Wednesday 12 June 2013

Rot Beige



This photograph taken by Christoph Neumann documents a rehearsal for "Seven" a new piece in development whilst here at Homebase Residency, Berlin. 




"Seven" was made in collaboration with Joseph Patricio in response to an invitation to make a performative work in the basement of the old Engelhardt brewery on Thulestrasse in Pankow.  The performance was shown during the month of performance art in Berlin.




 


The work  attempts to take the audience of one on a journey across a threshold and into the world of the collective unconscious.  


Selected by a guide in a sheep mask, seven people one at a time, are led through a dark tunnel, sweeping the way with a broom, sheepman crosses a darkened room leading to a smaller inner sanctum.    






A woman seated on a white chair at a white table holds a black book in her hand and invites her guest to be seated.  A candle lit encounter takes place, the sharing of stories perhaps real, perhaps imagined.  Stories of life and death are shared:  a woman who had been living with a dead body in her house for 21 years.  The discovery of a secret room and a very thin man with the key.   A visit to Einstein's laboratory which causes the body to break down into sub-atomic particles.  The ability to spin straw into gold,  the size and weight of the soul, and the sheep cafe were amongst the stories, shared and encountered in the dark basement.


No comments:

Post a Comment