ça va bien, mais ça va mal
by Merzedes Sturm-Lie
At Komplot - Chateau Nour, Brussels (BE), 2019. Solo
ça va bien, mais ça va mal is the title of Merzedes Sturm-Lie's exhibition and is
based on the song 'Tout vas très bien, Madame la Marquise', which has been
reinterpreted by our friends from the Projet de Cohésion Sociale Albert (PCS). At
the initiative of José Garcia, this classic populist song was turned into a militant
song and performed by a group of inhabitants and social workers just in time for the
recent elections in Belgium. All this took place in an atmosphere of good spirits and
mockery during the weekly Friday lunches at PCS.
Merzedes Sturm-Lie, an artist-in-residence at Komplot, offered her services by documenting the singing sessions
of this protest song tinged with black humor. For the opening on November 15, she
has reinterpreted the song through a performance. The exhibition contextualizes
the history of this song by tracing it back to the 12th century. The video, the posters
and the performance will be presented alongside paintings inspired by the artistic
avant-garde's tradition of social and political engagement. The cabaret atmosphere
of the exhibition also reminds us that these great historical movements originated
from spaces of informal sociability.
Text by curator Sonia Dermience, 2019
SOUND from the performance "ça va bien, mais ça va mal"

Street view of ça va bien, mais ça va mal. Video, posters, paintings. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Exhibition view. Posters and paintings. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie
Street view. Video, posters, paintings. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Still image of video screening. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Posters. Collages printed in black & white. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Detail of poster and painting (oil and gold leaf). © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Painting, oil and gold leaf on canvas. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Details of posters and painting (oil and gold leaf). © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Performance text. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie

Performance. © Merzedes Sturm-Lie
Above photo from the performance by Jacques Rawski. All other photos by Ludovic Beillard
Video documentation of the performance ça va bien, mais ça va mal at Komplot 15/11/2019