Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions) (2024)

In this installation, three chapters of the oeuvre of cryodesiccated fanfiction entrepreneur Ötza are projected on a post-historical neolithic rock formation of paper-maché, reconstructions of the real ones that were found close to Ötza’s body as she was carrying them (no Uber Van back then) through the Italian Alps after deinstalling an exhibition in a prehistoric mountain dwelling that had some regional funding back in 3250BCE but now doesn’t exist anymore. In these chapters, Ötza is transported to a fiber-optic cable (where she’s stuck), to the Minecraft Uncensored Library, 20 miles west from the treacherous Miranda-Cos Grove on fictional planet Halfaxa (where she’s doing Bene Gesserit roleplay), and to literal hell (where she’s releasing Girls’ Shoshanna Shapiro from a life of eternal torment—or rather bringing her back to a life of torment in an attempt to reconcile her fictional dysfunctional friend group.)

(styrofoam and paper-maché, acrylic paint, embedded 5" display and Raspberri Pi, stainless steel c-stand with mounted projector, lasercut stainless steel figurine, duct tape)

(Still Making Art vol. 7 — group exhibition at Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, 2024)

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Tom K. Kemp during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Anne de Vries during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Janne Schimmel during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Monica Mays during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Ötza during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions) (2024)

In this installation, three chapters of the oeuvre of cryodesiccated fanfiction entrepreneur Ötza are projected on a post-historical neolithic rock formation of paper-maché, reconstructions of the real ones that were found close to Ötza’s body as she was carrying them (no Uber Van back then) through the Italian Alps after deinstalling an exhibition in a prehistoric mountain dwelling that had some regional funding back in 3250BCE but now doesn’t exist anymore. In these chapters, Ötza is transported to a fiber-optic cable (where she’s stuck), to the Minecraft Uncensored Library, 20 miles west from the treacherous Miranda-Cos Grove on fictional planet Halfaxa (where she’s doing Bene Gesserit roleplay), and to literal hell (where she’s releasing Girls’ Shoshanna Shapiro from a life of eternal torment—or rather bringing her back to a life of torment in an attempt to reconcile her fictional dysfunctional friend group.)

(styrofoam and paper-maché, acrylic paint, embedded 5" display and Raspberri Pi, stainless steel c-stand with mounted projector, lasercut stainless steel figurine, duct tape)

(Still Making Art vol. 7 — group exhibition at Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, 2024)

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

“Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions)” (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Tom K. Kemp during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Anne de Vries during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Janne Schimmel during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Monica Mays during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

Ötza and the Soft Death of Shoshanna Shapiro (and other fanfictions), Still Making Art vol. 7, Levi van Gelder

Ötza posing with the work of Ötza during group show Still Making Art vol. 7 (2024) — Photography by Aaron McLaughlin

LEVI VAN GELDER (1995) — ARTIST
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS — MFA DESIGN SANDBERG INSTITUTE ('18-'20) — DE ATELIERS ('24-'25)

Through working in performance, writing, sculpture and video work, Levi explores fanfiction as a tool for queer resistance and counterfactual reclamation of histories and fictions. By writing, performing and making as Ötza (5300 year old mummified fanfiction entrepreneur and drag adaptation of Ötzi the Iceman) Levi creates a subversive, post-historical rendering of the Neolithic mummy, queering (pre)history in a meta-textualized account of misrepresentation, questioning and resisting claims to truth with quick-witted storytelling and playful critique. Levi lives and works in Amsterdam.
Levi van Gelder