Exhibition: Madeline Schwartzman

Face Nature

by Madeline Schwartzman

27 May 2023
31 Aug 2023

Opening soon! Madeline Schwartzman, writer, artist, and educator from New York, experiments with morphology, the fusion of human and non-human nature. She animates her body and face with the biomatter she gathers from parks and forests wherever she goes. The Mediamatic biotope will be filled with her video artworks. 

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Face Nature - Madeline Schwartzman Madeline Schwartzman , writer, artist, and educator from New York, experiments with morphology, the fusion of human and non-human nature. She animates her body and face with the biomatter she gathers from parks and forests wherever she goes. The Mediamatic biotope will be filled with her video artworks.  Madeline Schwartzman

Madeline calls her work Face Nature. She thinks of it as a noun, a verb, and a command. As a noun it describes the work she installs on her face and body: experiments in the meeting of human morphology and non-human nature. Skin and plant matter collide and integrate to create a more mutual subjectivity. It’s also a way to playfully explore human futures. The effects of climate change and increased solar radiation—especially as we advance into space—will require us to make alterations to our skin.

To make this work she regularly forages on hikes and walks and later dissects, studies, and documents her collection. She also embeds herself in trees, hedges, and bark. She calls this facing nature. Madeline promotes a more ethical and sustainable approach to coexisting with nature in the Anthropocene and invites (commands) others to do so as well. She tries to start a movement of environmental integration, touch, respect, and mutuality.

Face Nature is site-specific and time-based. The foraged material has a brief life in art, and then it is returned to the forest. She films and photographs by herself, and occasionally with the help of a daughter or neighbour. Performances, photographic portraits, and moving images are often produced without her ability to see herself. 

Madeline Schwartzman

Madeline Schwartzman is a New York City artist, writer, and educator whose work explores human narratives and the human sensorium through social art, performance, book writing, curating, and video making. Her book See Yourself Sensing: Redefining Human Perception (2011) is a collection of futuristic proposals for the body and the senses. See Yourself XHuman Futures Expanded (2018) explores the future of the human head. Her forthcoming book is about hybrids—the intimate interaction between multispecies, human, and non-human entities.

Schwartzman recently had a solo exhibition at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, MA, a residency at Lab Verde in the Brazilian Amazon, and she has an upcoming exhibition at the Re Institute in Millerton, NY. She is a faculty member at Barnard College and at Parsons: the New School for Design.  

Artist Talk

Friday 26 May 2023
17:00 – 18:00
Free Entry

Opening Exhibition

Friday 26 May 2023
18:00 – 20:00
Free Entry

Workshop Face Nature Amsterdam

What can you find around Amsterdam when you really face nature? Join Madeline Schwartzman to embed the local ecology and landscape of Amsterdam onto your face and body.
Sunday 28 May
14:00-17:30

Full price €35 | Discount price € 25*
*We give a discount to students, stadspas and artists. If this applies to you we might ask to see your kvk nr/portfolio or student card for this option. 

Get your tickets here.

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Face Nature - Madeline Schwartzman Madeline Schwartzman , writer, artist, and educator from New York, experiments with morphology, the fusion of human and non-human nature. She animates her body and face with the biomatter she gathers from parks and forests wherever she goes. The Mediamatic biotope will be filled with her video artworks.  Madeline Schwartzman

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Face Nature - by Madeline Schwartzman Walk around  Mediamatic   and discover the video-works by artist   Madeline Schwartzman   hidden in all nooks and crannies. With her body and face she animates natural materials she collects from forests and parks   wherever she goes .  Face Nature  aims to create a more mutual subjectivity between humans and non-human nature, promoting a healthier coexistence. Can you find all works that convey how skin and nature collide and integrate?  Exhibition at Mediamatic 26th of May - 31st of August

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Face Nature - Madeline Schwartzman Madeline Schwartzman , writer, artist, and educator from New York, experiments with morphology, the fusion of human and non-human nature. She animates her body and face with the biomatter she gathers from parks and forests wherever she goes. The Mediamatic biotope will be filled with her video artworks. 

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Face Nature sponsors - Exhibition and workshop by Madeline Schwartzman Exhibition Opening 26th of May Workshop 28th of May Funding by:  AFK Stimuleringsfonds creatieve industrie  Mondriaan Fonds