by: Ana Finel Honigman, May 2010
"AFH: Can you talk about the aspect of pain in your work?
MS: I am classical by nature. So the pain, the dangerous materials, and the fact that I am attracted to refuse add necessary tension to the work. But another reason that I am going through something painful is to raise the question: When do we not have pain?
AFH: Sadly, a very valid question.
MS: Even emotionally its true. There are times when you have to wait for ages. Or you might feel stuck in your life. Whatever it is. There are certain times when you need to use your resources and find the elements within your situation to make useful. The materials that I use then become those elements for me."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"AFH: Can you talk about the aspect of pain in your work?
MS: I am classical by nature. So the pain, the dangerous materials, and the fact that I am attracted to refuse add necessary tension to the work. But another reason that I am going through something painful is to raise the question: When do we not have pain?
AFH: Sadly, a very valid question.
MS: Even emotionally its true. There are times when you have to wait for ages. Or you might feel stuck in your life. Whatever it is. There are certain times when you need to use your resources and find the elements within your situation to make useful. The materials that I use then become those elements for me."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
January Review: 2010
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Artist Catalogue, Courtesy Wilde Gallery: May 2009
“Madeline Stillwell becomes an extension of her surroundings, embracing the wreckage she inhabits with tender acceptance, submitting her body to its promise of pain without a sound, weaving through conduits of broken, jagged furniture, or burrowing herself beneath the lonely debris left in a defunct, long-forgotten factory loft. The refuse she collects on-site and reconstructs to form her stage invokes in the viewer a kind of bewildered fascination, a romanticized repulsion that lingers long after the performance’s conclusion.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Madeline Stillwell becomes an extension of her surroundings, embracing the wreckage she inhabits with tender acceptance, submitting her body to its promise of pain without a sound, weaving through conduits of broken, jagged furniture, or burrowing herself beneath the lonely debris left in a defunct, long-forgotten factory loft. The refuse she collects on-site and reconstructs to form her stage invokes in the viewer a kind of bewildered fascination, a romanticized repulsion that lingers long after the performance’s conclusion.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tulip Art Enterprises, January 2009
"Cocooning, or very slowly digging through the waste that she collects for her performance sites, [Stillwell's] ambient movement through her installation at .HBC left the audience free to come and go, while freaking them out as well. For instance, the slow appearance of a hand or leg, delicately, blindly feeling its way out of the debris.
In this case, the owners of the building, the W.B.M. - famous in the 90's for their helpful policy towards Berlin-Mitte artists, forced the curators to take down the "trash in the window" after a few days, not knowing it was an artist's installation. After years of successfully using art's potential for gentrification, they now value it only as window decoration masking their dysfunctional technocratic economics.
Nonetheless a Video of Stillwell's work remained in the window, prominently filling the space with the memory of the stuff and the performance that had previously taken place there, despite its absence."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Cocooning, or very slowly digging through the waste that she collects for her performance sites, [Stillwell's] ambient movement through her installation at .HBC left the audience free to come and go, while freaking them out as well. For instance, the slow appearance of a hand or leg, delicately, blindly feeling its way out of the debris.
In this case, the owners of the building, the W.B.M. - famous in the 90's for their helpful policy towards Berlin-Mitte artists, forced the curators to take down the "trash in the window" after a few days, not knowing it was an artist's installation. After years of successfully using art's potential for gentrification, they now value it only as window decoration masking their dysfunctional technocratic economics.
Nonetheless a Video of Stillwell's work remained in the window, prominently filling the space with the memory of the stuff and the performance that had previously taken place there, despite its absence."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Features: December 10, 2008
"The first art I came across at the Miami Art Fairs was an elegantly painful performance by artist Madeline Stillwell.
Within seconds, the woman beside me intoned:
'I believe it's articulated. Is it articulated?'
Curiosity and social courtesy led me to interrogate her:
'Excuse me? Articulated?'
She was ready:
'Is it a robot?'
Awesome.
It was as if she was unable to conceive of a piece of art that wasn't an object, that couldn't be bought."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The first art I came across at the Miami Art Fairs was an elegantly painful performance by artist Madeline Stillwell.
Within seconds, the woman beside me intoned:
'I believe it's articulated. Is it articulated?'
Curiosity and social courtesy led me to interrogate her:
'Excuse me? Articulated?'
She was ready:
'Is it a robot?'
Awesome.
It was as if she was unable to conceive of a piece of art that wasn't an object, that couldn't be bought."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Berlin: Oktober 31, 2008
"The rooms of the building are still impregnated with a spirit of the Berlin Regional Finance Directorate, who last resided here. The U.S. artist Madeline Stillwell has made the most of it: in a chamber she arranged the remaining office telephones, forgotten documents, and herself--with the beautifully appropriate title, Excessive Room Service."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The rooms of the building are still impregnated with a spirit of the Berlin Regional Finance Directorate, who last resided here. The U.S. artist Madeline Stillwell has made the most of it: in a chamber she arranged the remaining office telephones, forgotten documents, and herself--with the beautifully appropriate title, Excessive Room Service."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Arts Review: June 13, 2008
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Arts Review: January 25, 2008
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Features section: February 5, 2008
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Section A&E: January 23, 2008
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
