In the vastness of the night and the deepness of the ocean, a floating vessel traverses. Slow but steady, accompanied by the lingering thrum of its engine. This body-vessel is unlike any other; an obscure mechanic trunk whose direction is uncertain. It can only be seen or heard after sundown. It carries dreams or nightmares, faded out memories, illusions and lore surrounding the ever-evolving sea.
Inspired by leisure cruises on the Baltic Sea, Toni Brell and Angeliki Tzortzakaki are interested in stories of socio-ecological entanglements seen through the fictionalised lens of a ghost ship. By challenging traditional research methods and interweaving investigation with elements of fiction, the project aspires to uncover alternative ways of engaging with fieldwork.
Drifting Nocturnes was first presented at Saari Residency in Finland as a part of their Research Pavilion and in an adapted version as a soundpiece and performance at the Research Pavilion Exhibition at HIAP, Helsinki.
Toni Brell is a visual artist working with scenography, performance and narrative as tools for relation-making. Hosting rather than presenting, Brell likes to create situations, in which an audience can react and relate to what they see. For this, Brell often uses landscapes as a stage or container where this exploration unfolds.
2021 |
MFA, Sandberg Instituut, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL |
2018 |
BA, Visual Communication, Weissensee Academy of Art, Berlin, DE |
2009 |
BA, Theatre and Media Studies, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, DE |
2023 |
Mondriaan Fonds, Artist Start Grant |
2022 |
Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, for the realisation of three events with Brackish, NL |
2022 |
TakeHeart research grant, funding for performance research, with Kati Masami Menze and Daria Nazarenko, DE |
2021 |
Project grant, Student Council, Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam, NL |
2020 |
Project grant, Student Council, Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam, NL |
2017 |
Project grant, Mart Stam Stipend, Berlin, DE |
2024 |
Upcoming: Platform, Artist in Residence, Vaasa, FI |
2023 |
Research Pavilion #5 at Saari Residency, with Angeliki Tzortzakaki, FI |
2023 |
Participant of In Pursuit of Otherwise Possibilities (IPOP), Queer Performance Pedagogy and Feedback Sessions at DAS graduate school, Amsterdam, NL |
2022 |
Ando Future Studios, Research Residency, with Kati Masami Menze and Daria Nazarenko, TAKEHEART Residency hosted by PACT Zollverein, DE |
2022 |
Østfold International Theatre, Norway, Artist in residence, with Scores for Gardens, NO |
2022 |
Worlds that World, Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen, Mentorship programme, with Scores for Gardens, Vijfhuizen, NL |
2023 |
Garage Rotterdam, Lore / How close is too close, solo-performance, work in progress, Rotterdam, NL |
2023 |
Sipping Dunes, performance and Installation with Brackish, commissioned by Into The Great Wide Open, Vlieland, NL |
2023 |
A Mouthful of Whispers – installation and performance at Treehouse NDSM, with Brackish, Amsterdam, NL |
2023 |
Drifting Nocturnes, performance with Angeliki Tzortzakaki, at Augusta Gallery, HIAP, Helsinki, FI |
2023 |
Augusta Gallery, HIAP, Research Pavilion #5, group exhibition, commissioned by Uniarts Helsinki, Helsinki, FI |
2023 |
Zone2Source, A liquid performance tasting, curated by Simulacrum Magazine, with Brackish, Amsterdam, NL |
2022 |
Zine Fest Rotterdam, performance, with Brackish, NL |
2022 |
Affect Aliens & Revolutionary Despair, reading at Motto Berlin, curated by Lilly Markaki, DE |
2022 |
Brackish, KunstHub Bink, group exhibition and performance, with Megan Hadfield, Lila Bullen-Smith and Catalina Reyes, NL |
2022 |
Worlds that World, Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen, performance with Scores for Gardens, NL |
2021 |
Roots and Wings, group exhibition, Het Hem, Zaandam, NL |
2021 |
The Plottery, installation and workshops, at Rietveld Pavilion, Amsterdam, NL |
2020 |
It’s dark, I lie awake again, performance, at The Grey Space in the Middle, Den Haag, NL |
2017 |
Declaring Reason, group exhibition, Museum Meermanno, Den Haag, NL |
2015 |
Bring out your death!, lecture performance at Verein der Gestaltung, Berlin, DE |
2023 |
Design Academy Eindhoven, Fundamentals Tutor, NL |
2023 |
Maschinenhaus Essen, Exercises for Ungrounding as part of “Showcase 2023”, workshop with Kati Masami Menze and Daria Nazarenko, Essen, DE |
2022 |
Fictions and Forecasts: Orbiting a collective body—Workshop with Scores for Gardens, Movement Lab, KABK, Den Haag, NL |
2022 |
Materialising Materials—Storytelling and writing workshop on materiality with Naomi Credé, Sandberg Instituut, NL |
2022 |
Tutor for digital design in the Visual Communication Department, Weissensee Academy of Art, Berlin, DE |
2021/2022 |
Tutor for experimental zine-making for the course Undisciplinary Learning, with District Berlin, Academy of Art Leipzig, Leipzig, DE |
2021 |
Ghosts in the family—Storytelling workshop—with Amy Suo Wu, Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam, NL |
2015 |
Think Twice Before You Think, Co-organiser of the discussion and prototyping workshop on the proposition of setting up a new design school. At Antiuniversity Now, with Sophie Dyer, London, UK |
2015 |
Inside Out School, workshop on critical education at the Glasgow School of Art, with Sophie Dyer, Thom Swann and Rosen Eveleigh, Glasgow, UK |