Coquetta
flawless looks / sound performance with modified cosmetic objects,
2018 - ongoing
In the shape of a fatal divaesque character, Coquetta was fashioned from garbage finds and self-beautification obsessiveness. Following one of the earliest human rituals, the application of cosmetics, Coquetta evolves on luscious-looking, self-built electronic instruments. The physical appearance and the behaviour of the sounding circuitry are altered symbiotically with substances and control voltages.
The sounding apparatus composed of an amalgam of cosmetics and electronics is hand-crafted in the shape of an Ambulant Beauty Salon where a daily toilette routine of a step-by-step makeup procedure occurs.
The makeup application instruments (brushes, sponges, pads) and chemical substances (cremes and colour cosmetics) are transformed into sound-generating gizmos and applied rhythmically on the face in a crescendo. Moisturising, scrubbing, eyelash curling, eye-shadowing, powder-puffing, lipstick application, and other manoeuvres become portrayed by specific abrasive sounds.
Coquetta develops sardonically as the substances are applied abundantly on her face making her finally ‘beautiful’ and yet somehow, deformed.
Coquetta is Ioana Vreme Moser’s glamorous ultra-femme alter ego. A ballet dancer for nearly 10 years, raised on Opera stages in flamboyant dresses, she dreamt of becoming as beautiful as Barbie.
The Beauty Machinery is the whole compendium of electronic machines that I’ve developed in time. From ultrasonic perfume to pressure-resistive stilettos to motorized eyeshadow, all are part of an improvised beauty salon. The performance follows the standard make-up procedure. Every cosmetic step is designated by its own sound, the skin foundation, for example, is a raspy saw-like sound on which I then build the composition.
The sensors introduced in the powder containers emit a certain charge that then changes the oscillation of a tone generator or the frequency of a filter. The circuits I work with are, for the most part, basic, analogue, with some personal modifications. Certain instruments were conceived with a separate circuit: for example, the lipstick, upon contact with the lips, becomes a dentist’s drill due to a series of CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) logic gates. The wig boxes were the basic instruments that can operate on their own as well. The cosmetic application ritual follows gently on the makeup table until the lipstick is applied.
exerpt form an interview with Miron Ghiu, Revista Arta
Coquetta at Future Perfect, B5 Studio, Târgu Mureș, Romania
photo credits: cyan/ Rab Zoltan
Coquetta at 2TageStrom, Kunstraum Walcheturm Zurich, CH, 2024
Coquetta in improvisation with Michela Pelusio, Hacklander / Hatam, Pierre Bastien, Alexander Trattler, Artur Musalimov
at 4fakultät #18, 2021, video by: URSSS
Coquetta at Audio Art Festival, Krakow, online, 2020
Exhibited & Performed at:
2024 - Entangled Sounds, KM28, Berlin, DE
2024 - Festival für selbstgebaute Musik, Berlin, DE
2024 - 2TageStrom, Kunstraum Walcheturm Zurich, CH
2023 - UKI screening, LAS Art Foundation, Berlin, DE
2021 - Future Perfect #4, B5 Studio, Târgu-Mureș, RO
2021 - 4fakultät - Kunsthaus Hamburg, DE
2021 - NØ SCHOOL Nevers, FR
2020 - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, DK
2020 - Short Waves Festival, Hotel Europa, Poznan, PL
2019 - Save Festival / 6.11 / Arma, Moscow, RU
2019 - PAF-Performing Arts Festival / 30.05 / Panke Gallery, Berlin, DE
2019 - Native Instruments, Berlin, DE
2019 - Antimatter #2, KM28, Berlin
2019 - IOX N.1 STWST, Stadtwerkstadtt, Linz
2018 - Schiziophonia, Simultan Festival, Timișoara, RO
2018 - Sâmbăta Sonoră, Teatrul Apollo 111, Bucharest,
2018 - Women Hack SFX, Channel 1969, Seoul, KR
2018 - De Rerum Natura, MAFA, Media Art Festival, Natural Sciences Museum, Arad, RO
2018 - UNCERTAIN SOUNDS, sound performance, Weisser Elephant Gallerie, Berlin, DE
2018 - STWST48x4 SLEEP, sleep sonata / sound performance at STWST48x4 Sleep, Stadtwerkstatt, Ars Electronica, Linz