Melanie Manchot's 'Open Ended Now' exhibition at MAC VAL explores intimacy with strangers through participatory works

German artist Melanie Manchot presents 'Open Ended Now' at MAC VAL in Vitry-sur-Seine, featuring event-based collaborative works from the past two decades. The exhibition transforms the gallery into a nightclub-like environment with illuminated videos and spotlit photographs. Manchot creates situations that foster intimacy between strangers, documented in works like 'Dance (All Night, London)' (2017) where professional and amateur dancers perform above Liverpool Street station. Her 2001 piece 'For a Moment Between Strangers' captures reactions to requests for kisses from passersby in London, Los Angeles, and New York. 'Security' (2005) films Ibizan nightclub bouncers stripping in daylight, questioning voyeurism. The exhibition includes '11/18' (2015), a seven-year project filming her daughter monthly, and 'Casting' (2018), where visitors audition for roles during the show's run. 'TheDream Collector' (2008) documents sleepers in Mexico City parks recounting dreams, while 'Corned Star' (2018) juxtaposes a horse with modernist ruins. 'The Ladies' (2017) photographs Bangladeshi women in Cambridge spaces they previously avoided. Manchot's work addresses contemporary social questions about trust and commitment amid Brexit and populism. The exhibition runs from 20 October to 24 February, featured in ArtReview's January & February 2019 issue.