Reimagining Body & Space Through Digital Performance

For 10 years, Swiss artists Jasmin Bigler and Nicole Weibel have worked together as BiglerWeibel, an artistic duo redefining how we experience the intersection of performance and digital media art. Their collaborative journey began in an artist studio, where a shared fascination with the interplay between body and space led to a lasting partnership. Recently, the duo held an exhibit for the 11th edition of Cairo Video Festival at the Italian Cultural Institute in Zamalek, where they gave a talk to discuss concepts of body manipulation, digital performance, and reimagining space to challenge our perceptions of locations we expect to already know.

BiglerWeibel’s work centres on questioning the familiar - norms ingrained in daily life - and presenting them in a new light. “Our goal is to question and deconstruct the norm to see things in a new way,” Bigler tells CairoScene. Their creative process often starts with something as unassuming as a kitchen sponge or a drinking fountain, objects they transform into costumes or storylines. For them, the body serves as both a material and a site for experimentation: “What else can a body be? How does it look like as a material for objects?”

Their Venice residency highlights this ethos. Roaming through the city, they interacted with locations that caught their attention, bringing these spaces into their creative works. This adaptive approach emphasizes their unconventional philosophy of interaction: walking, observing, and allowing the environment to shape their art.

A critical element of BiglerWeibel’s practice is their challenge to the commodification of the female body in advertising. They confront the advertisement gaze that presents bodies as objects to strive to attain. Through their works, they strip the body of commercial connotations and offer alternative perspectives that highlight its potential beyond commodity.

In one fascinating video clip, a pair of legs is captured against the backdrop of an ocean sunset, with a runner passing by and a boat on the horizon. This layered composition draws attention to the tension between the body, fragility, strength, and form.

Rather than offering linear narratives, their installations invite open-ended engagement. “It’s up to the audience,” they explain. A viewer might spend one minute or ten immersed in their work, each experience shaped by personal perception and interaction.

The duo's site-specific approach often involves interacting with architectural elements like windows, heating systems, or overlooked urban features. These spaces, once mundane, change their character through projection and performance, reframing how we engage with our surroundings. In this process, their practice reflects a playful and light-hearted, yet profound understanding of questioning the ordinary in all forms.

For those attending their artist talk at the Italian Cultural Institute, the opportunity to explore how BiglerWeibel’s art transforms not just the body but also how we perceive spaces around us. The pair challenge viewers to reconsider not only how they perceive art, but how they perceive the art around us that we don’t consider art. Whether by prompting reflections on how we see our own or others’ bodies, or by considering how we view a weathered building or the sight of a water fountain, the work captures a light-hearted playfulness that encourages us to explore and question the way we view the world around us.