Katherine Oggier Chanda

video performance, photography, installation
© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Bench Hike, video still, Scotland 2009 In my work I try to play with the idea of changing the functionality of the costume as an object capable of a double meaning in which the original purpose of the sheltering is not altered but simply used in a different context that would in turn question the limits of cultural codes and norms.

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Bench Hike, video still, Scotland 2009

In my work I try to play with the idea of changing the functionality of the costume as an object capable of a double meaning in which the original purpose of the sheltering is not altered but simply used in a different context that would in turn question the limits of cultural codes and norms.

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Duty Free, video still, Berlin 2011 At the moment the lieux of my video-performances, are very important because they act as powerful backdrops that help enhance the visibility of the performance and also the absurd actions and connotation related to cultural routine and display. In this regard the background can play a very deceiving role that is often misleading resulting into the birth of a particular perception and clichés of societies. In this work the body in space questions the limits of play. 

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Duty Free, video still, Berlin 2011

At the moment the lieux of my video-performances, are very important because they act as powerful backdrops that help enhance the visibility of the performance and also the absurd actions and connotation related to cultural routine and display.

In this regard the background can play a very deceiving role that is often misleading resulting into the birth of a particular perception and clichés of societies. In this work the body in space questions the limits of play. 

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Wonderland III, video still, Berlin 2011

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Wonderland III, video still, Berlin 2011

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Take Off, video still, Berlin 2011

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Take Off, video still, Berlin 2011

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Wonderland II, video still, Berlin, 2011

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Wonderland II, video still, Berlin, 2011

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Squeaky Clean, video still, somewhere in the Alps, 2009 In the video called Squeaky clean, I started working with the idea of costume usually worn during ceremonial cultural parades. This costume has both a lot of history and connotations attached to it. This piece confronts and questions the limits of cultural clichés of the Swiss image of cleanliness and conservation of nature. 

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Squeaky Clean, video still, somewhere in the Alps, 2009

In the video called Squeaky clean, I started working with the idea of costume usually worn during ceremonial cultural parades. This costume has both a lot of history and connotations attached to it. This piece confronts and questions the limits of cultural clichés of the Swiss image of cleanliness and conservation of nature. 

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Where is the Matterhorn? Video still, Scotland 2009 In the video called where is the Matterhorn? I chose to work with the idea of the symbolism and cliché of the famous Swiss mountain called Matterhorn which is visited by people from different parts of the world especially the Japanese. In the long run I decided to take the cliché a step further by making a video in the north of Scotland in which the main character is my Swiss friend of Asian originseen wearing the costume and acting like she is looking for the famous mountain totally in a wrong place. However the context in which the video is set involves the mountain only as a mental perception and not the physical one. This brings in the aspect of geographical similarities that often remind the viewer of a particular place when actually they are in another.

© Katherine Oggier Chanda, Where is the Matterhorn? Video still, Scotland 2009

In the video called where is the Matterhorn? I chose to work with the idea of the symbolism and cliché of the famous Swiss mountain called Matterhorn which is visited by people from different parts of the world especially the Japanese.

In the long run I decided to take the cliché a step further by making a video in the north of Scotland in which the main character is my Swiss friend of Asian originseen wearing the costume and acting like she is looking for the famous mountain totally in a wrong place. However the context in which the video is set involves the mountain only as a mental perception and not the physical one. This brings in the aspect of geographical similarities that often remind the viewer of a particular place when actually they are in another.