlin + Anja Meser
Monica Germann
Kiriakos Hadjioannou
Gregory Hari
Daniel Hellmann
Florence Jung
Ingrid Käser
San Keller
Ariane Koch & Sarina Scheidegger
Nils Amadeus Lange
Milenko Lazic
Annina Machaz
Maya Minder
Marc Mouci
Emma Murray
Charlotte Nagel
Neue Dringlichkeit
Katherine Patiño Miranda
Julia Perazzini
PRICE
Diana Rojas
Oliver Roth
Dorothea Rust
Valerio Scamuffa
Martin Schick
Vreni Spieser
Veli&Amos
Teresa Vittucci
Peter Voss-Knude
Philippe Wicht
FAIRWELL by hNC, Manifesta 11 Farewell Event
Commissioner: Manifesta 11
Date: Sunday 18th September, 2016 5-7pm
Location: Pavillon of Reflections, Bellevue, 8001, Zurich
Free entry
Event type: Gala
FAIRWELL is a festive reconciliation, acknowledging critique, as well as the pleasure of having Manifesta 11 in Zurich. HNc (www.hnc.agency) – an on-going parallel event of Manifesta 11 launched by Agustina Strüngmann, Martin Schick and Marisa Koenig-Beatty – invites their committed artists and the audience itself to perform. The intervention starts at 5pm and ends up with a perfectly curated performance for the Pavillon of Reflections by hNC.
http://m11.manifesta.org/en/event/2689
SMS # 6
Artist: Tamara Alegre
Date: 18th September, 2016
Categories: queer
Performance by Ali Al-Fatlawi & Wathiq Al-Ameri
Commissioner: Migrationsmuseum
Date: Friday 16th September, 2016 7pm
Location: Turbinenstrasse 54, 8005, Zurich
Categories: political
Event type: Salon
“Supposed to be”, Performance by Søren Berner
Commissioner: Veronique Larcher
Date: Friday 16th September, 2016 8pm
Categories: community forming, do-good
Event type: Salon
SMS # 5
Artist: Vreni Spieser
Date: 11th September, 2016
Categories: Intellectual
Phone call #6
Artist: Oliver Roth
Location: Zurich
Date: 11th September, 2016
Categories: do-good
Private event
Wild Card Profitraining, Tanzhaus
Commissioner: Martin Schick for Tanzhaus
Date: Friday 9th September, 2016 10:00 – 11:30 hs
Location: Tanzhaus
Artist: Marc Mouci
Public event: http://www.tanzhaus-zuerich.ch/projekte/wild-card-schick
Super Tell Tales, Performance by Søren Berner
Commissioner: ETH, Communications Department
Date: 31st August, 2016
Categories: community forming, do-good
Event type: Gala
Photos
SHY SHY, Performance by Teresa Vittucci
Event: Manifesta Night, Löwenbrau
Commissioner: Manifesta
Date: 26th August, 2016
Categories: queer
Event type: Gala / Public
http://m11.manifesta.org/en/public-programme/manifesta-11-night
An Odyssey, Performance by Gregory Hari
Commissioner: Tanzhaus
Date: 24th August, 2016
Catering by: Ana Haugwitz, Canzoniere Categories: Intellectual, do-good
Event type: Gala / Private
SMS # 4
Artist: Vreni Spieser
Date: 23 August, 2016
Categories: any
SMS # 3
Artist: Maya Minder
Date: 13 August, 2016
Categories: queer
Phone call #5
Artist: Mathias Ringgenberg
Location: Zurich
Date: 9th August, 2016
Categories: queer
Private event
SMS # 2
Artist: Marc Mouci
Date: 8th August, 2016
Categories: political
Phone call # 4
Artist: Nils Amadeus Lange
Location: London
Date: 20th July, 2016
Categories: queer
Private event
Phone call # 3
Artist: Ali Al-Fatlawi
Location: London
Date: 11th July, 2016
Categories: political
Private event
Performances San Dance Company, Bares Wissen by San Keller
Location: Pavillion of Reflections
Commissioner: Julius Bär
Date: 6th July, 2016
Categories: community forming, do-good
Private event
Phone call # 2
Artist: Bucci-Moro Entertainment
Location: Zurich
Date: 2 July, 2016
Categories: do-good
Private event
SMS #1
Artist: Daniel Hellmann
Date: 22 June, 2016
Categories: queer
Phone call #1
Artist: Beatrice Fleischlin & Anja Meser
Location: Berlin
Date: 20 June, 2016
Categories: community forming, body centred
Private event
hNc OPENING GALA
Commissioner: hNC
Sa. 18.06.2016 / 20.00
Impact Hub, Viaduktstrasse 93, 8005, Zürich
Performance THE FUTURE IS NOW!
by Annina Machaz
Commissioner: Manifesta
Sa. 11.06.2016 / 21.00 Manifesta Artists’ Party, Negroni Bar,
Tellstrasse CH-8004 Zürich
