Minnesota Street Project Foundation and re.riddle are proud to present the U.S. debut of Self-Brainwashing, an immersive performance piece by acclaimed artist Michail Michailov. Originally programmed for the Bulgarian Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2022, this captivating work will be performed on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays throughout SF Art Week in January 2025.

In this groundbreaking performance, Michailov encourages both observation and participation. Participants dress in protective suits and are guided by the artist into the installation, where they become gradually enveloped in ethereal, white foam. Disrupting visual and physical delineations of space, body, and structure, the installation prompts a reconsideration of the relationship between clarity and obscurity. Awakening and challenging the senses, the shifting environment evokes a duality of sensation that is at once delightful and disorientating.

Responding to contemporary dialogues about reality and perception, Self-Brainwashing invites audiences into critical reflection. In an era where multiple realities—augmented, virtual, and artificial—increasingly intersect with and sometimes overshadow our physical world, Michailov's work purposefully employs obscurity as a powerful artistic tool. Through the metaphoric and literal application of encompassing foam, the piece prompts audiences to question: what insights might we gain when the familiar becomes unfamiliar?

Each performance includes contributions from Bay Area sound artists Jorge Bachmann, Kevin Corcoran, Roco Córdova, and Ven Voisey, who respond to Michailov’s work, performing live vocal and instrumental music. 

This work was formerly presented as part of Michailov's solo exhibition, THERE YOU ARE, originally curated by Irina Batkova for the Bulgarian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2022.

Michail Michailov was born in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and currently lives and works in Vienna and Paris. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Veliko Tarnovo (1999-2004) and Art History at the University of Vienna (2002-2007). From 2006-2009 Michailov worked in cooperation with the artist group Gelitin. In 2007, he took part in the summer academy “Situation and Spectacle” at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (lecturer: Cerith Wyn Evans). In addition to several residencies and awards, Michailov received the Drawing Now Paris Art Award (2018). In 2022 Michailov represented Bulgaria at the 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. He is currently an artist in residence at ISCP, NY. Michailov has had solo exhibitions at Belvedere Museum in Vienna (2024); re.riddle gallery in San Francisco (2024); Kunstraum Lakeside in Klagenfurt (2023); Galerie Viktor Bucher in Vienna (2023); +359 Gallery in Sofia (2021); Drawing Lab Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Exnergasse (2019); Sotheby's Vienna (2016). Michailov's works are in the various permanent collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria.

re.riddle was founded in 2017 by art historian and curator Candace Huey. The art gallery showcases international contemporary artists through socially engaging and multidisciplinary programming. Our mission is to contribute to the discourse on contemporary art in thought provoking and playfully subversive ways. Via new modes of production, reception and consumption, re.riddle places an emphasis on the whimsical with hope that art continues to arouse curiosity and promote an awareness of its profound impact on our daily surroundings and lives.

Image: Michail Michailov, Self-brainwashing#2, Università Ca' Foscari, THERE YOU ARE BULGARIAN PAVILION 59th, La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. Photo credit: Milena Kaneva.