Guido Van der Werve

This film, which is part of a series of 60 shorts dedicated to internationally famous contemporary Dutch artists, is a portrait of Guido van der Werve, best known for his performances, from which he derives films, and for his musical compositions: works numbered according to chronological order. Artist, composer, athlete, he’s always the sole protagonist of his films, which are pervaded by surreal, melancholy atmospheres, but not without a subtle, pungent irony. Starting with his last production, “Nummer veertien, home”, 2012, in which he traveled approximately 1700 km, from Warsaw to Paris–swimming, by bicycle and running–to bring a handful of dirt he grabbed from Frédéric Chopin’s tomb in Paris to Poland, thus answering the musician’s request to be buried in his native land. The artist, who has his studio in Finland, explains the importance of pushing his body beyond its limits in the performative part of his work.