Madame Nielsen

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Madame Nielsen (born May 6, 1963 in Aalborg ) is a Danish performer, actress, singer and author. From 2002 to 2011 she worked together with other authors and artists for the Das Beckwerk agency . Further pseudonyms of the artist , who worked under his real name Claus Beck-Nielsen until 2001 : Claus Nielsen, Helge Bille Nielsen and finally Madame Nielsen.

Madame Nielsen, 2017

Life

As Claus Beck-Nielsen, he spent his childhood and youth in Aarhus, Tønder, Aalborg, Odense, Vestbirk and Høstkøb. In the second half of the eighties (1984-89) he was guitarist and singer in the band Creme X-Treme from Odense . He temporarily went to New York, where he joined the famous performance group The Wooster Group around Willem Dafoe in SoHo . Nielsen graduated from the writing school in 1993. Together with Rolf Heim, he ran the theater “20th Century Ghost” and worked from 1996 to 1999 as a theater critic for the newspaper Politiken .

The Beckwerk was founded in 2002 to bundle and manage the work of (Beck-) Nielsen. The company was located in Buddinge from 2002 to 2006 . On July 1, 2006 the agency moved to the center of Copenhagen . The company produced u. a. Fiction , one-man shows, photographs, installations , political campaigns (including visits to Iraq and Afghanistan ), concerts, video art, Internet campaigns. According to Nielsen's statement, the Beckwerk was a company registered in the registry court, where Nielsen was employed as an "unnamed test person ". Whatever the board of directors, consisting of artists, writers, architects and a judge, decided, Nielsen had to carry out.

“In 2001 the author and multi-artist Claus Beck-Nielsen declared himself dead. Since then, changing figures have continued his production under the management of the art factory“ Das Beckwerk ”. Here life and work, reality and fiction merge to form a radical avant-garde that has made the project a cult in the art world "

- Dagbladet information

Identities and name changes

The versatile performance artist first shortened his name to Claus Nielsen in 2000 and ended his life in the media as Claus Beck-Nielsen ("Suicide") one year later, in order to continue "his" work as Helge Bille Nielsen. In 2011 Claus (Beck-) Nielsen was finally “buried” and the artist, now seen in women's clothing, has been called Madame Nielsen since 2014 after a two-year “nameless” period. However, she does not see herself as transgender .

"I am much more beautiful as a woman than as a skinny older man."

- Der Spiegel : April 2018

It is about trying out different identities. Assuming different identities has always been part of their artistic existence. She calls it a game with identities, but for her it's more than just a game:

“Life is a constant transformation. […] But in a body, in a soul there are so many possible people or not just people, beings. And I see it as my job to live as many forms of existence as possible, not only in scripture but also in real life. "

- Interview with Madame Nielsen : January 2019

The publishing house Gyldendal published a biography in 2003 that ends with the staged death of the biographical writer Claus Beck-Nielsen. Nielsen is fluent in several languages, including German.

Publications

  • Vejlederne , Publisher: Samlerens forlag, 1997 (two stories)
  • Horne Land , Publisher: Samlerens forlag, 1999 (Roman)
  • En sidste sang , Publisher: Rosinante & Co, 2001 (love story of the century, drama)
  • Selvudslettelser , (Beck catalog of works; Volume 1) Publisher: Samlerens forlag, 2002 (Roman)
  • Claus Beck-Nielsen (1963-2001) , Publisher: Gyldendal, 2003 (Biography)
  • De smukkeste mennesker , 2004 (medieval drama)
  • The European Dream Scream , Beckwerk Records 2006 (CD)
  • Selvmordätze , Gyldendal, 2005 (Report on the attempt to introduce democracy in Iraq in 2004)
  • Freedom on the March , Geiger Records, 2008 (CD)
  • Suverænen , Publisher: Gyldendal, 2008 (Roman)
  • I bruddets together. Samtaler ved Peder Holm-Pedersen , Publisher: Gyldendal, 2008 (Interview with Mikkel Bolt)
  • Store Satans Fald , Publisher: Gyldendal, 2012 (Roman)
  • Mine møder med de danske forfattere , 2013 (novel)
  • Den endeløse sommer Gyldendal, 2014 (novel)
  • Invasions , 2016 (novel)
  • Det højeste væsen , 2017 (novel)
  • The Monster , 2018 (novel)

Theater roles

  • Wings (Copenhagen 1992)
  • Odysseus ( Næstved 1993)
  • Forestillingen om Døden i Venice (Copenhagen 1994)
  • Faderen, Sønnen & Korsvejen (Hanover 1994, Copenhagen 1995)
  • Andy Warhol (Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland 1995–1998)
  • De Skrøbelige (af Peer Hultberg - Radioteatret 1996)
  • LENIN ( Århus Festuge & Arken 1996)
  • Balls & Rupies (Canon Halls (Finland) 1997)
  • Teaterslagteren (Kaleidoskop 1999, Turne i Danmark 2001)
  • Det ny menneske (Teater Camp X Aveny, Copenhagen, January / February 2009)

Prizes, awards and grants

Nielsen has been nominated several times for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d "The New Romanticism" from Die Zeit of March 14, 2018
  2. ^ Dagbladet information from September 11, 2008
  3. ↑ Thomas Etzemüller: Biographies: Read - explore - tell. Campus, Frankfurt / New York 2012, ISBN 978-3-593-38449-8 , p. 163: Footnote 4 ( page preview in the Google book search).
  4. ↑ a b Dorothea Westphal: "Something must always arise that is bigger than me". In Deutschlandfunk Kultur , January 4, 2019, accessed on May 6, 2020.
  5. ^ Anne Haeming: artist Madame Nielsen: "I am much more beautiful as a woman than as a skinny older man". In: Der Spiegel . April 8, 2018, accessed May 6, 2020.
  6. ↑ Publishing information
personal data
SURNAME Nielsen, madame
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beck-Nielsen, Claus (real name); Nielsen, Claus; Nielsen, Helge Bille (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish performer, actress, singer and author
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Aalborg