WÆXE is an interdisciplinary collective at the crossroads of digital art, performance and art/science. Our performances and installations create a synergy between body and reactive audiovisual environments. This fusion creates a poetic language that blurs the boundaries between the tangible world and the digital universe. We investigate the interdependence between our perception of the world around us, our place within it, and the impact of technologies on this relationship.
Based between French- and German-speaking part Switzerland, our collective is made up of four members.
Izabela Orzelowska
Izabela Orzelowska (she/her) is a performance artist, dancer and choregrapher. She holds a BA in Contemporary Dance from CODARTS (NL) and a MA in Expanded Theatre Studies from HKB (CH). After three impactful years at Stadt Theater Bern, she embarked on a career as an independent artist participating in over 20 projects in Switzerland and abroad. In recognition of her talent and contributions, she has received scholarships from the Ministry of Culture in Poland (dance) and the Canton of Bern (music). In 2021 she created, together with Gonzague Rebetez, their first production : “Only The Dead Fish Goes With The Flow,” which marked the beginning of their creative collaboration, resulating in creation of WÆXE. Between 2024-2026, Izabela will represent Südpol, Luzern in the Swiss edition of Dance and Dramaturgy workshop. Several times world jazz dance champion, she teaches internationally (Switzerland, Poland, South Korea, Germany and Norway). Since 2023, Izabela has been a teacher and choreographer at Musical Factory (LU). In addition to dance, Izabela has a passion for electronic music production and DJing. She also composes soundtracks for independent dance productions.
Instagram : @imorzelowska
Gonzague Rebetez
Dr. Gonzague Rebetez (he/him) has a scientific background with a specialization on the physic of light and bioelectronic (monitoring or activation of biology with electronic). His academic career has taken me from the University of Fribourg to the University of Bern, with stays abroad like at Cambridge University (UK) among other. His academic work has been recognized with several awards and he has organized various events to build bridges between science, art and society. In 2022, he co-founded the interdisciplinary collective WÆXE where he put his experience of light, sensors and algorithms at the service of artistic creation. In collaboration with the sound artist Timothée Verheij, he builds reactive acousmatic installations inspired of scientific concepts. With the performance artist Izabela Orzelowska, he makes show and performances aiming at amplifying dance and emotionalizing science. Recently he has been selected for the Future Memory Lab residency between Pyxis Exploration Numérique in Lausanne and the Migliorisi Foundation in Asunción, Paraguay founded by the Swiss Arts Council ProHelvetia.
Website : https://gonzague-rebetez.com
Timothée Verheij
Timothée (he/him) is a sound artist, electronic music composer and experimental short film director living in Biel. He will complete his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the HGK in 2019 and his Master of Contemporary Arts Practice in Sound Arts at the HKB in September 2023. This course of study enabled him to carry out research into the analysis and assignment of movement by means of various electronic sensors in the artistic context of interactive installations. His installations place the audience as an integral part of the sound composition, immersing them in the observation of tangible and intangible elements linked to their environment.
He notably collaborated with Gonzague Rebetez on a series of WIRED installations, which were presented at the Kunstraum Dreiviertel in Bern in 2022 and at the Musée Suisse de Musique Électronique (SMEM) in Fribourg in 2023. He is a member of the Lesmio electronic music group, formed with Julie Milani in 2022, which performs live in the form of sound installations.
Website: timotheeverheij.ch
Dustin Kenel
Dustin Kenel (he/him) is a performance artist and costume designer. In his performances, Dustin explores queer-feminist themes and is particularly interested in the aesthetics of power relations. These explorations are reflected both in his autofictional texts and in the costumes he designs. Costumes are a central component of his performance practice, which reinterprets movements, bodies and social dynamics and stimulates the imagination. In 2022, he was awarded the Förderpreis Tanz Solothurn. In addition to his artistic activities, he currently works as an artistic assistant at the Lucerne School of Art and Design and is on the board of Visarte Bern.
Instagram :@dustinkenel
